“The act of creating does not simply express the self, it shapes it”

Muriel Hofmann-Forster

Registered Creative Arts Therapist (ANZACATA), Zhineng Qigong Teacher, Performance Artist.

I am an embodied consciousness practitioner and facilitator working between Hong Kong and the UK. My work is the meeting place of many years of personal practice, professional training, performance and teaching across the performing arts,  Zhineng Qigong and Expressive Arts Therapy. Through QiFlo®, these influences have gradually evolved into an approach that reflects not only what I have studied, but what I have come to trust through lived experience.

Over the years, my understanding of practice has changed. While I value the many benefits that movement, qigong and creative practice can offer - from greater vitality, physical alignment and ease, to personal insight and emotional resilience - I have become increasingly more focused in understanding what it is exactly, within these practices, that support lasting change.

Again and again, I have found that meaningful transformation rarely comes through force or striving, but through developing the capacity to meet ourselves with greater openness, curiosity and compassion. This understanding has shaped not only the philosophy of QiFlo®, but the way I create, teach and hold space for others.

As both a certified Zhineng Qigong teacher and a registered creative arts therapist, I care deeply about creating environments where people feel safe enough to explore at their own pace. Every QiFlo® session is thoughtfully designed, carefully held and responsive to the people within it. The architecture of each session is informed by my therapeutic training, while the work itself is offered as an educational and experiential process of wellbeing and personal development rather than psychotherapy.

Ultimately, my hope is that QiFlo® is both a community and an intimate personal practice; something people can return to long after a class has ended. More than learning a method, I hope each person leaves with greater trust in their own experience, and in their capacity to meet themselves and life with sensitivity, compassion and confidence.

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  • Postgraduate Degree

    Master of Expressive Arts Therapy (Distinction) – The University of Hong Kong.

    Qigong & Internal Arts Training

    I practice Zhineng qigong, and share this practice with care, humility, and deep respect for its cultural heritage and lineage.

    • Zhineng Qigong Advanced Higher-Level Teacher Training - Master Zhu Conghua, China

    • Zhineng Qigong Teacher Training - Master Zhu Conghua, China

    • Zhineng Qigong (ongoing training) – Master Zhu Conghua, China (trained under Grand Master Dr. Pang Ming at the Hua Xia Centre).

    • Zhineng Qigong (ongoing practice and instruction) - Simon Clarke, Bath, UK. (Trained under the 3 Monkeys School of Qigong, and several Chinese teachers who were directly taught by Dr Pang Ming at the Hua Xia Centre).

    • Tai Chi Chuan Yang Style – 450+ hours with Sherry Tschernisch, California Institute of the Arts, USA.

    Professional Training and CPD credits

    • Certified Health and Wellbeing Coach – Raw Horizon Academy, 2024 (Accredited by The Association for Coaching and NHS Personalised Care Institute).

    • Certified Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher – School of Positive Transformation (CPD Accredited)

    • Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) – University of Massachusetts Medical School

    • Mental Health First Aid Training (MHFA) – Mind Hong Kong

    Undergraduate Education and Training

    Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Acting -California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Los Angeles, California, USA

    Acting: Mary Lou Rosato, Craig Belknap, Marissa Chibas, Mark Lamar Stewart (Stew)

    Voice (Linklater Technique – 540+ hours): Fran Bennett, Natsuko Ohama, Irene Connors

    Speech: Denise Woods, Dwight Baquie

    Movement & Somatic Practice: Marvin Tuney, Heather Ehlers, Sherry Tschernisch

  • The Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association (ANZACATA)

    Registered Creative Arts Therapist (AThR).

    Membership Number: 51060058

    International Meditation and Mindfulness Alliance (IMMA)

    Certified Meditation and Mindfulness Teacher

  • Balens Professional Indemnity - Expressive Arts Therapy, Qigong Instruction, Meditation and Mindfulness teaching and facilitation (includes moving meditations), Health and Wellbeing Coaching.

  • Six people standing in a group, dressed in sportswear, inside a room with martial arts weapons and photographs on the wall behind them.

  • Group of diverse smiling people posing outdoors in a greenhouse or atrium with large green plants in the background.

  • Two people practicing boxing in a gym, one woman sparring with a man holding a punching mitt, in front of a heavy bag and various gym equipment.

  • Two people practicing martial arts in a dojo, with ancient weapons on the wall and traditional training equipment visible in the background.

  • Three women practicing yoga indoors, each in a different pose, with shelves of papers and materials in the background.

  • A staged scene of a mock emergency or injury with four people dressed in formal clothes in a hallway, with one person lying on the floor, two others assisting them, and a woman reading a notebook while kneeling on a person lying on the ground.

  • Three women in colorful dresses (blue, yellow, red) are standing and kneeling in shallow water at night, with water splashing around them.

  • Two women dressed in colorful dresses are posing on city steps in front of a modern glass building, with one woman in a yellow dress standing on the steps and another in a pink dress lying on the steps, both looking in different directions.

  • A group of five people, four women dressed in black and one shirtless man, are sitting around a white table in a stylish room with large windows and blue-green walls.

  • A woman in a red dress is dancing or performing in front of a seated audience at an event. The audience appears to be attentive, with some taking photos or notes. There is a woman with a camera recording the performance and another woman with blonde hair observing. The event is held indoors with shelves and large windows in the background.

  • Two people dance closely in front of an audience in a lively bar or lounge. The woman is wearing a red dress, and the man is dressed in a white shirt and dark pants.

  • Woman with dark, curly hair wearing a black strapless dress and thigh-high lace-up black boots, standing in front of a teal cabinet with decorative items inside.

  • Three people in a dance studio, with one person lying on the floor being supported by a standing person, while another person watches nearby.

  • Women in black dresses taking selfies in a dimly lit room with several seated people in the background.

  • A person in a dimly lit room with green lighting, standing in front of a green balloon on the wall, wearing a dress and gloves, with a faint face visible.

  • A woman sitting cross-legged on the floor with a serious expression, wearing a black strapless dress and jewelry, illuminated in a dark room. Two other women are floating or jumping in the air behind her, also dressed in black, against a dark background.

  • Two women with curly hair in white dresses are embracing and covering their faces, standing in front of a mirror with dark and purple lighting.

  • Two women in white dresses touching hands and looking at each other in front of large mirrors with blue and purple lighting, with other women reflected in the mirrors.