About Monica Linford
Author, speaker, educator, consultant, therapeutic movement specialist
Wellness Warrior, Monica Linford is the founder of The ChiBall Method™- a holistic exercise programme which was developed through a life-long commitment to health and fitness training and study of traditional Chinese medicine. She has a background in classical ballet, contemporary dance and yoga.
Her career in health, fitness and well-being earned her South Australia’s Fitness Leader of the Year award, the UK’s Fitness Professionals “Award of Excellence” and the British Chamber of Commerce’s “Most Innovative Export” award. Monica's book - AWAKEN YOUR BODY, BALANCE YOUR MIND, was released by Thorsons Publishing (an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing) in June 2000.
Having achieved international success with The ChiBall Method™ which reached over 26 countries and translated into five languages, via Monica’s Wellness Warrior platform a brand new venture is in development: WuWellness - movement that nourishes and restores. It is a highly effective movement programme that offers simple and practical solutions for restoring health and wellbeing.
Movement is a vital life ingredient. Monica is passionate about teaching movement in all its forms and pulls from a tool box that has in it a myriad of modalities to suit all capabilities and occasions. Movement is an internal matter according to the Eastern masters. Therefore as we bend forwards, backwards, twist, side bend, squat, walk and breathe every system of our body is stimulated and receives nourishment.
"As an author, speaker, consultant and wellness expert, Monica’s enthusiastic and knowledgeable approach and unique ability to interpret and explain holistic health concepts in easy-to-understand words and actions, ensures that her presentations and programmes are always in high demand around the world".
MISSION
To create movement for everyone that nourishes and restores.
VISION
To see people in all walks of life become well, rejuvenated and revitalised through movement.
Monica’s interest in the human body was sparked very early on as a student of classical ballet and grew when training as a professional dancer. Over the past 25+ years Monica has studied Shiatsu, oriental medicine, qigong, yoga, and meditation. She is a qualified group fitness instructor and Pilates teacher and founder of the ChiBall Method™ – a holistic exercise programme that reached 26 countries around the world. During this period Monica has also studied an array of movement modalities such as Feldenkrais method, Franklin Method, dance therapy, movement biomechanics as well as, aromatherapy and energy medicine.
Monica's Approach – The Way of the Wellness Warrior
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I love blending time honoured ancient practices with modern science and western exercise. I also love breaking down complex biomechanical movement principles to simple bite size chunks. The role of movement in Eastern philosophy is to promote balance and wellbeing. Using movement as a tool for healing is my greatest passion. Over many years of experience doing what I do it has become clear to me that the body has a voice and when we are in pain, it is trying to get our attention.
When we eventually give our body the gift of our full and undivided attention, it is always extraordinary to witness how quickly the issue at hand begins to shift, change and be resolved. Combining Eastern philosophy’s ‘less is more’ approach with “repetition is the mother of mastery”, has in my experience brought about the most astounding changes in peoples’ lives not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally too.
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Monica Linford - Founder, Wellness Warrior
What Inspires Me From Within
I have always loved learning and teaching others. For whatever reason, from a very early age I was driven to do something different, something completely unique. However life, the Universe, the great Tao master in the sky seemed to have other ideas. As a result of some significant health and life challenges I was directed to move away from diva fitness concepts towards a more balanced intuitive approach to movement. Learning the about the concept of energy (Qi) and balance (yin and yang) during my Shiatsu training was a light bulb moment. I realised that I had to transform the way I was working with my body and my health.
Movement goes beyond just exercising. The Taoist masters observed that certain body movements not only boosted the vitality of the body but also promoted healing. Movement was for the stimulation and rejuvenation of the internal organs and other body systems. It is also a way of slowing the aging process and keeping one strong and flexible to the end of one’s life. This is the philosophy that lights my fire! From the mid-90s I have been exploring a myriad of ways that one can move to improve one’s life and to rehabilitate from an injury, illness, accident or even surgery. I was born with extremely hypermobile hips. Dance, fitness and yoga were probably the worst possible modalities I could have chosen. The forces placed on my hip joints were highly inappropriate and resulted in my have to have hip replacements in both hips - starting in my mid-50s.
I have learned the most about the body by rehabilitating my own health challenges. I now have a 40 year tool box and wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to creating and prescribing therapeutic movement sequences. Movement is my passion. I love to inspire people to move and to encourage them to learn more about themselves through movement.
My new programmes “WuMotion” and "WuWellnes" (healing through movement), incorporate elements of my original ChiBall Method, whilst expanding both the philosophy and methodology significantly . Once again integrating a small ball, a range of sequences are put together to energise, tone, awaken the spine, release and relax mind and body; along with the vast body of knowledge I have gleaned over the 20+ years since ChiBall Method™ was launched.
I have always found this quote by MOCHE FELDENKRAIS most inspiring… “Making the impossible possible, the possible easy and the easy elegant”.
Don’t we all want to feel easy and elegant right on into our twilight years? I certainly do!
Awards
- 1996: South Australia’s Fitness Leader of the Year award
- 2000: Fitness Professionals UK “Award of Excellence”
- 2000: Publication of “Awaken Your Body, Balance Your Mind”
- 2006: Australian British Chamber of Commerce’s “Most Innovative Export” award.
Memberships
- VIP Member – Fitness Professionals UK Ltd. (1998 – current)
Certifications
- Certificate III – Australian Institute for Fitness
- Certificate IV – Trainer/Assessor, Training for Learning Company, Australia
- Practitioner of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming)
- Foundation Essentials Pilates Certificate – Australia Fitness Network
- Certificate in Shiatsu – The Massage Study Centre, South Australia
