Pain, Injury, and Tai Chi

"No pain, no gain" is a well known exercise battle cry--thanks to Jane Fonda and her exercise videos of the 1980s. That motto takes on a certain macho quality when chanted in the local gym. When most people come to tai chi and qigong, they're often looking to get away from or avoid that mentality, and to embrace an approach to exercise that is much more gentle. 

Generally speaking, pain is your body's indicator that you are about to cause yourself injury, if you continue to do what you're doing--holding your hand over a fire, for instance--or that you have received injury--bashing your finger with a hammer. In class, I advise people that if they feel pain while performing a tai chi or qigong move, it's a sure sign that they are doing the movement incorrectly. The body is sending a signal that the movement needs correction. 

However, there are exceptions to this rule. There are times when you might feel pain during a tai chi or qigong workout, and it is not only perfectly okay, but it is a step in the process of healing. 

I've used tai chi to heal from serious and semi-serious injury--more than once. The first time was when I first started tai chi, to try to deal with the consequences of two broken arms, and the surgery I received to fix them. (Plates, pins, screws, scar tissue.) By the time I started tai chi, about two months after the accident, I was in chronic pain with these injuries. Although I'd done a lot of healing, and I was no longer in danger of damaging anything with simple daily movements, everything I did hurt, which was intensely irritating, and affected my mood. 

I had been assured that because of the plates and pins and screws, I couldn't really re-injure myself just by performing normal arm movements, so I sought a workout that wouldn't put pressure on my arms, but would allow me to move them more. Hence tai chi. Initially, learning to stretch my arms was painful, but over a few months, I really noticed an improvement in my overall pain levels, strength, and mobility.

Later, when I started training with a more experienced (and hardcore) teacher, I stretched out much of the scar tissue from these injuries. Again, that was a painful process--scar tissue does not like to stretch! That pain was a deep, searing ache that I would feel during the stretch, which would ease immediately afterward, and eventually led to a greatly increased range of motion. Because I'd already learned to distinguish between pain that was likely to cause injury, and pain that probably wouldn't, I was fine with going through this process. I am convinced that regularly performing this deep tissue stretch, which eased a lot of tension on my joints, is the reason I do not have arthritis today. (The doctors told me that because of my injuries, I would develop it by the time I was thirty. I'm forty-five now.)

The Sensitized Nervous System

I've since learned that the state I was in during my initial tai chi sessions are signs of a sensitized nervous system. Some of my pain was based on genuine signals from the body--it took a long time for my tendons and ligaments to adjust to some of the plates, for example. But much of it was a kind of false signal. Sometimes pain creates a feedback loop that causes the body to go on high alert, so any movement of an area causes a high degree of pain, even movements that are not going to cause injury.

This is a radically different state of being than when you are experiencing an injury. Nervous system sensitization comes along with a host of signs that this is not normal pain. Check this list, compiled by Dr. Bahram Jam, in his booklet The Pain Truth, and Nothing But to see if any of the following applies to you:

• Pins and needles
• Burning pain
• Increased pain by small movements; e.g. slightly bending or turning
• Increased by sustained postures: e.g. sitting, lying
• Increased by no particular reason: e.g. the pain has a mind of its own, unpredictable zaps
• Trivial incidences cause flare-ups that last days: e.g., getting out of a car, walking in a mall
• The pain is increased by stress and anxiety
• The pain gradually spreads, even to the opposite side
• The pain may move around the body
• Night pain

Many people with sensitized nervous systems end up not moving much at all, for fear of experiencing more pain. This seems like a reasonable strategy, but it in fact tends to create a worsening of this condition, as the nervous system becomes more and more sensitized to any type of movement, and the body produces aches and pains as a result of stiff and weak muscles. If this list resonates with you, and you've confirmed with your doctor that there is no physical reason why exercise will cause you injury or exacerbate your pain, it is a good idea to reconnect with the body and begin a program of gentle movement. 

