The Jade Tortoise

Tucked away in the heart of Amsterdam, The Jade Tortoise is a quiet space dedicated to Medical Qigong — a therapeutic form of movement where breath, body, and awareness return to one another.

The name draws from the Chinese character 龟 (guī) — the tortoise: a symbol of longevity, stillness, and quiet strength. It also gently echoes the first syllables of my own name — Guido — a nod to the personal path that led me here.

In 2018, during what I’ve come to call my Beautiful Burnout, I first encountered Medical Qigong. Not as a fix, but as an invitation — to pause, to listen, to feel. Within that stillness, something essential stirred: space, breath, direction.

Soon after, I began training in Thailand with Thai Qi Holistics, and have since been under the guidance of Qigong master and traditional Chinese physician Ajahn Toh — a teacher of rare gentleness and depth.

By the end of 2024, The Jade Tortoise was founded. Not as an escape, but as a place of return — for anyone living in the intensity of modern life who senses that balance is possible: in the body, in the breath, in the heart.