About Amanda Lan
Founder of BalanceHER | Wellness Integration Strategist | Creative Visionary
Part Science. Part Ritual. All Heart.
Hi, I’m Amanda — a mom, storyteller, martial artist, and creative and wellness strategist who believes that every woman’s body carries her own medicine.
I’ve spent over 30 years weaving together ancient martial arts, design thinking, and modern wellness to help women reconnect to what’s most essential: their rhythm, their breath, their heritage, and their power.
Where It All Began
I was born in apartheid-era Cape Town — a place that taught me resilience before I could define it.
Those early lessons in strength and empathy shaped how I moved through the world: from a Swiss-German textile design internship to 28 years in fashion and branding and over four decades in Shaolin Kung Fu.
But the real transformation came not in a dojo or design studio — it came during childbirth, when a near-death experience turned my world inside out.
Recovery felt impossible. My body was unrecognisable. The wellness advice I found didn’t fit me — it felt punishing, not healing.
Then came my turning point: Women’s Qigong.
Through the quiet discipline of breath and movement, I began to rebuild from within. That surrender — that rediscovery of flow — became the seed for BalanceHER.
From Breakdown to Breakthrough
BalanceHER wasn’t born from perfection.
It came from exhaustion, hormone chaos, and the tears I cried between martial arts classes and design meetings.
After years of teaching and pushing through burnout, I paused everything and spent two and a half years in recovery — guided by my husband (a doctor of Chinese medicine), his teachers, and a female Qigong elder whose calm changed my life.
In China, I earned my 5th Dan International Health Qigong Technical Coach certification — and uncovered a truth that changed everything:
Women’s wisdom had been edited out of wellness.
So, I made it my mission to bring it back — not as theory, but as living practice.
⚡ The Birth of BalanceHER: Harmony Flow Wellness Practices
BalanceHER is not another “wellness plan”. It’s a movement of women reclaiming ancestral knowledge and reshaping it for modern life.
Through Harmony Flow Wellness Practices (HFWP), I share the 90-second rituals that helped me heal:
- Stamp Heels to cool the body and ground the spirit.
- Sighing Breath to release cortisol and calm the mind.
- Pituitary Tap to clear brain fog and restore clarity.
These practices are simple, science-backed, and sacred — blending Khoe-San earth grounding, TCM meridian theory, and modern neuroscience.
They remind us that healing doesn’t have to take hours.
Sometimes, 90 seconds is enough to begin again.
My Work Today
As a 7th Dan Shaolin Kung Fu Master, 5th Dan Qigong Coach, and Vice President of the South African Health Qigong Association (SAHQA), I help women and communities rediscover what true strength feels like: calm, confident, embodied.
Through BalanceHER, I work to make this wisdom accessible — not just through classes, but through books, events, and the BalanceHER Social Impact Fund, which supports women’s wellness education in under-resourced areas.
Every purchase, every workshop, every story shared ripples outward — translating ancient practices into isiXhosa, Zulu, and Afrikaans so every woman can experience her own version of harmony.
This isn’t charity.
It’s reciprocity — honouring the roots of the work by ensuring it flows back to the people who carried it forward.
“She carries the echo. You write the next verse.”
The Creative Thread
Before wellness, there was art.
Before Qigong, there was rhythm.
From the design floor to the Kung Fu hall, creativity has always been my first language.
That’s why I co-founded Shaolin Café and 1MindBodyFitness — creative-wellness platforms that blend art, movement, and philosophy to spark what I call living medicine: healing through creation.
Whether I’m designing a ritual, writing a book, or teaching a class, my question is always the same:
“How can this help a woman come home to herself?”
The Philosophy of BalanceHER
BalanceHER is real-life wellness. Messy. Honest. Transformative.
It’s where martial arts meet menstrual cycles, and laughter meets healing tears.
It’s where cultural roots are celebrated, not erased.
🔹 Holistic Science Meets Soul
We integrate Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western physiology, and African indigenous wisdom, especially the Khoe-San principles of nature-based healing and silence.
🔹 Imperfection is Power
BalanceHER celebrates the beauty in “not having it together.”
We move, breathe, stamp, cry, and start again — together.
🔹 Every Woman Welcome
Puberty, perimenopause, motherhood, burnout, rebirth — you belong here at every stage.
A Few Titles I Hold (But They Don’t Define Me)
7th Dan Shaolin Kung Fu Master
5th Dan International Health Qigong Technical Coach
Creative Director of Zen Deezign
Textile Designer with Swiss-German training
Certified Business Management
AI & Wellness Integration Strategist
Proud Mom, Sister, Daughter, Boss and Community Mentor
Why This Matters
We live in a world that asks women to be everything, everywhere, all at once.
BalanceHER exists to remind you that power and peace aren’t opposites — they’re partners.
This isn’t about adding more to your to-do list.
It’s about remembering the rhythm of your own breath, the wisdom of your lineage, and the beauty of being perfectly human.
Join the Movement
Whether you come for healing, creativity, or stillness — you belong here.
Start your BalanceHER journey today:
🌐 www.balance-her.com
🧘♀️ Learn more through our sister site: www.1mindbodyfitness.com
“Your heritage is your power. Your body is your compass. Your breath is your beginning.”
— Amanda Lan
Start Your Journey
“Balance is beautiful, even imperfect.”
Join BalanceHER Today →