Tai Chi – The Best DVD Lessons

I became interested in Tai Chi, one of the best known martial arts from ancient China (more information and history). I’ve been receiving acupuncture, and I wanted to try something myself to nurture my internal energy, qi, to enhance my wellness.  I don’t want you to think Tai Chi is a mere workout or exercise; it is an art. 

I came across Dr. Paul Lam’s Tai Chi for Health series on YouTube.  I watched the free first lessons, and I was very impressed with the slow pace, thorough instructions of every step, and helpful explanation of Tai Chi philosophy.  The slow pace and detailed instruction are must for me. I often get frustrated with yoga classes both in person and videos because the pace is too fast, and the instruction isn’t always clear. Dr. Lam’s calm and kind voice alone makes you peaceful and happy. You feel like he is really there in front of you to guide you through. 

I bought Tai Chi for Energy (outside USA), and I am in the middle of the 8-lesson course.  In each lesson, you will learn only a segment of the complete sequence of movements (3 minutes in total).  Each lesson goes over the previous learned forms, and the sequence gets longer.  I practice each lesson for 3-4 days before moving on to the next lesson because I’m so looking forward to the next lesson although my movement isn’t smooth yet. The reason I said Tai Chi is an art is the first movement you learn is to put the foot apart.  You have to put your mind to every single movement, however simple and subtle it is.  Tai Chi trains your mind to slow down and concentrate.  It takes time and many practices to “master” seemingly easy flow of slow movements.  It can be very difficult for some people to slow down, but once you let yourself go and follow the flow, it will be very calming as well as revitalizing. 

This page shows you what DVDs you can start with.  Tai Chi is proven beneficial especially for people with arthritis, and Dr. Lam’s Tai Chi for Arthritis is endorsed by Arthritis Foundations and CDC.  There are many other DVDs such as Tai Chi for Diabetes, Tai Chi for Rehabilitation, and Tai Chi for Osteoporosis. 

I am not getting compensation for promoting the products.  I simply believe that they are the best DVDs to learn Tai Chi.

Take a Pause: Body Scan Relaxation

Awareness is a great way to connect with our body.  We often forget how our body feels most of the time until it screams out as pain.  Or, we don’t even want to face any sensations, especially if unpleasant (will post about facing pain).  However, noticing any tension, discomfort, and ease that may go unnoticed in our daily life is important to deal with stress before it is out of hand.   

One of the benefits of massage is that you can easily notice how your body feels by touch; feeling good, sore, tight, warm, tingling, stinging, pain, or unexplainable sensation.  Massage is a great to way to learn to stay where the EASE is found.

If you need audio instructions, you can play the Track 6 “Body Scan for Meditation” (seated - 2 min.) by Mindful Meditations by UCLA or Body Scan (lying down – 5 min.) that I talked about in the post “Calm Your Anxiety with Breathing Exercises.”

I use Body Scan before going to bed every day, and it puts me to sleep right away!

Diaphragm and Digestive Dysfunction (Heartburn/GERD/Acid Reflux/Hiatal Hernia)

I have become more and more aware that breathing is an important part of health and wellness.  I talked about the relationship with anxiety in the last post.  Anxiety is not only mental distress, but can cause muscle tension, chest pain, and digestive disorders. 

The diaphragm is a unique dome-shaped muscle controlling breathing.  It is located horizontally separating the thoracic cavity (containing lungs, heart and etc) and the abdominal cavity (stomach, liver, intestines and etc.).  The esophagus, vena cava, and aorta pass through the middle of it.

With proper breathing, the diaphragm contracts when we inhale, moving down and expanding the thoracic cavity to suck the air in, and the diaphragm completely relaxes when we exhale.  We do this about 26,000 times a day.

If we have shallow chest breathing, where the diaphragm can’t fully contract and relax, it loses the elasticity and tightens like any other muscles. The dysfunction of the diaphragm could cause adhesion with the stomach, or squeeze the esophagus, causing digestive disorders like GERD and hiatal hernia.

Here is how it happens.

Anxiety/stress ➜  Incorrect breathing (shallow breathing) ➜  Diaphragm dysfunction ➜ Stomach dysfunction ➜  Digestive disorders 

I found very helpful and comprehensive videos about understanding heartburn and GERD and an abdominal massage for hiatal hernia.  Although I never had hiatal hernia, massaging the middle of the stomach right below the breastbone and rib cage has been effective for me to relieve the pain in the upper stomach because of indigestion.

It is important to massage other abdominal muscles (will post in the future) and use the breathing exercises in order to maintain the healthy digestive functions.

