For chronic conditions which have been around a long time, whether pain or internal medicine – many times there are
been aspects of self-care which have been neglected for months or years. I find this is true even with an injury that is
sudden onset – an accident or a pulled muscle that is very painful and which refuses to heal. How entrenched an injury
becomes is often a reflection of the care and maintenance that was given to the body prior to the onset of the
problem. So even if you never had a chronic backache before, if it suddenly shows up over night, and you have not been
including bodywork, nutrition, exercise, play, etc. realize that you were primed for a condition to develop.
Realize there is no blame here – these are aspects which have been ignored and minimized by western medicine for far
too long. I may be dating myself here by mentioning that the sayings my grandmother used to quote (while sneaking last
night’s peas into my pancakes) were true more often than not, I just had to go through 10 years of school to realize it.
The good news is that the word is out – now you know too and you can use all these tools to help restore and maintain
your health.
Now there are a few sections of self-care which we have not covered yet - qi cultivation, play/pray, and exercise. We
will cover these as a unit because they have a common theme. In future columns we will cover more about the TCM
approach to the mind and emotions and how they affect the physical organs. I want to make a pitch to include some of
the following activities in your self-care routine and briefly explain why.
Qi Cultivation (Tai Qi, qi gong, yoga, martial arts), Play/Pray, Exercise
I include the all of the above as Qi cultivation because in different ways they all help balance the cellular effects from
certain physical and emotional states, and to help maintain the patency or ‘free-flowing’ nature of qi. Some of you who
read my article on bodywork now understand that the nature of qi is like a river, and it needs to flow freely and evenly.
Chronic pain and disease are signs that the qi has gotten diminished or stuck in some way. This category includes ways
to help ensure that qi moves freely and smoothly, and also helps bring a level of self awareness into your body to help
prevent recurrences in the future.
Qi cultivation or Qi gong is the 4th of the four pillars of traditional Chinese medicine: Acupuncture, Massage, Herbal
Medicines and Qigong. Broken into its component parts: Qi and Gong: Qi = vitality, energy, life force, Gong = practice,
cultivate, or mastery. (3) Roughly speaking, it is the practice of cultivating or nourishing one’s life force energy. In
layman’s terms, these are practices by which you can not only fill up your gas tank, but keep the motor more finally
tuned.
The more classical oriental traditions include meditation exercises of Qi gong, and tai ji. But these are rooted in a very
different culture than ours, and many of my patients have not had a heart connection with the practices. I like to
include general exercise, play/prayer, yoga, pilates within this category. What types of qi cultivation you choose
depend on personality and taste, and I don’t find one to be more beneficial than the other. It should be something in
which you find immediate gratification (or you won’t continue doing it).
I have experimented with almost everything – sadly I lack the temperament to do tai ji – gave it my best shot for over a
year and do not have the patience for it. But I had immediate luck when I started doing yoga for my back, so to each his
own. My own reasons for beginning a practice of qi cultivation were very prosaic and not rooted in anything nobler than
my finances – I was a poor grad student and could not afford to go see the chiropractor much. I had to find something
to help with the back pain that I could do on my own. After taking a few workshops, I learned a series of poses that
were very helpful for my condition, which I continue to this day. (page 3)
Wholistic Acupuncture Facelifts!
Incredible before and after
photos.
Fertility and Acupuncture
How acupuncture and Oriental
medicine can help you conceive
naturally.
medicine, but will interest his patients in
the care of the human body, in diet, and in
the cause and prevention of disease."
Thomas Edison
