Newsletter #135 - November 2012
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As I write this newsletter I have just completed the Tai Chi for Energy workshop in South Portland, the Exploring the
Depth of Tai Chi for Arthritis workshops in New Jersey, Atlanta and Bradenton, and the Tai Chi for Energy workshop in Bradenton. They were energising and revitalising. You can view photos of these and other upcoming workshops on our website or join me on Facebook or Twitter.
Depth of Tai Chi for Arthritis workshops in New Jersey, Atlanta and Bradenton, and the Tai Chi for Energy workshop in Bradenton. They were energising and revitalising. You can view photos of these and other upcoming workshops on our website or join me on Facebook or Twitter.Some participants who attended the depth workshop also travelled to the Tai Chi for Energy workshop to join us. It was really wonderful to see how much they enjoyed and learned from the workshops. The Depth workshop focuses on the ultimate aim of tai chi, how to cultivate qi (internal energy) and converting it to jing (internal force) and using that to generate more qi. The Tai Chi for Energy workshop focuses on expressing jing in the mysterious spiral force and the Sun style’s unique energy. Both workshops fit in perfectly like Yin and Yang. I am very much looking forward to conducting both these workshops again, firstly in Surrey, UK, May 2013 and then Tai Chi for Energy in Madrid, Spain, June 2013.
On December 20, 2006, the United Nations (UN) passed a resolution to designate November 14 as World Diabetes Day. The occasion aimed to raise awareness of diabetes, its prevention and complications and the care that people with the condition need. Governments, non-governmental organizations and private businesses are encouraged to increase awareness of the disease, particularly among the general population and the media. World Diabetes Day was first commemorated on November 14, 2007, and is observed annually.
November 14, 2007, and is observed annually.It is a timely coincidence that Prof Rhayun Song published a recent study using the Tai Chi for Diabetes program to improve this condition. For more information please read my article “How does Tai Chi Work for Diabetes”.
Rani Hughes in collaboration with Rachel Gleeson and Neil Turton-Lane has written an article on the inaugural World Diabetes Day in Melbourne, Australia, 2011. They are planning a bigger and better one for November 2012.
The October 2nd 2012 edition of “USA Today” published an article on the increasing percentage of severely obese adults. In 2010, about 6.6% USA adults were severely obese, i.e. approximately 15.5milllion. In 2000 the percentage was 3.9%.
Extra weight increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and other chronic health conditions. About two thirds of the population in the USA are either overweight or obese and that is quite a scary statistic. Other studies have shown that obesity is the cause of most chronic conditions, which will end in death in 90% of people. So with increasing evidence of tai chi’s advocacy to reduce weight, prevent diabetes and many other health conditions, there is no better time to start learning tai chi and share tai chi for health to as many people as possible. Let me quote Dr John H. Klippel, M.D., President & CEO, Arthritis Foundation on his review of my book “Teaching Tai Chi Effectively”:
thirds of the population in the USA are either overweight or obese and that is quite a scary statistic. Other studies have shown that obesity is the cause of most chronic conditions, which will end in death in 90% of people. So with increasing evidence of tai chi’s advocacy to reduce weight, prevent diabetes and many other health conditions, there is no better time to start learning tai chi and share tai chi for health to as many people as possible. Let me quote Dr John H. Klippel, M.D., President & CEO, Arthritis Foundation on his review of my book “Teaching Tai Chi Effectively”:“This remarkable book needs to come with a warning: ‘Beware, Dr. Lam’s extraordinary passion for Tai Chi and creating teachers will change you and the world’. It could not come at a more opportune time as we search for practical and effective solutions to the epidemic of chronic disease. The role of Tai Chi to influence the course of most if not all chronic diseases such as arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease has very much come front and centre as an important healthcare strategy. Bravo, a new day cometh.”
On this note, our monthly special will be buy the Tai Chi for Diabetes DVD and receive a complimentary Tai Chi for Diabetes Handbook and Wall Chart.
In this newsletter:
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The aim of Ahn and Song’s study was to determine the effects of Tai Chi exercise on glucose control, neuropathy scores, balance, and quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes and neuropathy.
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Rani Hughes in collaboration with Rachel Gleeson and Neil Turton-Lane gave an account of the inaugural World Diabetes Day in Melbourne, Australia in 2011
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Janice Green organised an open-air tai chi day to provide an enjoyable and fulfilling tai chi experience for all.
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For Jef Morris, the essential principles, more than words, is a way of living, a way of seeing ourselves, and the world in a different way.
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Caroline Demoise reflects on being thankful for tai chi.
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Featured Profile, Meghan Bryant
This Month’s Special:
Buy the Tai Chi for Diabetes DVD and receive a complimentary Tai Chi for Diabetes Handbook.
Limit one order per person.
