{"id":1724,"date":"2011-04-16T16:02:25","date_gmt":"2011-04-16T20:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yang-sheng.com\/?p=1724"},"modified":"2011-11-18T23:45:01","modified_gmt":"2011-11-19T04:45:01","slug":"healing-with-herbs-and-qigong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yang-sheng.com\/?p=1724","title":{"rendered":"Featured Article"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Personal Story of Healing <\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Through Chinese Herbs & Qigong<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

By Solala Towler<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Around 35 years ago I had a bad bout with infectious hepatitis, giardia, and amoeba histolytic\u2013all at the same time!\u00a0 Needless to say, it was a long recovery process. The only problem was that I never fully recovered. For the next ten years I suffered with a variety of symptoms\u00ad\u2013including digestive upset, dizziness, cognitive impairment, emotional roller coasting, insomnia and a level of fatigue that is hard to understand if you have not been through it.<\/p>\n

Finally, after years of suffering, I was diagnosed with CFIDS, commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. This is a little understood disease in Western medicine. Western docs think it may be some kind of autoimmune disease.\u00a0 Needless to say, there is no cure or even much treatment for this insidious condition. The most they can come up with is \u201ctake a lot of rest and maybe some vitamins.\u201d At that time there were many docs who didn\u2019t even believe such a syndrome existed.\u00a0 More than one doc told me that it was probably \u201call in my head\u201d and if I just calmed down it would go away! It was bad enough to be so sick but to be dismissed by doctors just made things worse.<\/p>\n

I tried acupuncture but there was so little qi in my system there was barely anything for the acupuncturist to work with and often I would be wiped out by the treatment. I tried various naturopathic treatments but none of them worked. Finally, I ended up completely bedridden. At the time I had three young children as well and my wife often had to pull double duty.<\/p>\n

Through the local CFIDS support group I met a woman who told me of the great benefit she had gotten from Chinese herbs. I had tried Chinese herbs already and had limited success with them. Sometimes I would feel a little better only to fall back into the disease again. But the herbs she was recommending were food-grade herbs. (In Chinese medicine there are three levels of herbs\u2013medicinal, food grade and toxic.) The company I bought the herbs from was a multi level marketing company, which made me hesitate a little but since she had so much relief from them I decided I was desperate enough to try them!<\/p>\n

I felt nothing for a while but gradually I began to feel better and better and after a few months on them I was able to leave my bed and resume my life again. You can only guess how happy that made me! I was able to become a parent again and I even felt good enough to resume my taiji classes with a wonderful \u201cold school\u201d Chinese master.<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t reached full recovery yet but was able to function so much better that when I heard about a qigong class taught by a Chinese woman who had cured her breast cancer, I jumped at the chance. I drove a few hours to where she was teaching and, in one weekend, learned Soaring Crane qigong. The teacher, Chen Huixian, was a wonderful, loving person who felt a calling to help other people heal the way she had. We have remained friends for years since then.<\/p>\n

The qigong that I practiced bounced my healing up a whole new level. At first I would be very tired after practicing but, with time and diligent practice, I began to feel a stronger and more settled energy after practice. When I decided to look into the philosophy behind Chinese healing modalities I discovered Daoism, which was the final piece of my healing journey.<\/p>\n

Now, twenty-three years later, I find my practice still shifting and opening up to new levels. Qigong can effect and heal on so many levels\u2013physical, emotional as well as spiritual. It is a priceless tool that has handed down to us by the ancient masters. Not only that but new forms and practices are being created all the time, both in China and in the West.<\/p>\n

Now 23 years later, I have very good health, travel each year to China, leading tours to the sacred mountains, make my living publishing a Daoist journal and writing books on qigong and Dao and teaching qigong! It is true, as the Old Boy says; the longest journey begins with the first step. I am so grateful for the help I got along the way to my healing and to the wonderful modality of Chinese medicine and qigong.<\/p>\n

For anyone suffering from CFIDS, with its many seemingly unconnected symptoms, please know that there is light at the end of the tunnel! Chinese herbs and qigong are a large part of the recovery process. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have about this.<\/p>\n

The following is a piece I wrote some years ago which, I think, captures the real feeling of qigong practice.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

What Is Qigong?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“What is this thing you do?”
\nhe asks, hesitantly,
\nover the phone,
\n“this quee gung?”
\n“Is it a martial art?
\nhe asks,
\nor is it some kind of health practice?”
\n“Well,” I answer,
\nit is a health practice,
\nit’s also a meditation practice,
\nas well as a spiritual practice.”
\n“Wow,” he says,
\n“all in one package huh?<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

