Jim Fixx, author of the bestselling book, The Complete Book of
Running, died from a heart attack while jogging at the age of 52.
The USA ranked 12th out of 13 countries looking at 16 health
indicators. Japan was first, followed by Sweden, Canada, France,
Australia, and Spain. This is while the US is second to Japan in the
use of high tech diagnostic procedures.
A study by the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and
Harvard University, show that mental illness, which included suicide,
ranked second in its burden to impact on the productivity.
Cardiovascular disease ranked first and cancer ranked third.
This suggests that the US is doing poorly in standards of both
physical and mental health. And jogging by itself is certainly is not
doing the whole job when it comes to health.
The problem of the state of our health is a complex one. The matter
is probably is multifactorial. It?s not just exercise, it?s not just
diet, it?s not just physical and it?s not just psychological.
Today I?d like to urge you consider taichi as a solution to your
health problems and for the health of our planet. And the ideal end
result of which is I would like you all to come to my taichi class. The
essential end result is that you have more mindfulness in whatever you
do with your body on a daily basis.
Hundreds of millions of people are already doing taichi and similar
breathing exercises such as qigong. Every morning in China, people
practice this art.
Taichi is not a complicated thing. All it involves is focusing your
mind when you move. Focusing your mind on your body, body awareness,
while you move.
Raising one?s arm is not just an automatic thing. The mind focuses
within and sees what it takes to make the movement. As you develop more
awareness, you are then able to use on those muscles or only the
minimum needed to accomplish the task.
How could a simple thing like this have any benefit? Without getting
into deep scientific discussion, focusing on your body, minding your
move?.is like focusing on anything else in your life?.your career, your
relationship, your kids, your car. Whatever you focus on thrives. In
taichi we fine tune our focus on the body. We give the body full
attention. It is not the same as running 5 miles because you can
actually run 5 miles without focusing on the body. Of course,
experienced runners are more likely to focus on their bodies?.
What are the benefits of taichi? The primary benefit is the
cultivation of this mysterious thing called chi. Chi is the vital force
that the acupuncturist is balancing when he sticks you with needles.
The word chi for this energy is different from the chi in the term
taichi. Chi, the energy, more literally, means breath. In the Taichi
Classics, they talk about how when the mind pays attention, there also
goes the chi, where the chi goes, so does go blood flow. If a puts
attention on his palm, the chi will flow there, and also the blood will
engorge the area.
You can get feeling for the chi by a simply rubbing your palms
together. Try to rub the centers of both palms against each other. You
should feel a strong heat. Then separate the hands and cup them like
you were holding a ball. This afterglow feeling is the chi. When you
become skilled at taichi, you will be able to create this feeling in
your hand by just focusing your mind on your hand.
The cultivation of chi produces better circulation. This means
better assimilation of nutrients and better elimination of toxins. One
of my theories about cancer has to do with poor circulation of the chi.
Suppose we make an assumption that a certain food has an affinity to
a certain part of the body. If you pick beef, where will beef tend to
gravitate to? Blood vessels or the heart? You can make these intuitive
leaps. When you practice taichi, you do your best to distribute the
beef energy throughout the body without allowing it to accumulate in
its favorite area. When the residue builds up in a particular area,
then cancer is the result.
Taichi teaches you how to use your body more efficiently and
therefor conserve energy. By learning to stand properly, you use less
energy to hold your self up. We don?t realize how much extra energy we
use because we don?t relax into the ground. This involves allowing our
hips, knees and ankles to bend more than we?re accustomed to. Most
people tend to straighten all of these joints and move around all day
exerting more muscular effort than necessary. Taichi can teach you to
move throughout the day in a more relaxed way and if you are engaged in
any physical activity, perform them in a more relaxed way.
Taichi teaches you abdominal breathing. This is a technique used in
psychotherapy to help reduce anxiety. Proper abdominal breathing fills
your lungs with more oxygen than with chest breathing as you use your
diaphragm muscles and get more air into the lower lobes of your lungs.
You may have seen show biz people sucking up oxygen masks behind stage
before they come on stage. This greater availability of oxygen helps
them to relax. Use of the abdominal muscles also helps with digestion,
gastric motility, and regularly?none of you have problems with that,
I?m sure.
Taichi can teach you self-defense. Most of you are not natural born
killers. Taichi can give you more confidence when you are out in public
and give an added edge if you are caught in any unforeseen situation.
The Arthritis Foundation has recognized taichi as a range of motion
exercise. Studies by my taichi brother Dr. Tingsen Xu has shown taichi
to help with balance in the elderly and thereby reduce the mortality
and morbidity associated with falls. Studies to underscore how taichi
makes the body operate more efficiently show decreases in blood
pressure, lowered oxygen consumption.
I decided to teach a free class so no one would have an excuse like,
I can?t afford your class. I?m at Kapiolani Park near the archery range
on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5-6 PM. For those of you who would like
an adventurous excursion, come to my class at Kailua Beach Park across
from Buzz?s Steakhouse on Sat from 8-9 AM. You can have a nice swim or
time at the beautiful Kailua Beach or have a nice breakfast at Brent?s
Deli in Kailua town.
For those of you who still unconvinced of at least visiting my
class. Please use more awareness with whatever you do with your body
throughout the day. While waiting for the elevator, while sitting in
front of the TV, while doing the dishes?..Let yourself relax more and
notice how your body feels. With more body awareness, you will love
your body and your body will love you for it!