Newsletter #101 - January 2010

In this issue:

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Hello Everyone,

Welcome to 2010! May this be a joyful and healthy year for you.

We are lucky to start the year with the January one week workshop, when over 100 people will gather in the tranquil grounds of St Vincent’s College, Sydney, to share tai chi and harmony. Everyone will bring, from many parts of the world, their positive spirit and good energy. We will learn much from each other; enjoy the camaraderie and tai chi spirit. The theme of this year’s workshop is “A Journey of Self Discovery” which will also be the theme for this month’s newsletter. There are millions of tai chi practitioners but we all have our unique tai chi journey. This month we will hear some of these amazing stories from our friends.

The Tai Chi for Health Community (TCHC) will be awarding up to five $725 scholarships for the 2010 USA Annual Tai Chi Workshop at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington in June. If you are interested, find out more in this newsletter.

• Announcement of the TCHC Scholarships for the 2010 USA Annual Tai Chi Workshop in Tacoma, WA
• Although Ellen Reitsma resides in Switzerland, her tai chi journey began in Sydney 2003. Now seven years later she’s back in the city where it all began.
• Cynthia Fels started tai chi out of curiosity. Now 20 years on she loves practising and teaching so much she has written a book on it.
• A touching story by Tony Garcia whose tai chi journey has helped him and others fight MS by regaining balance, self confidence and well being while dealing with a medical condition.
• Jennifer Chung from Singapore found tai chi to have given her a different perspective in life. She is now focused on training more instructors safely and effectively to achieve Dr. Paul’s vision for the TCH programs in Singapore.
• 83 year old June Didier’s tai chi journey only started six years ago after her partner of 30 years died unexpectedly. She not only found tai chi soothed her grief and brought her peace of mind but her bone density increased remarkably. Diagnosed with severe osteoporosis in 1996, her condition has now improved to osteopenia. 
• From ice skating to tai chi, Linda Arksey from the UK continues on her tai chi journey. She is using her knowledge as an ice dancing coach to improve fitness, balance and choreography.

Many other workshops conducted by my authorised master trainers are listed in the Workshop Calendar.

Yours in Tai Chi,

 

 

 

Paul Lam, M.D.

http://www.taichiproductions.com

 

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TCHC Scholarships for the 2010 USA Annual Tai Chi Workshop

Tai Chi for Health Community (TCHC) will be awarding up to five $725 scholarships to be used for tuition fees and expenses at the 2010 USA Annual Tai Chi Workshop to be held June 7 -12, 2010 at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.

The scholarship funds were raised through the efforts and generous donations by TCHC members and a matching commitment by TCHC.

TCHC members residing in the U.S. or Canada may apply for one of the five scholarships.  Guidelines with information on eligibility and selection criteria, along with an application, may be downloaded from our TCHC website at www.tchc.info. 

Non-members may download information after completing a free registration.   To obtain a printed copy of the Guidelines and Application by regular mail, please send your name, mailing address and phone number to:-

TCHC,  P O Box 21982, Lincoln NE  68542. 

All scholarship applications must be received by February 1, 2010.

 

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My Tai Chi Journey
Ellen Reitsma, Senior Trainer, Oberdorf, Switzerland

 

My name is Ellen Reitsma. I am a physical therapist; I am Dutch and have been living and working in Switzerland for more than 20 years now.

 

I have been working as a PT for thirty years, working with all kinds of patients in hospitals and private practices, in Holland and in Switzerland. I also worked in a special education school for mentally and physically handicapped children.

 

My arthritis and back pain have always been there limiting me more and more. I had to give up my favourite sports, and after a second discus hernia, I was forced to reduce my work as a PT. So I started looking for a gentle way to keep my body and mind fit. I started doing tai chi and I loved it! I also found, that not every style, form or teacher was good for my health and me.

 

And then, just before a visit to Australia, I found Dr. Paul Lam’s web site and I attended my first TCA workshop with him in a school library in Hurstville, Sydney. And this workshop not only inspired me, it changed my life completely! At the beginning the change was mostly physical; but than after more practice and internalizing my tai chi, not only my body felt better, no, I, Ellen, as a whole person, being body/mind and spirit, began to feel better. This enables me now to use my tai chi to manage my condition.

 

I have been teaching tai chi classes for six years now, working with people of all ages, operating in conjunction with an Organization for the Elderly and with the Swiss Arthritis Association. I also organize training sessions with other Tai Chi for Health Instructors in Switzerland. I attended many of Paul’s workshops, all over the world, and I often assist him.

I am a Senior Trainer now and on my way to be a Master Trainer. So my journey continues. My goal as a Master Trainer will be to spread the Tai Chi for Health Program in Europe.