Calm Your Anxiety with Breathing Exercises

When we have stress, anxiety, and worries, we don’t breathe normally.  Shallow breathing could cause a panic attack for some people.  Keeping breathing under control not only calms our anxiety, but also transforms our life.    

There are many breathing exercises available.  I came across the book called Healing Power of the Breath.  It explains various breathing techniques and their benefits in different conditions or situations from trauma to relationships.  It emphasizes that breath is a “portal to the mind-body system.”  

Messages from the respiratory system have rapid, powerful effects on major brain centers involved in thought, emotion, and behavior. 

The exercises are very simple.  I found it more helpful to listen to the audio and follow the guiding cues to do the exercises.  

I will introduce 3 basic techniques.

1. Coherent Breathing

A rate of 5 breaths per minute- 5 bpm (inhaling for 6 seconds and exhaling for 6 seconds). 

Purpose: To increase Heart Rate Variability (HRV) by changing the pattern of breathing.  The higher HRV, the more flexible cardiovascular system and more resilient stress-response system.

If you were to learn one breathing technique, choose Coherent Breathing.  It helps relieve stress, tension, anxiety, worry, phobias, insomnia, and respiratory problems. 

• Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. 
• Close your eyes and mouth, and breathe through your nose. 
• Breathing should be very slow, gentle and comfortable, not forced.
• Play the practice. (If 5 bpm is too slow, play the beginning of this practice at 6 bpm.)

2. Resistance Breathing

Any kind of breathing that creates resistance to the flow of air (by pursing the lips, hissing, tightening the throat and etc.)

Purpose: To stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system by the increased pressure in the lungs, inducing relaxation. (Like cats purr!)

• Play the practice and follow the step-by-step instructions.

3. Breath Moving
With imagination, moving breath and awareness to different parts of the body

Purpose: To improve the circulation of energy through the nervous system and improve blood flow. (In Easter traditions, to open chakras and dissolve blockages so energy can circulate more freely.)

I personally like Breath Moving because I am a visual person.  When I am lying down, I can easily picture the breath as waves coming in and going out.

• Play the practice.

Total Breath

The combination of Coherent Breathing, Resistance Breathing, and Breath Moving.

Purpose: To maximize effectiveness and rapidity of response.

The book recommends you practice once a day for at least 20 minutes with full concentration. 

• Play the practice–5 bpm (20 min.)
• Play the practice–6 bpm (20 min.)

 

Body Scan

After breathing practices, finish with Body Scan to allow your system to consolidate the effects.  You can choose any other form of relaxation (meditation, visualization, deep prayer, and etc.).  It helped me calm down better because following the practices makes me more alert than relaxing.   

• Lie down and play Body Scan.

If you would like to know other healing breath practices including vibration breathing, and also make these great breathing practices your routine, download the audio files here to your device.  The book has much more information, and includes a helpful chart “How and When to Use Each Practice” in the appendix.

Hope these breathing practices transform your life!

            

These audio files are for your own personal use only.

FAQ: Why is tension carried in the shoulders?

Many of us seem to carry tension in the shoulders as if the whole world rests on our shoulders.  That’s right.  We often feel like it, with so many responsibilities, urgent tasks, and uncertainty for the future.  But, why in the shoulders?

It seems the main cause is mechanical – poor posture.  Most of us spend too much time sitting with the head forward or down and the hunched back.  Since we keep the same position for a long time, the muscles in the upper back are stretched out while the chest and abdominal muscles are short and tight.  Both stretched-out and short muscles cause problems.

From the perspective of body-mind connection, muscle tension and nervous tension are hand in hand.  Mental stress triggers the muscle tension, and the muscle tension causes discomfort leading to stress.  It goes both ways and is a vicious cycle.  Some degree of muscle tension or nervous tension is normal and even necessary.  However, if it’s happening constantly and becoming a habit, it will do more harm than good. 

When we are anxious, worried, upset, or distressed, we experience faster and shallower breathing as well as other fight-and-flight responses.  We sometimes hold our breath.  Thus, the chest has to work rather than the diaphragm,  a large muscle below the lungs to control breathing (read more about the diaphragm in this post).  To move the chest up, the muscles attached between the neck and the ribs or shoulder blades have to do more work.  If the condition persists, the shoulders stay tensed up. 

A small step to reduce shoulder and neck tension is to catch ourselves in the poor posture and under stress/anxiety.   Do the exercise for upper body, and breathe slowly from your stomach (read the next post about breathing exercises).  And, get a massage to relax!  We deserve a break from carrying the world. 

