I have always been drawn to the mysteries of Eastern martial arts and meditation practices, captivated by the dynamic spirit of Asian cultures with their mastery of body-mind-energy through refined form, harmonious movement and inner stillness. I’ve been so grateful to have access to learning from ancient lineages which nurture evolving consciousness and promote finding deeper, more fulfilling meaning in life.

I started my tertiary studies in contemporary visual arts at Sydney College of the Arts in Sydney, where I participated in various personal growth and meditation communities. I dived into the active meditations of Osho Rajneesh along with a range of intensive body-based psychotherapies which were based on freeing up emotional energy, liberating self-expression and finding deeper layers of love, truth and connectedness.

These early years of emotional exploration enlivened me with greater expression, connection and liberation. Eventually however, I needed to develop more focus, centredness and a grounded direction in life. I found a path of awareness in action through Eastern martial arts and mindfulness techniques which access deeper layers of body and mind and offer a well-structured practice for self-mastery.

At age 25, I began daily training in the Korean martial art style of Hapkido – The Art of Co-ordinated Power, with Master Sung Su Kim in Sydney. This new passion in my life became an empowering adjunct to my therapeutic processes and devoted myself to exploring and understanding it’s inherent wisdom. I received great inspiration from Master Kim’s dynamic energy and generous warrior spirit. After just one year of training, he invited me to open my own Hapkido Dojang (school).

At first I was reluctant to establish my own Dojang as I didn’t really identify with being a martial artist, and considered myself to be more of an embodied meditator who enjoyed expressing focused action through the co-ordinated grace of martial art forms. But I finally accepted on the condition that my school would serve the purpose of training people not to fight, but to prepare the body and mind for self-enquiry and meditation. Grandmaster Kim gave his full endorsement.

So in 1986 I moved to Byron Bay and founded my own Hapkido Dojang, centred on my internal, holistic approach. For 30 years I was the principal teacher to a great many dedicated students, with daily teaching across broad range of strong and soft martial arts styles and Eastern traditions that develop and integrate body, mind and spirit, including the self-healing and meditative styles of Tai Chi and Qigong.

From 1991 to 1993, I left my school and went to live in South Korea to be immersed in Eastern culture and full-time martial arts training. During this time I gained additional black belt qualifications in Hapkido, Soo Bahk Do, Wu Shu and Tai Chi. The intensity of the training in Korea extended my understanding of how to initiate movement from the Tanjen Centre, employ fluid circular motion, generate relaxed power and harmonise with incoming forces.

After such a focused, intensive study of martial arts in Korea, I wished to deepen my experience even further and so upon my return to Byron Bay in late 1993, I began daily classes in both the Yang Style of Tai Chi and the art of Qigong, with the accomplished teacher Roger Cotgreave. I learned much during these years as Roger taught these arts with a deep inner view and refined attentiveness, and was kind and generous in his approach. Roger was a colleague of Patrick Kelly, the closest Western student of Master Huang Sheng-Shuan (1910 – 1992) who, in turn, was one of the most outstanding students of Cheng Man–Ch’ing (1898 – 1975). It was Cheng who promoted the Yang Style of Tai Chi in the West.

In 1995 I became a student of Patrick Kelly and under his guidance taught the traditions and training methods of the Yang Style, including the deep mind system of alignment and relaxation in movement, focused awareness and intention, and the internal sensing techniques that are the fundamental training methods of this profound authentic style. I began teaching Tai Chi and Qigong in 1999, and have continued developing and sharing Tai Chi knowledge since this time.

At my Byron Bay Dojang I gave motivation to many hundreds of practitioners of all ages, through daily programmes which develop the body-mind system and understanding of body mechanics, economy of movement and energy cultivation. There has been much attention given to the refinement of the Dantien Energy Centres – Upper (head), Middle (heart) and Lower (belly), and the movement generated around these fundamental bio-energetic phenomena. I’ve particularly enjoyed alternating strong Yang action moves with soft Yin stillness, and in this way inspired a dynamic style of meditation which promotes resilience, strength and inner calm.

Regulated breathing methods, focused awareness, inner sensing techniques and the cultivation of vital life energy known as ‘Ki’ or ‘Qi’ (Chi), has provided an internal focus which is the defining feature of my training at Heart Mind Centre. This balance of inward, full body awareness and outward relaxed intention while in movement has given much depth and meaning to my students’ experience. My school has been loved by all who’ve leapt in to explore the joy of expanding energy while deepening the mind.

For 11 years, from 2005 to 2016, I also trained in Hapkiyusul, the traditional root of modern Hapkido, with Korean Grandmaster Kim Yun Sang. Although this system was technically advanced and I was a skilled practitioner and teacher, it inevitably and very sadly became too rigid and dictatorial for me. I found that realisation of genuine wisdom and love was hindered by such an authoritarian and restrictive approach. I understood that this traditional patriarchal martial art was lacking in wisdom which embraces and respects the whole person, including both masculine and feminine aspects and the beauty of a sincere heart.

I wanted to return to a practice which promotes holistic personal development – emotional truth; responsiveness; natural self-expression; creativity; spontaneity; open heartedness; joy; authentic humility, respectful connection and harmony. I needed to find a body-mind system which encapsulated these heartfelt aspects of being human and came across Core Energetics, a system of Somatic (Body) Psychotherapy.

In 2016 I trained for an Advance Diploma in Core Energetics with Andrea Alexander at her Institute of Body Psychotherapy in Brisbane. This work interfaces seamlessly with all my previous training as it incorporates being grounded, anchoring awareness in the body, releasing muscular armouring, unblocking stuck energy, freeing up the flow of lifeforce, regulating the nervous system; building internal strength and centredness, releasing limiting belief systems and behavioural patterns, and liberating natural self-expression.

Since embracing the methods of Core Energetics, I’m enjoying a fuller energetic balance between body, heart and mind. I offer psychotherapy sessions that cultivate physical, emotional, mental and spiritual awareness and well-being. It is deeply heart-warming to witness this beautiful, compassionate and respectful work unfold within each person, and enjoy the vitality and freedom it brings.

In 2016 I closed the premises of my beloved 30 year Byron Bay Dojang. I now deliver the arts of Tai Chi and Qigong through classes, workshops and retreats around the Byron Shire and beyond. I have may dedicated students who are all gaining much inspiration and so many health benefits from the intelligence of these ancient systems. My teaching continues to be informed by the energy cultivation of martial arts and meditation, but is even more integrated and fulfilling through incorporating the wisdom of Body Psychotherapy.