The Lishi Daoist Tai Chi Society has partnered with the university’s wellbeing services to offer FREE STRESS RELIEF classes thanks to funding from Leeds Community Foundation. You can sign up at lishi.org/happy right now for up to six weeks of free workshops that combine physical exercise, meditation and life-coaching to enhance wellbeing. A perfect antidote to your exams! Wai-Yii, who leads the classes at the uni, talks about stress in her new book Way Out: A Daoist Path to a Fearless Life…
“Stress, in a modern context, largely boils down to feeling afraid of things that aren’t really frightening. These stresses that are placed upon you are human-induced in the hope of getting you to behave in certain ways. The cool thing is, you don’t have to respond in the way that people expect you to.
The natural world has a rhythm, a pace, and a speed. Nature doesn’t hurry. Night follows day. The cycle of the moon is steady and regular. The movements of the tide can be predicted. If you can relax and allow things to take time and evolve naturally, it will give you great strength and a new perspective on life that most people miss.”
Lishi (李氏, pronounced li-sher) is a Daoist energetic practice from China that includes Taiji, Yoga, Qigong, Kung Fu, Massage, Acrobatics, breathing exercises and dietary guidelines. It has its roots in the seaside village of Weihai in Shandong province, which is now a city bigger than Leeds. The last practising Li family member, Li Jigang, travelled to England in the 1930s. He handed down the arts to Chee Soo, a celebrated grandmaster who had thousands of students in this country. Before his death in 1994, Chee Soo named our current master as the inheritor of the system.
Today, Lishi classes are taught around the world, but the arts have their centre here in Leeds. The Leeds Uni Lishi Society has been running for 30 years and teaches classes at the university on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. For the next six weeks there are funded places for young people, meaning you can attend FOR FREE and start increasing your energy levels now!
If you like the sound of shedding the fears and stresses from your life, sign up now at https://lishi.org/happy
For info on regular classes at the university, visit www.luu.org.uk/lishi-tai-chi