CERTIFIED TAI CHI and qigong instructor Irina Tarbeeva of Stambaugh Township leads a group of her students through an outdoor demonstration of qigong. Tarbeeva, a native of Siberia who grew up in Lithuania, said practicing the Chinese healing arts outdoors is of special benefit because tai chi and qigong are “part of nature.” (Photo provided by Irina Tarbeeva)

IRON MOUNTAIN — To say Irina Tarbeeva is unique in the Upper Peninsula would be an immense understatement.

Tarbeeva is a certified tai chi and qigong instructor who lives in Stambaugh Township. She’s made her home in the Iron River area since 2012 but was born in Siberia, grew up mostly in Lithuania and eventually made her way to Chicago and then to the U.P.

A charming woman with a self-depreciating wit, Tarbeeva speaks with a heavy but engaging accent. Jokingly, she speaks about her arrival in Iron County.

“It was 2012, there I am, ‘Run, run people, run! Russian came!”

That sense of humor and her vast experience as a tai chi/qigong practitioner and teacher will be on display Saturday at the Dickinson County Library, where Tarbeeva will give a presentation introducing herself and the two Chinese healing arts.

The event, which begins at 11 a.m., is part of World Tai Chi and Qigong Day, a celebration of the related disciplines that has taken place on the last Saturday of April since 1999. According to Wikipedia, about 80 countries participate in World Tai Chi and Qigong Day.

Tarbeeva will offer an hour-long workshop in which she will give a brief talk on tai chi and qigong, which have been described as “moving meditation.” She will also lead some basic exercises and describe the benefits of the practices, which include improved balance, lowered blood pressure, improved quality of sleep, chronic pain relief, increased muscle strength and bone density and depression and anxiety relief.

Along with the workshop, Tarbeeva recently announced that Tuesday she will start twice-per-week classes at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, 1210 Kimberly Ave. in Iron Mountain. The classes will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning at 4 p.m. Cost will be by donation.

Tarbeeva already conducts classes in Iron River and Crystal Falls. She began teaching in Iron County in 2014.

Since beginning to practice tai chi in the late 1990s while living in Lithuania, Tarbeeva has immersed herself in the world of Chinese health practices and philosophy, both largely based around the concept of “chi” or the “vital life force.”

To Tarbeeva, these practices and their corresponding philosophy are a “lifestyle.”