In this new episode of Be & Think in the House of Trust, I listen to Claudia Cahalane, a journalist and meditation coach, about her transformative journey with Qigong—a meditative movement practice - and her insights from embracing slowness.

Claudia shares how Qigong combines deep breathing and gentle movements to foster calmness and enhance physical health. After experiencing burnout, she found relief through Qigong during a silent retreat, which inspired her to teach and advocate for mindfulness

We dive into the parallels between the slow, intentional nature of Qigong and the often sluggish pace of social change. Claudia emphasizes the need for patience and deeper connections within the social investment ecosystem, and how to embrace slowness as a means to build stronger relationships and create meaningful impact.

Highlights in this episode:

- The mental and physical health benefits of Qigong

- How mindfulness practices can drive social change and boost creativity.

- How social investors can build deeper relationships through diverse perspectives

- Bonus: How Claudia's mindful morning routine sets a positive tone for her day!

Connect with Claudia on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiacahalane/

Connect with Servane:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/servanemouazan/

Website: https://servanemouazan.co.uk

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Podcast Music Production from Series 04 Ep 45: Milig Mouazan-Strachan

Embracing Slowness: How Mindful Movement Fuels Social Change, with Claudia Cahalane

Think in the House of Trust features people who ignite social environmental change

Servane Mouazan: Welcome to Be and Think in the House of Trust. My name is Servane Mouazan from Conscious Innovation and in this series I create a thinking environment with people who ignite a positive social environmental change. Some of them invest funds, other offer resources, support approaches to make things happen. And they are all committed to a world where we can tell each other you matter. And today I have a long friend in the house, Claudia Cahalane Claudia is a journalist and she's been published, among others, in the Guardian, the Sunday Times, Wired, the Independent, BBC Green, Positive News, Diva magazine, and she also wrote for UK government websites and various social enterprise and social investment magazines and platforms. Her grasp on social issues is very, very rich. Interestingly, Claudia is also a meditation coach and teacher and, a certified qigong teacher from the London Chiatsu School. Claudia teaches online and also in person and she'll tell us what this practise is all about in her own words. And I'm curious to know how mindful movement, pausing, contemplating and writing about social movements and causes that matter might be interconnected and what we can learn from that. So let's dive in. Hi, Claudia

Claudia Cahalane: Hi Servane Lovely to chat to you today.

Claudia Cahalane: Thanks for inviting me on.

Servane Mouazan: A, pleasure. So let's dive in straight away, shall we?

Qigong is a move in meditation that focuses on movement

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah.

Claudia Cahalane: Ah.

Servane Mouazan: If you were to describe qigong to someone who cannot see and has never experienced it before, what would you say?

Claudia Cahalane: Okay, good question.

Claudia Cahalane: So qigong is a move in meditation, I would say. And if you've not experienced meditation before, I'd call this, calm in the.

Claudia Cahalane: Mind, quiet in the m mind.

Claudia Cahalane: And, maybe there'll be a focus on breathing. And with the qigong there is a focus normally on the movement and it, it's kind of like synchronising deep breathing with slow, repetitive movements to kind of generate calm in the body, reduce nervousness in the body, anxiety in the body, and also to kind of promote physical.

Claudia Cahalane: Health, to help the flow of the.

Claudia Cahalane: Lymph fluid, the blood and the oxygen around the body. And it's a bit like Tai Chi. If someone knows Tai chi, qigong.

Claudia Cahalane: Has thousands of movements, one of which.

Claudia Cahalane: Is Tai Chi is a set of qigong movements, also thousands of others. And, I'm trained to teach quite a few different sets, but I'm always learning. And so there's lots of movements for people to pick from depending on, like how they feel, what they need, what physicality they need.

Claudia Cahalane: And you can also just intuitively move.

Claudia Cahalane: And we could call that qigong as well. It Roughly translates as working with your energy. So working with the flow of the.

Claudia Cahalane: Energy around the body and there are.

Claudia Cahalane: Various ways to direct that with breathing, movement, with our mind and

Servane Mouazan: Yeah, well, thank you. I can feel like working already just by letting myself transported by your words. How did you come to that? How did you find it?

Claudia Cahalane: I found it on a silent retreat about 12 years ago. So I was coming to a.

Claudia Cahalane: Place where I think perhaps a lot.

Claudia Cahalane: Of people, particularly women in their early 30s, starting to feel those signs of burnout. I started to get to a place where I kind of just needed to quiet my mind.

Claudia Cahalane: I'd never done meditation. I'd done lots of physical activities. I'd done lot a marathon, big cycle rides. I was very extrovert, very busy and.

