On the first day of my retirement I started as I meant to go on, with LOTS of Taiji. Five of us ladies went with Shifu to the Milun 2024 Summer Camp on Chongming Island just two hours out of Shanghai City Centre. My happy place!

It was a time to unwind, destress, practice Taiji, Qi Gong and focus on going forwards.

Every morning we do early morning exercises in the rose garden. This year we were focusing on the Five Elements Qi Gong routine devised by our Shifu. Each set of moves is based on an element which is then associated with one of our organs. We stretch our the meridians for that organ to promote overall health in that particular part of the body but it is also good for overall wellbeing.

The days all follow a fmailiar routine. After a delicious breakfast we do 20 – 30 minutes of standing meditaion outside.

Then its time to practice our movements. This can vary from honing some of the Taiji moves or applications to practing Xing Yi or the sword (in my case)

XiLai where was stay, is a farm as well as accommodation so we always have the freshest organic food straight from the garden.

After lunch and a siesta we move to the little house by the lake to eascape from the intense heat of the afternoon. Here we do a variety of different activities including

I was asked to give a talk about the Tao which I made as interactive as I could with a bit of a talk at the beginning

… followed by some practical exercises. Everyone was given some pictures to contemplate and return with their ideas. It was extremely productive with a very lively debate ensuing.

We drink chinese tea and I have been practicing my tea ceremony skills.

Shifu is always challenging and stretching me. This year he asked me to teach Push Hands to one of the beginners. Push Hands is often played competitevely in Taiji circles but in our class we do it as an exchange of energy. Shifu and I practice every time I have a lesson and it is very enjoyable, however I have never actually tried to teach anyone else so this was a new experience for me. Beginners cannot feel their qi much yet, so Push Hands can be quite difficult both to learn and to teach. Often the Master can have sore shoulders in the beginning as you are working directly against the other person’s muscles so you have to do self healing afterwards. This was a very valuable lesson for me.

After dinner we do an hour of zen walking. As it is summer there are mosquitos around at that time of day so we wear special protective mesh jackets. They make us look a little weird but they are effective. Zen walking is different for each of us as we all have individual needs. It is very calming and peaceful to focus just on walking in a particular way. Apologies about the photo quality.

Then we come to my favorite part of the day. The moonlight meditation. We sit cross legged on the decking beside the lake for 20 minutes of seated meditation listening to the cicadas chirruping and the occasional fish splashing out of the water. Then we lie back and look at the stars. It is blissful. A time to contemplate one’s place in the universe and to appreciate creation. The moon this week has been gorgeous against the velvety night sky.

I have spent some time this week focussing on my kneeling meditation

Everybody is on their own journey and at different stages but after only five days it is true to say that each of us has improved, and some people improved massively which was gratifying to see. Taiji can help people in so many different and diverse ways. I am excited to bring some of this knowledge back with me to the UK to help people at home too.