CITY workers can escape the busy office life by recharging their batteries with the help of an ancient Oriental healing art.

Martins Bank Building in the heart of the city's business quarter seems an unlikely home for the Liverpool School of Qi Gong, an organisation set up as part of a health care charity Blue Sky.

The school is offering daytime and evening classes in the gentle arts of Tai Chi and Qi Gong as practised in China.

The classes offering an interlude from office life and give people the chance to learn to relax, says school founder and teacher Miss Xia Lu.

She has taught the exercises in and around Liverpool for over 12 years and is delighted with the new home for the recently established school.

Miss Xia said: "The exercises are very simply and gently and can be done by people of any age, men and women.

"They are easy to learn and can be done without problem in the home. No special clothing or equipment is needed, just the ability to practice."

The mother-of-two first started her own practice sessions in China during the 1980s as a way of coping with a serious illness.

She added: "I found by doing these exercise my own body was much stronger and able to cope. I have been practising and teaching every since." The exercises date back many centuries and work by creating energy - or chi - in a relaxing way.

Miss Xia also teaches the healing arts at the Glaxo Neurological Centre near London Road as well as Blackburne House Centre for Women in Hope Street.

The school will be holding classes in Sefton Park Palm House next year from January 18, with a 9.30am start.

Miss Xia said: "Since I started teaching I have passed on this lovely art to many hundreds of people. The advantage is that once it is learned it can be practised for ever."

The classes at the Martins Bank Building - Tuesdays at 7pm Tai Chi, Thursdays at 11am until noon Qi Gong. Saturday morning classes in Qi Gong are held at 96 Bold Street starting at 11.30am.