Exercisers Slow It Down With Qigong

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Exercisers Slow It Down With Qigong

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/fashion/05Fitness.html?ref=health

CHUNYI LIN remembers the first qigong class he ever taught in the

United States. In 1993, he traveled from China as part of a cultural

exchange between schools, and was asked to teach at a community

center in Inver Grove Heights, Minn.

Only five people showed up.

" Nobody knew of qigong, " said Mr. Lin, 49, a master of the age-old

practice, which entails coordinating slow movements with breathing

to cultivate the flow of energy, or qi, in a sort of graceful, fluid

dance.

Now, he runs a qigong center in Eden Prairie, Minn., called Spring

Forest, where he teaches to packed classes of more than 60 students —

and workshops nationwide to hundreds more. " Qigong is growing like

crazy in the United States in the past few years, " Mr. Lin

said. " People want to be more proactive with their health care. "

The face of exercise is changing in America. Instead of relentlessly

pursuing a sculptured physique, people are chasing longevity, stress

reduction and improved health through mind-body practices like

qigong.

" The realm of working out has shifted from people just wanting to

build bulk and lean, toned muscles to them understanding that the

inner health of the body is just as important as the outer health, "

said Bernard , a medical qigong therapist who works one on

one with clients and sits on the board of the National Qigong

Association, a trade group.

This vanguard of wellness-motivated exercisers prefers a regimen

that encourages self-awareness to one with a high calorie burn.

" People want to get back to a simpler time, " said Ted J. Cibik, a

medical qigong therapist and a certified health and fitness

instructor, whose patients include athletes. " They want to find

something they can practice that doesn't take a lot of apparatus,

allows them to deal with their stress, and gives them a good

physical workout in the sense that it gets them moving. "

It wasn't until recently that the ancient, gentle practice of qigong

caught the attention of even the most sophisticated American

exercisers.

The reasons vary. Mindful yoga has acclimated people to Eastern

practices. Rising health care costs and expensive prescriptions have

led people to look for alternative ways to feel vital. And an influx

of qigong teachers from China has paved the way for new generations

of teachers and students.

" There is a whole community of people who are intrigued by the whole

mind-body shift happening in clubs, gyms and personal training

centers who are now pushing these ancient arts, " Mr. Cibik said.

It's taken decades for qigong — which is an umbrella term for

numerous energy-based practices, including tai chi — to spread

across the United States, in part because there weren't enough

instructors. That started changing in the 1980s and '90s, when a

handful came from China. Then in the late '90s, after the Communist

party made most forms of qigong illegal and cracked down on members

of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, who practice a form of qigong,

an influx of teachers immigrated to this country.

" Many great masters have left China, " said Jampa , the

director of Healing Tao Institute, a qigong center in Austin, Tex.,

and as a result, qigong education has improved in the United States.

Today's qigong masters — " master " being an ambiguous title that

requires no specific training — crisscross the country teaching

their art, far beyond large cities to places like Heavenly Mountain,

a wilderness retreat in North Carolina, where the Thailand-based

Mantak Chia will hold six days of workshops this summer. This year,

Yang, Jwing-Ming, a qigong expert, will travel to Boston and

Chicago, but also to suburbs like Roswell, Ga., and more-rural towns

like Glen Garden, N.J.

A decade ago, most Westerners didn't know how to pronounce qigong

(CHEE-kung). Plenty still don't, but that hasn't stopped them from

attending classes at YMCAs, gyms, medical centers and college

campuses. Roughly 950,000 American adults have practiced qigong in

their lifetime, according to a study conducted in 2002 by the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and released in 2004 by

the C.D.C. and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative

Medicine.

The yoga boom has made mind-body exercise more run of the

mill. " Yoga has now become acceptable, " said Judith Hanson Lasater,

a yoga teacher since 1971 who now teaches restorative yoga, a form

that encourages relaxation. " Qigong is a little further away, but

yoga has opened the door. "

Because some forms of yoga are downright strenuous, qigong appeals

to yogis tired of the mat race. " I went to power-yoga studios and

practiced in heated rooms crammed with people's mats, shoved over

each other, " said Burton, 27, from Los Angeles. " But once I was

introduced to qigong and learned the difference between a muscle-

based workout versus an energetic-based practice, I switched. "

Practitioners say that qigong helps alleviate joint and muscle

aches, increases energy and deepens their breathing. " It's taken my

body, mind and spirit to a completely new level, " said

Marks, 46, a talent manager living in Los Angeles who started qigong

after showing early signs of rheumatoid arthritis. " It's created a

very peaceful feeling, " she said, and her inflammation and pain have

diminished.

Jackie Close, 31, a lifelong athlete from Seattle, never thought she

would skip the gym for her fix of cardio machines and weightlifting.

But after a knee injury left her sidelined, she embraced qigong

because it grounded her emotionally and helped her knee heal. " I've

actually put qigong over the gym, which is a first in my life, " Ms.

Close said. " I know it's not necessarily getting the heart rate up,

but it has other effects. "

This slow-paced practice, which can look like gliding through water,

has just a few simple rules. Always move from the center. Don't lock

or bend the legs deeply. Arms remain neither limp nor rigid. So

anyone can pick it up.

Conley, 83, and his wife, Georganne, 77, both have coronary

stents and suffer from epilepsy but enjoy qigong. " It's very easy

for me to digest the movements, " said Mrs. Conley, who recently took

a class at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine in San

Francisco.

Qigong devotees report better sleep, less anxiety and increased

energy. But the proof has lagged behind.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part

of the National Institutes of Health, is financing more studies on

medical qigong, which involves therapists working individually with

clients to correct energy imbalances that have led to pain or

disease. But it's harder to get funding for studies about self-

practice, said Chen, an associate professor at the Center for

Integrative Medicine at the University of land School of

Medicine. " There are not many qigong masters who can produce

measurable results repeatedly, " Dr. Chen explained.

The database of the Qigong Institute, an online clearinghouse for

information on medical qigong in Menlo Park, Calif.

(qigonginstitute.org), includes more than 3,500 studies, reporting

qigong's positive effects on hypertension, arthritis and longevity.

But rather than randomized controlled studies, the gold standard for

Western medicine, many studies are anecdotal or have small sample

sizes.

Scientific evidence or not, plenty of Americans find mind-body

exercise a waste of time. To give gymgoers a taste of qigong without

scaring them away, health clubs have introduced hybrids like Kung

Yo, at the Sports Club/LA, and Qigong Yoga, at Equinox.

" If they were to go take a regular qigong class, most people would

be bored, " said Leigh, who teaches Kung Yo, a blend of yoga,

kung fu and qigong. " I sneak it in at the beginning. "

Qigong practitioners predict the easy-to-teach practice will one day

rival yoga stateside. Does that mean a future of designer qigong

clothes and S.U.V. ads? Not necessarily.

" Qigong probably won't be as popular as yoga because you can't

really get a beautiful body — it's such an internal practice, " said

Ivy, founder of Embrace the Moon School for Taijiquan and

Qigong in Seattle. " And qigong does not have the same cult of

personality as yoga. How do you get celebrity status when you are

standing still, breathing? "