attilio
15.01.2008, 06:51 PM
Hi all,
Taken from: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/LIFESTYLE/801150320
By the time I went to my first class in 1998, my back was so bad that I could not sit for long periods of time -- I had to pace. I had a lot of pain down my left leg, and fibromyalgia. I had become frantic with pain and was taking all the medications my doctors could give me -- all the anti-inflammatory medications they've since taken off the market.
I was active up until 1963, when I had my first child. I spent the next 20 years with back problems. I had surgery in 1974, and in the '90s I was looking at another disk going bad. My doctor said, 'Let's try physical therapy, and if that doesn't work, you may have to have another surgery.' To manage the pain, I was taking Daypro, Celebrex and Vioxx.
A friend told me that Tai Chi might help.
I started taking Tai Chi twice a week at Dexter Avenue Methodist Church. I immediately realized I didn't hurt as much. I also realized I was in really bad shape. Having a bad back and being in pain helped me lose a lot of physical conditioning. Eventually, I was going to class four times a week -- as often as I could. The walk through the neighborhood and the treadmill got really boring. With this, I always found another level of learning.
While doing Tai Chi, you begin to absorb information about how the body works, learn about Chinese culture and what Eastern medicine has to say about the body.
I began teaching a beginner class at the Taoist Tai Chi Society in 2002, and then a couple of years later I became a continuing instructor. That meant I could work with students who have already learned the set (of 108 movements in Tai Chi) and want to work at a more challenging level. Tai Chi is an internal art -- not external, which ultimately can injure people because they are so hard on joints and tendons.
Within three years of starting Tai Chi, I was off my pain medications.
The fact that I avoided another back surgery and am not relying on a daily regimen of very heavy-duty anti-inflammatory medications says a lot. I am also an insulin-dependent diabetic. I am genetically predisposed to be a really sick person -- my father lost his leg to diabetes and also had several strokes and an aneurysm. Tai Chi helps me stay as healthy as I can be.
All of the instructors volunteer our time to teach, and the instructors I've had are some of the kindest, most generous people I have ever met. They're focused on helping you feel better and live a better life.
We all have experienced some profound health benefits, and doctors notice. Western doctors are a little slow to think that a specific exercise will benefit you in a significant way, but Tai Chi is developed for health only.
Interestingly, I've noticed that while I used to get my first bronchial infection in September and would have it all winter long, I get maybe one or two a year, instead of six months' worth of them.
Tai Chi is a different way of thinking about exercise. I don't look any better than I did when I started out, but my cardiovascular and pulmonary health, joints and muscle tone are all so much better -- and so is my outlook.
Taken from: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/LIFESTYLE/801150320
By the time I went to my first class in 1998, my back was so bad that I could not sit for long periods of time -- I had to pace. I had a lot of pain down my left leg, and fibromyalgia. I had become frantic with pain and was taking all the medications my doctors could give me -- all the anti-inflammatory medications they've since taken off the market.
I was active up until 1963, when I had my first child. I spent the next 20 years with back problems. I had surgery in 1974, and in the '90s I was looking at another disk going bad. My doctor said, 'Let's try physical therapy, and if that doesn't work, you may have to have another surgery.' To manage the pain, I was taking Daypro, Celebrex and Vioxx.
A friend told me that Tai Chi might help.
I started taking Tai Chi twice a week at Dexter Avenue Methodist Church. I immediately realized I didn't hurt as much. I also realized I was in really bad shape. Having a bad back and being in pain helped me lose a lot of physical conditioning. Eventually, I was going to class four times a week -- as often as I could. The walk through the neighborhood and the treadmill got really boring. With this, I always found another level of learning.
While doing Tai Chi, you begin to absorb information about how the body works, learn about Chinese culture and what Eastern medicine has to say about the body.
I began teaching a beginner class at the Taoist Tai Chi Society in 2002, and then a couple of years later I became a continuing instructor. That meant I could work with students who have already learned the set (of 108 movements in Tai Chi) and want to work at a more challenging level. Tai Chi is an internal art -- not external, which ultimately can injure people because they are so hard on joints and tendons.
Within three years of starting Tai Chi, I was off my pain medications.
The fact that I avoided another back surgery and am not relying on a daily regimen of very heavy-duty anti-inflammatory medications says a lot. I am also an insulin-dependent diabetic. I am genetically predisposed to be a really sick person -- my father lost his leg to diabetes and also had several strokes and an aneurysm. Tai Chi helps me stay as healthy as I can be.
All of the instructors volunteer our time to teach, and the instructors I've had are some of the kindest, most generous people I have ever met. They're focused on helping you feel better and live a better life.
We all have experienced some profound health benefits, and doctors notice. Western doctors are a little slow to think that a specific exercise will benefit you in a significant way, but Tai Chi is developed for health only.
Interestingly, I've noticed that while I used to get my first bronchial infection in September and would have it all winter long, I get maybe one or two a year, instead of six months' worth of them.
Tai Chi is a different way of thinking about exercise. I don't look any better than I did when I started out, but my cardiovascular and pulmonary health, joints and muscle tone are all so much better -- and so is my outlook.