NOTE: panic and anxiety in the absence of physical pain are also symptoms of a sensitized nervous system. All of the tips in this essay apply to people with anxiety and panic disorders. The key is to use tai chi and qigong to practice in a way that does not cause an attack or an increase in anxiety. Apply all of the tips listed here to help you slowly acclimate your nervous system back to normal. 

General Recommendations

Understanding the mechanics of the pain response and how the nervous system can become sensitized to pain can help you relax a little about your own pain. Click here to access a downloadable pdf booklet that offers more information about nervous system sensitization and some basic self-care information that can help. 

Any of my students know that I recommend magnesium supplementation as a necessary step to relaxing muscles and tendons, dealing with chronic pain, and accessing a better level of health. Most people are magnesium deficient. I recommend applying transdermal (absorbed through the skin) magnesium to the whole body as a soak on a regular basis, especially to the areas that cause the most pain. Magnesium is a necessary component of many body processes, including a healthy nervous system, and has been shown to reduce pain and increase mobility. I personally take Natural Calm internally, and use Ancient Minerals transdermally. Natural Calm is available at most health food stores. You can purchase transdermal magnesium at many health food stores as well. I buy Ancient Minerals online here. (Note: I'm not affiliated with either of these companies. I just really enjoy and have benefitted greatly from their products.) 

Read more about the benefits of magnesium supplementation on Dr. Carolyn Dean's extremely helpful website. 

Guided meditation can be a wonderful tool to aid relaxation and allow you to settle into the body more comfortably. Try this meditation by Dr. Robert Puff, designed to help ease physical or mental suffering. 

Using Tai Chi and Qigong to Address Nervous System Sensitization and Chronic Pain

When you do tai chi and qigong to address a sensitized nervous system, or any time you're working with pain (e.g., dealing with an injury), or okay, ANY TIME, really, the key is to go in soft. You are trying to change the way that you approach movement, and the way you experience being in the body. Your chronic pain / nerve sensitization is going to make it so that you need to be more rigorous about being gentle with yourself as you work. That's okay! It's good. Correct tai chi and qigong practice depends on being soft. 

Before you begin practicing, take a few moments to stand, align yourself correctly, and just feel your way into the body, focusing on each part in turn, from the feet up, and seeing if you can let go of any tensions that you are holding. 

Figure out an amount of movement you can comfortably do without sending yourself into a flare-up. This applies to the duration of the movement (how long you're doing it for) and the range of motion (how much you stretch). At first, low-ball this amount. Can you do three minutes of moderate range of motion? One minute of small movements? Thirty seconds of standing and breathing? Start with a tiny amount. You're going to be increasing this gradually over time, so don't worry if it seems like very little at first. 

Do that amount and no more. Take a break. Sit. Breathe. 

As soon as you start to move, check in with yourself. Are you suddenly clenching, holding, or guarding any area of the body? Are you holding yourself stiff or tight? Moving muscles that you are clenching or tightening will only reinforce that tension. Stop, relax, let go, and try again. 

Use correct form. Push from the feet. Channel the force up through the body. Remember, in tai chi and qigong, the muscles are channels of force, directing force from the ground and up through the spinal column and out through the hands. Because of the unique quality of movement in tai chi and qigong, you can move without creating further injury. When I tore my rotator cuff a couple of years ago, I could not lift my arm at all using the arm muscles, but I could push it through a full range of motion by using correct tai chi and qigong movement. Using these methods, I regained a full range of motion in two weeks after my injury, and rehabilitated my shoulder completely in 4-6 weeks. Correct technique, as correct as you can manage, is important when you're working with pain. The goal is to gently open and massage the body from the inside out. 

Take frequent breaks and relax. If you're practicing in a class context, let your teacher know that you are working with your pain, and ask for him or her to check your form for any areas of tension. Arrange for a chair that you can sit in as often as you need to. Move, relax. Move, relax. Relax when you move, and relax after you move. 

