Growing the South of England

& Adam Lacey, Banbury, Oxfordshire, UK

During the Spring of 2024, Kate Angell, Adam Lacey, and I attended a special mindfulness conference in Birmingham, England. Kate, Adam, Tina Wells, and I are all accredited Mindfulness Meditation Teachers; additionally, Kate, Tina, and I are regulated by Mindfulness Now. The conference was their 20th anniversary celebration.

As therapists and mindfulness teachers we had long thought that this would be a rich audience from which to attract new T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) students and potential teachers. Kate arranged for us to have an afternoon breakout group that attracted 40 people keen to learn more. We shared that adding TCC to our therapists’ kit had enhanced our experience and that of our clients in so many ways. We introduced some of the simpler movements and led them in a short practice so that they could experience TCC.

It’s an understatement to say that we nearly blew the roof. None of us will forget the energy in that room after the practice. Twelve therapists were interested in learning more. Ultimately, six started Zoom classes with Kate and Adam. We lost two to personal circumstances but now have four serious students moving towards accreditation.

We have also been working with them in face-to-face workshops to prepare for an Intensive with April, followed by the Accreditation Course with Sandy in the near future.

The group is geographically dispersed, which will increase our reach into the South of England. One is based in Oxford (as is Tina) where we have so many opportunities available.

This is part of a plan that we’ve been working on for some time: to grow our teacher base and identify younger teachers who can help grow a student and teacher community here. Lesley Nell and I set this in motion in March 2020 with a workshop to area therapists. It went well, but COVID caused a stall, challenging us to regroup. Eventually Lesley forged ahead on Zoom; Adam and Vanessa Peterson came forth from that group. (Therapists Marcella and Orly from the Netherlands joined them through a different route.)

Teaching on Zoom, whilst allowing us to broaden our geographic reach and avoid travel, has its limitations. The in-person workshops have been invaluable in refining the candidates’ movements, building their understanding of the principles, observing them and getting them to observe themselves and others to deepen their understanding. Above all we have actively evaluated their sincerity, commitment and suitability to teach. They are excited, nervous, and buzzing with the opportunity to become teachers.

We have followed a careful plan and recorded what we have done, what has worked, what has been less successful. We have collected input from the community to develop guidelines to prepare and develop this approach to grow our community. Thank you to all who have helped. It has required an enormous commitment from all concerned, but it’s been worth every effort. We as teachers continue to grow through the process and deepen our own practice.