19
Move the Body – Move the Qi
Exercise is a necessary component of healing. Even if you’ve been inactive due to pain or lack of motivation, it is vital that you move your body. Now I’m not suggesting that you go from couch potato to marathon running, the latter not being particularly healthy for the average chronic pain patient. Some degree of body movement is highly desirable because the energy that flows in our channels can get “stuck” especially with ill-health. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the stuck energy is called stagnant Qi. Stagnant Qi is having roadblocks every few feet on the energetic highway of the body. Not only can it cause chronic pain, it can prevent other body and organ systems from functioning optimally.
Daily body movement is ideal. If you haven’t been particularly active, you’ll have to take it easy at first and do what feels manageable. In this chapter I will describe a few different types of movement forms that are suited to many people with chronic pain. Some are easier than others and I’ll try to be clear on what form of exercise is best for those with different types of pain conditions.
If you’re already an athlete, like me, or have stayed fairly active despite having chronic pain, it will be easier for you to incorporate other healthy forms of movement. Sometimes, however, I find that my patients push past their body’s limits and thus keep re-injuring themselves due to lack of awareness or just plain stubbornness. It is good to keep moving, but it isn’t good to ignore your body’s pain signals to the point of pain. The types of movement forms I describe in this chapter are fairly well tolerated and some will actually help balance out the body so that you will be able to return to the other types of activities you used to do and enjoy.
For example, if you’re an avid downhill skier, I want you to be able to ski to your heart’s content. If you’ve missed golfing because of chronic pain, I want you to heal in order to able to return to golfing. If you hate raking, however, I’d much rather you hire someone else to do it instead. Martyrdom and obligatory “chores” that are known to cause pain are absolutely not helpful in the healing process and set you up to feel victimized.
Instead of giving you the usual spiel about getting enough aerobic exercise, I’m going to share with you my specific suggestions for exercises that aid in healing chronic pain. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do aerobic exercise that raises the heart rate and exercises the cardiovascular system. I’m just not going to be covering that ground here where our focus is on pain relief.
Qi Gong & Tai Chi
Chinese Qi gong exercises are generally gentle and are designed to move the Qi, the energy, within the energy channels as well as boost your energy “battery”. Qi gong is an ancient form of movement and there are many different teachings. I had a friend, Toni, who told me once that she went to several Qi Gong classes and got nothing out of them, but yet everyone else in the class was raving about its beneficial effects. The type of Qi Gong she was learning entailed sitting in a cross-legged position and imagining the Qi flowing up and down her channels. Even though she was a good at visualizing, she just couldn’t experience the immense value others did. I told her that for her body, she may actually need to move her body in order to get the same beneficial effect.
The Qi Gong I am most familiar with is a simple set of exercises called the Eight Silken Movements. It was originally derived from a complex set of approximately 64 exercises, but eventually was distilled to just eight so that the average person could learn and master them. A few of the movements may still seem difficult if you haven’t been able to bend forward, for example, because of back discomfort. If you are interested in learning Qi Gong and there are no Qi Gong practitioners nearby, I recommend that you check out Spring Forest Qi Gong. It is probably the best known home study course available and there have been some independent studies validating Spring Forest Qi Gong as an effective modality for chronic pain. There is a free video at www.SpringForestQigong.com with Master Chunyi Lin on moving the Yin and Yang energy. If you enjoy this easy exercise, like I did, then Qi Gong would be an excellent way to circulate the energy in your body and to balance your energy for self-healing.
Qi Gong movements tend to be gentle, deliberate and slow. Although it may look incredibly easy, focusing on the energy and breath as you do the exercises takes a little bit of practice. Just like anything new, it might seem a little foreign when you first begin, but like many others, you may derive intense pleasure, calmness and pain relief with practice.
Look up Qi Gong practitioners in your local area. It really helps to have a teacher with whom you enjoy working. If you can’t find one, you may wish to join the Spring Forest Qi Gong community online. If chronic pain has really restricted your ability to exercise, Qi Gong may be the best movement form to try first.
Tai Chi, another Chinese movement form, is gaining popularity in the West. It is considered a slow-moving martial art and even small towns like the one I live in has several Tai Chi teachers. In Hong Kong and China, it is common to see elderly people practicing Tai Chi together every morning in the park. It keeps them supple and strong. From the very young to the very old, Qi Gong and Tai Chi exercises are simple yet beneficial. I believe that it not only helps to condition the body, but also the mind and spirit.