Click here for more information or to place your order.
Nov 01 - 02. Tai Chi for Kidz Instructor Training
St. Joseph, MO, United States
Nov 03 - 04. Exploring the Depth of Tai Chi for Arthritis
St. Joseph, MO, United States
Nov 10 - 11. Tai Chi for Energy Instructor Training
Sisters, OR, United States
Jan 07 - 12. One-Week Tai Chi Workshop
Sydney, NSW, Australia
May 16 - 17. Exploring the Depth of Tai Chi for Arthritis
East Molesey, Surrey, United Kingdom
May 16 - 17. Tai Chi for Kidz Instructor Training
East Molesey, Surrey, United Kingdom
May 18 - 19. Tai Chi for Energy Instructor Training
Esher, Surrey, United Kingdom
Jun 01 - 02. Tai Chi for Energy Instructor Training
Madrid, Spain
Many other workshops conducted by my authorised master trainers are listed in Workshop Calendar.
Yours in Tai Chi,
Effects of Tai Chi Exercise on Glucose Control, Neuropathy Scores, Balance, and Quality of Life in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes and Neuropathy.
S. Ahn and Rhayun Song, Master Trainer, Daejeon, South Korea
S. Ahn and Rhayun Song, Master Trainer, Daejeon, South Korea
Source: Chungnam National University, College of Nursing, Daejeon, South Korea.
Abstract Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Tai Chi exercise on glucose control, neuropathy scores, balance, and quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes and neuropathy.
Methods: A pretest-posttest design with a non-equivalent control group was utilized to recruit 59 diabetic patients with neuropathy from an outpatient clinic of a university hospital. A standardized Tai Chi for diabetes program was provided, which comprised 1 hour of Tai Chi per session, twice a week for 12 weeks. Outcome variables were fasting blood glucose and glycosylated haemoglobin for glucose control, the Semmes-Weinstein 10-g monofilament examination scores and total symptom scores for neuropathy, single leg stance for balance, and the Korean version of the SF-36v2 for quality of life. Thirty-nine patients completed the post test measures after the 12-week Tai Chi intervention, giving a 34% dropout rate.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 64 years, and they had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes for more than 12 years. The status was significantly better for the participants in the Tai Chi group (n=20) than for their control (i.e., non-intervention) counterparts (n=19) in terms of total symptom scores, glucose control, balance, and quality of life. Conclusion: Tai Chi improved glucose control, balance, neuropathic symptoms, and some dimensions of quality of life in diabetic patients with neuropathy.
Further studies with larger samples and long-term follow-up are needed to confirm the effects of Tai Chi on the management of diabetic neuropathy, which may have an impact on fall prevention in this population.
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World Diabetes Day 2011, Melbourne, Australia
Rachel Gleeson, Diabetes Educator; Rani Hughes, Master Trainer and Neil Turton-Lane, Team Leader in Consumer Participation Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia
Rachel Gleeson, Diabetes Educator; Rani Hughes, Master Trainer and Neil Turton-Lane, Team Leader in Consumer
Participation Mental Health, Melbourne, AustraliaOur inaugural World Diabetes Day was held during our regular tai chi class in November 2011. We are currently planning a bigger celebration for World Diabetes Day 2012.
Our tai chi program is a successful collaboration between private and public health sector in Melbourne, Australia. The program is funded by Reclink, an organization who seeks to support socially disadvantaged members of our community, and Western Region Health Centre, a leading provider of community health services in Melbourne’s West. Rani Hughes, a private occupational therapist, is the tai chi instructor.
As a team, we aim to improve health and wellbeing through the mind/body benefits of tai chi, as well as developing a community to draw people together through shared learning and a common goal. Our weekly tai chi program has been running for over five years.
Last year, we invited our regular tai chi group, as well as others associated with Reclink or Western Region Health Centre to celebrate World Diabetes Day. Approximately 55 people attended, including non-English speakers who came with peer support workers and people living with chronic illness. This number far exceeded all our expectations.
After a brief introduction, we learnt the warm up exercises from the Tai Chi for Diabetes program. As there were people of all levels of ability and fitness, some people participated in standing, while others participated in seated during the session. It was wonderful to have our regular tai chi members around the room, so the ‘newies’ could follow them. The group learnt “Fair lady works the shuttle”, a movement from the Tai Chi for Diabetes program. This movement worked well in both seated and standing position. After the cool down exercises, we reflected on how we felt after tai chi. Most people were surprised at how relaxed, happy and alert they felt. We explored how and why tai chi helped to manage diabetes.