Pay special attention to an area that gives you extra pain. This is the area you are most likely to hold tight, and the area you MUST NOT hold tight, if you want to release your pain. Clenching around an area of pain is called guarding. It might help protect injured tissues at first, but it throws off your entire body and will prevent you from regaining range of motion. Make your exercises moderate enough and use correct form as you gently begin to allow the area to relax and move. 

Gradually increase the duration and range of motion of your exercise. This is key. If you want to desensitize your nervous system, you must train it to do more than you usually do. Tai chi and qigong are always gentle, but you should feel like you've moved more fully than you do in your day to day life, if you want your practice to be effective. If you're in pain, plan to increase slowly over the course of a month or two to regain full range of motion. A month or two, not one day. Pace yourself! A month or two, not six months or a year. Work persistently. A little bit every day will help your body become reacquainted with regular movement. You can do it! 

NEVER beat yourself up if you falter. If you have a flare-up, that is information, not failure. You did too much too soon. Try again in a day or two, being very gentle with yourself each time. If you are practicing and you find you are holding tension, take a deep breath, let it go, and see how long you can keep it relaxed as you move. 

Using tai chi and qigong to address pain and nerve sensitization is not so different from regular practice. If you're dealing with pain, it will serve as a reminder to always be soft and relax, and as a guideline for how well you're using correct technique. 

101: What Is Qigong?

Older than tai chi, qigong or "energy work" teaches us to engage with the natural subtle energies ("qi") that surround and permeate us. It combines specific physical movements with a gentle mental focus. Qigong allows you to reset your body systems to their naturally relaxed state. Although people excel at functioning very well while carrying heavy burdens of stress, this is not our optimal way of being. Qigong allows you to gently release current and old stressors that prevent you from achieving a state of wellbeing.

The sages who developed qigong were working with principles that Western medicine is only now re-discovering: the effects of our emotions and thoughts (stress) on our physical wellbeing; the importance of movement for optimal health; the profound physical and emotional benefits of focusing on the present moment (peak experience / flow, "the power of now").

A typical qigong class consists of performing gentle exercises, working with standing or sitting meditation, and putting movement and meditation together into short routines that offer a complete internal workout.

It can be performed by anyone, and is more easily adapted to working in a seated position if you have difficulty standing. That having been said, if performed correctly and deeply, it can be a very challenging physical workout.

Current Content
I offer instruction in two different Qigong forms: Ba Duan Jin, and Five Elements Qigong, as well as some related forms Six Healing Sounds, Pa Qua stepping / walking meditation, and sitting and standing meditation. The content of any individual class depends on the preferences and abilities of the participants.

About Ba Duan Jin
Ba Duan Jin, or Eight Pieces of Silk Brocade Qigong is a classic qigong routine consisting of eight exercises plus standing meditation.

From Ken Cohen's The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing:

These eight exercises are elegant, graceful, and essential methods of qi cultivation. They were first described in an eighth-century Daoist [Taoist] text, Xiu Zhen Shi Shu (The Ten Treatises on Restoring the Original Vitality), in the Daoist Canon. Daoist tradition attributes the exercises to one of the Eight Immortals of Chinese folklore, Chong Li-quan. Chong is frequently represented in Chinese art as a bald-headed, potbellied figure, with a white beard reaching to his navel. Chong had been a general during the Han Dynasty. When his army was defeated in a battle against Tibetans, Chong withdrew into the mountains rather than face the Emperor’s wrath. There he met a Daoist who transmitted to him dao-yin (qigong) “recipes” to create an inner elixir of long life. The Eight Brocades was one of these methods. Before he died, Chong inscribed the exercises on the walls of a cave. When another general, Lu Dong-bin, discovered this cave several centuries later, he followed the diagrams and also became a sage-Immortal. According to a statement in the Ten Treatises, it was General Lu himself who first inscribed the exercises on stone.