Tai Chi for Arthritis is a special Tai Chi program created by Dr. Paul Lam. It is easy to learn and safe even for the elderly. Studies have shown that this program relieves pain and improves quality of life. Many arthritis foundations worldwide are supporting it. With over 15,000 certified instructors worldwide, millions of people have benefitted from this simple program. For more information, go to www.TaiChiforArthritis.com.
Cellercising
I love bouncing up and down on my Cellerciser. It looks like a rebounding mini-trampoline, but has very specific features that separate it from other rebounders. In fact, I highly discourage anyone with pain to buy a cheap rebounder because it may cause jarring injury to the joints. When you lift weights, you exercise a particular muscle against the forces of gravity. When you Cellercise, every single one of your 75 trillion cells are being “exercised” – in fact over 100 times gravity! This beneficial stress to the cell walls helps strengthen them.
Even our internal organs get benefit from bouncing up and down on the Cellerciser. When our connective tissues get weak, our organs and other body parts tend to sag. By Cellercising, you can reverse this trend because all of your connective tissues are being exercised, not just your muscles. In addition to conditioning your body’s cells, you may experience better sleep, less stress and improved lymphatic draining (and removal of toxins) just by Cellercising 10 minutes a day.
After enjoying my own Cellerciser, a friend brought his own rebounder to my office so we could do a head-to-head comparison. I won’t name the brand, but let’s just say his rebounder was one of the best-selling brands in gyms in the United States. It really looked like a replica of the Cellerciser and I couldn’t tell the difference between the two until I jumped on it.
My friend’s rebounder was significantly lighter than my heavy-duty Cellerciser. It was difficult to open and I could see from the side that although my friend had hardly used it, the frame was actually warped! I jumped on his a few times, then jumped on mine. Jumping on his rebounder had a hard “end feel” at the bottom of the bounce. It didn’t bother me that much, but I could feel the difference. Mine, on the other hand, had a soft “end feel” and the material didn’t cave in. To achieve even more objectivity, I asked my acupuncture colleague, Ann, to lightly bounce on both and give us feedback. She first bounced lightly on my Cellerciser, then on my friend’s rebounder. Within a few bounces on my friend’s rebounder, she stopped and said, “This one is hurting my knee” and got off. Ann didn’t have major knee issues but she developed pain all the same using the cheaper rebounder.
The Cellerciser is made with the patented soft-bounce digitized triple-tiered tapered TRI- FLEXTM spring. The triple-tiered tapered spring adjusts to the weight of the user automatically. The Cellerciser is the only piece of equipment with this patented spring which is made of hi-carbon steel wire with an excellent annealing/temper-treated finish. Typical rebounders often use a canvas, nylon or plastic mats that can stretch, rot, or mildew. The inferior material, weave and stitching can cause the feet to sink or pronate toward the middle causing ankle problems, knee problems, and lower back problems. The Cellerciser mat is woven with space-age materials that do not wear out despite consistent use, and it discourages your feet from pronating (turning inwards) while you bounce. I’ve had mine for over five years and I’ve never had to replace a spring. If it squeaks a bit, you can oil the springs with some essential oil. Then it is extremely quiet.
The Cellerciser comes in two models. The Half-Fold folds in half and has a carrying case that you can sling over your shoulder. The Tri-Fold model is heavy-duty and can fold neatly into a triangular formation into a case that has wheels. I’ve taken it on trips with me, although it’s pretty heavy to lift in and out of a car so I usually have James help me with that. The Half-Fold costs around $393 and the Tri-fold around $499 and both come with a balance bar which I highly recommend. If you purchase a Cellerciser online, just give them the coupon code: DrKaren so that you get the extra two hour DVD free. I just bought this DVD and it’s awesome!
When first Cellercising, use the balance bar at all times until your strength and balance increases. The bar is meant to be loose so that you learn to keep your balance with minimal gripping. You’d be amazed at how many out-of-shape people feel wobbly the first time they use the Cellerciser! Even people who exercise daily (such as walking) can have difficulty because their current exercise regimen doesn’t test their balance or equilibrium.
The reason I recommend the Cellerciser is two-fold. Firstly, it is a great exercise to move the lymphatic fluid in the body. The lymphatic channels are an important part of our detoxification system. The lymph channels don’t have a muscle pump like the circulatory system. Thus, lymphatic fluids only move with the help of muscle action from the arm and leg. Even lightly bouncing on the Cellerciser with two feet barely off the mat, an exercise called the Baby Bounce, can profoundly improve your lymphatic circulation, which in turn, can help you get rid of toxins and heal your body.