What a deal!”<\/div>\n
I suppose qigong
\ncould be called
\na sort of
\npsycho-spiritual-
\nenergetic-meditation-
\nmovement\/exercise\/routine.
\nThen again,
\nthere’s no need
\nto get so technical.
\nQigong is really
\njust something that I do,
\nlike breathing,
\nlike eating,
\nlike dancing,
\nlike making love.
\nMaking love
\nwith the universe,
\nyou might call it.
\nAn amorous, attentive,
\narticulated, attitude
\nof openness and grace\u2014
\nan exchange
\non a deep and basic level
\nof my inner being
\nwith that of the great
\nundivided, unending,
\nundissolved Dao.
\nAnd with that exchange
\ncomes balance, harmony,
\na composure of spirit,
\na deepening of character,
\na relaxing of mind muscles,
\na feel of safety,
\nof being at home,
\nof being empty
\nand full at the same time,
\nof being attentive to detail,
\nclear of vision,
\nopen of heart,
\nsoft yet strong
\nlike water, like wind,
\nsensitive to changes
\nin the energetic atmosphere,
\nsimple joy in beingness,
\ncompassion for the sufferings
\nof those around me,
\na sense of proportion,
\nof objectivity,
\nof openness to change,
\ntransformation and miracles,
\na greater sense of
\nwho I am myself
\nand how I fit into
\nthe grand scheme of things,
\na deeper understanding
\nof how I fit into nature
\nand how nature fits
\nin to me.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of course sometimes
\nit’s just too hard,
\ntoo tedious, too boring,
\ntoo hot, too little sleep,
\nnot in the mood,
\nno time, no quiet,
\ntoo much to do,
\ntoo much to understand,
\ntoo much to remember,
\ntoo hard to stretch,
\nto stop my madly
\nrunning mind.
\nI’m too off center,
\ntoo sad,
\ntoo anxious,
\ntoo impatient.
\ntoo spaced out,
\ntoo distracted,
\ntoo distraught,
\ntoo confused,
\nfeeling hopeless,
\nout of whack,
\ndeflated, defeated,
\ndissolved in my own
\nsense of importance
\nor no-importance.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

But still, the practice,
\nthe form,
\nthe breathing,
\nthe focusing,
\nthe exchange
\nof light and darkness,
\nof form and formlessness,
\nor yin and yang,
\nin and out\u2014
\nall sustains me,
\nuplifts me
\nout of my limited
\nsense of being,
\nmy old tired patterns,
\nmy old empty
\nemotional, mental,
\nphysical and spiritual states\u2013
\nthose oh so familiar faces
\nof doubt, worry, fear
\nthat we all carry
\nfrom childhood,
\nthose past life
\nkarmic hauntings
\nthat hold so much power
\nover us
\nuntil we learn
\nto let them go,
\nrelease them
\ngently but firmly
\ninto the great healing
\neternal Dao.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, I say,
\nthis mysterious qigong practice
\nthat practices me,
\nis sometimes a struggle,
\nsometimes a dance,
\nbut always a wise
\nand nurturing teacher.
\nYes, it is something
\nthat I hold dear and precious
\nlike a light in my life,
\nlike a treasure in my heart,
\nlike a gift of the universe
\nwhich humbles me
\nand fells me
\nwith the sense of awe.
\nThis qigong,
\nas dear to me
\nas the smile
\non the face
\nof my beloved,
\nthe firm yet loving
\nwords of my teachers,
\nthe clear eyed vision
\nof my children,
\nthe very centermost
\ncore of my being\u2014
\neternal, vast
\nformless yet solid,
\neternally present
\nwhile I drift aimlessly
\nthrough the wu wei
\nof my exultant, hopeful,
\nendlessly unfolding life.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

[Solala<\/strong> has been involved with Daoist practices \"\"<\/a>such as taiji, qigong and meditation for almost 23 years now. He has been publishing The Empty Vessel: The Journal of Daoist Thought and Practice<\/em>, for almost 18 years. He has written a number of books on Daoist thought and practice (including Cha Dao: The Way of Tea<\/em> and the Inner Chapters of Chuang Tzu<\/em>) and has been leading tours to China to study qigong and other Daoist practices in the sacred mountains of China since 1997. In addition, he has recorded four CDs on meditation\/relaxation\/movement music using Tibetan singing bowls, both Chinese and Native flute and harmonic overtone singing. He can be reached at solala@abodetao.com<\/a> or at his website at www.abodetao.com<\/a> ]<\/address>\n
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