About Five Elements Qigong

One of the cornerstones of Chinese philosophy is the idea that underpinning all reality are five elements: fire, earth, metal, water and wood. These are not literal elements in the same sense as the periodic table of elements (hydrogen, helium, etc.), but rather types of energy or phases in natural cycles. The five elements work together to create coherent, flowing systems, including ecosystems, cities, social and cultural movements, and smaller systems like our homes or bodies. Where the five elements are in balance, things flow easily and naturally.

In our bodies, each element is represented in a different organ system: fire in the heart / small intestine; earth in the spleen / stomach; metal in the lungs / large intestine; water in the kidneys / bladder; and wood in the liver / gall bladder.

Each organ system relates to the next one in the cycle in a supportive, nurturing way. In Five Element Qigong, we perform the exercises in an order called the "Constructive Cycle." The Constructive Cycle maximizes the effectiveness of each exercise, creating balance throughout the body as you work with each organ in turn.

I offer Qigong instruction on a weekly basis, Saturdays from 2-3pm and Mondays from 1-2pm. These classes are ongoing, and open to beginners at all times. Information on the schedule and fees is here. I also offer occasional workshops. Information on upcoming workshops is here. 

Classes run at the Regent Health and Chiropractic Center, 150 Locke Street South, in Hamilton, Ontario.

101: What Is Tai Chi?

Tai chi is a complete system of mind-body training that teaches you to relax deeply while moving the body as a single unit. Tai chi stretches the spine and aligns all body systems so that they work harmoniously together. While gentle, tai chi challenges you to move your body more efficiently, to stretch and release stale patterns and tensions, and to sink into the present moment.

Tai Chi and Martial Art

Tai chi ch'uan - tai chi's full name - translates as "supreme ultimate fist." The moves you'll learn in tai chi – strikes, blocks, kicks, and punches – are performed slowly and softly. They gently teach you how to apply force and awaken your inner warrior. Practicing tai chi helps you perform daily tasks safely and effectively, and allows you to meet mental and physical challenges with increasing confidence.

Our Tai Chi Set

I offer instruction in a long Yang style set. Read and download the list of moves here. It takes between fifteen and twenty minutes to perform the set. Once you've learned it and can perform it start to finish, it gives you a complete internal workout, stretching your limbs, massaging your internal organs, and refreshing your energy field, although you start to receive those benefits from the moment you start your first class.

Click Here for Current Class Schedule and Fees
Click Here to View Upcoming Workshops

Classes and workshops run at the Regent Health and Chiropractic Centre, 150 Locke Street South in Hamilton, Ontario. Beginners and others may also attend summer sessions in Dundurn Park to start learning Tai Chi foundation. Summer sessions start May 17, and run each Wednesday from 6-7pm until mid-September.

How to Do Tai Chi and Qigong in a Chair

In my last post about how to keep practicing Tai Chi and Qigong when you feel you can't go on or you don't even want to start, I mentioned that one thing you can do is practice while seated in a chair. I thought I would go into a bit more detail about how to do this.

Just to be clear, I'm working with some core practice ideas that may or may not have been suggested to you by your instructor. If you practice Tai Chi or Qigong but these notions seem foreign to you, then you may have to consult your own instructor or figure out your own way of working in a chair. These core practice ideas are:

Tai Chi and Qigong movements are whole body movements. You are never just waving your arms around independent of the rest of the body. Whatever arm or leg movements you perform are the result of whole-body expansions and contractions.

The whole body movements of Tai Chi and Qigong are initiated by pushing from the feet. The movements are performed by channeling the force of the push from the feet throughout the body in various ways. The low spine / tailbone is a key player here because it both grounds the movements by sinking and turns to channel the movements into cool hand-turny motions.

The movements are performed in a totally relaxed manner. To hammer home the point, in order to perform movements without adding strain, pulling, clenching, or other unwanted tension, you need to initiate from the floor. It is the only part of you that has contact with a solid surface. This is basic physics. (When you're in the chair, your tush will obviously also have contact with a solid surface, but you still need to push from your feet. Pushing from your bottom will not get you places. Not in this context, anyway.)

