Meet The Team
Meghan Bryant
Meghan Bryant from Palmyra, VA, is a graduate of Radford University with a Fine Arts Degree. She has a post-graduate certification for Art Education and nearly 20 years experience with Genesis Rehab in retirement communities and nursing homes. Meghan has nearly 15 years practicing and teaching Tai Chi. As a Master Trainer for the Tai Chi for Health Institute, Meghan enjoys sharing her knowledge, enjoyment of movement, and fascination of Tai Chi during instructor and depth workshops. Her artistic mind creates many ways to experience tai chi and life itself, but always through a sense of playfulness. As a recently Licensed Massage Therapist, she is able to reflect on the artist’s observance of muscles, with a better understanding of fascia and how it relates to movement.
Website: http://www.meghanecreations.com
Deirdre Dwyer
Deirdre Dwyer first traveled from her native Ireland to China in 1992. There she was introduced to Tai Chi, learning the Yang 24 under a local master daily for 6 weeks. She returned to China in 1994 to live and work, and joined a local Tai Chi group in Shanghai. She practiced the Yang 24 and Yang 108 daily before work, and loved the Sword, and Tai Chi fan at weekends. After 11 years in China, and coming second in competition for the Yang 24, she moved to Florida where she teaches Tai Chi to both adults and children. Her lifelong Tai Chi journey is deepened with understanding the physiology of Tai Chi and the wisdom of the Dao de Jing.
Website: taichihealthandwellness.com
Dan Jones
Dan Jones, from Jacksonville Beach, FL, has over 52 years experience as a martial arts practitioner, with over 40yrs of Tai Chi Chuan and Won Chuen Temple Boxing and 13 years of combined experience in boxing, Japanese Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Wing Chun Kung Fu and Shorin Ryu Karate. He is also a certified Medical Qigong Practitioner. Dan is a retired police officer and security professional with over 33 years combined experience in law enforcement, hostage negotiations, personal protection and security management. Master Trainer (retired) with the Tai Chi for Health Institute, Dan is also a trained Healing Foods Culinary Instructor, Food and Wellness Educator and Board Certified Holistic Health Practitioner. He is currently the Tai Chi Research Consultant for Johns Hopkins Medical Center. Dan is the founder and sole proprietor of Moving Stillness Healing Arts LLC, which specializes in Tai Chi Moving Mindfulness Meditation and Resilience Training (TCMMMRT) for PTSD. He also specializes in Tai Chi Silk Reeling Therapy for Healing and Maintaining Healthy Fascia Connective Tissue for Pain Management. His training business has a three-phase approach to healing: TCMMMRT, food and wellness education, and health coaching services for support and motivation.
Website: movingstillnesshealingarts.com
Maureen Miller
Maureen Miller, from Atlantic Beach, FL, has 20+ years experience practicing, teaching, and writing about Tai Chi and, more recently, Forest and Nature Therapy. While learning Tai Chi in her workplace, she realized that it was not just an exercise, but a way of life. Maureen’s 30 years of “real jobs” in computer technology, conferences services, teaching (both in person and at a distance) have provided a strong background for her goal of showing others this way of life through classes, workshops, and the Learning With the Principles Retreat. Maureen is a Master Trainer (retired) with the Tai Chi for Health Institute and an ANFT certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide. Her love of writing led to her collaboration with Dr. Paul Lam to produce his revised book Teaching Tai Chi Effectively.
Website: camdentaichi.com
Sheri Nicholson
Website: https://seafitwellness.com/
Mike Poole
Mike Poole, from Dublin, OH, has been studying the martial arts since 1991. He holds a third degree black belt rank in Okinawan karate and Kobudo (weapons). Mike also practices and teaches Tai Chi, Qigong, Hung Gar, and Iaido/Kendo. He is a Senior Trainer for the Tai Chi for Health Institute. Mike has spent the last couple of years adding yoga to his practice, becoming a yoga instructor with a focus on trauma-sensitive yoga. A retired police officer who also spent ten years in the US Army, Mike is the co-founder/developer of Earth And Cup, Inc, a non-profit that uses movement as the entry point for a holistic approach to healing, health and wellness. Mike enjoys wearing a kilt, and in his spare time, he plays the bagpipes.
Website: http://earthandcup.com
Betty Scanlon
Betty Scanlon, from Fort Myers, FL, has been a nurse for over 40 years and a Nurse Practitioner for over 25 years. She is a veteran, having retired from the US Air Force after serving at several US and overseas bases, as well as a deployment to the Middle East in response to a Naval incident prior to the Gulf War. She has a Master’s Degree in Community Service and has been educating nurses for over 25 years. Betty is proprietor of Tai Chi for Better Health, a Master Trainer with the Tai Chi for Health Institute, and an active member of the Tai Chi for Health Community. She has been practicing and teaching tai chi for over 14 years and conducts regular workshops and classes with her trademark humor. She thinks that tai chi is adult play and important for everyone, and her work in Pediatrics brings a unique perspective and colors her descriptions of movements. She writes poetry in the Dr. Seuss style, and has published her tai chi poem, Tai Chi and Me.
Website: TaiChiForBetterHealth.com
Deb Schumacher
Deb Schumacher, from Leesburg, FL. is a retired paralegal. She began studying meditation in the 70s and was was introduced to Tai Chi in 1987 at an in-patient program for chronic pain management. She has 16+ years’ experience teaching tai chi, qigong, and meditation and holds multiple teaching certifications from the Tai Chi for Health Institute and the Integral Ch’uan Institute. Her expertise is in adaptive techniques she developed while teaching at a health crisis center as well as nursing homes, so people with differing abilities can participate. Deb holds a degree in Integrative Health and Healing and is certified in several energy healing techniques, including Healing Touch, Medical Qigong, and EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques). In addition to teaching, she serves on the boards of an Alternative Health Club, a Meditation Club and her synagogue, performs with two bands (guitar, ukulele, and vocals), plays with ukulele clubs, sings in a chorus, learns clogging, hula, and line dancing, enjoys acting, water activities, and book clubs – and sleeping-in whenever she can.
Website: ChangingFocus.2savvy.com
Mearl Thompson
Mearl Thompson, from Southampton, PA, has been practicing tai chi for 25+ years and martial arts for 34+ years. He is the founder of the Ancient Harmony Tai Chi Chuan School in Denver, CO, and a Master Trainer (retired) with the Tai Chi for Health Institute. Mearl studied Tai Chi under Sifu Kay Kutch of the Tong Family lineage, Kung Fu San Soo with Masters Bob Newmann and Jerry Meyer and Indonesian Silat Serak with Maha Guru Victor de Thouars. In 1997, he became a Second-Degree Black Belt in Kung Fu San Soo. In 1994, he opened a Kung Fu San Soo school in St. Louis, MO. He continues his study of tui shou with Master Aaron Chih of Taiwan of Cheng Man Ching lineage and Sifu Mark Rasmus. Mearl teaches weekly classes including: Tai Chi for Arthritis, martial applications in the Yang Form, push-hands, self-defense for women, and a program introducing tai chi to individuals recovering from substance abuse.
Website: https://www.