4/29/2020 Still not Convinced of the Benefits of a Regular Tai-Chi Practice? ... Read This BBC Article!Today the BBC published an instructive article about Tai-Chi and its health benefits: Asian Centuries-Old Healing Technique. The article states that "Experts point to the health benefits of tai chi as a reason lifespan has increased in Honk Kong over the past 50 years." It also lists a few of its health benefits: "Tai chi maintains cardiorespiratory function, muscular fitness and joint flexibility."
There are several styles of Tai-Chi. The one we practice at DailyTaiChi is the Yang style. All styles share common founding principles of how you align your spine, sit in your structure, move effortlessly without tension, and integrate mind and body. But are Tai-Chi and QiGong for me, you may wonder? Undoubtedly yes, as long as you enjoy doing it! The slow movements of Tai-Chi, and its complement QiGong, are easy to do and are suitable to everyone. The BBC article emphasizes the suitability to older adults, and the positive effect on longevity. But Tai-Chi and QiGong are no more practices for the older population than Yoga is. They are for people of all walks of life! They are like an onion with many layers that you discover over time, going deeper and deeper, with the help of a good teacher, and by paying attention to subtle feeling-sensations from your body. You'll enjoy your first session, and you'll enjoy developing new sensations from moves that you thought you knew by heart! I have been teaching University students who enjoy stress relief from doing Tai-Chi and QiGong, athletes who discover more efficient ways to move their body and improve their performance, patients with chronic pain who experience less pain, seniors with balance issues who feel more stable, flexible and stronger, busy professionals who get a gentle workout and a mental break at the same time. For some, Tai-Chi and QiGong are a cure, for others they are a health maintenance program, a practice for longevity, an internal martial art, meditation in movement, artistic expression, de-stress, mental health, a part of ancient Chinese Medicine and philosophy, a lifestyle, or just a nice weekly hour of social time with like-minded people. I hope you find a style and a way to practice that you like, and that you enjoy how great it feels to do Tai-Chi and QiGong regularly! There are many trust-worthy sources about Covid-19. Here are a few:
- WHO - Public Health Canada - Region of Waterloo Public Health I also use paid-journalism journals and magazines. But so much is published about Covid-19 these days, and good recommendations abound on social media. Though people who share posts or emails likely mean well, many clearly have little understanding of biology, patho-physiology, and medicine. Pieces of text pretendedly from prestigious medical institutions, that have been copy-pasted in emails or in Facebook posts are often full of wrong information. Be careful. They may give you a false sense that you can self diagnose, or they may make you engage in dangerous behaviours. I saw recently a Facebook post and mail chain "from John Hopkins" that absolutely does not come from them. People reading it may think that the mouth wash Listerine is an appropriate substitute to alcohol-based hand disinfectant. No, the concentration of alcohol in Listerine is much too low to give you any protection. See more about this here. I saw another mail chain from a "Bay Area hospital" which name is "intentionally deleted", from which one might wrongly self diagnose. In such texts, the absence of web links to the reputable institution, and the language and choice of words used should raise a flag. A healthcare professional or a scientist will not write certains things that I have seen like: "an excellent summary", "this is super said, but...", "serious excellent advice", or phrases of that kind. Such copy-pasted texts often have gross mistakes in terms of cellular biology, or misunderstandings about precautions and clinical signs. The basics can always be relied upon. Hand washing (water + soap, or hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol). Sneeze or cough in your elbow. Wash your hands again and again and again (before you leave home, when you come home, before the washroom, after the washroom, after touching your face etc etc..). Clean and disinfect surfaces, door knobs etc. Practice social distancing. Stay home and self isolate if you have symptoms, and call your doctor, or Ontario tele-health at 1-866-797 0000. We are doing the right things as a community, and we are getting over this! Be patient, social distancing will eventually not be required. Until then, we are all learning a new lifestyle and good habits that will serve us in the future. Keep well, keep safe! While The News abounds in bad news about wars, insecurity, global warming, etc, I can't help seeing how much better we are now compared with the past. Let me share a few simple observations that everyone can make.