The large group was divided into two. People with diabetes went into one group, and people without diabetes into another. The group without diabetes completed a short screening tool with diabetes educators to assess current risk factors. If they were identified as high risk for developing diabetes, they made an appointment to see the diabetes educator for further discussions. The people with diabetes gathered around a large ‘felt man’ to see what occurred to the body during the diabetes process. The felt man had removable ‘felt’ organs and ‘food’ to visually explore how the body functioned with and without diabetes. A diabetes educator facilitated this session answering many questions.
Our celebration of World Diabetes Day was completed with a nutritious snack and feedback forms. We received wonderful feedback from participants, health professionals involved and volunteers and we are currently planning for our 2012 World Diabetes Day celebration.
Our learnings:
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Ensure you have planned all aspects of your event. Eg. Who is your target audience? How will you promote your event?
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Supplying a healthy snack, people had an opportunity to mix in an informal way. Many discussions about diabetes and tai chi occurred during this ‘informal’ time.
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Evaluate your event. Explore what worked well, and what could be improved for a future event?
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I have tried several styles of tai chi, but none held my interest for long. Then, some four years ago, I discovered the tai chi for health programme. I found this far more interesting and quickly realised how well it fitted in with my active life style.
tai chi for health programme. I found this far more interesting and quickly realised how well it fitted in with my active life style.Wanting to share the pleasure of our wonderful hobby with others, Kath Jackson and I, who are both instructors of the tai chi for health program, decided to organise an open air tai chi day. We spread the word around our local tai chi clubs and were pleased to welcome more than seventy members to our day on 26 June 2012. We were particular pleased to welcome Nuala Perrin, a master trainer here in the UK, to join us.
To accommodate the wide range of abilities from beginners to the experienced, we formed three groups to ensure everyone had an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. Sadly, our Manchester weather lived up to its famous reputation and the rain curtailed our plan for this to be mostly in the open air. Fortunately, being Mancunians, we had made contingency plans and provided excellent indoor facilities to reduce the impact of such weather problems. A most enjoyable afternoon was had by all, with three groups working on a variety of forms including TCA, TCO and TCE.
On a personal note, I was especially pleased that Nuala joined me in a demonstration of the 73 Form. It was very well received and I must thank Nuala for her help in this, my first public performance of the 73 since completing a workshop a couple of months ago.
We rounded off the afternoon with a sumptuous cold buffet which was a lovely way to end what everyone agreed had been a most enjoyable afternoon. From the feedback we have since received from all our guests we have been left in no doubt that the tai chi day had been an overwhelming success.
Based on the many requests we have received for having another such get-together in the not too distant future we can only conclude that our aim, to provide an enjoyable and fulfilling tai chi experience for all, had been achieved.
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“To maintain an upright posture, with a quiet mind. Breathing, while moving in a gentle curve.” “Why?” The earth is round. If one cannot see the curves, sees only one way in straight lines, there are bound to be blind spots."
round. If one cannot see the curves, sees only one way in straight lines, there are bound to be blind spots."What does it mean to maintain an upright posture? I ask you to place your finger, in front of the space between both of your eyes. You will feel a gentle force. Without strain, allow yourself to hold this feeling in your mind. It feels like a crystal, each of us has one. Bring your palms together; hold the crystal in your awareness.Open your eyes, and practice Opening and Closing your palms, while your awareness holds the crystal still. Become aware, your mind is now quiet. Relax your hands, but gently hold your crystal in your awareness.
In time you can hold it for as long as you would like.It is from this way of seeing; you can maintain an upright posture. The mind becomes quiet, and we can see more, observe more. We come to know the theory of opposites, in our tai chi practice, and see it in the karma of our own creation.The original principle, the Ying and the Yang, the negative and the positive.
The ultimate, “ improving and progressing towards the unlimited.” How can we do this, if in our daily life, we create our own limitations. “ Who am I? and What is this?”, as the Buddha phrased the fundamental.“ Who is here? and Who is Living here?” asked the medicine woman.From what to who, makes all the difference in what we see, or do not see. When we ask "what", there is a fundamental separation. When our view is from the question "what", we begin to discriminate, it has become our habit. We create distinctions, separating from the source of our healing and reconciliation. It is very different from the habit of acceptance; a more complete view. A new path to peace, coexistence.
As with tai chi - the relationship with the earth, breathing with the wind while moving, - absorbing incoming forces, and redirecting them, effortlessly. To hold your crystal, is to restore your centre of balance.To know who you are, where you come from, and how to use the natural gifts of the earth, is to gain insight to where you are going.
A view of health, and harmony.