Claudia Cahalane: I started feeling like I don't wanna see people, I don't wanna do stuff, I just wanna be quiet. So I googled silent meditations.

Claudia Cahalane: Not many around apart from the intensive vipassana ones. but I found a seven day.

Claudia Cahalane: One, in Wales near my family. And I thought, great. When I told people they were like silent meditation, but you're so chatty and outgo, you'll never do it. But from the moment I was there, I loved it. And I didn't know that we'd be doing something called qigong every day while we were there. I'd never heard of it, didn't know what it was. We did it every morning. And I just thought, oh my God, like this is just the biggest sense of relief and relaxation I've ever had. And I kept going back. I went on the same retreat five.

Claudia Cahalane: Or six times and did more and more.

Claudia Cahalane: You going, And then, I started sort of thinking I'm working at the computer.

Claudia Cahalane: All day as a journalist, especially when.

Claudia Cahalane: I went freelance in my mid to late 20s. I was juggling so many different.

Claudia Cahalane: Jobs and clients, working all through the night.

Claudia Cahalane: Sometimes, I didn't know anything about mental health back then or my wellbe being. I just needed to earn the money, get the job done and it became quite intense. So I thought, I can't go on like that forever. I need something to take me.

Claudia Cahalane: Away from the computer, to do something.

Claudia Cahalane: Physical, well, being wise. And I thought there's hundreds of yoga teachers around, why not try and become a qigong teacher? So I found a training course, in London with the shiatsu college and.

Claudia Cahalane: I did two years. I just, it was hard, it was really hard.

Claudia Cahalane: My energy level was quite low. It's hard to commit to it. but I got loads of benefits from it and I just started teaching little classes along the way.

Claudia Cahalane: First of all, at like Brighton Unemployment.

Claudia Cahalane: Centre, I would go for a donation, get a few quids.

Claudia Cahalane: It just helped me to be able.

Claudia Cahalane: To like practise this thing that felt so good for my body. So.

Claudia Cahalane: And I've continued going, I've done more.

Claudia Cahalane: Training, along the way and built up the classes and now have a few corporates which helps pay for like.

Claudia Cahalane: My community classes with people in drug.

Claudia Cahalane: And alcohol recovery, with the LGBTT community with older age groups and always trying to build it.

Servane Mouazan: Wonderful. Well, it sounds like you built your own village of practise here.

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah.

Claudia Cahalane: You find the routines.

Claudia Cahalane: It's really exciting when you find a.

Claudia Cahalane: New routine that works for you and.

Claudia Cahalane: You'Ve got like this sort of different.

Claudia Cahalane: Tools that you can pick from for.

Claudia Cahalane: Different groups and regular students now.

Claudia Cahalane: And that's a bit of a community.

Claudia Cahalane: In itself and it's lovely.

Servane Mouazan: Beautiful.

You write about social enterprise and social investment

So, as you mention, you are also a journalist. From the way we know each other is because you journalists and you talk.

Claudia Cahalane: About writing about social enterprise.

Servane Mouazan: Yeah, social enterprise and movement and things that usually also take time to unfold or to have an impact. And I wonder, is there a connection about that slowness of things between that journalism or this topic and qicong?

Claudia Cahalane: interesting question, isn't it? I mean I could make all sorts.

Claudia Cahalane: Of connections and create like sort of relationship between the two. I think for me that sort of.

Claudia Cahalane: The relationship is very much kind of.

Claudia Cahalane: Internal, that I need both, the kind of mental work and mental stimulation and also the physical and the more calm, sort of practises. But everything I've kind of come out, I guess through my work and in my life is through wanting to create social change, through the writing'm, on the Myers Briggs. I'm the campaigner personality.

Claudia Cahalane: And so with the writing I've always.

Claudia Cahalane: Wanted to, you know, change society, change minds, campaign for justice and think that the qigong has, what's it done.

Claudia Cahalane: It does kind of help you get.

Claudia Cahalane: Out of that space of, you know, the 24 hour news cycle and fast news and trying to kind of live.

Claudia Cahalane: In that zone like, like a lot of journalists do. I've never wanted to kind of go.

Claudia Cahalane: Down that route, but I did a little bit, I guess, in my younger years.

Claudia Cahalane: So the combination of the two does.

Claudia Cahalane: Mean that I spend, I think more time, if I can let an articles digest, let theories and interviews digest and always like spend more time now coming back to articles before I publish them.

Claudia Cahalane: Whereas in the past it might be.

Claudia Cahalane: Literally file straight away. I've tried to cultivate kind of working relationships and clients where I can take more time and slow down with.

Claudia Cahalane: With my writing.