 

My journey started in a library in Sydney in 2003. Now in 2010 I am back in Sydney after a tai chi journey that brought me all over the world, meeting so many lovely people and making so many friends. I feel like being part of a big global tai chi family.

 

Paul once said:

Quote: ’’I feel like the big brother of our family, trying to keep our goals clear and the family harmonious’’

Thank you Paul, for being my big brother and all of you, for making me feel at home, wherever in the world my journey takes me.

 

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Why Start the Tai Chi Journey
Cynthia Fels, Senior Trainer, Pacific Grove, CA, USA

Cynthia Fels is the author of “The Tao of Teaching Tai Chi: a Learning and Teaching manual”

 

It is a New Year, a time for new beginnings and New Year’s Resolutions, one of which could be to start your own tai chi journey. At one of the senior centres where I teach, I have a class of 28 women who have been practicing for over 3 years. When I asked them why they began to practice tai chi, the answers were as varied as they were. Most frequently their reasons included:  out of curiosity, to reduce stress, to exercise, to improve my health or balance, to make friends, a friend or doctor recommended it, or I heard the teacher was superb. Regardless of their personal reasons, all of my students found that once they started class that they absolutely loved it! Indeed, they felt that they couldn’t do without it, and that in the end they had gained more benefits than they could have had ever imagined.  In fact, when our class was threatened to fold due to budget cuts in California, they signed petitions, wrote letters, and made phone calls to the proper authorities to make sure that their class would ‘t be dropped and it wasn’t.

 

For me, starting my tai chi journey over 20 years ago was no different. I took it out of curiosity and because I heard that the woman who taught it was an amazing teacher. I too have grown to love my practice, and, in fact, I love it so much that I had to become a tai chi instructor so that I could share it with others. Likewise, I have found that tai chi has brought many unexpected benefits my way. For me these include: new friends and a loving tai chi family, reduced stress, a deepened connection to nature, a way to get through unexpected health challenges, and fulfilling my need as a retired educator of having to have some students of my own.

 

Sometimes individuals feel a bit fearful about starting a tai chi class because they feel they won’t be able to learn the moves or follow along. I heard that same thing when many of these older women started my class, but wow, you should see them now! One even told me that her 6-year-old grandson was so impressed that his grandmother does tai chi that he practices with her, and he has to show her off to all of his friends. Grandma is way too cool!

 

Of course, it is important that you find a teacher that you personally connect with and who will make your learning of tai chi a positive event. The Tai Chi for Health Programs can do just that; they are easy to learn, safe, interesting and provide many positive benefits and even some unexpected ones, such as turning quiet grandmas into awesome internal martial artists! So this year start your New Year off right, and try giving tai chi a go. There is no telling where it may lead you.

 

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My Tai Chi Journey
Tony Garcia, Senior Trainer, Miami Beach, FL, USA

 

It was 1975 in New Jersey. While still in high school, I began to witness the movies of one the great martial artists of our times. His name was Bruce Lee. My interest in the martial arts began to grow. That same year I joined a martial art school and my journey began. I obtained my black belt in tae kwon do and started training in aikido.

 

Then, my life took a sudden twist. In 1994 while working 15 years as a systems analyst in the corporate world I was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and wondered, “What do I do next?” Knowing the health symptoms this usually consists of, I soon began to feel some of the symptoms, fatigue, double vision, weak muscles, and loss of balance, severe vertigo and spasms.

 

At the age of 35 while enjoying travelling, I had to leave my martial arts and my career and immediately seek out alternative health care in New York combined with traditional western medicine. In case my condition would worsen and not allow me to travel, I soon began to venture into different parts of the world such as Barcelona, Amsterdam, Italy and South America. Upon returning while meditating and praying throughout my travels, I realized that it was not just about me but also about many others affected with the same illness. I started support groups in different cities such as in Orlando, NJ and lastly Florida where people would vent and express their feelings, frustrations and sometimes acceptance. I also volunteered at society's that would help others know that they were not alone. My volunteering variety ranged from religious youth and adult groups, to teen prisons. 

 

As a support group leader, one of the functions was to find speakers that would promote talks referencing to the well being of our health. In Florida, I searched for a speaker to attend one of our MS support group meetings I was leading. Speakers were usually drug representatives while others were health advocates. It was now 1999 and I barely knew of an art named tai chi which I remembered as being slow moving because I had seen a television program one day and followed the movements. I searched various information databases looking for a tai chi representative for my next meeting. I called four schools teaching tai chi but only one answered my request.