Okay, now that we're all informed and agreed:

HOW TO PRACTICE IN A CHAIR

The chair in question must be a hard-backed chair, like a dining room chair. No, you don't want to do this from your squishy sofa. You're going to place your bottom as close to the edge of the chair as you can get without falling off.

Make sure your feet can reach the floor. Like I said, you're going to be moving by pushing one or both feet into the floor - just like you do when you're standing. So both feet have to be flat on the floor when you're sitting in the chair. If you can't reach, get some yoga blocks or a tower of books to place under each foot.

Sit with your spine straight. You'll be able to straighten it better if you feel as if you're leaning forward slightly from the hips.

Practice pushing the feet into the floor. This is really the key to the whole thing. From your sitting position, push the feet down into the floor as if you are trying to use your legs to stand up. If you feel up to it, do stand up and sit down again a few times. You want to use this move to train your legs. Pushing the feet into the floor to stand up from a seated position is excellent exercise for the legs.

Try not to cheat. If you are trying the standing-up-sitting-down exercise, cheating means that you pull yourself forward into a lean before you push the feet down to help you stand up. Whatever amount you lean forward, that's work you're taking away from your legs. You might be thinking, "Good! My legs are doing a lot of work as it is!" No, cheater! The whole point of this is to strengthen your legs. Once you're a quivering bowl of jello, it's time to sit down in the chair for some Tai Chi or Qigong.

Now push the feet into the floor as if you're going to stand up, but remain seated, and instead allow that push to travel up through the spinal column, expanding it. The idea is to feel as if you are increasing the spaces between each vertebrae. At first, it may be difficult to feel this because of tension in the back muscles. Just allow those to stretch. When you've maxed out the stretch, relax your legs and contract your spinal column back into the chair. Don't hunch, just relax to your original position.

Try using the push from the feet to move the hands.  Try Two Hands Support Sky - a good one to choose for a first go at chair work because you push equally from both feet to accomplish the movement. As you expand, drive the feet into the floor to get the hands to go up above the head. As the hands come down, contract / relax the legs / sink into the chair.

For movements where you'd push from one foot, then the other, do so while sitting in the chair as well. Turning motions are accomplished usually by actively pushing from one foot while receiving / grounding through the other foot. You can do this in a chair as well. The turning motion is going to be more internal through the spine, because the low spine is held in place.

Bonus factor:  The grounded quality of chair practice gives you an idea of how the movements should feel even when standing. A common beginner challenge is keeping the low spine dropped and grounded as you do your movements. Especially in cases where the low back and hips have been compromised by too much sitting / desk work / sedentary habits, it can be difficult to properly ground through the low spine while standing. Most people go years before they feel that their movements are travelling internally as well as moving the body externally. Chair practice is a way to immobilize the large external movements and experience the force travelling through the inside of the body.

Bonus bonus: It is ideal in a situation where you can't stand due to an injury to the lower body, where it would benefit you to exercise the area but it won't bear weight. 

Bonus bonus bonus: Chair practice done correctly is just as challenging as standing practice.

Using Qigong and Tai Chi for Healing, Part Five: How to Practice When You Can't Keep Moving

This post is Part Four of a series that addresses healing from serious chronic and acute illness, including but not limited to Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Depression, Anxiety, and Cancer. Click here to access all articles about using Tai Chi and Qigong for health recovery.

In Part Three of this series, I wrote about the ways you can maximize the effectiveness of your Tai Chi and Qigong practice: specifically, making the movements bigger than you're inclined to, and relaxing completely. For most adults, this is good advice. Even if you're not sick, generally speaking most people over the age of twelve are suffering from some kind of contraction throughout the spinal column. Those years of sitting in desks at school, studying / spending time on the couch and in front of the computer at home, and working a desk job or even a physically demanding job that's repetitive in nature can bind you up like nobody's business.

