About meMy journey into Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) began in 1996 when I first developed an interest in the benefits of taiji and qiqong. The fast-paced London lifestyle together with competitive sports led to a knee injury. I gave up squash and took up taiji and almost inadvertently began to adopt a more healthy approach to life in general.
I was born in Bangkok to a Chinese father and British mother in 1967. I spent the first decade of my life in Thailand before my family moved to Canterbury. My professional journey started with a degree in Psychology and French. A few years into various teaching positions, abroad as well as in the UK and subsequent editing work, I discovered a passion for Eastern philosophies. This journey has taken me back to my roots in China. I first saw older ladies doing Taiji in the observatory park when training for family sports days in Bangkok. My father told me they were practicing to walk on the moon. Watching the graceful movements of qi floating through their small frames it is no surprise that I believed that their vocation was other worldly. The first acupuncture testimonial I heard was my father who experienced back pain in his early life. After a series of acupuncture treatments he no longer suffered from this complaint. This information must have been lodged in my subconscious and once I started to practice taiji and qigong in my 20s, it was a natural progression to go deeper into Eastern medical theory. I have deepened my knowledge and understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) by studying acupuncture at London South Bank University, with intensive clinical training at Harbin Chinese Medicine Hospital in the Heilongjiang Province of China. I also obtained a diploma to practice Tuina in the UK at Morley College. Finally in 2012 I returned to my father's birthplace near Shantou, Guangzhou province to find my aunt (aged 90) and cousin practicing martial arts and my uncle aged 90 in good health having survived cancer with the help of both Western and Chinese medicine. My aunt practicing martial arts
|
Laura Ichajapanich, founder, Moving Qi
|