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Tai chi has been an important part of my life for over twenty-seven years and I am grateful for the gifts that
practicing movement slowly, mindfully and with awareness has brought into my life. Before tai chi, I did not realize how much tension and stiffness my physical body was holding on to or how much I was going to like becoming more coordinated in everyday movements. I did not realize how fear and worry had shaped my life and what it would be like when that cloud began to evaporate. Life is easier now. I look for unexpected good things to happen and my life is full of these gifts. There are times now when my movements even feel graceful. During tai chi I can imagine being a flowing tributary of water moving through obstacles in life, encountering whatever happens and finding a way to flow around each challenge or joyfully receive each amazing windfall and continue on effortlessly in the adventure of life.Each of you will have a unique subset of reasons for being thankful for tai chi in your life and when you reflect on them and savour the value of your practice, your life is enriched. Gratitude has a way of attracting more gifts to us and increasing the abundance of things to be grateful for and build upon. Fall is the time to reap the harvest of our investment in tai chi practice, to look back over the year(s) and reflect on where we have been, on how far we have come and to map out where we want to go in the coming year. Take this opportunity to review just how profound an impact tai chi has been in your life or to envision how your life will change as you commit to a deeper relationship with tai chi practice or teaching in the future. Identify specific goals for your future relationship with tai chi and notice how they blossom in the coming year.
As you consider the impact tai chi has had on your life, reflect on changes in your physical body that come from regular physical exercise done according to tai chi principles. Are there improvements in range of motion, flexibility and strength, cardiovascular fitness, muscle conditioning, posture or balance? Perhaps you have evidence of more energy, increased ability to accomplish daily activities, enhanced mood and less pain in joints and muscles. Notice changes in your emotional nature like increased serenity, more peace, a little freedom from the heaviness of worry or depression, a more optimistic outlook on life and greater appreciation for the people and circumstances of your life.
Tai chi has a multidimensional impact on your being, so look for its benefits in all aspects of your life. I am very thankful to have encountered Dr Lam’s visionary tai chi for health programs and become a drop in the ocean of forward movement to bring the benefits of tai chi to people worldwide. My life changed dramatically when I attended the Tai Chi for Arthritis Instructor training program in California in 2000. That encounter led to becoming aware of what I wanted to do when I grew up and planted the seeds of a career change at fifty eight years of age. My creativity blossomed in unexpected ways. Not only did I retire from my traditional job/life to teach tai chi, but also I became inspired to write about tai chi, which resulted in three books and many short articles like this one. There is no way to imagine my life without tai chi.
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Meghan Bryant’s tai chi journey commenced when she started teaching a balance course to seniors at a retirement
facility based on the warm ups of the Tai Chi for Arthritis program and a few Yang Style tai chi moves learned at a continuing education course for therapists. As Meghan continued her journey in tai chi, she gained knowledge in Sun 73, Chen 36 & 56, the Combined 42, Yang 40 and the Fan Form at Dr Lam's USA One Week Workshop in June. In more recent years, she has also enjoyed sharing dance moves and a few music notes at the talent show at the One Week Workshop.
The need to share her tai chi experience with others was strong, so Meghan started classes with the local Parks & Recreations in Fluvanna County and Louisa County and local country clubs who were very supportive in sharing tai chi with their members. She has also been teaching at Peidmont Virginia Community College since 2009.
Meghan has presented several times at VAACE( VA Adult Continuing Education Conference), at local celebrations (Family Days in Louisa County, World Laughter Day in Staunton), Retirement Fairs and even her State Senate. She has held Qigong/ Tai Chi Celebrations since 2007 and has collaborated with other instructors of movement to create workshops to help introduce people to their forms.
Meghan was approached by Marty Kidder, Master Trainer, about starting down the path of Senior Trainer. This included helping to arrange and assist in two Tai Chi for Arthritis Instructor Training Workshops.
Whilst helping to promote these workshops, Meghan was asked to provide demonstration classes to several at risk areas in the Charlottesville Area. She has now been invited by the Local Health Support Groups to share tai chi with people with Parkinson’s and cancer.
In January 2013 Meghan will be travelling to Sydney to attend the One Week Tai Chi Workshop and the Master Trainers Workshop and so her tai chi journey continues……
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For several years now my essays in this newsletter have described the many benefits of humour. My focus has always been on positive humour.
always been on positive humour.Curiously the health benefits of the safe and effective tai chi that we bring to an ever-increasing audience worldwide are the same benefits studies report for daily doses of good humor. Psychologist Paul McGhee lists benefits including the reduction of stress hormones. muscle relaxation, immune system enhancement and pain reduction. He also lists laughter as an excellent source of cardiac exercise and explains how laughter triggers a peculiar respiratory pattern which offers health benefits for certain individuals. Sound familiar?
We are learning that studies are showing that practicing tai chi for health nurtures the same benefits. Here are a few examples of good humor taken from doctor's notes in patients' charts.
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Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
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On the 2nd day the knee was better and on the 3rd day it disappeared completely.
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The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1993.
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The patient refused an autopsy.
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Patient has left his white blood cells at another hospital.
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While in the ER, she was examined, X-rated and sent home.
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Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities
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END OF NEWSLETTER
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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