Overall, I think that humanity is reaching higher levels of awareness and consciousness. Many behaviours from the past were considered normal and part of life, but they are no longer acceptable, for instance slavery, rape, child violence, etc. - Conflicts The daily news may make us feel weary about world peace. But actually, the number of deaths in state conflicts now is low compared with most of the 20th century. I found informative graphics that you can see by clicking here. - Environment Yes, we are quickly exhausting the resources of our planet, and much remains to be done if we don't want to hit a wall... of garbage, plastic bags, and chemicals that suffocate the earth and our own selves. But in my lifetime, people's behaviours have changed drastically. Selective recycling of household garbage is now routine, preserving water by turning the taps off or collecting it in rain barrels is done all around us. We're not there yet, but we're improving. - Immigration It has always existed, and it will always exist. If you did an analysis of your own DNA, you would see how diverse your ancestry is. A French friend of mine recently published where is DNA comes from (click here to see a map of it): France, Germany, England, Italy, Scandinavia. Mine has in addition Spanish, Islander and other sources. We are all the product of immigration. I am an immigrant myself. For Europe, and for the USA, challenges from immigration are significant. But it will shape future generations, and it currently fuels economies. - Inequalities In the past, slavery was much more a part of life. Slaves were a by-product of wars, or were purchased on markets. Slavery has been abolished in much of the world, and where pockets remain, it is generally considered unlawful. The number of poor people in the world is decreasing. In 2015, it was down 36% compared with 1990 (click here for an overview from the World Bank) . - Gender gap Rape as a weapon of war used to be considered "acceptable", the #MeToo movement exposed and ameliorated a degree of silence on the subject of women abuse. There has been progress. Until she was 25, my mom could not sign a cheque, open a bank account, or buy a house on her own. After her fourth child (me...), she traveled to Switzerland to get a contraceptive pill prescription that was illegal in France back then. Her great grand-mother was charged for indecency because her ankle became inadvertently exposed when rising her foot to step into a bus. I think I was born at the right time, in the right place. Gender inequalities need much improvement still, but in the West and beyond we have a lot of freedom to study, work. Women & men get medical help to conceive, they can opt for family planning, etc. These are just a few examples that make me think that the world is a better place day after day. Much has been done. Much remains to be done, but we start from a place that is far better than before. What do you think? There's as much to enjoy about the winter from being outside as from being inside! OK, let's start with what some people might be less excited about: outside.
One thing that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is big about is protecting your neck with a scarf. It's a vulnerable part of your body, and allowing it to be chilled makes you susceptible to catching a bug.
For TCM, living in harmony with nature is essential to good health. And that includes following the patterns and rhythms pertaining to each season. Though we do not need to hibernate in the winter like some animals do, it is part of our DNA to slow down. As the days are shorter, our active time should be also. More quiet moments, more rest, more sleep. It's a time to live on accumulated reserves like bears do, not to burn them up with a frantic lifestyle. Easier said than done? Indeed, December is hectic with business end of year cycles, and holiday season preps. In January and February, many new activities start and require our energy. Our modern life's rhythms are quite opposite to our natural rhythms.
- What should our eating schedule look like? A great way to eat healthy, and to lose weight, is to have a big breakfast, and make sure that dinner is half of that. There is a saying: "For breakfast eat like a king, for lunch eat like a prince, and for dinner eat like a pauper". We don't need copious amounts of nutritious foods before bed, we need them before we start our day! - What kind of foods are better in the winter? Particularly in the winter, avoid raw foods, cold smoothies, raw vegetables and anything at cold temperature. They shut down our digestive fire, and will make our digestion sluggish, possibly leading to bloating, IBS, low energy etc. Foods that are good for the season according to TCM are dark leafy greens (cooked swiss chard, kale, broccoli, spinach, cabbage etc), dark coloured fruits (blackberries, blueberries, figs), nuts and seeds (black sesame seeds, hemp seeds, black walnuts, pine nuts), foods from the ocean (fish, shellfish, seaweed, kelp), winter foods (buttercup squash, brussel sprouts, turnips, sweet potatoes, collard greens, leeks, kiwi, pear, tangerines, oranges, grapefruit, pomegranate), marrow-filled bones soups and stews (especially with lamb, ox tail or elk meat).
It's a good time to reflect on what we do and why. Are we driven by our inner purpose, or by models of success set by others? Our culture promotes always doing more, trying to always be the best. But good is good enough. TCM wisdom is not about always being the best, or always being at our best, but it is about being true to our self, and authentic to our real nature. Like the cycles of seasons in a year, our life is made of cycles. As we evolve, we need to allow a cycle to end, in order to be ready for the next one. Winter is a season of slow and calm appearance. But inside of us our essential nature is given a space for gestation and germination, in view of the renewal forces that will manifest in the spring. Enjoy this essential time of the year! Our cognitive functions follow seasonal cycles.
