About Amanda Lan
Martial Artist • Wellness Educator • Creative Strategy Mentor
With over four decades of practice, Amanda Lan bridges ancient martial lineages, modern movement science, and creative systems thinking. She is the founder of BalanceHER and the creator of MapMeHealthy – calm, body‑led pathways for women’s wellness.
From burnout to rhythm
After decades of high‑intensity training – Shaolin, Sanda, drumming until exhaustion – Amanda collapsed into burnout. Her Kung Fu teacher, a Chinese medicine doctor, said: “Stop fighting. Start receiving.”
He guided her toward Yuan Qi Qigong and deep stillness. In those quiet hours, her body recalibrated. That was the beginning of BalanceHER.
Traditional Yuan Qi required three hours daily – impossible for most women. So Amanda asked: “What if elder wisdom could be distilled into moments – not marathons?” She tested micro‑restoratives in her Sanda classes. Recovery wasn’t just faster – it was deeper. Energy returned. Focus sharpened.
That insight became the foundation of her work: true women’s wellness is not about adding more movement – it’s about returning to the source, efficiently.
Credentials & Affiliations
- 7th Duan Shaolin Kung Fu & Sanda (recognised by international martial federations)
- 5th Duan International Health Qigong Technical Coach – International Health Qigong Federation (IHQF)
- Certified Instructor – Chinese Health Qigong Association (CHQA)
- Vice President – SA Health Qigong Association (SAHQA)
- BRICS Representative – Chinese Health Qigong Association (China)
- Co‑Founder – 1MindBodyFitness (est. 1990)
- Founder & Steward – Shaolin Café Collective
Amanda is also a Swiss‑German trained textile and graphic designer – a background that deeply informs her systems approach to wellness, branding, and program design.
Rooted in motion, guided by lineage
Movement is Amanda’s native language. Her work is informed by classical Chinese movement science – meridian flow, breath containment, postural alignment – as functional intelligence for restoring circulation, preserving vitality, and regulating stress through rhythm, not force.
She teaches what has been tested through the body, over decades, in motion – not theory. Her students range from township halls in South Africa to international workshops and online global audiences.
Community is the curriculum
BalanceHER and MapMeHealthy were co‑shaped through free workshops in Western Cape communities, listening circles with mothers and elders, and collaboration with SAHQA, IHQF, and local wellness collectives.
Amanda is also the founder of Zen Deezign – a creative strategy and mentorship initiative – and a key mentor in Kung Fu Rise, a youth empowerment program. All of her work sits within the Shaolin Café Collective, a lineage‑led ecosystem that prioritises skills exchange, practice, and reciprocity over extraction.
📍 Based in Cape Town, South Africa
📚 Author of The BalanceHER Book
🌍 Certified to teach worldwide
Published works & media
- The BalanceHER Book – a calm gateway to women’s wellness, Qigong, and the body map
- Guest interviews on Voice of the Cape Radio and Bush Radio (South Africa)
- Contributor to wellness publications and international Qigong conferences
For a full list of articles and appearances, visit the Resources page.
“Perfection is overrated. It’s in our flaws that we find strength, and in our balance that we find radiance.”
— Amanda Lan