Welcome to The Shibashi Sanctuary
Taking a Proactive Approach to Better Health & Stress Relief
Simple practices to protect your health, calm your nervous system, release tension and improve balance in body and mind.
Most health care only starts once symptoms appear, which feels more like sickness care than true health care.
My own approach has always been different.
In my work with Pilates, Corrective Exercise and Foot Function, I saw how weakness, poor balance and misalignment caused pain that often dragged on for months or even years.
Most people only came to me once the pain had already set in, hoping I could fix it. The truth is, I couldn’t fix them, I could advise but ultimately they had to put the work in themselves.
What I really wanted was to help them before they ever reached that stage.
That’s why prevention has always been my motto.
Shibashi has those same principles.
I’ve always believed prevention is better than cure.
From working with foot function to teaching Shibashi, my focus has been the same, act early and avoid problems before they take hold.
What is Shibashi?
Shibashi is a form of Tai Chi Qigong with 18 simple, flowing movements paired with calm breathing.
It looks gentle, but it helps improve balance, posture and alignment while also shifting the body out of stress mode and into rest-and-repair.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, prevention means keeping balance daily so illness has less chance to take hold. Shibashi reflects that, helping to release hidden stress before it grows into something bigger, like high blood pressure, muscle pain, jaw tension, ongoing fatigue or rising anxiety.
Shibashi is a form of Tai Chi Qigong with 18 simple, flowing movements paired with calm breathing.
It looks gentle, but it helps improve balance, posture and alignment while also shifting the body out of stress mode and into rest-and-repair.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, prevention means keeping balance daily so illness has less chance to take hold. Shibashi reflects that, helping to release hidden stress before it grows into something bigger, like high blood pressure, muscle pain, jaw tension, ongoing fatigue or rising anxiety.
Shibashi is a form of Tai Chi Qigong with 18 simple, flowing movements paired with calm breathing.
It looks gentle, but it helps improve balance, posture and alignment while also shifting the body out of stress mode and into rest-and-repair.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, prevention means keeping balance daily so illness has less chance to take hold. Shibashi reflects that, helping to release hidden stress before it grows into something bigger, like high blood pressure, muscle pain, jaw tension, ongoing fatigue or rising anxiety.
High blood pressure is known as the silent killer.
It asks us to change our mindset too, moving away from reactive treatment once symptoms appear, towards proactive therapy that supports body and mind every day.
For me, it’s prevention in action, strengthening both body and nervous system before overwhelm takes root.
It asks us to change our mindset too, moving away from reactive treatment once symptoms appear, towards proactive therapy that supports body and mind every day.
For me, it’s prevention in action, strengthening both body and nervous system before overwhelm takes root.
It asks us to change our mindset too, moving away from reactive treatment once symptoms appear, towards proactive therapy that supports body and mind every day.
For me, it’s prevention in action, strengthening both body and nervous system before overwhelm takes root.
Stress often hides in the body long before symptoms appear
Stay One Step Ahead of Stress
Join my mailing list for simple practices and insights that help you unwind your body, unclutter your mind and protect your health, while also improving balance and posture so stress and tension don’t build up in the first place.
What to Expect:
Practical tools to calm your nervous system, ease tension, improve posture and support balance for fall prevention
Simple science explained in plain English so you understand why it works
Insights on prevention shaped by both lived experience and professional qualifications
Updates on classes, blogs and resources inside The Shibashi Sanctuary
Subscribe and Start Taking a Proactive Approach Today
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Who is Shibashi for:
Taichi Qigong Shibashi is for anyone who wants to protect their health and get ahead of stress. It’s a gentle practice with powerful effects, helping to calm the nervous system, ease tension, improve posture and balance.
It can help if you live with:
Stress, anxiety and overwhelm
ADHD, with the constant sense of fear, anxiety and mind chatter
Chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia or post-Covid exhaustion
Perimenopause and its hormonal rollercoaster
Aches and pains from poor posture and long hours sitting
Concerns about balance or a fear of falling
Shibashi can’t take away every challenge, but it can ease many of them. By calming the nervous system, improving posture and supporting balance, it reduces physical strain and helps stop stress from adding even more pressure to daily life.
TaiChi Qigong Shibashi - is for EVERYONE
How You Can Join Me
Weekly Classes: Gentle Shibashi practice to calm your system
The Sanctuary at Home: Online access to guided practices and resources (coming soon)
The Blog: Insights, stories and simple science through my prevention-first lens
Social Media: Join me in my private group where I share LIVE chats, education and insights on Shibashi, prevention and stress relief, and other great stuff.
👉 Explore Classes
Testimonials
“Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi - a lovely class from Nikki. A very mindful calming class which really helped me to slow down.
We all have a crazy pace of life these days and an hour of slow movement, deep breathing and brain calming has enabled me to switch off and feel more relaxed.
Nikki is a great teacher, taking time to explain each move and what it’s for. If you’re thinking of trying something new and want a more soothing exercise, this is the one for you!”
Sarah Kemmet
“I suffer with chronic fatigue and pain due to long covid so in pain more days than not. I’m always looking for ways to help with this as normal exercise is just too much for me.
This class was surprisingly relaxing and made me feel very calm whilst feeling like I was doing something good for my body and mind.
Hopefully the more I practice the more it helps me in my day to day life.
Nikki’s teaching was excellent as always. She just has a great understanding of how people learn and their abilities which makes classes much more enjoyable.”
Liz Meechan
Shibashi Member
Hi, I'm Nicola, known as Nikki to my friends
I’ve worked in health and fitness for nearly 30 years, teaching everything from Pilates to Step.
In 2019 I specialised as a Corrective Exercise Specialist and focused on foot dysfunction. I saw how weakness and instability in the feet caused pain not just in the feet but throughout the body, often lasting months or even years. With the right work on strength, posture and balance, many of those problems could be improved or prevented.
That same year I was diagnosed perimenopausal, and in 2020 I was also diagnosed with ADHD. Living with ADHD, I know what it feels like when the nervous system never switches off, an anxiety overload. Perimenopause has only amplified those symptoms, making stress and anxiety harder to manage.
After the pandemic, I noticed how many people, myself included, were still exhausted and uncertain about the future. This convinced me that more attention needs to be given to the physical effects of stress, as well as the mental strain of living in the 21st century.
I now focus on Shibashi because it brings all of this together, improving balance and posture, calming the nervous system, reducing anxiety and helping people manage daily life with resilience and a clear mind, without the low level hum of stress brewing.
The only thing brewing now is my cup of tea.
Shibashi is where all my experiences have led, a preventative practice that works for the challenges we face in 21st Century
Don’t wait until stress takes over
Subscribe now
~ for preventative practices rooted in Science, Qigong and TCM values, so you can protect your health before stress, fatigue or overwhelm take over.
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Nicola Beard
Nicola Beard
The Shiabashi Sanctuary & The Sanctuary at Home