Lighthouse Tai Chi®

Classes include Tai Chi & Qigong Classes are 1 hour ex Aqua 45 mins All sessions open to beginners Find our locations  Lighthouse Map Venue details below timetable All students are required to complete a PAR-Q form MONDAY 09.30    Trawden Community Centre, 10.30     Trawden Community Centre,                Trawden, Pendle 10.30     Whitworth Leisure & Wellbeing                Aqua Tai Chi                John Street, Whitworth               Opens 8th June 2026 13.00    Adrenaline Centre ,             Haslingden, Rossendale 13.00    Pendle Wavelengths               Nelson.                    Opens 12th October  14.00...

Lighthouse Aqua Tai Chi ® for pregnancy Real Tai Chi and Qigong in warm water, Lighthouse Aqua Tai Chi® is gentle, low impact, relaxing and mindful and offers all the benefits of tai chi ,   plus the recognized outcomes of water based exercise. It is on both the NHS website and Netmums Whether you are continuing exercising or just getting started during your pregnancy our specialised aqua tai chi sessions will give you the gentle workout you need, without the worry of bumping the bump, or adding pressure to aching feet and joints. Women who participate in aqua exercise during pregnancy experience less physical discomfort and improved mobility in addition for being physically prepared for childbirth. Aqua tai chi is safe at all stages of pregnancy unless your health professional recommends you do not exercise at all. The water helps to support your posture, to strengthen the core muscles, enhancing the stability of the abdomen and lower back, improving your balance, co-ordin...

  Names and understanding The use of poetic and functional names in Tai Chi and Qigong can be difficult to decipher or simplistically obvious. When we first hear some of the names of the postures, it can be amusing and confusing: ‘ part wild horse’s mane’, ‘ twin dragons emerge from the sea ’ and ‘ stand like a tree .’ What we need to appreciate is that these names are translations from the original Chinese. So, with as with any translation, things can be lost in the process. Much of the knowledge of tai chi and qigong was traditionally encoded in poetic form or as a song. Many of the students would not have been literate, so the names aided in the memorising of the sequence and its applications. Additionally cultural and philosophical differences, along with the inherent secrecy of martial arts culture, could lead you to misunderstandings and getting the wrong end of the stick. However, when we hear these names, we instantly get a picture or concept in our mind. Combining t...

This month we have another guest blog:  The 5 Elements Theory  is by our esteemed colleague and friend Heather Reade (MFHT) .  Heather has been teaching Tai Chi and Qigong since 1999 in England and the US and provides courses for the NHS, in addition to Active West Lancs, MacMillan Cancer Care; the U3A; Twinkle House Sensory and Wellness Centre and primary schools in Liverpool and Lancashire.  In 2009, she created Water Lotus Qigong, a hydrotherapy, which has been used in the US and UK for the alleviation of pain, arthritis, and fibromyalgia. She is also, a qualified Sports Therapist, and Ear Acupuncturist.  To find out more about Heather and to request any further information, please visit website  Heather Reade School of Tai Chi and QiGong The 5 Elements, or Wu Xing (woo sshing), is a system used to categorise and explain patterns of transformation in the universe.  Wu Xing 五行  Wu = five  Xing = movement, transformation, phase Dating bac...

Be Consistent To acquire a skill or to remember a process or action takes time and practice.  When we begin to learn a new skill or pastime it is important to invest time if we want to progress and improve our understanding or skill. Tai Chi and Qigong are no different.  Consistency in practice takes many forms: being present and attending, understanding and engage with learning, home practice and research. Turn up regularly. Life tends to get in the way of what you really want to pursue, so turn up to your lesson every week. Repetition is the key to reinforcing a new habit/skill/movement, and you will need to have corrections to keep you on the right track. If you leave long gaps between your practice, you will not remember much, if anything from the previous session, so you will always be relearning the postures at the same level and will not progress. Treating the session as a workout, just following, and copying, and not engaging with actually learning to do it for you...