Seated Tai Chi: Awakening Stillness and Well-being
Jan. 26, 2026
8 a.m. EST
Online
Course
A unique continuing education course to train healthcare professionals in adult day- and long-term care to guide seated Tai Chi sessions for people in their care.
Course Summary
Tai Chi can bring us to a quiet center in our being. It is as though our ailments disappear during the Tai Chi session. While the movements you learn are significant in this process, creating a stillness environment is equally crucial.
During the course, you will learn how to guide seated Tai Chi sessions for people in your care. Prior knowledge of Tai Chi is not needed. Ideally, your main commitment is to practice the movements yourself every day from the point at which to start the course.
With practice, both you and the people who participate in the seated Tai Chi sessions will experience less anxiety, increased relaxation, and feelings of well-being.
People facing cognitive decline may also experience enhanced memory ability and/or postponement of symptoms. Physical outcomes may occur such as less pain, lower blood pressure, and better sleep. These benefits may extend to reduced stress and more focus on life balance.
Audience
The course is suitable for care workers and therapeutic activity professionals, working in day care and memory care settings, who would like to add a new dimension to their work. Nurses working in rehabilitation settings also benefit from the course.
In our approach, both you the teacher, and the participants benefit from Tai Chi stillness practice.
When
Self-paced learning
January 26, 2026 - March 2, 2026
The first part of the course is comprised of on-demand videos which can be followed at your own pace.
We recommend that you practice the movements shared in these on-demand videos each day for at least two full weeks before the interactive part of the course begins. This means you start following the on-demand lessons by February 17, 2026.
Weekly live interactive Zoom sessions
March 3, 2026 - March 31, 2026
Each Tuesday, 09:00-09:40 AT
The second portion of the course involves five -40-minute interactive sessions, spread over five weeks. During these sessions, you receive feedback to help you feel more comfortable performing the tai chi movements, work out how to organize sessions for people in your care and begin to guide sessions on your own.
Zoom check-in
09:00-09:40 AT, Tuesday, May 5, 2026
In this final session, we meet to share the experience you are acquiring from guiding seated Tai Chi sessions at your homes.
Additional Resources
Between the weekly sessions, we share films on the scientific background and research and films to help deepen participants' understanding of the movements.
How
The entire course is available via an online education platform. The live interactive sessions are delivered using Zoom. These sessions are recorded and made available to you. There is a course handbook and you are welcome to reach out to the course instructor with specific questions.
Price
This course is CA$ 299, plus HST / US$ 225 plus applicable taxes. If your organization funds registration, please contact us about potential grant/funding opportunities.
TESTIMONIAL:
"I have loved the Seated Tai Chi course. I appreciated how approachable the teachers were and how interactive the course was. I am enjoying teaching my residents Tai Chi and seeing the benefits it provides them. They are loving it as much as I am!"
Stephanie Thompson, Activity Professional, Grass Home, New Brunswick
TESTIMONIAL:
"I really enjoyed the pre-planned dates and the opportunity to interact with everyone via zoom. Try implementing this into your own daily life, and if you think you are going too slow with your movements you are probably doing it right. Many seniors love the opportunity to have some stillness in their life, as well as myself and coworkers who join in. It is also great practice for those with anxiety as a means to help calm the soul"
Care Professional, Lincourt Manor, New Brunswick
TESTIMONIAL:
"I love so much about this course! It has really taught me how to slow my brain down and relax! My advice would be to practice daily and to give yourself time to learn. It took me a while to slow my brain down enough to feel like I was doing each movement correctly. My residents have really been enjoying this new class. They love the quiet music I play and the calmness it brings. Some come just for the music, while others are enjoying the slow movements. I am finding I focus more on my breathing throughout my busy day when I feel I need a moment to slow down! The role of an activity coordinator can get hectic, so I am benefiting from Tai Chi as much as my residents are! "
Activity Professional, Windsor Court, New Brunswick
Course Outline
On-demand Lessons
Three On-demand Lessons form basis for self-paced learning between January 26 - March 2, when you are invited to begin practicing the movements yourself for a few minutes each day.
