The Body Remembers

I believe the body remembers the way home. When life becomes too much for words, it often knows how to hold us—gently, patiently, honestly.

 

Tēnā koe
Ko Báilóng Dòng (White Dragon Cave) te maunga,
Ko Lóngjiāng Hé (Dragon River) te awa,
No Haina tōku tīpuna.
Ko He Jingjing  tōku ingoa.
E noho ana au ki Whakatū

He mihi tēnei ki ngā mana tangata o tēnei rohe.
Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

My Roots

Kia ora, Ninhao, Hello 👋

My name is He, Jingjing  (何菁菁), and I grew up in Guangxi, in Southwest China — the Zhuang Autonomous Region. It’s a place where bamboo, mountains, and rivers weave through the town, and the rhythm of life follows the seasons of nature. 

( Local people use bamboo raft and bamboo-made little boat, 2011)

(Fresh seasonal food from farmers at local  market, 2023)

My grandma was my first teacher of healing. She did cupping using a recycled jar and a match ,  cooked our family meals with seasonal vegetables, flowers, plants, or even plant ashes.

When anyone in our family wasn’t well, we had herbal soups, baths or massage. Everyone in our family knows how to do scrapping massage (gua sha), which was an almost magical instant remedy for headaches, fevers and colds.

 This early experience shaped how I care for my body,  mind, and  those around me.

How I Find My Way Into Tai Chi

When I was ten, one of my dad’s friends was a Kung fu uncle everyone admired. He had appeared in Jet Lee films, and to me, he was a real-life Kung fu star. I adored those movies and begged my dad to let me learn Kung fu. That Kong fu uncle became my Sifu.

（My sister's photo, when we just started our kongfu journey.)

In Chinese, Sifu (师父) is made of two parts: teacher and father. It’s not just about learning skills—it’s a lifelong relationship of trust, responsibility, and respect. By consent, he passed his knowledge and care to me, and I committed to honouring him as family.

（My Sifu was a certified Kongfu and Lion Dance coach of Po Chi Lam, Foshan, Guangdong) 

Then in my twenties, I met a Wudang lay monk teaching Tai Chi outside Sun Yat-sen University. Many of the students were Master’s and MBA graduates. That was where my Tai Chi journey began. 

（Wudang moutain, the origin of Taoism,  Qi Gong and Tai Chi.)

Before leaving China for a working holiday, I went back to my hometown. My Sifu told me clearly: “You need to learn Tai Chi before you go.”
Every day he picked me up on his motorbike and took me to his kung fu school, where he taught children from three to eighteen years old. I trained daily. 

One day, my Sifu said to me,

"I never expect you to become a Kongfu athlete like some of my other students. But for keeping your body and mind fit, Taichi is excellent. No matter what challenges you encounter in the future, Tai Chi can help you. "

From then on, Tai Chi became my family legacy. I practised wherever I went, teaching along the way- China, UK, NZ. Taichi taught me the true strength comes from alignment, awareness, and a gesture of relaxation.

Loss, Healing, and Finding My Way Back to the Body

(Interviewed by Cultural Conversation. Listen to Jingjing's Bittersweet Stories here.)

In 2017, my husband passed away suddenly, just six months after we married. Words could not hold my grief. I try counselling and yoga. I am still very flexible but something inside feels out of place, tight and rigid. 

I received nearly weekly hands-on bodywork. And I returned to Tai Chi from a very frozen place. Some days, all I could do was Clouding Hands. But even that was enough. Tai Chi met me exactly where I was — without forcing or pushing, but allowing the energy to gently return.

Guided by Traditional Wisdom and Respect for the Land

From 2023 to 2025, I studied Rongoā Māori in Ōtautahi/ Christchurch. This deepened my understanding that wellbeing is held not only in the body and mind, but also our connection with  the land, family, and wairua.

Rongoā Māori, like Tai Chi, is more than a technique or knowledge—it is a lifestyle medicine of supporting balance in everyday life. For clients and students, this means being met as a whole person, within relationship and care, rather than being reduced to symptoms. This grounding continues to shape my offering today: holistic, nurturing, with deep respect for the body’s relationship to land, people, and life.

( National Rongoā Conference, at Tūrangawaewae marae, Waikato,  2025 )

About The Healing Hut

Before working with the body, I worked with words— first in law, then in psychology. These paths taught me structure, responsibility, and insight into the human mind—yet I also came to see their limits.

Some experiences live beyond language or analysis. It was through deep listening, softening and connection that I found another level of reality.

The Healing Hut grew from this integration: a healing space for your self-care. Through bodywork, you reconnect with your authentic self and life itself. 

How I Support You

I support you through gentle, body-based practices that honour your individuality and lived experience. This means you are not rushed, fixed, or pushed into a system. We work at a pace that allows your body to flow with the natural rhythm.

Sessions and classes are guided with care, clarity, and respect, creating space for balance, resilience, and ease to emerge naturally.

I don’t chase perfection or quick fixes. I offer steady support, deep listening, and practices that help you reconnect with your innate balance and wellbeing.

Recognition & Experience

I’ve been fortunate to teach Tai Chi and movement practices in China, the UK, and New Zealand. Over the years, I’ve guided workshops at festivals and community events.

I enjoy supporting people from all walks of life—seniors, youth, cancer survivors, people with special needs, former refugees, athletes, models, Yoga and Tai Chi teachers.

Some of my related certifications include Certified Fitness & Pilates Instructor (UK), Yin Yoga Teacher (Yin Therapy, NZ), NZQA Level 5 Holistic Pulsing Practitioner, and accredited Tai Chi instructor through Sports Canterbury & ACC. , and Level 4 Certificate in Rongoā Māori. These experiences shape a teaching approach that is nurturing, holistic, and deeply respectful of lived experience.

(Led a Tai Chi session at the NZCFS National Conference, attended by Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaolong and Consul He Ying. Christchurch, 2025)

(Led a Tai Chi workshop at Evolve Festival, Nelson, 2021)

(Featured in posters and media coverage at various community events and festivals.)

( Certificate for accreditation of Live Stronger For Longer Taichi Community Class, 2025 )

(An article on Nelson Mail about Jingjing's Taichi and connection with Māori Health Model, 2022 )

 

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