When you perform Tai Chi and Qigong moves, you're restoring range of motion throughout the body, but you are also moving in ways that increase the flow of chi or vital energy throughout the meridians or energy channels of the body. This is great for you and it is exactly what you need no matter what you're doing, but especially when you are facing serious chronic or acute illness.

I've also written recently about how much Tai Chi and / or Qigong you need to do if you are working actively on health recovery. (Answer: what will probably seem at first like a completely insane amount. Basically, welcome to your new part-time job that will feel like a full-time job with ridiculous overtime.) There will be times when that feels impossible, or when it is impossible. I strongly suggest that you try to do the whole amount of time you've set out for yourself. Chances are, when you've completed the workout, you're going to feel a whole lot better than you did when you started.

Confession time: after more than twenty years of practice, I still often don't feel like I want to start a workout. I will put off starting, or just drag myself into my practice space. Once I get going, I always think, "Darn it...I've only got an hour here. I wish I had more time." It's like a switch flips and I remember why I love doing Tai Chi and Qigong. "Oh yeah! This stuff feels good!" I get not wanting to work out. I do.

So before I go any further with this post, let me just say that it is a very good thing to commit a block of time to your practice, and get into your workout clothes, clear away your coffee table, or do whatever you need to do in order to get into the mindset of your practice session.

I recommend doing this even, and maybe especially on those days when you really feel like you can't. When you are just completely spent, those are the days when even a few minutes of movement are going to have a big impact.

Here's what you do: set aside the time, get into the practice room, and do what you can. When you hit an absolute wall that will not allow you to do any more movement, don't quit. There are options. These are some of your options.


Smaller Movements
If performing the full extent of the movements is taxing you too much, take it easy, and perform a smaller range of motion. This is no excuse to lapse into bad form - just take it down a notch. Walking through a Tai Chi set is better than doing no Tai Chi at all. Whatever you do, ensure that you are not creating internal strain.


Sit Down, Keep Training
When I was in year six or seven of my training, one of my good friends had to have knee surgery, and could not do Tai Chi standing for a few months. Our teacher put us all in chairs so we could all learn how to perform Tai Chi while not standing.

This is the option for you if you are not completely wiped out, but you have a specific problem or issue that is keeping you from practicing, like an injury or muscle strain to the lower body. If you have back pain, prick up your ears: this is the option for you. Sitting in a chair will keep your low spine anchored and allow you to move the rest of your spine safely without overdoing it.

There are a couple of particular things you'll want to know about chair training before you start. If you're in a class, ask your instructor for help with training in a chair. The last thing you want is for your form to go out the window. I'll try to post about this in more detail, but for now I'll just say that this is still a whole-body practice. When you're in the chair, you still need to push from your feet to accomplish the movements. More about this later.


Visualizing the Movements
This is for when you must sit or lie down and the thought of moving another muscle sounds like murder, but you still have half an hour on your practice session, and you still want to move chi. Use your mind!

Closing your eyes, imagine yourself performing the movements of the Tai Chi set, or the Qigong exercises of your choice. Really try to see and feel your way into the movements, exactly as if you're performing them with your body.

The beauty of this kind of practice is that you can often feel your way into a better version of the movement than you might be able to do physically. I've gained many insights into where a particularly stiff joint or tight muscle was limiting my movement when I visualized myself performing the movement and magically, it seemed to flow much better. This is also a wonderful trick to use when you're lying in bed at night and you can't fall asleep. Practicing Tai Chi or Qigong in your mind will help you drift off to sleep not just because it takes your mind off of all the other stuff you're worried about. It also moves your chi. Sometimes stuck chi is the reason we can't fall asleep in the first place.

It needs to be said that merely visualizing the movements is no substitute for doing them with your physical body, but it is better than giving up before your workout is done.