Claudia Cahalane: And also I'm not doing as much. I feel like that doesn't give you.

Claudia Cahalane: A chance to really pause and breathe.

Claudia Cahalane: And reflect on what you're putting out into the world.

Servane Mouazan: What I noticed is that there'it's not inertia, there is a movement, a slow movement, slow digestion. These are the things that are coming up. Especially when you talk about change. Change is not necessarily visible straight away. M How does that inform specifically your work with social investment? the social investment ecosystem? What do you notice there?

Claudia Cahalane: I think, yeah, I started firstly writing about social enterprise about 18 years ago.

Claudia Cahalane: Now and at the time it was kind of. There was a lot of stuff going on in government around social enterprise being.

Claudia Cahalane: Like the next big thing.

Claudia Cahalane: And we were so excited and behind it and, this was gonna be changeing society for us. And I guess I've realised as time's gone on that how long those changes do take. And now, of course, at the moment there's also a lot of rolel in back and setbacks of kind of social.

Claudia Cahalane: Change and social progress as well, which.

Claudia Cahalane: I never would have envisaged in my younger years. And it's interesting in a way, there's been steady progress in kind of social enterprise, social investment. but I am concerned now about.

Claudia Cahalane: Where we're at and whether that will continue.

Claudia Cahalane: I did have a bit of a break from writing about social enterprise and social investment. I went to work

Claudia Cahalane: for a tech and disability charity for four years writing accessibility content. And so I stepped out and then when I've come back to writing about.

Claudia Cahalane: Social investment in the last year and.

Claudia Cahalane: A half and I have been a bit surprised by the fact that social.

Claudia Cahalane: Enterprise feels like it's not really progressed that much in that time.

Claudia Cahalane: from what I can see at the moment, I could be wrong. and social enterprise social investment also hasn't taken off as much so far as I hoped. But I think that'having to adjust.

Claudia Cahalane: The expectations that these things do really.

Claudia Cahalane: Take a lot of time and a lot of change. And I suppose I'm more in the.

Claudia Cahalane: Nitty gritty, more in the detail now.

Claudia Cahalane: Of social investment with my current freelance work writing for, Alliance. And I can see the small changes.

Claudia Cahalane: Happening behind the scenes. It's a realisation that things are slowly.

Claudia Cahalane: Changing, very slowly changing and not changing.

Claudia Cahalane: As Much as we'd all like or I'd hope.

What kind of small changes are you noticing in philanthropy and social investment

Servane Mouazan: What kind of small changes are you noticing?

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah, an interesting one actually with alliance at the moment. They've just.

Claudia Cahalane: So alliance writes about, philanthropy and social investment. They've also just got in a reporter to cover media and philanthropy. So there's sort of these changes that we're starting to realise that how.

Claudia Cahalane: Important free media is and open media.

Claudia Cahalane: Particularly now with kind of a bit more dictatorship in the world. And it's kind of reassuring to me to see that someone is now trying to like put some money into making.

Claudia Cahalane: The media more free and giving us more options for independent journalism and media. So that's a really positive change.

Claudia Cahalane: I think we're honing in a bit more on what really needs to be done and the big areas maybe that can have a big impact, on.

Claudia Cahalane: Lots of other areas.

Claudia Cahalane: For example, you know, being able to like have a free media and free press and you know, social investment going into that is fantastic.

Servane Mouazan: This is where scale can happen.

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah, I think so.

Claudia Cahalane: And there's conferences around sort of philanthropy and social investment and media as well, happening quite a lot.

Claudia Cahalane: I've seen like more and more of those pop up. And the gender stuff and LGBT stuff.

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah.

Claudia Cahalane: Sadly there's been a bit of a rolling back of philanthropy in those areas.

Claudia Cahalane: I think, from what I've seen recently.

Claudia Cahalane: But, you know, people wanted to.

Claudia Cahalane: Kind of rally around it, perhaps try.

Claudia Cahalane: And get some social investment plugged in to plug the gaps of philanthropy in those areas.

Claudia Cahalane: So this kind of stuff's positive.

Claudia Cahalane: I sort of see both sides. I simultaneously feel kind of hopeful about these changes but also sometimes quite flat, and depressed that, that, you know, so much more needs to be done and yeah, it's not happening quickly enough and disappointing to go to a.

Claudia Cahalane: Few sort of big social investment conferences.

Claudia Cahalane: And there to be, you know, very minimal people from poorer backgrounds or different, you know, marginalised groups. And I would have thought, I would have hoped we'd be sort of making changes in that area now and sort of the power would be handed over a bit more to, you know, those who can really know how to change their communities. And yeah, wherever you look, you see both, don't you? You see people, people who are trying to roll it back and people are trying to progress forwards.