Shinrin-yoku – Forest Bathing

   © Naoko Otani

Shinrin-yoku (森林浴): A visit to a forest for relaxation and healing

I was lucky to have grown up close to nature for the Japanese, who live in a crowded city.  My parents frequently took me to the mountains, rivers and lakes.  I loved the sound of rivers and sweet smell of earthy air in the forest and mountains.  I feel at home when I’m in the woods because that’s where I can totally relax, get energized, and, above all, feel being part of the universe. 

I often heard of the term, shinrin-yoku, in Japan, so I was surprised to come across this Japanese word in English articles recently.  It’s no surprising that being in nature makes us feel better and relaxed.  However, the recent studies show scientific evidence that being exposed to the forest air has positive physiological effects.  In Japan, as of now, there are 64 accredited areas and trails for shinrin-yoku therapy.

Major effects noted in the studies are:

• Boosted immune system: increased natural killer (NK) cell activity, the number of NK cells, and levels of anti-cancer proteins
• Reduced stress: lowered cortisol (stress hormone) and pulse rate
• Lowered blood pressure
• Greater parasympathetic nerve activity  

The effects in the studies are often associated with phytoncides, aromatic volatile organic compounds released from trees and plants.  However, forest environments affect us through all of our senses: sight of scenery, smell of wood and flowers, sound of running streams, chirping birds, or the rustle of leaves, feel of grass and trees, and for some people, taste of edible plants.   

Let’s head out for the forests and relax! 

No time right now?  Watching a 5-minute Forest Therapy Break made by Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs might help you relax.

Nurture Our Mind

I’ve been talking about body-mind connection all the time.  We can’t talk about healthy self without considering healthy mind.  There is a Japanese saying, “Sickness originates in mind. (Yamai wa ki kara.)”  If we want to be well inside out, we need healthy thinking to nurture our mind. 

A source of routine nutrients for my mind, so to speak, is a weekly e-newsletter “Just One Thing (JOT)” by Rick Hanson, PhD.  It’s a short essay about “a simple practice each week for more joy, more fulfilling relationships, and more peace of mind.” His topics deal with everyday experiences, and the solutions are simple.  I first came across his writing "Relax and Contended" when I was looking for an article about relaxation and the nervous system for one of my first posts “Benefits of Massage Therapy.”  He is a psychologist interested in modern neuroscience.  I like his approach incorporating physiological aspect (body) into psychology (mind) because it mirrors my approach to massage therapy (mine is incorporating mind into body).

This week’s Just One Thing, “Relax anxiety about imperfection,” came at the right timing.  I’ve been anxious about a relatively minor thing this week, which didn’t cause a big damage, but could have been prevented or better.  Imperfections are everywhere.  Instead of reacting to each imperfection, which makes us feel even worse, he suggests we should accept them as they are, and “realize the impossibility of perfecting anything.”  I try to tell myself that everything will be all right in the end, even with a few imperfections.  And, peace of mind - that’s what matters most.

Listen to Our Innate Wisdom

INNATE WISDOM or INNER DOCTOR: I have heard of these words many times by now, and it also relates to the introduction of “Ortho-Bionomy A Path to Self Care” by Luann Overmyer mentioned in the last post.  In the holistic approach, maintaining equilibrium within us is important for our well-being.  We do have an INNATE WISDOM or INNER DOCTOR in us to heal ourselves, self-regulate and balance itself.  Have you recently listened to your innate wisdom?

When it comes to our health care, we are used to being told what is wrong, and what to do by health care professionals.  And, medical professionals rarely ask us what we have to say about our pain or discomfort.  When one client tried to tell his doctor what he thought was wrong, he was silenced by “Are you a doctor?”  I would say, “yes, everybody has a doctor within!” 

Some people are aware of what their body needs, but most people don’t know how or never thought about it.  Next time you feel discomfort or pain, I encourage you to take a moment to tune into your body and ask yourself BEFORE thinking about inconveniences and worst scenarios.

What am I feeling?

What is my body telling me?  

What should I do now to make it feel better?

It is likely that taking a moment to pay attention to our body alone relieves some of the pain and discomfort.  Be curious and responsible for our own body.  It will help us assess and cope with pain or discomfort more calmly and wisely.   

 *Disclaimer: I am NOT suggesting you ignore diagnosis or advise from medical professionals.

Look for Comfort - Ortho-Bionomy®

I was fortunate to attend the class by Luann Overmyer, a well-known instructor and practitioner of Ortho-Bionomy^®.  I heard of the approach and her name when I was still at massage school, but I didn’t know anything about it.

