The ancient practices of Yoga, Tai Qi and Qi Gong go back well before recorded history, indeed the use of focused movement to heal and maintain our bodies have evolved with us. In fact, it can be said that conscious movement was part of evolutionary process. This is evidenced by the names of the ‘postures’ or stances that they are named after; watching various animals and seeing what focus and flexibility the stretches and poses gave them and then we incorporated them into our daily practices and felt stronger, more flexible and heathier as a result.
Our bodies need to move, and also need for us to be conscious of that movement for us to be in tune with our needs to being healthy. The mechanistic view of the human body became popular in the West in the 16th century with the Reformation by Max Weber as the “Theory of Rationalization” and gained quick traction in the scientific community in that the human health is the sum of food in, chemical processes happen autonomically and we live and survive on this simple equation. This limited and now disproven theory which began in the mid 1990’s by George Engels for a more systemic approach called the General Systems theory that include quality of life, a clean environment, psychological and spiritual balance for good health.
What the mechanistic view of the human body did to the ‘West’ was draw a distinction between the mind, brain and body as if the two were not connected!! How astonishing to think we were, for a time, believing that the central nervous system had nothing to do with our moods and organ function! Now we not only know better, but we are uncovering each day more tenants of the general systems theory broadening out to the effect of the gut flora (healthy gut bacteria) and its importance in health, reducing inflammation as well as mood and immune systems as well as a clean chemical free foods and alkaline water.
Same goes for conscious movement, while all exercise can be beneficial, it’s the connecting of our consciousness with our bodies uniting body mind and spirit with mindfulness that creates a pathway to greater well-being. Tai Qi, Qi Gong and Yoga have all been shown to provide benefits on many areas of health. A systematic review (one that collates and compares multiple clinical trials) of over 500 trials by the College of Canadian Physicians showed that Qi Gong and Tai Qi strengthens muscles and reduces falls in older people, reduced osteoarthritis symptoms and pain, improves lung function in COPD patients, reduces pain in Fibromyalgia, decreases Blood pressure in Hypertensive people and assists with cognitive function.
Another systematic review in 2019 in the’ Journal of Brain Plasticity ‘ showed that Yoga increased cerebral blood flow notably to the Hippocampus (memory), amygdala (mood regulation) as well as prefrontal cortex (thinking and conceptualising) and therefore a significant reduction in neurodegenerative decline as well as occiput for balance. This same review noted that in the comparisons between those who practiced yoga and those who did not had vastly improved health in many areas of their body and demonstrated increased peace of mind. The authors also noted that the benefits were broadly inclusive of people who were older or physically challenged as it is a low impact and versatile for all age groups, and that the mindful aspect of this practice was integral to its benefits.
With these in mind I’d like to introduce two highly experienced practitioners, Chrys Soenaris from Healing Dao yoga in Healesville (who is in her final year of becoming a Chinese Medicine doctor) and Karina Chapman from Strathewen who both have many decades of experience to share with us in at Kinglake Chinese Medicine. Please call us for more information.
Until next time.. keep active
Dr Angela Palmer
Kinglake Chinese Medicine
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