ABOUT MILES
Movement. Stillness. Internal practice.
I’m Miles Kempton — a Qigong teacher and holistic coach with over 11 years’ experience working with people through movement, health and personal development.
My background spans physical training, Qigong, Neigong, meditation, Tai Chi and breathwork. What began as an interest in the body and physical performance gradually developed into a much deeper exploration of awareness, energy and the internal arts.
Today, my work brings these worlds together — traditional internal practices taught with a practical, individual and grounded approach.
Qigong • Neigong • Neidan • Meditation • Breathwork • Tai Chi • Strength & Conditioning Coach • Nutrition • 12+ Years Coaching
THE BEGINNING
An unexpected introduction to Qi.
My first encounter with Qigong came unexpectedly in 1998, during a Tai Chi class. I knew very little about internal practice at the time, but I was struck by the strange and fascinating sensations I experienced — my first real sense that there was something more happening than simply moving the body through a sequence of postures.
That experience stayed with me, but it wasn't until around 2014 that I was drawn back to the practice in earnest. By then, my work in physical training and coaching had already given me a deep interest in the body, movement and human performance, but Qigong opened the door to something different: internal awareness, stillness, sensitivity and the experience of Qi itself.
What began as curiosity gradually became a much deeper exploration of Qigong, meditation, Tai Chi and the internal arts — and ultimately a practice that would become an increasingly important part of both my personal life and my work.
Going Deeper
Standing still changed everything.
One aspect of Qigong that particularly captured my attention was Zhan Zhuang — standing practice. I kept coming across stories of traditional training where students would spend long periods simply standing before progressing to more elaborate methods.
From the outside, it looked almost too simple. When I began exploring it seriously, however, all I initially found was discomfort, tension and an inability to settle. That fascinated me. If simply standing could be that difficult, there was clearly far more happening beneath the surface than I understood.
With continued practice, the experience began to change. Tension gradually gave way to greater relaxation and presence. My awareness of what was happening inside the body became considerably clearer, and sensations that had once seemed subtle became increasingly tangible.
That process fundamentally changed how I understood Qigong. The external movement was only part of the practice; much of the real work was happening internally.
That curiosity about what lies beneath the movement has continued to shape my practice ever since.
STUDY & PRACTICE
Learning from the tradition.
Over the years, my practice has taken me deeper into Qigong, Neigong, Tai Chi, meditation and Daoist methods of internal cultivation — learning through teachers, intensive retreats, continued study and, most importantly, consistent personal practice.
I have explored a range of systems and approaches, from the stillness and internal structure of Zhan Zhuang, to moving Qigong forms, breathwork, meditation and more subtle methods of energetic cultivation. Each has offered a different perspective, while continually pointing back towards the same fundamentals: awareness, relaxation, sensitivity, intention and practice.
I have been fortunate to learn from and be influenced by experienced teachers including Zhixing Wang, alongside the work and teachings of Master Lam Kam Chuen, Ken Cohen and Lindsey Wei, among others. Extended periods of retreat and meditation have also become an important part of my own development.
I continue to approach this work as both teacher and student. Internal practice has no real finishing point; the more deeply you explore it, the more there is to understand.
Teaching is an extension of my own practice — not a replacement for it.
COACHING EXPERIENCE
Teaching & Coaching
Alongside my own internal practice, I have spent more than 11 years working professionally with people through personal training, strength and movement coaching, nutrition, health and behaviour change.
That experience has taught me something that applies just as much to Qigong as it does to physical training: people are different. They arrive with different bodies, histories, lifestyles, challenges and ways of learning. A method is only useful if you can help the individual in front of you understand, experience and apply it.
This is why my teaching is not built around simply demonstrating techniques and asking people to copy them. I pay attention to how someone moves, breathes, responds and learns — adapting the practice while preserving the principles behind it.
My background in strength, movement and physical coaching also gives me a practical understanding of the body that sits naturally alongside the subtler work of Qigong, Neigong and meditation.
The practice may be traditional. The teaching should still meet the person in front of you.
MY APPROACH
Practice over performance.
I believe these practices are best understood through experience rather than theory alone. We can talk about Qi, awareness, meditation and internal cultivation, but ultimately the understanding has to come through practice.
My approach is therefore practical and experiential. We move, stand, breathe, observe and become more sensitive to what is happening within us. Theory, philosophy and traditional teachings provide context, but they should always bring us back to the practice itself.
I also believe the aim of a good teacher is not to make someone dependent on them. It is to give people the understanding, tools and confidence to develop a practice of their own — something that can deepen and evolve over time.
Whether I’m working with someone privately, teaching a retreat or guiding someone through teacher training, the principle remains the same: meet the person where they are, practise consistently, and allow the work to unfold.
Less thinking. More practice.
PRACTISE WITH MILES