Unless you’re already a conditioned athlete, I’d recommend starting out with just two to five minute sessions of Baby Bouncing one to three times a day. Stand with both feet on the Cellerciser about hip-width apart and just bounce lightly. Keep your knees soft and your hands lightly touching the balance bar for support. After a week of this, you may wish to try some of the other exercises shown in the book or on the DVD.
It feels so good to bounce that it can be addicting. Five minutes go by quickly especially if you’re playing your favorite tunes on the stereo as you bounce. Remember how natural it was as a child to be jumping on the bed or couch? Children intuitively gravitate to jumping on beds because it is fun but also because it feels good to bounce. Cellercising is the grown-up way to getting healthier while having fun.
The second reason I recommend the Cellerciser is that all the cells in your body are actually flexing and stretching while you bounce! If you put your right hand over your left shoulder muscle while you bounce gently, you’ll feel this muscle contracting and relaxing with each bounce. It is quite an incredible feeling. Your nervous system is also getting a tune-up. Your balance can improve almost immediately after Cellercising just for a few minutes as demonstrated in the $40 Cellercise DVD. Lastly, Cellercising may be more efficient than biking or walking as an aerobic exercise so you can save some time as well as your joints while you exercise.
The people that may not be able to tolerate bouncing are people with severe neck injuries or headache. If that’s you, then you’ll have to try some of the other movement forms I recommend first. I watched a demonstration by Cellerciser inventor David Hall where he actually bounced someone therapeutically. A woman with chronic unrelenting pain was instructed to lie on the Cellerciser, her head resting on a pillow and her legs propped up on a chair. David then proceeded to straddle her torso and gently bounce on the Cellerciser for several minutes. If you ever have the opportunity to have someone “bounce” you, it is a heavenly feeling, sort of like being rocked to sleep.
After the demonstration, the woman had no more pain. Even the next day, she proclaimed that her pain was completely gone and apparently it never returned. I’m not absolutely certain about the mechanism of healing in this instance but I suspect that the bouncing “reset” this woman’s nervous system. To get your own Cellerciser, go to www.Cellerciser.com. Both models are high quality and come with a lifetime warranty. Remember to give them the special code DrKaren so that you get the $40 DVD free with your order.
Meridian Stretching
I absolutely love meridian stretching. When done as a stretch as well as a resistance exercise, it makes me sweat very quickly! It is called Meridian Stretching because each of the main stretches work on each of your primary acupuncture meridians. By doing Meridian Stretching, the flow of energy improves in the meridians. Not only do you become more flexible, but also your pain levels go down and your overall energy goes up. Balancing your meridians via Meridian Stretching also has wonderful side benefits when it comes to your mind and spirit.
The meridians that are the most “stuck” will tend to propagate similar stuck emotions. By stretching the tight meridians, the stuck emotions tend to naturally heal themselves. According to the creator, Bob Cooley, who suffered debilitating pain after being hit by a car, when the meridians become more balanced, you will naturally gravitate to things that are for your highest and greatest good. So in other words, you’ll likely find yourself reaching for an apple instead of cheesecake!
Meridian stretching is unlike anything I have tried before. The idea is that you resist the stretch the entire time using the same muscle groups you are stretching. It’s hard to explain it so you should check out some of the Flexible Strength YouTube videos to get an idea of how to do these exercises. I can only do about six or eight repetitions of each stretch (especially if I resist both directions) at a time because it is so intense.
When done correctly, you won’t injure yourself, which is possible with passive stretching. Passive stretching is what we learned in grade school. In passive stretching, the muscle you are stretching is allowed to be relaxed as you are stretching it. For people who are really tight, however, I have found that passive stretching can actually tear muscle tissue and cause injuries. Meridian stretching, on the other hand, requires you to resist the force of the stretch for the entire time. Having the muscle you are stretching fully engaged in a state of contraction prevents it from being overstretched or torn by accident.
Although I am considered quite flexible compared to most people in their forties, I had lost a lot of flexibility because of my illness. I remember the first time I tried meridian stretching. I was shocked at how “warm” I got after just a few stretches. I could feel the fibrous tissue of my fascia finally stretch so that my muscles and joints could move more freely. It was a feeling I never felt before with regular passive stretching. With time you may be able to use maximal resistance when doing the stretch and that allows for old scar tissue to be broken up.
