October 20th 2024.
George Thompson, a 29-year-old filmmaker from Bristol, had reached a low point in his life. He was alone, freezing, and 5,000 miles away from home in a monastery in China. Despite the harsh conditions and constant physical pain from his intensive training, George had never felt more at peace.
The cold weather had taken a toll on his body, leaving his fingers numb and his injured knees throbbing with pain. The monastery, located on a steep slope, offered little shelter from the biting winds that blew through the wire gauze windows. But even in the face of bone-chilling temperatures, George found solace in the stillness and simplicity of his surroundings.
He describes his daily routine, "I would try to warm up with my little electric heater after lunch, but it was no match for the cold. So, I would spend the rest of the day shivering in bed, bundled up in as many layers as I could find." Despite the discomfort, George found himself in a state of inner peace, something he had been searching for since leaving university in the UK.
George had been struggling with anxiety and a sense of purposelessness since graduating and entering the working world. He had taken on odd jobs, like working for Deliveroo and making YouTube videos, but nothing seemed to bring him the satisfaction or validation he craved. He had fallen into a three-month anxiety pit, feeling lost and unmotivated.
One day, George came across a video of Shaolin monks performing impressive stunts and destroying objects with their kung fu skills. In a moment of inspiration, he wrote in his diary, "Go join a monastery." And that's exactly what he did. He packed his bags and headed for the Wudang mountains in China, determined to become a kung fu master and find inner strength.
After being turned away by numerous monasteries, George was taken in by Master Gu, a tai chi teacher who spoke English. Despite a rough start, with George battling food poisoning and being ignored by other monasteries, he found his place at Master Gu's tai chi school. With his mentor's guidance, George began to find peace and healing in the mountains, away from the distractions and pressures of modern society.
Through studying taoism and tai chi, George was able to better understand his anxiety and how to manage it. He also learned to appreciate his body and its capabilities, instead of viewing it as simply a means to an end. He explains, "In the Western world, we often see our bodies as just a vehicle to move our brains from one meeting to the next. But through tai chi, I learned to see my body as a friend, a refuge."
Though his journey was not without its challenges, including enduring freezing conditions and using up all his savings, George returned to the mountains multiple times in the following years. He found a sense of purpose and inner peace that he had been searching for, and continues to share his knowledge and experiences with others. Through tai chi and taoism, George has found a way to embrace and accept himself, and hopes to inspire others to do the same.
George Thompson found himself alone in a monastery in China, 5,000 miles away from his home. The cold weather had left him freezing and sore, while his fingers were practically disabled from the low temperatures. His knees, already injured, were in agony from the intense physical activities he had been doing - tai chi, kung fu, and climbing steep slopes. Despite the harsh conditions, George had never felt more at peace in his life.
The monastery was a simple place, with wire gauze windows that allowed the mountain winds to bluster through. George would try to warm up with his little electric heater, but it would do nothing to ease the bone-deep chill. He would spend his days in bed, shivering despite wearing multiple layers of clothing. The beds were just wooden planks with one blanket, so George would try to find as many blankets as he could to stay warm. To make matters worse, he had many injuries from the rigorous physical training - his wrists, ankles, knees, and even his bum were in constant pain.
But amidst all the physical discomfort, there was a moment that changed everything for George. As he meditated on a rock on the side of a mountain, he finally understood the true meaning of his journey. It was not about escaping himself, but about embracing himself. This realization came after three months of staying in China, and it brought a sense of peace and contentment that George had never experienced before.
George was 21 when he left university in the UK and entered the working world. However, like many young graduates, he struggled with an existential crisis. He felt confused and anxious, unsure of what he was doing with his life. Working for Deliveroo and making YouTube videos about resilience and self-development, George felt like he wasn't making any progress. He started to doubt his worth as a human being, thinking that the lack of likes on his videos meant that he was not likeable or valuable. This led him down a three-month pit of anxiety, where he struggled to find motivation and was plagued by negative thoughts from an internal voice he called "the Underminer."
One day, while watching a video at university, George had an idea - to run away and join a monastery to become a Kung Fu master. It was a random decision, but it felt like the right thing to do. He packed his bags and headed for the Wudang mountains, where he eventually found a Shaolin Temple in Henan, China.
After knocking on many monastery doors, George was finally introduced to Master Gu. He stayed in a backpackers hostel at the bottom of the mountain, where he fell ill with food poisoning for three days. Once he recovered, George started knocking on monastery doors again, but he was ignored. Finally, a local man took pity on him and brought him to a Tai Chi school led by Master Gu, who could speak English. George and Master Gu hit it off immediately.
With Master Gu's guidance, George's anxiety began to melt away in the mountains. He felt a profound sense of peace, healing, and self-compassion. His studies of Taoism and Tai Chi, which he eventually began teaching, gave him the tools to understand his breakdown.
Research shows that practicing tai chi regularly can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. The slow, mindful movements and breaths have a positive effect on the nervous system and mood-regulating hormones, which is why George found peace in the mountains. The focus and intention of tai chi also helped him regulate his emotions.
George believes that all cultures have come up with forms of practices to help ground ourselves and find peace. He says, "Enlightenment is not a big mystical thing; it's just a series of experiences of total acceptance of ourselves, including the challenges and the beauty. And then that energy of total compassion and acceptance can radiate out into our lives."
However, George's journey was not an easy one. Master Gu's school at the time was a small farm shack with no heating, and George arrived in the middle of winter, where the temperatures reached -15 degrees. Despite the discomfort, George believes that the comfort and distractions of the modern world come at a cost to our relationship with ourselves and the world around us.
George spent most of his time in the mountains with his phone off, only contacting his family once a week. He didn't even remember his own birthday until he turned on his phone and saw that he had turned 21 two days prior. After his first trip, George returned to the UK, but he went back to the mountains in 2020 for a year and again in 2024 for three months.
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