With the start of the new year, I thought I would share an old post about my own Tai Chi healing story, and how it gave me the gift of a healthy life. Any why it is important to consider “dosage” – duration and frequency of practice, when using Tai Chi and related exercises for health. Many studies which show mixed results for health have participants learning Tai Chi two to three times a week. And learning is very different from practice. Yet case stories from people who have experienced sometimes dramatic benefits indicate regular daily sessions, and sometimes multiple sessions a day, of Tai Chi and related Qigong practices, were required before they experienced benefits. Below follows my story.
I started my practice of Tai Chi almost 40 years ago, while I was studying Traditional Kung Fu (Longfist and Praying Mantis). I started it as a martial art. The full name “Tai Chi Chuan” translates as “Grand Ultimate Fist” due to its efficacy in combat – it was essentially the Brazilian Jujitsu of the time, for you MMA aficionados.
I did however experience benefits for health – chronic knee pain and back problems cleared up, including mild scoliosis (see my post on “Tai Chi for Back and Knees” in my August 2021 post). I also found that as long as I practiced Tai Chi daily, I seemed to be immune to colds. See my book “Mindful Exercise: Metarobics, Healing, and the Power of Tai Chi” for research on benefits of Tai Chi for immunity, knee and back health, and other conditions. Later, while teaching at Fullerton College, three of my students reported significant benefits for their cancer (including one who was in palliative care – see my book for details). This got me looking into what goes on in the body during exercises such as Tai Chi, and if there might be any unique physiological response which might explain the benefits these students experienced. My research and observations led to the theory of Metarobics, and further research uncovered potential benefits for a wide variety of chronic conditions. More research is needed in this area to validate effects and benefits, but the theory and initial research is promising. This understanding turned out to be important to my own personal journey.
It was not until I developed peripheral neuropathy that I really gained a first-hand appreciation of Tai Chi for health. The condition started slowly. Initially I just experience a burning sensation in the soles of my feet when I took a shower. But within two years, I began to experience numbness in my toes, which spread to the balls of my feet, the tips of my fingers, and later the bottom half of my hands and the entire sole of my feet. I saw a doctor, who stuck me with a needle at various points of my leg. I could not feel a thing up to my mid-thigh. He also conducted nerve conduction and blood tests. The tests proved inconclusive as to the cause.
And the neuropathy continued to spread. Eventually it progressed to the point that I had no feeling in my arms or legs, up to my shoulders and hips. I was becoming very alarmed, and also very disappointed – here I was researching and writing about the benefits of Tai Chi for chronic conditions, yet despite daily practice, I was losing all feeling in my limbs. How had Tai Chi failed me?
For slow moving breath focused relaxation exercises such as Tai Chi, Metarobic theory explains a potential physiological mechanism of benefit for a very wide range of chronic conditions, related to potential effects on hypoxia, or oxygen deficiency. Hypoxia underlies or complicates almost every chronic condition. But it also seemed likely that there are some conditions Metarobic exercise might not help. Was my condition one of these? It did not seem fair. Then I remembered, when I was collecting case stories for cancer, that many stated they did not experience a change in their condition until they started doing repeated bouts of Tai Chi each and every day. One young woman (see my book for more information), was doing Tai Chi and related exercises for about eight hours each day.
So I started doing Tai Chi every morning, as well as every afternoon and night. And within two weeks, most of the feeling had returned to my arms and legs. My condition continued to improve, eventually disappearing. A few months later, I was feeling so good, with pretty much no numbness, that I even let myself miss a couple of days of practice during a particularly busy week. Three other days that week I only did one 30-minute practice. And to my alarm, the numbness rapidly returned, in my fingers, toes and soles of my feet. I immediately went back to two times a day of Tai Chi, and the numbness cleared up.
But it struck home very clearly – I CANNOT, MUST NOT miss at least twice daily practice, 30 minutes each, or at least a combined hour of practice each day. I have the dermatitis herpetiformis form of celiac disease, which I later learned may result in peripheral neuropathy in about 70% of celiacs with this form of the disease.
Even as much as I love Tai Chi, this can still be awkward, and it is a choice. But for me it is an easy choice – I like being active, and having full feeling in my arms and legs. It can still be a challenge to fit in an hour of Tai Chi each day, what with work, family, and life. But I have practiced Tai Chi long enough to know it is a delightful mindful practice, one which leaves me feeling refreshed and energized. Even boredom, which some beginners complain about, is not a factor – when very focused on the movements, there is no sensation of time. But making the time requires discipline (one of the most valuable benefits of Tai Chi or any martial art).
Time and research will support what conditions these exercises will benefit, and just how important dosage (frequency and length of practice) is for various conditions. Despite the experiences of my students, and the 30 or so case stories on cancer collected from others, there needs to be a substantial and rigorous study addressing style, dosage, and format before any potential direct benefit for cancer and many other conditions could be determined. My experiences and those of others support a strong need for this kind of research, using a theory-based approach, whether Metarobic or other perspective.