Having a certified Meridian Stretching trainer help you stretch makes it easier for people with co-ordination problems or who have difficulty understanding how to do exercises from a book or video, both of which are available on the Meridian Stretching website. For more information on Meridian Stretching, or to find a certified professional, go to www.meridianflexibility.com.
Yoga
Yoga has grown in popularity so much so that almost every town in America has a yoga class. It isn’t hard to find certified yoga instructors. Even if it looks intimidating from photos you may have seen where yoginis are stretched into pretzel-like shapes, don’t be scared to try it. I was using a Rodney Yee yoga videotape long before I was able to get into a real class. I really liked it and eventually got to attend a couple of live classes with Rodney himself. You can do yoga in the privacy of your home using DVDs, but finding a beginner’s class with a good instructor is ideal. The problem with home-study is that it is easy to get into bad habits. It made a world of difference when I actually got professional instruction.
If you have many yoga teachers in your town, try them all out. It is important that you resonate with your teacher. Some people like teachers who have a more masculine energy. Often that masculine energy appeals to followers of Bikram Yoga (done in a heated room), Ashtanga/Power Yoga, and Kundalini Yoga. Of course, I’m generalizing, but I think most seasoned yoga practitioners would agree that certain yoga types are more Yang (masculine energy) than others. If you have significant pain, however, I would recommend that you start with Hatha or Iyengar yoga which is more Yin (feminine energy). In fact, ask the yoga studio whether they have a restorative class. Even though there is a lot of resting in restorative yoga, it is amazing what it can do for the body. Restorative yoga is the ultimate form of Yin energy. If you are a super-busy-achiever type of person, then Yin is really what you need, even if you naturally gravitate to more challenging exercise.
Whether you’ll enjoy yoga and whether it is safe for you ultimately depends on your teacher. I’ve been with teachers who are very experienced, but who aren’t intuitive and I’ve hurt myself. Other teachers, sensing my tendency towards competitiveness, have nipped my compulsive perfectionism in the bud and have gently supported my yoga in becoming softer and more forgiving.
The one thing I want you to know about yoga is that how you breathe is as equally important as how you move. Yogic breathing, which is breathing through expanding the belly, has benefits all by itself. When you learn this type of breathing, you can apply it to any movement form as well as throughout the day to relieve stress.
Walking
Walking is highly underrated, and you don’t need lessons to know how to do it. Walking uses the lower leg muscles to pump the lymph back up towards the heart, thus helping your body’s detoxification. By increasing circulation throughout the body, walking moves the Qi. As no special equipment is required, walking is inexpensive and simple. Any length of walking is better than none, so if you’ve decided that your main exercise will be walking, make it a consistent habit.
There are a few things that can make walking even more beneficial than before. One is walking in nature. Clinical studies have shown that even just viewing pictures of nature has healing effects on the body. The presence of trees, flowers, wildlife, etc. makes for a more healing environment than does a busy downtown street.
Walking barefoot provides extra health benefits because you’ll be Earthing (see Chapter called Get Grounded). Walk barefoot only if you have a safe place to do so, where you won’t get injured-such as a clean beach. By connecting with the earth, you will be grounding all the dirty, positively charged particles from your body into the earth. At the same time, you’ll be absorbing the beneficial negatively charged anti-inflammatory particles back into your body. I have to admit that I’m a little squeamish to walk barefoot on bumpy ground, so I bought special grounding flip flops to wear when I walk around my yard to “earth” outside.
Chi (Qi) Walking is a movement form that marries the benefits of Tai Chi and applies it to walking. Unlike regular walking, Chi Walking requires you to really be in touch with your body, your center and your energy. In Chi Walking (www.chiwalking.com), five mindful steps are utilized in the program. The purpose is to reinforce the body-mind connection and improve awareness so that you are energized in this practice.
The first step involves aligning your posture and your intentions. The second step is engaging your core using your lower abdominal muscles for stability as well as engaging your willpower. The third step is creating balance between the upper and lower body and between the left and right sides of your body. Creating mental balance is also part of the third step. The fourth step involves choosing to walk with inner strength and grace as well as making small positive choices in your life. Lastly, the fifth step is about moving forward with consistency and confidence while mentally focusing on spaciousness.
A girlfriend of mine does Chi Running and she loves it. She says that she runs “from her core” and that when she is focused on doing Chi Running, her running seems almost effortless. This friend of mine, whose legs were in a cast in early childhood, is now running eight-minute miles and half marathons. Unless you are already a runner, I would not recommend running as your primary exercise. It can be hard on the joints especially if you do not have correct form. If you are already a jogger or runner, however, I’d recommend that you learn Chi Running. Once you practice this form of running, I don’t think you’ll ever go back to “regular” running.