Her biography was pretty intense as she had a near-death experience from a motorcycle accident.  It sounded like a miracle that her body coped with such damage without permanent impairment.  Ortho-Bionomy is what she learned to care, correct, and re-educate her body and mind.  She believes it is the most whole modality. 

Her class was short, but hands-on from the beginning.  Since I didn’t have any prior knowledge, I couldn’t digest what we were doing at that time, but I at least knew the approach was completely different from what I knew and intriguing.  It is an indirect method, so you don’t manipulate soft tissue directly.  Instead, you touch lightly and hold or position parts of the body very gently.

To understand more about what we did in the class, I bought her book “Ortho-Bionomy A Path to Self Care.”  I like anything “self-care” as my first book about massage therapy was “The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook,” and I’ve been writing many posts labeled “self-care.”  I want you to be in charge of your own body and health, what’s going on and what will be good for you.  Her book has a lot of information and self-care exercises.  Unlike The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook, you focus on the most comfortable position where pain subsides, not the pain itself. 

If you try to find pain, you will almost always find it.  We are anticipating pain in a sense, and making it almost like a habit.  Ortho-Bionomy shows you the opposite is true.  “Comfort can be learned as well” said she.  If you try to find comfort, you will find it.  Make the comfort a habit. 

If you want to learn more about Ortho-Bionomy^®, go to the official site. 

FAQ: Why Massage Makes Us Feel Good?

Touch is the most important foundation of massage therapy.  I have written about how touch affects body and mind in “Touch,” “Benefits of Massage,” “Human Touch” and the Japanese post “スキンシップで幸せになろう.”  Now that recent studies prove that touch is good for us, I will sum it up from a scientific point of view. 

When we receive positive touch, two (at least) physiological reactions happen to us.  First, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated.  The parasympathetic nervous system is our home base and helps us back to healing mode, “rest-and-digest,” decreasing the “fight-or-flight” stress response.  Consequently, we experience the sense of relaxation and contentment.

Secondly, oxytocin, so called the “love hormone,” made in the hypothalamus in the brain, is released.  It immediately makes us feel calm and connected to the environment and people around us.  It contributes to relaxation, healing, trust-building, and psychological stability.  One of the studies on oxytocin and massage concluded that “massage increases OT (oxytocin) and decreases ACTH (adrenocorticotropin hormone)”  (ACTH is a hormone often produced in response to emotional and physical stress.)

We don’t have to have pain or tight muscles to receive a massage.  Without knowing it, we deal with stress (big or small) all the time or are getting ready for the next stressful moment.  Massage gives us a break.  Let’s make a feel-good-experience a habit to better our life.

Human Touch

I heard an advertisement on the radio about high-tech Shiatsu massage chairs manufactured by a Japanese company.  It scans your body profile, detects your Shiatsu points, and customize each massage session.  In fact, I have tried one of those at hot spring inns in Japan before I became a massage therapist.  It was much more improved than the older models that the hard rollers only went up and down, circled, and vibrated.  It scanned the body structure first and massaged supposedly “Shiatsu points.” It also compressed and kneaded the arms and calves.  It felt good.  However, I couldn’t help feeling little something was missing.

Of course, it’s just a machine, not a real person doing a massage.  But, it’s not just because a real person has soft hands and can adjust the pressure or position so minutely to your liking.  What makes a real massage so special is the connection with another human being through touch, which is the first and most fundamental craving.  I received a bodywork when I didn’t have any pain or discomfort.  Even a leg or an arm being held or compressed gave me such a comfort for my body and mind as a whole.  Here is the person who is there for you, cares about your well-being, and accepts you as you are.  The acceptance and connection benefit your body and mind more than the accurate pressure on the perfect spots or multiple skilled techniques.

Out of curiosity, I checked how much those massage chairs that I heard on the radio cost.  Surprisingly, it costs about $10,000!  You can get 100-150 real massage sessions for the money worth.  I wonder who would buy one and why.  Probably people with very little time to go get a massage, for convenience.  But then, if they can afford the high-tech chair, they could certainly afford a massage therapist for house calls any time.  Maybe for solitude?  If so, sadly, they may be missing out on the most important benefit of massage.  The secret to well-being is human touch – the connection with other people.    

FAQ: Does a massage therapist tell me what’s “wrong” with me, and “fix” my problem?

Massage therapists are NOT allowed to diagnose any conditions.  Although more and more massage therapists work in clinical settings, they can only assess the condition, apply “the manipulation of the soft tissues” appropriate for the condition, and possibly suggest self-care you can do at home (the scope of practice varies by state).  Massage therapists cannot say and shouldn’t imply that you have “carpal tunnel syndrome,” for example. 