 

That one was Jef Morris which some of you know is now a Master Trainer. He came to the support group that day and began to move slowly and gracefully. I was relaxing with just watching the moves being performed.

I joined that school and was introduced to tai chi. Since then my life began to change. With this encounter my friend Jef became inspired on teaching tai chi to the disabled community. I noticed on how this helped me and others with balance, pain, self confidence and well being while dealing with a disability. I became an instructor and started teaching both seated and standing tai chi and witnessed results in individuals impeded by various conditions.

 

On a later date in 2002, I read about Dr. Lam's work and found he was conducting a Tai Chi for Arthritis workshop in Minnesota. Since then, I followed Dr. Lam to different cities and learned of the different ways his health programs helped various conditions. I found that by helping others I was helping myself in more ways that I could ever imagine. This is where the second part of my journey began and brought me to where I am today. I enjoy helping others with Dr. Lam's programs and continue to experience accounts of how students improve on their health conditions. As an added bonus of the tai chi benefits having two preteen boys ages 11 and 9, tai chi has helped me remain calm and focused. I started the miamitaichi.com website showing how my journey expanded and connected to many others at different locations.

 

I thank God my MS has settled but if it ever decides to pay me another visit, I can now say I found the path I needed to follow in my tai chi journey.

 

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My Tai Chi Journey
Jennifer Chung, Tai Chi instructor, Singapore.

(Jennifer has been practicing tai chi for 9 years.)

 

I started Tai Chi in my late forties. I had not been exercising for over 20 years. My body was very stiff and I was growing sideways. One day, I was taking a walk in the park and saw a group of ladies practicing tai chi. I was impressed and inspired by the beautiful, graceful flow of the movements. I told myself I want to learn tai chi.

I started with the traditional tai chi 108 movements. For a beginner, it was a very frustrating period. This set of tai chi is the most difficult to learn. I cannot remember the steps, my body hurt, muscles clamped, and joints painful. The teacher was not helpful; she did not explain much but wanted us just to follow her as she does the form. My objective was to master the tai chi form, so I continued to practice every day. Soon in my fourth year, I was assisting my teacher. It was through teaching that my passion for tai chi grew. I started to read more about tai chi and discovered many different styles, depth of tai chi movements, qi gong etc. I chanced upon Dr. Paul Lam’s website and read everything there, articles, forum, newsletter etc.

 

In 2008, I attended the TCO workshop. I was impressed by the simplicity of the 8 forms of tai chi movements yet so powerful in healing and helping people with osteoporosis. Soon, I left my teacher and met Gladys, my next teacher. Together with Simon, my husband, the three of us began to help the community promoting the TCH programs in Singapore.

 

The greatest change in my tai chi journey was meeting Dr. Lau from NAF. It was through him, we learned more about the different TCH programs. However I was most fulfilled when I attended the Annual Tai Chi workshop in 2009 in Sydney. I was impressed by the participants from so many countries. Despite their age differences, they were eager to learn, full of drive and energy. They were also very hardworking and continued to practice even after the classes finished at the end of the day. You could see they were enjoying every moment of the workshop, from classroom to social dinner. This confirmed our vision to bring TCH to as many people in Singapore as we could.

I am glad I stay on practicing tai chi and it has given me a different perspective in my life.

 

Now my focus is to train more instructors safe and effectively to achieve Dr. Paul’s vision for the TCH programs in Singapore. Knowing TCH has given me a good learning experience. I will continue to share and bring TCH to as many people as we can and help the community and seniors to stay active and lead a healthy lifestyle through tai chi. 

 

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My Tai Chi Story
June Didier, Tai Chi Instructor, Mt Vernon, WA, USA

 

I have always been an active person. I raised a large family, hiked, swam, biked, climbed, and built ‘stuff’. However, in 1996 I was diagnosed with osteoporosis. My bone density was only 60% of what a woman my age at the time should have been, particularly in my spine. The Doctor immediately put me on Fosomax. She said I was in "imminent danger of spinal fracture" and forbade me to do certain things I was used to doing or to lift more than a teacup. I balked and we negotiated until I was at least allowed to lift no more than 5 lbs. with care.

 

Every two years I had a bone scan and maintained the same bone density, no better, and no worse even though I was exercising and walking. In the spring of 2000 I did indeed collapse vertebrae at T6, not because I lifted too much but because I coughed too hard! Go figure. 

 

In the fall of 2003, our health insurance package paid for a YMCA membership. My partner and I both joined and tried a number of exercise classes before finally settling on a morning walking and stretching class.