Fascial Stretching
One of the best do-it-yourself resources on fascial stretching is the book by Ming Chew, Permanent Pain Cure. I first heard about the book when my skating friend Ann told me about the frozen shoulder she had. She bought the book and had her athletic coach read her the directions as she did the stretches. She said the results were amazing and it cured her frozen shoulder.
The fascia consists of tough connective tissue fibers that envelope and connect all the physical structures in your body including organs, muscles, bones, and nerves. If it weren’t for the fascia, all your internal organs would drop down to the bottom of your pelvis in a disorganized pile whenever you stood up! If you’ve ever cooked a steak, you’ll recognize the fascia as the tough whitish membrane that attaches the fat to the meat. The fascia is chewy and is not very easy to eat.
Healthy fascia should be flexible, but after an injury, it can become restrictive like a scar. Surgery actually creates more scar tissue and restricts the fascia even more and can often lead to chronic pain. In Ming Chew’s book, you can learn the various fascial stretches to relieve tension and pain in various parts of the body. Together with the nutritional and other suggestions in this book, fascial stretching can make a huge difference in how your body feels and functions. One of my quotes is: healthy fascia = healthy body. Consider getting a copy of Ming Chew’s book, Permanent Pain Cure, so you can stretch out your fascia.
Enjoy Yourself
Moving the body is an innate requirement for humans. We are not meant to sit still or at a computer desk for hours at a time. When we do, our breath becomes shallow and the energy in our bodies becomes slow and stagnant, affecting all areas of our health. Although I’ve only recommended a handful of my favorite movement forms, you are not limited to these. What’s most important is that you choose something you enjoy. When you enjoy what you do, your body will automatically feel better. The neurochemicals involved in the process of enjoyment are healing to your body, mind and soul.
For example, I feel most connected to the Divine when I am figure skating. I love the feeling of gliding along the ice in a balletic pose while listening to beautiful music. My emotions connect with my spirit which connects with my physical body as I feel the blade glide along the ice. Even though figure skating is one of the hardest sports to perfect, my body enjoys it, so I keep doing it. It isn’t as balanced as I would prefer, since I tend to spin and jump in only one direction, but the joy I derive from skating supersedes these considerations. Skating with my partner, James, is particularly joyful because I can feel the connection and energy exchange as we skate. At some point I may decide that repeatedly flinging my body into the air is too dangerous, but part of me wants to accomplish what others consider “impossible” for someone my age. So for now, I’m going to continue my pairs skating.
Dancing is another movement form I absolutely love. Although I don’t perform any longer, I find dancing allows me to feel the music within my cells. I wish I could take you to the African dance class that I drum for. My partner and I do live drumming for a dance class and it is incredibly fun. There is nothing quite like dancing to live drumming because the drumming vibrations penetrate into your core and ground you. Every dancer leaves the class smiling. In our class, we have an older woman who has mental and physical disabilities. Her caregivers bring her weekly to our class and even though she can’t follow all the movements, she enjoys the music and continues to attend. She even participated with us in a stage performance once! The amazing thing is that with continued dancing, she has become stronger and more coordinated than when she first started.
If you like dancing but you don’t feel comfortable being in a class, it doesn’t matter. Just turn up the stereo in your private living room and dance to your heart’s content! Just promise me you’ll take it easy the first few times if you haven’t been exercising for a while.
My dream for you is that you will fall in love with one of the movement forms I’ve discussed and become a certified instructor in order help others in your community.
Chapter Summary
Physical movement helps circulate Qi, the energy of life, throughout the body, and is a necessary component to healing chronic pain
Movement forms such as Qi Gong and Tai Chi specifically use breath and movement to circulate Qi consciously in the body and are pain relief modalities in their own right
Cellercising helps to circulate the lymph which can diminish pain due to sluggish lymphatics as well as help tone the muscles and connective tissue
Meridian Stretching helps to break up old fibrous scars in the fascia, thus allowing full range of motion of joints and muscles
Yoga is an ancient movement form that has a restorative component to it that has been shown to be helpful to those in chronic pain
Chi Walking elevates simple walking to a form of healing by incorporating five mindfulness steps
Ming Chew’s fascial stretches can repair restricted and tight fascia which is causing or contributing to your chronic pain
It is vital that you enjoy the movement form you choose because enjoyment is part of the healing process.