Wow, pow, chow with Rich Moffat

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The Nugget
July 25, 2025

★ Wow, pow, chow with Rich Moffat ★

Rich ‘the anti guru’ Moffat

Pssst. You don't need to try so hard. 

Rich Moffat, my new anti-guru, says the good stuff comes from gentle, consistent practice. (Plus porridge). 

Rich is known around Castlemaine for his daily movement classes: qigong and yoga, plus his Zenthai Shiatsu massage practice. 

He retired from booking bands for big festivals like Falls and Groove in the Moo to explore Chinese Medicine. 

His Instagram handle is practice not doing. It’s a pretty radical idea in a world that glorifies effort. Rich once spent his days booking bands for major festivals now spends his mornings with his legs up the wall and he's very Zen. It seems like got a few things figured out. 

"Often, when people try, they try really hard for a short time and then it's too hard and they give up. Life gets in they way and then they don't change anything. They just stay in the same habits. 

"So, all the stuff I teach is about how to do a regular practice that's not too hard, where there's not too much trying. It's something you can come back to and you can do regularly. And once you do it regularly, then good things happen." 

Ignoring this wisdom, I felt the need to know the details of Rich's practice so I could copy it, work hard and become as Zen as he is.

He does smart, simple things, like Wow, Pow, Chow - a clever way to get his family to take stock of their habits while doing a daily gratitude practice.

 Each person shares their 'wow,' the highlight of their day. The 'pow' is something that you're working on, like a habit that's not serving you so much. And 'chow' is just the best thing you've eaten. 

"We can have this conversation for like, an hour. It's crazy," Rich says. 

"The thing you notice when you have a gratitude practice like that is the highlight of your day, it's not what you think it's going to be. It's not like a win, or a raise, or getting a pat on the back. It's usually something like walking the dog, or my kids giving me a cuddle. It's often something really small. 

"Sometimes, when you're really low, you think you need something really high, but you don't. You just need to go into the middle."

 Wow, Pow, Chow is a great way to end the day. Rich also starts his day with some good old 'not doing'.

"Straight out of bed, my favorite thing is lying on the ground with my legs up the wall. Very good for kidneys, very good for blood flow, good for regulating blood sugar. So many things, but also just, nothing. Meditation time, right?"

Shelley and I were both imagining ourselves falling asleep with our feet up the wall but Rich said that would be fine.

"I think a lot of people now, they artificially stimulate their body. I have no judgment if you're one of those people, but, like, being a bit sleepy is great! Then, Body just gets used to the day slowly. If you want to be alert straight away, then you'll probably also be releasing a lot of stress hormones right away."

Next, Rich does a bit of strength training.

"My practice this year has been to do a two-minute plank, which sounds very exercise-y. The first few times were hard and now it's easy.

"I always do some qigong. It doesn't have to be many minutes of it. And I love doing a tai chi set."

(Qigong is a physical practice rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine and tai chi is the name for qigong when you do it as a martial art).

And finally, porridge.

"I always make porridge in the morning. I really like having a warm breakfast for stimulating the body and to get that slow release of energy from oats is really good."

You can't argue with that morning. Rich doesn't either. Come hell or high water, he does some version of the above.

"I make practice non-negotiable. It's not a question of whether I feel like I have time for it. It's just like brushing my teeth or drinking a glass of water. It's just non-negotiable. That was a big thing for me. Once I made that intention or commitment, whatever you call it, then, everything got easier."

Rich says his qigong practice has helped him become more equanimous in the chaos of daily life. 

"You become more skilled at essentially becoming who you are in your true self where life just happens. Yes, all these things or people will leave me, people would die. I will be unwell, I will get older and more wrinkly and that's all okay. 

"You don't have so much resistance against those things and you start to become more aware of your place within nature. Everything is coming and going and expanding and contracting."

Rich goes over and above to make his classes accessible. He teaches for free on Zoom just about every day.

"So even if people don't have money, they can practice in their own house. Online practice is really great because it takes away the barrier of having to put an outfit on and having a commute somewhere and, you know, so you just literally switch on Zoom and you're in."

Those classes range from quigong to yin yoga, pilates and myofascial release.

He offers group classes at Arcare, U3A and Over the Moon as well as yoga and qigong retreats in faraway places. He's taking a group to China in October teaching in Bali in 2026.

He also makes a bit of time in his schedule to book the bands for the Theatre Royal.

"Mainly just because the people who run it are the best. And honestly, I don't understand how it works so well, like, how so many tickets are selling in such a small town.

“It constantly blows my mind. Like, we're not selling that many less tickets than when I booked the Corner Hotel in a city of five million. And this town has like 12,000 people."

One thing Rich has brought to the job is booking a wider variety of bands. He credits the staff for making everyone who comes through the door feel great.

"There are very few venues where the staff can shape shift from having, like, a jazz band one night to a folk band the next night to a metal band the next night and just treat everyone the same, the audience and the artists. The Theatre does that so well. It's a very special place."

Rich fits right in there. If you're interested in developing a regular not-doing practice, he has a tonne of classes you can check out.

  • Rich teaches Yoga at Over the Moon (starting Mon, 4 Aug and qigong at West End Hall (Tuesdays, starting in Sept). Book here

  • He is running retreats in China in Oct and Bali in 2026 (expressions of interest open now). Watch the video testimonials if you’re curious and email [email protected] for details

  • Get a Zenthai Shiatsu massage with Rich at Over the Moon on Sunday 10th Aug.  

  • He’s also got a Not Doing Practice newsletter

❀ Woot! The party has started at Table Records ❀

Huge congrats to Ali at Table Records.

She’s just got her liquor license and is not serving drinks. This weekend she’s also offer soup and beats. Get along! Looks like such a cozy, top-shelf hang.

♡˖ EVENTS ˖♡

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