About - Monical Linford

About Monica Linford

Speaker ♦ author ♦ educator ♦ consultant ♦ therapeutic movement specialist

For over 40 years I’ve been helping people discover movement that supports them for life.

My work has always been driven by a simple belief: movement is far more than exercise. It is a lifelong companion that can restore confidence, ease pain, improve resilience and help us live with greater vitality at every stage of life.

Over four decades I have brought together an unusually diverse range of experience—from professional ballet and contemporary dance, the international fitness industry and movement education, to therapeutic movement, Pilates, somatic practices and the wisdom of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Rather than following a single discipline, I have developed an integrative approach that adapts to the changing needs of every body.

My professional journey has taken me from dancing with ballet companies in Australia to studying in London, working in television and film, teaching in Los Angeles, creating international teacher-training programmes and developing The ChiBall Method™, which was reached 26 countries and translated into five languages. My book, Awaken Your Body, Balance Your Mind, was published by HarperCollins, and in 2000 I received the UK Fitness Professionals Award of Excellence in recognition of my contribution to the fitness industry.

A significant turning point came when my own experience of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome led me to explore a more restorative and holistic approach to health. That personal journey deepened my studies in Shiatsu, yoga, qigong, the Feldenkrais Method, the Franklin Method, Clinical Pilates, meditation, breathwork and Traditional Chinese Medicine. It transformed not only the way I moved, but the way I understood the body’s remarkable capacity to heal, adapt and flourish.

Today, everything I have learned—from the discipline of dance to the science of movement and the wisdom of Eastern traditions—informs the work I share with clients and students. My aim is not simply to help people exercise more, but to help them move with greater intelligence, confidence and joy throughout their lives.

My newest programme, Shensara, brings together this lifetime of learning in an online movement experience created especially for women in their sixties and beyond, supporting graceful ageing through movement, awareness, breath, nourishment and restoration.