 

In December of that year my partner of 30 years died unexpectedly. I never knew that grief could cause so much pain on so many levels! Gratefully, the YMCA instructors reached out to me and I returned to class at the beginning of 2004. I discovered that the 'Y' had joined with the Arthritis Foundation to train instructors to teach Dr. Lam's Tai Chi for Arthritis program. I tried that new class and discovered these deceptively simple movements were somehow soothing my grief and bringing me peace of mind. 

 

I was hooked, so much so that I became a certified instructor - that way I could be the volunteer substitute for the two Tai Chi instructors, which meant our classes seldom, had to stop. We offer six classes a week and on weekends some of us practice where I live. I attend all classes so I do a lot of Tai Chi, learning more every day. The best thing though, is that when I had my regular bone scan in 2006, there was a slight increase in bone density for the first time since 1996. Better yet, two years later, in 2008, my scan showed a 5.5% increase in my spine, which was enough to drop me from osteoporosis to osteopenia, and I was ½ inch taller!!!! How's that for improvement in posture and body alignment?  

 

So Tai Chi has done for me, spiritually, mentally and physically what nothing else seemed to be able to do. I am 83 now. My only regret is that I didn't discover Tai Chi sooner in my life.   

 

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My Tai Chi Journey, So Far
Linda Arksey, Senior Trainer, Nottingham, UK

 

At the age of two I went to work with my mother. My mother worked as the manageress of our local ice stadium. Although this sounds like child labour it was far from it and my child care involved me being handed over from one ice skating coach to the next, when they were on their rest breaks. They became my extended family and very soon with their help I was able to ice skate. My mum and dad always say I learned to ice skate well before I could run properly. Then there followed years of dedication, national and international competition in pursuit of Olympic glory.

 

It was shortly before the 1984 Winter Olympics that I first came into contact with tai chi. Early one morning whilst awaiting ice time for practice, I observed the Chinese team doing some very strange warm up exercises which did not seem to have a lot to do with ice skating. However, it had elegance, beauty and a calm coordination that intrigued me, all elements that are required by a good ice skater. I was told they were doing tai chi. On my return to the United Kingdom I soon found my nearest tai chi class to learn more. From then I began incorporating tai chi into my daily practice routine of on and off ice training. In the years that followed I became a qualified tai chi instructor in Yang style 24, 42 and sword forms using this knowledge as an ice dancing coach to improve fitness, balance and choreography.

 

The physical effort and impact on my body of ice skating from an early age had started to have an effect on my joints and I made a decision reluctantly to reduce my involvement. I began training in complementary medicine and massage which would allow me to help ice skaters recover from their injuries. In 2004, I had the pleasure of joining Dr Paul Lam in Stockport, England where I attended my first Tai Chi for Arthritis workshop. Health and tai chi had finally combined!

As I learned each Tai Chi for Health programme my enthusiasm grew, I had more energy, less pain and something else happened. I started to apply some of the tai chi stances to my massage work without thinking and encouraged my patients to learn Tai Chi for Health so that they would feel the benefits themselves.

You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, far from being discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.

 

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Humour, Laughter and Radiant Health
Dr Bob McBrien, Salisbury, MD, USA

 

A tradition we still follow as the New Year arrives is the often humour producing ritual of making New Year's resolutions. TV Talk show celebrities have plenty of material for their monologues when the New Year arrives. It is good to begin a new year having laughs, being with family and friends and looking ahead to a year of good health and plenty of laughter.

Along with taking time for playing tai chi, I think that sharing anecdotes and jokes help us to reach the goal of radiant health.

Here are some humorous examples of the experience of making resolutions.
 
*New Year's resolutions: They go in one year and out the other.

 

*An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves

 

*John asks his friend for a cigarette. His friend says, "John, I know you made a New Year's resolution to quit smoking". John answered, “I am in the process of quitting. Right now, I am in the middle of phase one."

The friend asked, "What's phase one?"  John answered, "I've quit buying cigarettes."

 

 *A chronology of five years of my resolutions
2006: I will read one good book a week this year
2007: I will read at least 20 good books this year.
2008: I will read at least 10 good books a year.
2009: I will read 5 good books a year.
2010: I will finish reading The Da Vinci Code

 

May the New Year bring good health, warm friendships, time for tai chi and the laughter that brings radiant health to all who read this essay, Be well.

 

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END OF NEWSLETTER
Warning: Dr. Lam does not necessarily endorse the opinion of other authors. Before practicing any program featured in this newsletter, please check with your physician or therapist. The authors and anyone involved in the production of this newsletter will not be held responsible in any way whatsoever for any injury which may arise as a result of following the instructions given in this newsletter.

 

Ask Dr Lam - you can ask me anything about tai chi here.

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