In 2000 Carolinda started teaching the original version of The Five Tibetan Rites as described by Peter Kelder in his 1939 book “The Eye of Revelation” in workshops throughout Australia. I also adopted some of the modifications described by other publishers who updated Kelder’s book in the late 1980’s.
Although she wanted to keep the original Five Tibetan Rites as authentic as possible, it was becoming impossible to ignore a pattern she had observed in her workshops. Despite very detailed instruction and loads of personal attention, there would be at least one to three students in every workshop who would develop lower back or neck pain. This would result in them having to cease doing their daily practice, or even visit various health practitioners for treatment.
So Carolinda decided to do something about it. She consulted physiotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, Iyengar Yoga, Pilates, Feldenkrais, & Occupation Health Practitioners & asked them to help her to develop a modified version of the Rites that would maintain their integrity – but prevent the occurrence of injury she was observing.
Carolinda took their ideas & tried them out in the living laboratories of her classrooms, until she arrived at a step-by-step method, which progressively built people’s strength & flexibility from the inside out. Instead of being like “soft-centered chocolates – all hard on the outside and squidgy in the middle” – people could now develop strength from the deepest muscles in the body – out towards the more external muscles that lie closer to the surface of the skin.
To Carolinda’s relief, the problems of the past totally disappeared and many more people could now perform these ancient movements safely and easily.
A major key to this improvement was the addition of core stability to the Rites. Core muscles when correctly activated completely encircle the spine, stabilizer and supporting it like a natural weight-belt or girdle. Another key was to remove the potential for injury inherent in the original version by avoiding compression of the vertebrae & discs of the lumbar and cervical spine.
The Rites look much the same – and most importantly – there is no difference in the great benefits that people achieve.
To distinguish this extended version of The Five Tibetans from the others, Carolinda called it “T5T®” which is a registered trademark.
T5T® still follow Kelder’s recommendations to begin with just 3 repetitions in your first week of practice – then add two more per week until you are up to the required 21 repetitions in around 10 weeks. However in T5T® version, a weekly variation to the movement of the Leg-Raise (Rite No 2) is introduced. This method develops true core strength by gradually increasing the load & number of repetitions of the deep core stabilizer muscles.
Another major change to the original version is the addition of what Carolinda calls “Energy Breathing”. As a health practitioner who had worked with the breath, she was aware that ‘how well you breathe literally dictates your lifespan’. Rather than adding ‘control of the breath’ through introducing a Pranayama practice, she wanted to free, open and deepen our natural breath. With input from renowned breathing expert Michael Grant White, T5T® incorporates a much bigger focus on breathing, including three “Energy Breaths” which are performed between each Rite (movement). The result is a more flexible and adaptive breath during your normal daily life – as well as increased calm and reduced anxiety.
In T5T® there is extensive focus on correct alignment – from the starting position & all the way through each movement. If you think about it – the aim is to perform 21 repetitions per day of each of the five postures – that’s 105 per day. Multiply that by 365 days per year and you will be doing 38,325 repetitions. Now you can understand the importance of correct alignment & control!
T5T® has now been taught to thousands of people through workshops, books, DVD’s etc. There are around 32 Instructors who are qualified to teach T5T® in Australia, New Zealand, USA & UK – and future teachers in other countries completing the Distance Education Teacher Training Program.
T5T® have a newly qualified Teacher Trainer in the US, and are about to translate T5T® into Spanish and French.
We’d like to see everyone benefit as much as T5T® have.
Life Before T5T®!
With a life-long interest in healing and teaching, Carolinda studied and received diplomas in Clinical Hypnotherapy, Thought Field Therapy, Holistic Pulsing, Magnetic Therapy, the Kinesthetic Process and Reiki and has taught alternative healing both privately, in groups and at TAFE Colleges. She holds a Certificate IV in Assessment & Workplace Training.
Carolinda has a unique ability. She takes the complicated and makes it easy to understand. She takes the vast knowledge of ancient teachings and pairs it with simple modern language, to create practical and easy techniques.
She understands the pressures of modern life having combined her interests, with a successful background in business as head of marketing for a Medical Supply Company in the UK, in which she was co-owner. The ground breaking company provided home services to thousands of kidney dialysis patients.
As the Sydney Manager of a Queensland based Training Company, she presented their self-development seminars to hundreds of students as well as giving numerous private sessions as one of their trained practitioners.
Carolinda has maintained her fitness since her teens when she competed as an international swimmer (for Kenya), with times placing her within the top 10 in Australia.
When she discovered the Five Tibetan Rites, the benefits she received seemed remarkable to her, so she started teaching friends of friends and then beyond. Noticing how they too experienced amazing results Carolinda set about creating her definitive method for teaching The Five Rites and abbreviated the name to ‘T5T®’.
Carolinda has lived an amazing life. At just 20 years old she became one of the youngest hot air balloon pilots as well as one of the first female pilots to fly hot air balloons throughout the UK. Gaining her Commercial Balloon Pilot’s licence some years later, Carolinda flew balloons in TV commercials, took fare paying passengers and taught other pilots how to fly.
In 1976 she and another balloon pilot, Lady Gwen Bellew attempted to become the first female balloon pilots to cross the English Channel in the Famous Grouse Whiskey sponsored balloon. Unfortunately another female pilot who had got wind of their expedition took off from an alternative location, and pipped them to the post.
Several years later Carolinda married a fellow balloon pilot who gave her a sky blue balloon with Carolinda written around it. His gift caused quite a sensation in ballooning circles! Together with her friend Sheila Scott, (the famous aviator, who amongst her 100 flying records, flew solo over the North Pole in 1956) she flew this balloon throughout the UK drawing attention to the plight of the otters whose habitat was being destroyed.
In 1988 she flew the Virgin Jumbo Jet shaped balloon across Australia in the Trans-Australia balloon race.As part of the pre-race publicity Carolinda and her crew inflated a small red Virgin balloon; tethered it to a barge and sailed it under the Sydney Harbour Bridge!
Carolinda was born in Kenya, where lions & leopards were regular visitors to her garden. A leopard even ate one of the family’s dogs! She has also lived in South Africa, Barbados, England and finally Australia – where she now lives in Sydney, with her partner, three children, and two cute little pug dogs.
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