Feixia Yu

Feixia Yu is an Honorary Principal Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire. She was the Founding Director of the Confucius Institute (2008–2024), where she organized a wide range of Chinese cultural events on and off campus and was regularly featured in the local media, including BBC Radio Lancashire and the Lancashire Evening Post.

A lifelong advocate for body–mind practices, Feixia teaches weekly Taichi and Qigong classes both online and in person, and frequently gives public lectures and workshops on Chinese health traditions, current practice, and emerging research. She also delivers bespoke wellbeing sessions for corporate clients. Her research focuses on the use of Qigong as an exercise-based intervention for chronic health conditions such as Long Covid, hypertension, Parkinson’s, diabetes, and spinal misalignment.

Feixia holds Duan 4 in Health Qigong routines with the International Health Qigong Federation and is a senior instructor with the British Health Qigong Association. She is also an indoor disciple of Chen Xiaowang, Grandmaster of Chen Style Taichi. Feixia is the recipient of several international awards, winning first prize in Baduanjin at the 6th European Health Qigong Competition in Vienna (2024), as well as two first prizes in Six Healing Sounds and Daoyin 12 at the 11th World Health Qigong Competition in Vancouver (2025). Her training includes qualifications from Beijing Sport University as an Exercise and Recuperation Instructor, senior yoga teacher training (YTT-500) in India with Yoga Alliance, and certification to teach in the Yoga in Healthcare Alliance. Her classes often blend elements of Qigong and Yoga, reflecting their shared roots in body–mind practice.

Since the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020, Feixia has offered over 500 free online Taichi and Qigong sessions, bringing these practices to a wide audience. In recognition of her commitment, she received the Preston Mayor’s Covid Hero Award in 2021. More recently, she has been teaching free Taichi and Qigong sessions with the Open University, open to participants via Eventbrite.

Feixia is a member of the Social Prescribing Research Unit at the University of Central Lancashire and is working to embed body–mind practices within the NHS Social Prescribing movement. She is also conducting joint research in Medical Qigong with Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China.