Servane Mouazan: Mhm. So really your observation here, and it just reminds me when you are as a Qikong teacher, you probably see where there is a slow movement, there's also a lot of strength because to be able to maintain Slow movement, you need a lot, you need to reinforce your core, your muscles or you know, it's not necessarily bodybuilding but there is a lot of strength happening in slowness.

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah, you do. I mean you. Actually I've been dabbling in a tiny.

Claudia Cahalane: Bit of martial arts connected to qigong.

Claudia Cahalane: Recently, a group that does both. And I was being taught some.

Claudia Cahalane: New movements and the instructor was saying you need to move at this particular speed because if you go more slowly.

Claudia Cahalane: It'S actually going to put more pressure on your muscles, which is kind of flipping it all a little bit the other way. So it's kind of like.

Claudia Cahalane: But the interplay between that is.

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah. I guess when you slow down and you do have to take into account more people's opinions and be more respectful of different groups.

Claudia Cahalane: That requires more strength and effort probably.

Servane Mouazan: And I think we're onto something.

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah.

Claudia Cahalane: And that's why people don't wanna do it. Right. Because they have to make so much more effort to, to do that. And yeah, to become really strong.

Claudia Cahalane: In those areas you do have to.

Claudia Cahalane: Repeatedly do your

Claudia Cahalane: movements and your exercises and give that process respect, I guess.

Servane Mouazan: Giving the process respect. Wow.

Finn says meditation can help finance professionals deepen relationships and trust

So moving on from that and in total connection in this house of trust we often hear about values such as trust, reciprocity, kindness, all these beautiful things by imagine if finance people from your observer point of view, where to make trust, reciprocity, kindness flourish even more in their day to day activities and practise, what would you invite them to activate first pragmatically to us?

Claudia Cahalane: It's so obvious, isn't it?

Claudia Cahalane: You know, just making that time to invite people in who you don't usually speak to and explore their opinions and needs and listen to people which obviously your thinking partnership practise is amazing. They need that kind of, that level I think of sort of time and effort gone into kind of understanding other people and what their needs are. I go to sor of big conferences and you like I say, you see they're just not enough diversity in these groups and so people, you know, without taking time to practise these relationships and these connections and being with different people. I don't think you can develop that kind of faith and trust in each other. I think everyone just wants you. They just want like you know, quick fixes'they. We're all very pushed for time and no one wants to feels able to explore more deeply with seeing each other's wants and needs these days. If people in big finance positions did.

Claudia Cahalane: More meditation for sure and qigong, then they. It would make a huge, huge, hugege, huge amount of difference.

Claudia Cahalane: And you see that from corporate initiatives where people do meditation and, you know, also in things like, I think the NYPD police force doing a meditation programme.

Claudia Cahalane: And what a massive effect that had.

Claudia Cahalane: On their relationships with the community and how they responded to people, how they treated people.

Claudia Cahalane: It's huge. It's massive.

Claudia Cahalane: When you look at, kind of how things change when people take time to sort of slow down and meditate. And us in the sort of meditation.

Claudia Cahalane: Industry will always say, you know, even.

Claudia Cahalane: Just a couple of minutes a day. And what I like about the chigong and a lot of people like about the qigong is that if people struggle to really slow down and meditate and sit down, then it's much easier because people feel like they're still being active, they're doing something, it gives them more of a focus.

Claudia Cahalane: But you get all the benefits of.

Claudia Cahalane: Being able to really slow your mind down. we're seeing more interest in qigongg.

Claudia Cahalane: Like in the NHS and in different places.

Claudia Cahalane: I'd love to see it, you know, go further into some of our bigger.

Claudia Cahalane: Systems, into the finance system.

Servane Mouazan: So slowness as a way to activate your relational muscle.

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. even like people we've known for a long time in life, we don't really know, you know, unless we really slow down and take the time to be mindful and present with them.

Claudia Cahalane: One of my favourite things to do.

Claudia Cahalane: Which I run sometimes along the qigong is, tea meditation ceremonies. And, I lived in a tea meditation house for eight months in lockdown, which was incredible. We meditate two hours a day with like, this really ancient Po tea from China. And, I only lived in the.

Claudia Cahalane: House for eight months, but the level at which I got to know those.

Claudia Cahalane: People from sitting and meditating with each other each day was just so, so deep and so conn. We're so connected afterwards and since living together and you.

Claudia Cahalane: Know, what you learn about yourself and.

Claudia Cahalane: How you, work in relation to other people, it's fantastic.

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah.

