House of Movement — Instructor Alda Gomez
“Chanting is no more holy than listening to the murmur of a stream, counting prayer beads no more sacred than simply breathing. . . If you wish to attain oneness with the Tao, don’t get caught up in spiritual superficialities.” (Lao Tze)
This quote reminds me that appearances can be deceiving and reality is not always what it seems. I am sure that you already know that, and you are wondering whether I am a teacher you can rely on. You can see my accreditations at the bottom of this page, but that is only part of the story. You know this and you would like to see the reality behind the writing and the beautiful paper with Chinese characters saying that I am allowed to teach. So here it is. Here is why and how I became a tai chi teacher.
I took up tai chi years ago because I loved the movements. I thought they looked like a dance and I felt drawn to them. What I didn’t expect was to start feeling a new sense of clarity and balance. My gut feeling started to speak to me and tell me about things that I needed to change in my life. I got scared and I dropped out. Some aspects of my life were a mess and I was not strong enough to change them at that particular time.
But sooner or later, our destiny catches up with us and a few years later, decision-making time was back there in front of me. I was extremely unhappy in my life and I knew that I needed to make some changes if I was ever going to feel some joy. I remembered that I had felt balanced and had had a sense of real clarity during my first tai chi experience, so I thought that I could use tai chi as an anchor to allow me to make my decisions in a relaxed way, avoiding the risk of making a mistake. And this is how, over 6 years ago, I started to attend tai chi classes regularly.
Years passed and slowly I did make lots of changes in my private life. It was not always easy. I felt scared, lonely and lost. The tai chi classes I was going to were one of the anchors that I found to keep me going, hoping that life would bring me to a better place. And as I attended the classes at that time, it all seemed possible. I discovered qi gong with its amazing power, and different tai chi styles (yang, wu, and finally chen). I explored different types of meditation. I read self-help and spirituality books. I completed a 4-year postgraduate course in counselling and psychotherapy and learnt how mind and body influence each other, how stress affects the physical body and how tai chi (or any other stress management or mindfulness tool) can be used to help heal both.
Slowly, tai chi and qi gong became part of my daily routine. Slowly, the wish to bring this knowledge to others grew in me. One day, my tai chi teacher at the time told me that he was putting together a group of senior students interested in learning how to teach tai chi. For a year, I embarked on the adventure of training as a tai chi teacher and started to teach under supervision. At that time, I was doing wu style, but I was looking for something else and I didn’t know exactly what. Soon enough, I discovered chen style and I started to learn with Master Liming Yue. As the saying goes, the teacher appears when the student is ready. And I guess I was ready for chen style, health qi gong, shen gong, opening of qi channels and all the things that Master Liming had in store for me.
Since 2009, I’ve been training regularly in Manchester and Ireland with MASTER LIMING YUE (indoor student of Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei, one of the four tai chi tigers). Master Liming has brought my tai chi to a completely different level by opening my qi channels and has allowed me to experience what I had only read about before. Over the years, I also attended different seminars given by experienced grandmasters, masters and professors, mainly Grandmaster Chen Xiao Wang (another of the four tai chi tigers), Master Wang Hai Jun (also indoor student of Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei) and professors from the Chinese Health Qigong Association in Canada and Ireland.
I created the House of Movement and I started to teach what I had learnt. I run regular courses in South William Space. In the past, I also ran courses in institutions, like the Dublin City Council and Trinity College. I still think that I have a lot to learn, and I love going back to beginners’ classes and discovering new nuances in some movements and new sensations arising inside my body. I am continuously training and learning to the point of frustrating myself every time I find a very good teacher, as I realise how little I know. That teaches me humility. And from that humble place, I give what I have, and what I know, trying to make it digestible and hoping that you will approach me if you have any problems or questions around my classes, my teaching style or my pace.
And now that you heard my story, here are my accreditations:
Chen Style Level Two Instructor Accredited by Master Liming Yue (UK)
Duan 2 in Health Qi Gong by Chinese Health Qi Gong Association
Schedule for beginners – Tai Chi
Monday, 22 April - Evening classes at 6-7pm in Dublin 2 - 6 weeks at €70 - Book Now!
Thursday, 18 April - Evening classes at 6-7pm in Dublin 2 - 6 weeks at €70 - Book Now!
Schedule for beginners – Qi Gong
Monday, 22 April - Evening classes at 7:30-8:30pm in Dublin 2 - 6 weeks at €70 - Book Now!
Thursday, 18 April - Evening classes at 7-8pm in Dublin 2 - 6 weeks at €70 - Book Now!
Grandmaster Chen Zhenglei visit to Ireland – Tai Chi – Open to all levels – Spaces limited
Thursday, 16 May – Silk Reeling & LaoJia at 7-10pm – 3 hours at €45 (Early bird €40) - Book Now!
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Chen Style Tai chi and Health Qi Gong in Dublin City Centre
Every movement counts! Make the first movement and book your course.
Email me now at houseofmovement@gmail.com or call 087 7750782
