Finding Peace: Overcoming Anxiety with Tai Chi

Embarking on a journey to overcome anxiety, George found unexpected solace and purpose in learning Tai Chi in the Wudang mountains.

### Overcoming Anxiety with Tai Chi: A YouTuber's Journey to the Wudang Mountains
* 😔 After finding it difficult to make a living as a YouTuber and experiencing post-graduation uncertainty, the creator developed **anxiety**.
* 🗣 The "**Underminer**," a voice in their head constantly undermining them, made them feel **controlled**.
* ✈ They decided to travel to the Wudang Mountains in China to confront their Underminer by **learning kung fu**.
* 👴 Instead of finding a kung fu school, they stumbled upon a Tai Chi school led by Master Gu, the **only English-speaking master in the region**.
* 🥋 Practicing Tai Chi helped them with anxiety, but they still faced challenges and **self-doubt**.
* 🌏 They used Daoist philosophy to challenge their Underminer and started sharing **powerful ideas** on their YouTube channel, leading to the **formation of a community**.
* 🎥 Master Gu eventually accepted them as his disciple, and with the newfound knowledge, they returned home to see if it could **help them in the real world**.
* 💬 They learned that **destructive thoughts are natural but almost always wrong**, and treating them as background noise can **diminish their power**. They encouraged others to start learning Tai Chi to **improve their mental and physical well-being**.

I could never have imagined what getting away from it all would lead to. All right, hello George. So you're just feeling a bit down right now. It's just weird how variable I am. I just finished University, and I decided to follow my dreams and become a YouTuber. I found out making a living on YouTube is bloody hard. Suddenly, my dream didn't seem like such a good idea. You're just inside writing YouTube videos all day. I'd hoped I'd be more stable than this, but evidently not. As with a lot of young people leaving education, the uncertainty of what I'm supposed to be doing with my life led to me developing anxiety. If you're thinking get a grip, I did too, but I felt controlled by what I called the underminer. It's that bloomin' voice in our head that's always telling us give up, you're weak. All I wanted was to take back control. I bought a flight to China on a quest to take my underminer down.

what was the plan? To try and get into a kung fu monastery. Here we go, we're off. I turned up to the Wudang mountains, which is the home of Wudang kungfu. It felt like I had stepped into a time machine. I was suddenly thrown into the wonderful world temples, hermits, and monks. Right, I've heard good things about this place. This is Purple Cloud Temple. First off, this is exciting. It could be it, yeah. It turned out they were academic monks, not kung-fu monks. So I turned to Plan B: find a kung-fu school. But the locals took me to a Tai Chi school. Tai Chi, that's for old people, I thought. But you know the latest Karate Kid? I had basically fallen into a Tai Chi version of that. This is Master Gu, the master of the school. In fact, the Karate Kid came to the Wudang mountains and Master Gu was in it. This is him here, the stars.

must have been aligned that day because
Master Gu was the only English-speaking master in the whole of the Wudang
Mountains. He has a great big smile and he sings a
lot, and there were just two of the students. Somehow I had stumbled across
paradise, but still being anxious, the journey had just begun. 6:30 a.m., not a
bad view to wake up to. Down low, it's freakin snowing. Tai Chi is a
martial art slowed down for health purposes. It was started by a monk who
saw a fight between a bird and a snake. All the moves are pretty violent: bang
and then smack him in the face with this hand. Master Gu describes good Tai Chi as
powerful, peaceful, happy, and certainly starting off, I wasn't any of those. I
looked like a robot with a stick up his ass, but now, now I was beginning to feel
my hands glide as if they had a mind of their own.
Turned out Tai Chi was pretty badass and

it was helping me with my anxiety, but
some days, it would be so cold that I would sit in bed scrolling through
Reddit, and would beat myself up for not doing anything. all the BS of my past
life was far away, and yet I was still in pain. it turns out the Underminer can
travel to. I was determined to do better. you see, this is really opening up, breaking their arm again, so so slowly,
quite a kind of a limp-wristed sport. it, the religion of the Wudang
mountains, is Daoism. I started using it as a weapon to whip some ass. In Taoism,
there is something called the Dao that is the world, and the world is
indescribably complicated. so when my Underminer would give me stick about being
anxious, I challenge him and say, I don't even know how I work, so how am I
supposed to have everything sorted out. master Gu and I were sharing powerful
ideas like these on the YouTube channel, and over time, an amazing community
started to develop. eventually, even the