Related to my own experiences with peripheral neuropathy, below is a case story post from my Facebook page, from another person with peripheral neuropathy.
Yours in Health and Tai Chi, Dr. Gryffin
I started my practice of Tai Chi almost 40 years ago, while I was studying Traditional Kung Fu (Longfist and Praying Mantis). I started it as a martial art. The full name “Tai Chi Chuan” translates as “Grand Ultimate Fist” due to its efficacy in combat – it was essentially the Brazilian Jujitsu of the time, for you MMA aficionados.
I did however experience benefits for health – chronic knee pain and back problems cleared up, including mild scoliosis (see my post on “Tai Chi for Back and Knees” in my August 2021 post). I also found that as long as I practiced Tai Chi daily, I seemed to be immune to colds. See my book “Mindful Exercise: Metarobics, Healing, and the Power of Tai Chi” for research on benefits of Tai Chi for immunity, knee and back health, and other conditions. Later, while teaching at Fullerton College, three of my students reported significant benefits for their cancer (including one who was in palliative care – see my book for details). This got me looking into what goes on in the body during exercises such as Tai Chi, and if there might be any unique physiological response which might explain the benefits these students experienced. My research and observations led to the theory of Metarobics, and further research uncovered potential benefits for a wide variety of chronic conditions. More research is needed in this area to validate effects and benefits, but the theory and initial research is promising. This understanding turned out to be important to my own personal journey.
It was not until I developed peripheral neuropathy that I really gained a first-hand appreciation of Tai Chi for health. The condition started slowly. Initially I just experience a burning sensation in the soles of my feet when I took a shower. But within two years, I began to experience numbness in my toes, which spread to the balls of my feet, the tips of my fingers, and later the bottom half of my hands and the entire sole of my feet. I saw a doctor, who stuck me with a needle at various points of my leg. I could not feel a thing up to my mid-thigh. He also conducted nerve conduction and blood tests. The tests proved inconclusive as to the cause.
And the neuropathy continued to spread. Eventually it progressed to the point that I had no feeling in my arms or legs, up to my shoulders and hips. I was becoming very alarmed, and also very disappointed – here I was researching and writing about the benefits of Tai Chi for chronic conditions, yet despite daily practice, I was losing all feeling in my limbs. How had Tai Chi failed me?
For slow moving breath focused relaxation exercises such as Tai Chi, Metarobic theory explains a potential physiological mechanism of benefit for a very wide range of chronic conditions, related to potential effects on hypoxia, or oxygen deficiency. Hypoxia underlies or complicates almost every chronic condition. But it also seemed likely that there are some conditions Metarobic exercise might not help. Was my condition one of these? It did not seem fair. Then I remembered, when I was collecting case stories for cancer, that many stated they did not experience a change in their condition until they started doing repeated bouts of Tai Chi each and every day. One young woman (see my book for more information), was doing Tai Chi and related exercises for about eight hours each day.
So I started doing Tai Chi every morning, as well as every afternoon and night. And within two weeks, most of the feeling had returned to my arms and legs. My condition continued to improve, eventually disappearing. A few months later, I was feeling so good, with pretty much no numbness, that I even let myself miss a couple of days of practice during a particularly busy week. Three other days that week I only did one 30-minute practice. And to my alarm, the numbness rapidly returned, in my fingers, toes and soles of my feet. I immediately went back to two times a day of Tai Chi, and the numbness cleared up.
But it struck home very clearly – I CANNOT, MUST NOT miss at least twice daily practice, 30 minutes each, or at least a combined hour of practice each day. I have the dermatitis herpetiformis form of celiac disease, which I later learned may result in peripheral neuropathy in about 70% of celiacs with this form of the disease.
Even as much as I love Tai Chi, this can still be awkward, and it is a choice. But for me it is an easy choice – I like being active, and having full feeling in my arms and legs. It can still be a challenge to fit in an hour of Tai Chi each day, what with work, family, and life. But I have practiced Tai Chi long enough to know it is a delightful mindful practice, one which leaves me feeling refreshed and energized. Even boredom, which some beginners complain about, is not a factor – when very focused on the movements, there is no sensation of time. But making the time requires discipline (one of the most valuable benefits of Tai Chi or any martial art).
Time and research will support what conditions these exercises will benefit, and just how important dosage (frequency and length of practice) is for various conditions. Despite the experiences of my students, and the 30 or so case stories on cancer collected from others, there needs to be a substantial and rigorous study addressing style, dosage, and format before any potential direct benefit for cancer and many other conditions could be determined. My experiences and those of others support a strong need for this kind of research, using a theory-based approach, whether Metarobic or other perspective.
Related to my own experiences with peripheral neuropathy, below is a case story post from my Facebook page, from another person with peripheral neuropathy.
Yours in Health and Tai Chi, Dr. Gryffin
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