Some comments from people and even other massage therapists have caught my attention.  It is getting obvious to me that we were taught somewhere that we are “bad” if we have pain, knots, stiffness, or any other soft tissue problems.  It seems to be treated as a disease.  We even label the shoulder or any part of the body which gives us troubles, as “the bad shoulder.”

I understand you can’t help asking this question: “Do I have a knot there?”  It is a natural desire to know the cause of the issue because it’s supposed to be “bad” and should be treated.  Some people take it almost personally, but get relieved to know that many other people have the same problem.  Others seem to give in to the fact as “I-have-lots-of-knots-in-the-shoulder-you-will-see” and are even apologetic as if they did something wrong.    

I started to wonder if massage therapists are the ones educating their clients that they have “bad” knots or “bad” shoulders, so the therapists have to “fix” them.  I was taken aback when one lady told me that her massage therapist vulgarly said her body was “messed up (not the exact word),” so she “had to fix her.”  I wonder if playing a doctor really makes anybody feel better and positive about their body and themselves. 

I believe any massage therapists intend to help their clients feel better.  It’s just that my approach is different (A Holistic Approach explains how my view changed).  First of all, I do not judge no matter how the condition is, by tightness, the numbers of knots and etc.  I accept as it is.  I only feel for them for their discomfort and frustration.  Secondly, I try to use only positive expressions, and avoid negative words, especially “bad.”  I want each of my session a positive experience.  Human body has the innate power to heal itself to maintain equilibrium called “homeostasis.”  As I always emphasize, the body and mind are strongly connected.  My goal is to offer them confidence that they are in charge of their body and can go through a positive change.  I am only here to help, not to “fix.”  

Auto Accident Injuries

I would like to emphasize strongly to all of you the impact and trauma of auto accidents more than the benefits of massage for accident victims.  I see patients with auto accidents.  They are the victims and survivors.  I feel very compassionate towards them because they didn’t do anything wrong, so they don’t deserve the pain and distress. 

The impact of a car accident on the body and mind can be enormous and long-term even if the accident is not serious.  Even after the physical injury is healed, you might experience chronic pain, even for years, if not treated soon after the accident. (I will explain more about chronic pain in technical terms soon.)  Not only physically, but you will be affected mentally and emotionally.  If the emotional trauma isn’t addressed early on, it might result in PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and phobias especially if you experience a serious accident.  I’ve noticed that auto accident victims keep talking about their accident over and over.  It seems that they still have some emotion that hasn’t been quite resolved yet.  Listening to what they have to say during the massage session, I believe, is therapeutic and offers them a safe space to recover from their emotional strain.

This article recommends immediate care (such as with energy medicine), therapeutic dialogue, and regular massage for a year or longer for auto accident victims.  The author also recommends we reflect upon our unconscious behavior that could cause suffering for others.  Texting while driving is obviously dangerous as well as drinking and driving.  However, I believe accidents can happen in any other occasions when you are distracted while driving.  Just to name a few, checking messages on the phone, trying to answer the phone, being in a hurry, paying attention to the kids in the back seat, getting upset with other drivers, being stressed out and many more.  Have you done any of these?  Let us all focus on DRIVING, ONLY.   

Create Space and Let Things Happen

The end of the year is coming, so it’s time to reflect the things happened this year.  Stepping back and looking at yourself will hopefully create more space in your mind in this hectic time of the year.

My client’s word struck me one day: She said “One of these days, I want to come here and say, ‘I want to get a relaxation massage!’”  Like many people, she wants to relieve her neck and low back pain.  Everybody wants to be free from pain.  And, it’s logical to only focus on the part of the body that is causing the problem because you don’t want to waste time and money. 

This makes me wonder whether both a therapist and a client are caught up only with “solving the problem.”  Do you focus too much on the problem and even stress yourself out to get better?  If not getting better, are you frustrated with yourself or your therapist for not doing something right?  I wonder if this “stress” or the mind-set somehow prevents you from creating the environment for your body to heal.  What if this is causing the problem to begin with?  We know about the close relationship between body and mind, so your mind plays an important role in healing the body. 

Why don’t you create “space” to let things happen?  Step back, and give yourself a break from your agendas.  Everybody is surprised to find out that a massage to the non-problematic arms, hands and feet is extremely relaxing and therapeutic.  Get a “relaxation” massage and see what happens!

Have a wonderful New Year’s!