Tai chi, qi gong help people with chronic illness

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This article was published 21/08/2007 (6663 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. — It may seem simple and insignificant. But in Geri Lake’s world, it’s huge.

For the first time in a long time, Lake can make a fist. She can curl her fingers into an almost-tight ball and hold them there.

Lake has arthritis all over her body. She’s not on any drugs — by choice. At this time in her life, she believes exercise is the best medication.

The 74-year-old St. Catharines, Ont., woman swims three mornings every week. And for the past two months, she’s been taking classes with the Niagara branch of the Taoist Tai Chi Society, along with her husband, Ed.

She credits the gentle turning and stretching movements for helping her joints to become more flexible.

Ed Lake is 83 and has Parkinson’s disease, a chronic disease of the central nervous system that affects muscle movement.

Lake is hoping tai chi will improve his balance. For now, it’s motivating him to exercise.

They’re both in the society’s health recovery class, which is specialized to help people with chronic illness or who are recovering from injury.

It’s good for young people, too.

Tai chi is also called meditation in movement.

There are many programs that offer instruction in a handful of different styles of tai chi.

The type the Lakes do is called Taoist tai chi internal arts and methods. It was developed to promote physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

It’s based on 108 moves that flow together to create what’s called a set. In the health recovery class, elements of the set — foundation exercises — are isolated and repeated.

At Wellspring Niagara, people living with cancer and their loved ones can take part in traditional tai chi as well as a similar martial art called qi gong.

In eastern medicine, a traditional Chinese doctor would prescribe qi gong exercises. It’s all based on an eastern belief that disease is caused by an energy blockage in the body.

If you open up the energy flow, you’ll get rid of disease, says George Picard, teacher and owner of Glenridge Martial Arts in St. Catharines. He instructs people with cancer at Wellspring.

The Chinese believe there are three components necessary for healing:

— A change in the way you think.

— A change in your lifestyle.

— And the most difficult, to be disciplined enough to do qi gong exercises daily. They believe that a person’s own body can heal disease in three years by doing qi gong for one hour every day, says Picard.

Think of it this way. Our body is an energy system. It’s a complete unit, not a bunch of parts.

Cancer is a living cell. It has energy. It has DNA. Its very nature is to grow. For it to grow, it needs the proper environment.

The cancer cell is able to take root because of blocked energy. Once our body’s energy is flowing, it creates an infertile ground for disease, he says.

— Canadian Press