Their peak is around the equinox of each year: end of summer and early fall. Western scientific medicine is starting to understand better how our biology changes with the season. For more than 2,000 years, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has emphasized how important it is to live according the rhythms of the seasons, and the specific qualities that predominate with each of them. This was the motivation for creating “A Month of QiGong for the Season”, a program I run 5 times a year, teaching us how to optimize our lifestyle and QiGong practices with each season. If you often see me in person, you know that I'm always excited about the last article or book I read, because of how it enhances our understanding of human beings, whether physiologically, psychologically, or spiritually. Especially when some scientific evidence bridges what I've learnt and experienced clinically from TCM. This recent article (PLoS Med 15 (9): e1002647) includes data from a team at Sunnybrook, and shows that normal subjects, as well as people with dementia, perform differently in cognitive tasks, and have different neurologic physiological markers as well as genes expression, depending on the time of the year. They conclude that programs to diagnose and support patients suffering from dementia and Alzheimer should factor this reality in. When you think about it, school and University programs would greatly benefit from this knowledge as well. And I am now thinking of planning accordingly my next round of continuous education, or my training for Tai-Chi skills. In other words, this applies to all of us, as we are life-long learners! How does this meet what Chinese ancient wisdom and time-proven concepts have taught us for centuries? In TCM, each internal organ has its seasonal preference, where it experiences its peak function. The summer is the season of the Heart. But the Heart of TCM has a much broader function than pumping blood throughout the body. We say in TCM that "the Heart houses the Mind". Here, "Mind" is a translation of the character Shen 神, which includes all that makes us conscious, thinking, feeling, emotional, and spiritual (both our sense of humour, and our connection to the divine or to greater realities). Think about expressions like: "from the bottom of my heart", "my heart bleeds for...", "to follow your heart", "this broke my heart", "I took it at heart to do this", or "my heart is with you". We know from Western science that mental and emotional functions come from the brain. But surely, this did not break your brain, and you did not follow your pre-frontal cortex, nor did not do it from the bottom of your cerebrum! Our language definitely follows the same concept than TCM: our heart and psycho-emotional realities go hand in hand. So a healthy Heart in TCM promotes healthy thinking, and good intellectual performances. Ditto... The Heart's peak function is in the summer. West is catching up, and it's fascinating how it meets East! I'd have a lot more to figure to get to the heart of this, but time is flying in a heartbeat, and I now have my heart set on getting ready for tomorrow's QiGong! Each season has its riches, enjoy the present one! Patricia 4/15/2018 Spring: A Health Refresher!In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), our body + mind mirror qualities and forces found in nature, such as elements, climates, tastes, or colours. Plants and seeds concentrate their essence in the winter, only to resurface and grow vibrant in the spring. But when comes the spring, we often feel exhausted, or experience flare-ups of latent health issues: allergies, recurring migraines, aggravation of chronic disease symptoms, depression etc. So what can we learn from TCM to resurface from the winter full of energy, enthusiastic, and thriving? Here are elements of wisdom from TCM, and practical tips for health, including practices to de-stress, and to benefit the eyes.
Spring and Wood are connected to the Liver, and the Liver opens into the eyes. So it's also about physical vision. When was your last eyes check? There's a lot you can do to take care of your eyes, like simple movements and self-massage found in this video.
Who thought that Tai-Chi could help with snow shovelling? Today I waited too long and by the time I was out, the snow had piled up thick and heavy. Thinking about people who hurt their back, their knees, or their shoulders in similar circumstances, here is what I paid attention to. It's all from my Tai-Chi training! And it worked: I felt loose, energized, and had a great time outside!
First, I use a sliding shovel as much as possible, so that I don't have to lift and throw the snow. I slide my shovel, and it's super easy. It's a lot more gentle on my body, and I can move more snow faster. Second, I shift my weight from the back leg to the forward leg, rather than trying to extend with my arms. It is said in Tai-Chi classics that "movement should be rooted in the feet, developed in the legs, directed by the waist, and manifested through the hands." And also that "upper and lower follow one another."
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AuthorPatricia Beretta, PhD, RAc, brings together her Biomedical and TCM backgrounds, as well as her love for Tai-Chi, and shares thoughts and observations from her readings and her daily life in the DailyTaiChi.com blog Archives
April 2020
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