Claudia Cahalane: I really recommend, you know, people sitting down and meditating with their colleagues and itinds me of like kind of the Finnish culture with, sauna in together because sauna also helps like relax the body and big sauna fan relax the nervous system really calm and slows down.

Claudia Cahalane: The body and mind.

Claudia Cahalane: And so you hear like Finnished people having business meetings in the saunas, which is to us in the UK is a weird idea. But, you know, there's the productivity and the creativity that comes from being relaxed together is massive.

Claudia Cahalane: And I'd say after my first week.

Claudia Cahalane: Of on the Sideilet retreat, I felt like, so creative. Afterwards, I. I felt some of my.

Claudia Cahalane: Best

Claudia Cahalane: work, best articles.

Claudia Cahalane: After that retreat and subsequent ones, you'll.

Claudia Cahalane: Be like, much more powerful.

Claudia Cahalane: I'd say if you spend that time slowing down and everything will feel richer.

Servane Mouazan: Well, I think you've just explained what resourceful means really in your description and slowing down connect and being in a relationship with your surroundings, with people around you, getting to know them better, slow down and really activate that relational muscle.

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah.

Savann talks to Claudia about her morning routine and meditation

Servane Mouazan: So, Claudia, is there anything I haven't asked you yet that you love me to ask you?

Claudia Cahalane: It's been a really good chat.

Claudia Cahalane: It's been.

Claudia Cahalane: It's been great to, sort of think about these, these topics and explore these subjects more. I don't know, you could ask. You could ask about everyone.

Claudia Cahalane: Ask about morning routines. Don't they?

Claudia Cahalane: That's the thing.

Servane Mouazan: What is your morning routine?

Claudia Cahalane: What's your morning routine? That's what all podcasts talk about, I think.

Servane Mouazan: Oh, do you want that?

Claudia Cahalane: All the commercial ones I can tell.

Claudia Cahalane: You because it is quite slow. Right.

Servane Mouazan: Oh, there you go. So tell me everything about your morning routine.

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah, so, I will wake up.

Claudia Cahalane: Try and wake up naturally without an.

Claudia Cahalane: Alarm if I can, because that's not a great way to start your day and I think in a mindful way. So if I can avoid it, I'll avoid the alarm and then get up and make a herbal tea and go.

Claudia Cahalane: Straight outside to the light to help.

Claudia Cahalane: With balancing the circadian rhythms. And I find that massively helpful for like clearing my hair, clearing my mind.

Claudia Cahalane: And also the fresh air outside.

Claudia Cahalane: Get into your brain. This is another huge benefit of the Che is like proper breathing and mindful breathing. And I think a lot of people don't realise.

Claudia Cahalane: More people now realise who are into.

Claudia Cahalane: Meditation, how much of an amazing effect.

Claudia Cahalane: It can have on your brain and your mind.

Claudia Cahalane: If you breathe properly and you're getting.

Claudia Cahalane: In the blood and the oxygen into.

Claudia Cahalane: Your brain, it changes everything and it just makes you feel so much calmer. Then I will maybe do a bit of chigong in the garden or I will do a little tea ceremony for myself.

Claudia Cahalane: Ah, just me think really mindful.

Servane Mouazan: O nicees. I love this.

Claudia Cahalane: And, come back in and have, some breakfast protein as much as I can.

Claudia Cahalane: It just feels like a really important.

Claudia Cahalane: Thing to do for my brain.

Claudia Cahalane: So then I'm ready to start my day.

Claudia Cahalane: Normally get to the computer or either.

Claudia Cahalane: For an online class or some writing of articles.

Claudia Cahalane: And yeah it's normally quite late in the day then so I always feel like haven't got enough time to finish everything but at least I've started my.

Claudia Cahalane: Day slowly and mindfully so that helps.

Claudia Cahalane: Yeah.

Servane Mouazan: Oh what a beautiful, beautiful setup here. Well thank you so much Claudia for this moment. It was a pleasure hearing your story and the connection you make and it feels like weing time you know in your calm humour really help with observeing, contemplating. So thank you so much.

Claudia Cahalane: Youre welcome.

Claudia Cahalane: Thank you and its lovely to chat. Thanks Servane thanks for having me on.

Servane Mouazan: Well to you all. I hope you harvested nourishing nuggets too. And now that you know what to do and how to start your day, you can also share this episode widely and widely. It's available to listen to everywhere on your usual podcast platforms and for more insights, resources and opportunities. And even if you want to develop thinking environments for yourself and your team to design something you new, different, powerful, relevant. Well head to my website servanemouazan.co.uk and subscribe to my regular updates. Keep connecting, keep slowing down and take care of yourselves Bye.