Sitting Qigong Meditation
This is a mega powerhouse of a practice. I honestly can't say enough about how amazing and magical sitting Qigong is, and yet, it seems to be a less popular practice than Tai Chi or Qigong exercise. There are many guides online that will tell you a complicated story about what's involved in sitting Qigong, but my training followed the KISS principle. You know what that stands for. You sit on the floor or in a chair, spine straight. Mental focus is a few feet in front of your face. Everything relaxes. Hold for as long as is comfortable. When you feel like you're done, release the posture. Sit for a few minutes to allow your energy to return to normal before you stand up again.

There's a bit more to it than that. I teach sitting Qigong as part of my regular classes, and at occasional workshops. I don't recommend doing this if you don't have access to an instructor. Things get weird when you sit meditation, and you pretty much need a teacher to help you. Whatever you do if you don't have regular instruction, make sure your spine is straight and that you're not getting too weird with your breathing. Relax means relax everything.

For my money the fancier methodologies and theories all seem to have grown out of individual instructors' attempts to help their students deal with the total simplicity of meditation. It is simple but not easy. That last sentence describes almost everything that's worthwhile, don't you think?


Six Healing Sounds
There are several different versions of the Six Healing Sounds, but I was taught and prefer Mantak Chia's. This practice combines natural breathing with shaped exhalations to produce sounds. You can perform the six sounds on their own without movements, or with the movements Mantak Chia describes, depending on how you're feeling. Combined with his "inner smile" technique, these exercises have the potential to radically transform stale energies. You can also use the Six Healing Sounds with any Qigong set to enhance the movements, so long as you line up each sound with the correct elemental movement.

What Tai Chi and Qigong Can Do for You

This is the real question, isn't it?

Maybe someone has recommended Tai Chi or Qigong for you, or you've read some article that claims it's excellent for health or wellbeing or your particular health situation. Nine times out of ten the writers or recommenders do not practice themselves, so can't tell you exactly what amazing wonders are in store for you. I've written this guide to help you understand what you're getting into before you start.

A general caveat: Tai Chi and Qigong are not a quick solution to anything. They both take time and discipline to learn, but for those who take it, this journey is amazingly rewarding. Most people know within a few classes whether it's for them. You have nothing to lose by trying.

Any questions? Email me. I offer Qigong and Tai Chi classes each week. View the schedule and find out about my extremely reasonable fees here. I also offer occasional Sunday workshops. View upcoming workshops here.

Tai Chi and Qigong Can Help You:

Build a Better Relationship With Your Body
Modern living tends to disconnect us from our bodies. Most of us work at jobs that require us to sit for long periods of time, process information, and otherwise behave like floating minds barely anchored to the physical realm.

While any form of exercise will help your body, Tai Chi and Qigong are unique in their ability to increase body awareness so you can begin to remember how to enjoy having a body again.

Learn more here.


Feel Amazing
A while back, one of my students had a big grin on her face at the end of class. I asked her what was up.

"Everything feels like it's tingling and warm," she said. "Is that chi?"

It was.

"That's amazing," she said. "I've never felt anything like that before."

Start your journey toward feeling freaking amazing.



Learn to Use Your Mind Effectively
Through Tai Chi and Qigong, you learn to settle the mind down and focus it on what you are doing. I've learned over time to put a stop to the mental grinding and restless negative thinking that are the mind's favourite tricks. You can too.

Learn about becoming a Jedi.

Let Go of Your Baggage
Chances are you've got quite a bit of baggage. It's okay: we all do. It's part of the human deal. Unfortunately they don't hand you a pamphlet at birth that tells you that your job here is to let all of that go. Tai Chi and Qigong can help with that.

Here's how you can learn to let go.



Tweak Your Genes in the Right Direction
Every day, scientists are learning more about why genes express themselves the way they do. As it turns out, some genes are turned on or off according to what's going on in your environment. Surprise, the key here is stress: genes will tend to work in your favour if you are having more good experiences than bad. Tai Chi and Qigong are a way to ensure that you are getting in some solid, uplifting, energizing, feel-good experience each day.

Learn more about the fascinating research into the relationship between stress and gene expression.