Lesson 1 - Introducing the main concepts
A thirty-minute introduction:
- What is Tai Chi
- What is Stillness
- What is Narrative Care
- Follow along exercises
Lesson 2 - The Stillness Environment
Thirty minutes on the guidelines for Creating a Stillness Environment:
- No expectations
- Co-Creating—We are together
- Music
And:
- Follow along exercises
Lesson 3 - Relaxing into Stillness and Narrative Care
Thirty minutes on the guidelines for the Relax-into-Stillness Movements
- Softness—Loose Joints
- Comfort Zone
- Narrative Care
And:
- Follow along exercises
The Movements done during the follow-along exercises are:
- Wu Chi—Breathing
- Reach
- Wave
- Moving the Ball
- Wave Hands Like a Cloud
Weekly Zoom Sessions
Practicing together
09:00- 09:40 AT, Tuesday, March 3
The focus is on practicing the movements together and feeling increasingly comfortable doing them. We briefly revisit the guidelines for creating a good stillness environment.
Practicing together
09:00- 09:40 AT, Tuesday, March 10
The movements are led by participants. We discuss how putting this new knowledge into practice is going. And together we help each other to make improvements.
Organizing a session
09:00- 09:40 AT, Tuesday, March 17
The movements are led by participants. We begin planning how to organize the first seated tai chi session. You learn from a home that has already implemented a seated tai chi program.
Guiding the first session
09:00- 09:40 AT, Tuesday, March 24
The movements are led by participants. We begin to hear back about participants promoting and guiding first sessions at their homes.
Regular seated Tai Chi sessions
09:00- 09:40 AT, Tuesday, March 31
The movements are led by participants. We discuss how putting your new knowledge into practice is going. We help each other to make improvements. Participants share feedback on their first sessions guiding residents. We learn how to continue providing sessions programmatically to residents each week.
Zoom Check-In
09:00-09:40 AT, May 5
In this final session, we meet to share the experience you are acquiring from guiding seated Tai Chi sessions at your homes.
Resources
- Course Handbook
- Book Pathways to Stillness - Reflect, Release, Renew
Lifelong Inspiration develops ideas, services and solutions to advance a person-centred agenda. In eldercare, their most well-known project is True Doors®, decals that transform facilities into homes, which are now found in sixteen countries.
Person Centred Universe has partnered with Lifelong Inspiration to develop a number of programs, such as the One-Page Profile Masterclasses, Pathways On Demand, and Seated Tai Chi: Awakening Stillness and Wellbeing.
Gary Irwin-Kenyon
Gerontologist and Tai Chi teacher @garyirwinkenyon
Dr. Irwin-Kenyon was born in Montreal, Quebec, and completed his early studies at Concordia University. He did his doctoral work at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Then he became a postdoctoral Fellow at the Andrew Norman Institute for Advanced Studies in Gerontology and Geriatrics, University of Southern California. He was also a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Linkoping, Sweden, and is a frequent visiting scholar in Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Dr. Gary Irwin-Kenyon is the founding Chair and Professor at the Gerontology Department, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Dr Irwin-Kenyon is now Professor Emeritus in Gerontology at St. Thomas University
He is a Fellow of the Andrew Norman Institute for Advanced Studies in Gerontology and Geriatrics, University of Southern California. Gary is listed in Who’s Who in Canada (Grey House Publishing) and the United States (Marquis Biographies Online).
He has authored, co-authored or co-edited six books, including Narrative Gerontology, Storying Later Life, Restorying Your Life, Ordinary Wisdom, and Pathways to Stillness.
Gary is a teacher and practitioner of Tai Chi with more than thirty years of experience. He designed a program, Tai Chi as Narrative Care, which he has been teaching for the past ten years to special groups, including residents in long-term care. He conducts workshops and seminars in Canada, The United States, Europe, and Asia. Gary is also an apprentice barista. He resides in St. Andrews by the Sea, New Brunswick, Canada with his wife Liz, where they operate Seahaven, an organic B&B.
Rahzeb Choudhury
Founder @Lifelong Inspiration
Rahzeb is the founder of Lifelong Inspiration. Lifelong Inspiration promotes and develops ideas, services and tools to advance a person-centred agenda. In long-term care, Lifelong Inspiration is most well known for True Doors®, decals help that improve the lives of people with dementia. True Doors began as a social art and life story project and is now a respected brand adopted from Tasmania to Vancouver.
Rahzeb has been a London city banker, market analyst, and language technology entrepreneur. He and his family are based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.