It has been a while since I wrote about immunity and the benefits of Metarobic exercises, such as tai chi, qigong and forms of yoga (and as noted in my book, possibly even walking). But two things brought this to mind. The first was the growing number of people surrounding me with their coughs and runny noses. The second thing was that I also caught a cold. Yes, for the first time in over 10 years since religiously practicing tai chi and qigong daily, I caught a cold.
With my research on just how powerful Metarobic effects are for immunity, I had gotten to the point that to some degree, I believed that I could not get sick no matter how many sick people I was around. This always seemed to be the case before. But there is a difference between boosted immunity, and total immunity. In addition, no matter how strong your immune system may be, strain, exhaustion, as well as a lack of sleep, can add up and weaken even the strongest immune system. And such was the case with myself. Due to multiple moves while teaching a larger than usual number of classes, I was burning my candle at all ends, including the middle.
So it really should have been no surprise that I did indeed get a cold. But getting sick did allow me to learn more about the powerful effects of Metarobics. Initially it was quite a struggle. I was still only getting 2-4 hours of sleep a night, and missing sessions of tai chi practice. So I focused on trying to get more sleep, which seemed impossible with current demands, and making sure that I was practicing 30 minutes of tai chi and/or qigong (breathing exercises) twice a day. I managed two sessions the next day, but was disappointed that I did not see a dramatic immediate effect. But I did note that I did not cough during these exercises, or for short time after.
I then began a sleepless night of constant coughing, which no cold medicine seemed to help. But an hour in, I thought about how once I do fall asleep, coughing seems minimized, or even eliminated. And I thought how during sleep, breathing slows and deepens, much like in Metarobic exercise. So I began focusing on slowing and deepening my breath, eyes closed, visualizing myself doing tai chi as I did so. And I stopped coughing. Only if I let up and returned to normal breathing, did I start coughing again. I kept up the relaxed slowed deeper-breathing, and within an hour or so I fell asleep. This seemed to get the ball rolling with the healing process. Although I woke up with my nose just as runny, and coughing just as much, when I did tai chi later that morning, I felt a dramatic change. My sinuses completely opened up, my nose and lungs cleared up, and my energy levels felt amazing. This lasted an hour or more after, and although some cough and congestion returned, I began the process to recovery. And a few days later, I felt as good as ever. I was still not getting as much sleep as I would like, which is incredibly important for a healthy body. But at least I was back to daily practice of tai chi and qigong (ba duan jin, the eight pieces of silk brocade, or “eight treasures”).
This experience really drove home the potential and importance of a Metarobic understanding of these exercises. Research cited in my book, “Mindful Exercise: Metarobics, Healing, and the Power of Tai Chi,” shows an almost 50% increase in antibodies from practicing tai chi – 173% if one does tai chi and gets a vaccine. Compare this to a 58% increase in antibodies if one just gets the vaccine. And at the 12 month mark, those who got the vaccine and did tai chi still had a 109% increase in antibodies, compared to 10% in the vaccine only group. Next year I plan on sticking with my practice no matter what, and getting a flu shot, while also to getting more sleep. This is where you can help.
New innovations, even in the medical field, can take years and even decades to catch on, particularly if they are not profit based. Some examples include Louis Pasteur, who faced banishment for promoting that germs caused disease, and faced the death penalty for developing the rabies vaccine (and this was after he was famous for developing pasteurization). Sir Ronald Ross took almost 20 years to convince people that mosquitoes transmitted malaria. Then there is Elizabeth Kenny, who had to fight the medical community for over 10 years, until in 1940 a hospital in America finally adopted and promoted the effective polio treatment she had developed. A more recent example includes doctors Robin Warren and Barry Marshall, who discovered in 1982 that bacterium were the actual cause of ulcers. In an attempt to convince the medical community which was ignoring their research, Dr. Marshall deliberately infected himself, to show that antibiotics were what it took to cure ulcers. But it was not until 2005 that their work was recognized on a wide scale, when they received the Nobel Prize in medicine. And it would not surprise me if there are still doctors today who do not know of their findings. These are but a few examples of the often decades long delay between medical discoveries and wide scale awareness and acceptance. These long delays have resulted in millions of preventable deaths and unnecessary suffering.
By helping to re-post articles on my work with Metarobics, as well as the research and case stories I post regularly on the Metarobics Facebook page, you help to create awareness that there is an evidence and research based understanding of how and why mindful exercise can benefit such a wide range of conditions. Research supports benefits for heart, lung and kidney disease, cancer, immunity, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, chronic pain, and much more. Google any condition with the word hypoxia (oxygen deficiency in the tissues), and you will find some link. Research supports that measurable Metarobic effects of exercises such as tai chi and qigong combats hypoxia in the cells. This would explain the often incredible and dramatic benefits reported by so many, in the case stories I have collected (over 400 so far).
People are also beginning to help spread the word by suggesting me as a guest speaker or workshop leader at various conferences, and for interviews on radio stations. One radio station received so many calls during my interview, that they cancelled the following show so that I could stay for an hour. The general public responds to a Metarobic understanding of the effects on enhanced blood oxygen saturation, diffusion, and oxygen metabolism, and how this benefits health and chronic conditions. Please keep up the referrals, which can help tremendously to spread awareness and knowledge of how to maximize the benefits of these unique exercises. And for more information on my research, as well as over 50 supporting case stories, please see my book “Mindful Exercise: Metarobics, Healing, and the Power of Tai Chi,” available at your local bookseller, or at BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com. You can also contact me at [email protected]
During the next 50 days, I will be posting abbreviated case stories from my book on the Metarobics Facebook Page. Please Like the Metarobics Facebook Page, and share these posts, to help spread awareness of this important approach to breath focused mindful exercise.