Stand Up for Yourself
Tai Chi is a martial art, and I teach it that way. That does not mean that we start kicking and punching you on day one and requiring you to defend yourself. It means that stepping onto the Tai Chi path means that you will learn a better, stronger, more relaxed and confident way of being in the world.

I've written more about Tai Chi and the emotional implications of standing up for yourself here if you want to learn more. Go here to read a longer post about Tai Chi as martial art. Go here to learn for some quick info on Tai Chi and self-defense.

Receive Healing
Tai Chi method is martial art; Tai Chi purpose is healing and optimal health.

There is an enormous body of evidence to suggest that Tai Chi and Qigong both support healing on all levels: physical, emotional, and spiritual.

Learn more about some common health benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong.
For more specific information about using Tai Chi and Qigong for Health Recovery, see my series on that topic.



Distinguish Between What You Need and What You Don't
Tai Chi and Qigong work to enhance your "radar" - your intuitive sense of the world around you - at the same time as they increase your body awareness. All of a sudden, your body and emotions can talk to you in ways they haven't been able to in a long time. Sometimes they have a lot to say. This is a good thing, although it can be strange or a little uncomfortable at first.

Read more about developing discernment through Tai Chi and Qigong here.



Practice Something Deeply
We are a culture of samplers. One weekend we are skydiving; the next, we're learning shiatsu; then it's on to fly fishing and wine tasting and cheese making and and and. There is nothing wrong with trying new things, but after a while, all this experimenting, tasting, and flitting around is going to make you feel a little unreal. You owe it to yourself to sink into one thing for a while, and explore it thoroughly.

Learn more about sinking deeply into the world of Tai Chi and Qigong here.



Stop Being a Muggle
I'm going to be honest with you, this is the part of Tai Chi and Qigong practice that I had the most difficulty accepting and now it is the part through which I have learned the most profound lessons. The more you practice Tai Chi and Qigong, the more you become immersed in a perspective on life that is...different from the common, regular, mundane, material way of looking at things.

When you enter the world of chi / energy and start to really work with it, you gently and gradually shift your perceptual abilities, and the terms with which you interact with the world.

Read more here.

Tired of Being a Muggle? Try Tai Chi and Qigong

When I first started taking Tai Chi, I was all, "energy, schmenergy." I was thoroughly immersed in the perspective that we are biological mechanisms, and that's all there is to it. In other words, I'd been beaten down by my upbringing and, to some degree, my education. I remember the first time I was pouring sweat after an intensive class, feeling totally amazing and buzzing. I showed my instructor my hands: they were mottled and red and pulsing.

"Chi man," he said.

Slowly, I started to connect what I was feeling with the terminology of Tai Chi and Qigong. I opened my mind, in other words, and started exploring the world of energy healing, of connecting to nature and natural energies, synchronicity, and chi. There is a whole other way of doing things, of being in the world, of perceiving, that is nothing short of magic. Like the man said, nobody can be told what it is. You have to see it for yourself.

If you've read this far you've probably gotten tired of the mechanistic view of reality ("reality") you were taught in school. Remember when you were a kid and everything was potentially magical? If you're of the right age or disposition, remember how jealous you were that Harry Potter got to go to Hogwarts and your acceptance letter never came?

What I've learned through my twenty plus years of study of Tai Chi, Qigong, meditation, guided visualization, Reiki, and all this woo woo energy schmenergy stuff is this:

There are many gateways in this life that you can use to take back that magical world you were at home in when you were a kid. Tai Chi and Qigong are one route to slowly and gently re-immersing yourself in a way of being and understanding that is more holistic, all-encompassing, and takes into account all of you - mind, body, emotions, and spirit. A complete understanding of life and its mysteries is your birthright. It's everyone's birthright.

This post is part of a series called What Tai Chi and Qigong Can Do for You. Look for more parts in the coming weeks, or click "What Tai Chi and Qigong Can Do for You" at the bottom of this post. 

I offer weekly classes and occasional workshops. For my class schedule and information about fees, click here. For upcoming workshops, click here.