local TV stations caught wind flexibility. I guess my progress was reflected in the fact that master Gu accepted me as his disciple. I'm very happy to accept you as my disciple. In Chinese culture, if your father asks you to turn left and your master asks you to turn right, turn right. So yeah, it was a pretty big deal, but with time, home was calling me. I needed to see whether what I had learned could actually help me back in the real world. He's leaving, he's the student I'm so proud of. He loved Shakespeare, so I've invited him to Britain. I could never have imagined what getting away from it all would lead to. Sometimes it's only when we open ourselves up to uncertainty that life shows us the way. I started this trip asking, Can we overcome the Underminer? An ancient philosophy and practice taught me destructive thoughts are natural but almost always wrong. If we realize they are just the Underminer speaking, we can

treat them like background noise, and they lose all their power. I've won battles with my Underminer. He turns up less often now, but he's still with me. Rationality and anxiety will always be with me. I've learnt that that's okay, that we're all fundamentally okay. But you know, I was never taught this. We've got a depression and anxiety epidemic, but given what we weren't taught, is this really any wonder? Well, here's an idea: tai chi is fun, good for your body, beautiful, calms you down, reminds you to live from your center, and to be flexible when things change. It can bring meaning and joy to your life, so imagine the good it could do if more of us did it. So right now, I challenge you to start learning Tai Chi. You can do it online or in a class, then go tell your friends that it's cool. Then go to a park somewhere, do some moves looking badass, film it, send it to me, and I'm going to

make a montage of our amazing generation,
looking after our mental and physical well-being. Let's show the world we know
how to live. So yeah, Tai Chi is pretty awesome. If you
want to give it a go, have a Google search, see if there's a class next to
you, or you can actually learn with Master Gu. He's got an online course. Please get
your Tai Chi video to me by the 1st of September. It will be a lot of fun if a lot
of you join in with that. You want to see how the adventure unfolded in real time.
I've made a playlist of all the best video, but now the real journey's
beginning, to see if I can actually apply all these ideas in the real world. So if
you want to see me fail or succeed at that, hit subscribe. And one final thing,
if you enjoyed the video, consider sharing. That took me ten solid days of
editing, but I hope you really enjoyed, and I'll see you soon.

How 6 Months in China Changed My Life

Balance is possible! For you. For me. For humanity. 💜🌍☯️
I started this YouTube channel confused and anxious. I used to think I was UNIQUELY messed up for finding life hard. 
I, however, stumbled across ancient ideas and practices that helped me be compassionate to myself, to build a strong body and find resilience in the midst of life's challenges.
Come join me for the ongoing adventure, I am passionate about sharing what has helped me, to support you on your journey. 
Let's empower ourselves so that we can be of service to our loved ones, our communities and ultimately the planet! 
💪🌱
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George Thompson

A Journey to Conquer the Underminer: My Quest in the Wudang Mountains

A recent university graduate turned YouTuber struggles with uncertainty and anxiety, leading him to seek control over his life.

In an attempt to conquer his inner underminer, he impulsively travels to the Wudang mountains in China to find a kung fu monastery, but ends up in a Tai Chi school instead, unexpectedly following the path of the Karate Kid.

Discovering the Power of Tai Chi at Wudang Mountains

Master Gu, the sole English-speaking master at Wudang Mountains, taught Tai Chi for health and peace.

Tai Chi, originally a martial art, proved to be a powerful tool for overcoming anxiety and pain, while also building a strong community at the Wudang Mountains.

The Power of Tai Chi: A Journey to Self-Discovery

A person shares their journey of self-discovery through Tai Chi and its positive impact on mental well-being.

The individual's experience with mastering Tai Chi is highlighted, along with the idea of spreading its benefits to others.

The message encourages people to embrace Tai Chi as a way to find meaning, joy, and flexibility in life, ultimately challenging them to start learning and sharing the practice.

Embracing Tai Chi for Physical and Mental Well-being

The speaker encourages viewers to try Tai Chi for both physical and mental health, either through local classes or online courses.

They also invite people to join in and share their own Tai Chi videos by a specific date.

The speaker has created a playlist of related videos and plans to document their journey of applying Tai Chi principles in real life, inviting viewers to subscribe and share the content.