It is no secret, that our modern lifestyle, while offering many benefits to our health and lifespan, has opened up a whole new can of worms in terms of health problems. Unexpected health problems have developed based on our lack of daily exercise, and excess of fattening foods.
The most common problems we see in acupuncture clinics are weight gain, and the problems that come with it; physical injuries due to lack of flexibility and muscle weakness; and cognitive/sleep disorders from excessive stress. While acupuncture can help with each of these, benefits would be magnified with regular exercise.
Where to Start?
So you’ve made up your mind to add exercise, but with so many types of exercise to choose from, how do you know where to start? It all depends on what your goals are, and how fit you are to start with. Is your goal to lose weight? Do you want to tone muscle, or put on more muscle? Have more flexibility? Improve your cardiovascular health? Have better balance and fall prevention? How active are you already? Do you want some combination of these goals?
Losing weight is a goal for a lot of people, but it’s also one of the more difficult ones to achieve. While it’s true that losing weight will reduce the risks of a lot of other diseases, it’s also true that it takes a sustained lifestyle change of moving more and eating less, (in terms of fewer calories). In my experience, it helps more to focus on process over outcome. For example, “exercise for 30 minutes, twice a week for one month,” is a better goal than, “lose 2 pounds this month”. It’s good to have a big-picture vision, but better to use it to inform actionable steps you can keep track of.
TaiChi and Qi Gong
When I went back to school for Acupuncture, I was not in great shape. I was extremely obese, and still a smoker. Plus, I was dependent on several psychiatric medications. Physically and mentally, the previous several years had been rough. In fact, a lot of what I was looking for from these studies, was some self-healing that would get me closer to the vibrant health I’d had in my younger years.
As part of our education, we were required to take courses in the physical arts. From a selection of TaiChi, Yoga, and Qi Gong, I chose TaiChi. I’d studied martial arts in my youth, and the martial art of TaiChi was interesting to me. The whole philosophy was new to me. The idea that “gentleness can overcome force,” and its focus on longevity, over excessive strength and speed. This was a physical practice that had a lot to offer from deep study.
From TaiChi, we also invariably study Qi Gong. There is a lot of overlap between the two, both historically and functionally. It’s sometimes called “Taoist Yoga”. The exercises share a lot of qualities with Tai Chi. While both are done for physical, mental, and spiritual health, the main difference is that Tai Chi is a martial art with self-defense applications, and Qi Gong is an exercise that emphasizes mind and body health.
Comments