With my research on just how powerful Metarobic effects are for immunity, I had gotten to the point that to some degree, I believed that I could not get sick no matter how many sick people I was around. This always seemed to be the case before. But there is a difference between boosted immunity, and total immunity. In addition, no matter how strong your immune system may be, strain, exhaustion, as well as a lack of sleep, can add up and weaken even the strongest immune system. And such was the case with myself. Due to multiple moves while teaching a larger than usual number of classes, I was burning my candle at all ends, including the middle.
So it really should have been no surprise that I did indeed get a cold. But getting sick did allow me to learn more about the powerful effects of Metarobics. Initially it was quite a struggle. I was still only getting 2-4 hours of sleep a night, and missing sessions of tai chi practice. So I focused on trying to get more sleep, which seemed impossible with current demands, and making sure that I was practicing 30 minutes of tai chi and/or qigong (breathing exercises) twice a day. I managed two sessions the next day, but was disappointed that I did not see a dramatic immediate effect. But I did note that I did not cough during these exercises, or for short time after.
I then began a sleepless night of constant coughing, which no cold medicine seemed to help. But an hour in, I thought about how once I do fall asleep, coughing seems minimized, or even eliminated. And I thought how during sleep, breathing slows and deepens, much like in Metarobic exercise. So I began focusing on slowing and deepening my breath, eyes closed, visualizing myself doing tai chi as I did so. And I stopped coughing. Only if I let up and returned to normal breathing, did I start coughing again. I kept up the relaxed slowed deeper-breathing, and within an hour or so I fell asleep. This seemed to get the ball rolling with the healing process. Although I woke up with my nose just as runny, and coughing just as much, when I did tai chi later that morning, I felt a dramatic change. My sinuses completely opened up, my nose and lungs cleared up, and my energy levels felt amazing. This lasted an hour or more after, and although some cough and congestion returned, I began the process to recovery. And a few days later, I felt as good as ever. I was still not getting as much sleep as I would like, which is incredibly important for a healthy body. But at least I was back to daily practice of tai chi and qigong (ba duan jin, the eight pieces of silk brocade, or “eight treasures”).
This experience really drove home the potential and importance of a Metarobic understanding of these exercises. Research cited in my book, “Mindful Exercise: Metarobics, Healing, and the Power of Tai Chi,” shows an almost 50% increase in antibodies from practicing tai chi – 173% if one does tai chi and gets a vaccine. Compare this to a 58% increase in antibodies if one just gets the vaccine. And at the 12 month mark, those who got the vaccine and did tai chi still had a 109% increase in antibodies, compared to 10% in the vaccine only group. Next year I plan on sticking with my practice no matter what, and getting a flu shot, while also to getting more sleep. This is where you can help.
New innovations, even in the medical field, can take years and even decades to catch on, particularly if they are not profit based. Some examples include Louis Pasteur, who faced banishment for promoting that germs caused disease, and faced the death penalty for developing the rabies vaccine (and this was after he was famous for developing pasteurization). Sir Ronald Ross took almost 20 years to convince people that mosquitoes transmitted malaria. Then there is Elizabeth Kenny, who had to fight the medical community for over 10 years, until in 1940 a hospital in America finally adopted and promoted the effective polio treatment she had developed. A more recent example includes doctors Robin Warren and Barry Marshall, who discovered in 1982 that bacterium were the actual cause of ulcers. In an attempt to convince the medical community which was ignoring their research, Dr. Marshall deliberately infected himself, to show that antibiotics were what it took to cure ulcers. But it was not until 2005 that their work was recognized on a wide scale, when they received the Nobel Prize in medicine. And it would not surprise me if there are still doctors today who do not know of their findings. These are but a few examples of the often decades long delay between medical discoveries and wide scale awareness and acceptance. These long delays have resulted in millions of preventable deaths and unnecessary suffering.
By helping to re-post articles on my work with Metarobics, as well as the research and case stories I post regularly on the Metarobics Facebook page, you help to create awareness that there is an evidence and research based understanding of how and why mindful exercise can benefit such a wide range of conditions. Research supports benefits for heart, lung and kidney disease, cancer, immunity, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, chronic pain, and much more. Google any condition with the word hypoxia (oxygen deficiency in the tissues), and you will find some link. Research supports that measurable Metarobic effects of exercises such as tai chi and qigong combats hypoxia in the cells. This would explain the often incredible and dramatic benefits reported by so many, in the case stories I have collected (over 400 so far).
People are also beginning to help spread the word by suggesting me as a guest speaker or workshop leader at various conferences, and for interviews on radio stations. One radio station received so many calls during my interview, that they cancelled the following show so that I could stay for an hour. The general public responds to a Metarobic understanding of the effects on enhanced blood oxygen saturation, diffusion, and oxygen metabolism, and how this benefits health and chronic conditions. Please keep up the referrals, which can help tremendously to spread awareness and knowledge of how to maximize the benefits of these unique exercises. And for more information on my research, as well as over 50 supporting case stories, please see my book “Mindful Exercise: Metarobics, Healing, and the Power of Tai Chi,” available at your local bookseller, or at BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com. You can also contact me at [email protected]
During the next 50 days, I will be posting abbreviated case stories from my book on the Metarobics Facebook Page. Please Like the Metarobics Facebook Page, and share these posts, to help spread awareness of this important approach to breath focused mindful exercise.
RSS Feed