If you don’t believe in psychic power and the power of the mind and will, then you’ve never witnessed a master of Qigong. The masters can do amazing feats. Many scientists have recorded then and attempt to explain how they occur. Masters of the art of Qigong harness their energy and make it stronger. Some believe that it encourages neural pathways to develop between the right and left side of the brain. Scientists already know that one side controls the logical, the planning, the thinking side and the other controls the creative. It makes sense that creating the bridge would allow an increase in their energy force.

In the case of Qigong, practice does make perfect. It increases as the student learns to focus intently, build concentration and will. It uses body movements and meditation to do this. Depending on the area the master chooses to develop his skill, he may develop the ability to move objects, start fires, heal at close proximity or at a distance or develop other psychic powers. Many of these feats are recorded both in writing and on video. The practitioners didn’t demonstrate the abilities before they started their training. The training brought their abilities to the foreground and allowed them to use them. It allowed them to tap into what they already possessed.

Studies on meditation show a change in brain patterns. As the person practicing meditation progresses and becomes more accomplished eventually all the brain pattern is the alpha wave. The alpha wave is the one that occurs when people learn the best and perform psychic acts.

Studies into quantum physics confirm the potential for psychic phenomena. The smallest particles are no longer the atom. They are smaller than the electron. These particles are moved throughout the atom with energy. They make a quantum leap from one shell to another and change the very structure of the matter where they exist. Consider someone that has the ability to focus energy and the desire to change a substance. Let us take a look at the Qigong master that heals. He focuses on the virus or diseased cells and uses his energy to change the matter into healthy cells. It is logical and feasible that this feat is possible.

In many of the Eastern practices like Qigong, a form of Tai Chi, the self needs to be quieted. Pride has no place in Qigong. The reason is twofold. First, it elevates the role of the practitioner to creator. He is not, he only directs the energy already in place and provided to him. The second is that it changes the focus of the practitioner from the outcome to himself. This blocks the energy. This takes a great deal of training and self will to do. It is normal for people to crave the attention when they accomplish a major feat.

Anyone can learn these abilities. It takes dedication to advance to the great levels that the masters posses. Some that study the art of Qigong may start into the study to make themselves healthier or even for the hope of psychic ability and perhaps a quick trip to Las Vegas, but find that the more they develop, the less they choose to use the power for self advancement and the more they choose to improve humanity.

By: conradraw

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“Conrad Raw is an expert on practical techniques for personal and spiritual development. He is a bestselling co-author with Wayne Dyer and Brian Tracy and is the author of “The Zensation Manual: Forbidden Secrets of Personal and Spiritual Development”. How To Develop Psychic Powers Visit his website to get your free video course on how to activate your true potential. Psychic Power”

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As one of the more common chronic pain syndromes, massage therapists are likely to encounter and counsel clients with fibromyalgia. Find out more about the value exercise has for those with this debilitating condition as well as information you can share with clients who have turned to you for treatment.

by Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.

Seeking ways to reduce pain, increase energy and enhance quality of life are common goals of those living with fibromyalgia. Ideal complements to massage therapy, certain types of exercise are proven to reduce the pain associated with this condition. When working with fibromyalgia clients, incorporating exercise into your treatment plan (through teaching, suggesting or referring to an expert) will increase the effectiveness of all therapies being received.

About Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a medically recognized, chronic condition characterized by fatigue, widespread pain, stiffness, muscular aching and burning. Because there isn’t a specific diagnostic laboratory test for fibromyalgia, its diagnosis poses a challenge. Prior to receiving a diagnosis of fibromyalgia, many people endure several medical tests that are returned with normal results, such as blood tests and X-rays. Although these tests may rule out other conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis, they cannot confirm fibromyalgia.

The American College of Rheumatology has established general classification guidelines for fibromyalgia to help in the assessment of this condition. According to these guidelines, a diagnosis of fibromyalgia includes widespread aching pain for at least three months and a minimum of 11 out of 18 specified locations on the body that are abnormally tender under relatively mild, firm pressure.

Exercise
While the cause of fibromyalgia is hotly debated, researchers are making steady progress in uncovering its mysteries. One such discovery is that a regular exercise program is of tremendous therapeutic value to a person suffering with fibromyalgia. One of the many possible theories explaining fibromyalgia is a lack of oxygen in muscle tissue. Whether deficient oxygen is a cause or effect of fibromyalgia, exercise is an excellent way to increase circulation and supply oxygen to our body’s cells.

In the March 2005 edition of Current Opinion in Rheumatology, Swedish researchers reported:

“Previous studies indicate that aerobic exercise performed at adequate intensity for an individual can improve function, symptoms, and well-being. A recent study of aerobic exercise showed that training in sedentary women with fibromyalgia using short bouts of exercise produces improvements in health outcomes. A study of aerobic walking resulted in improvements in physical function, symptoms, and distress. Two studies of low-intensity pool exercise reported a positive impact on fibromyalgia symptoms and distress. Two studies of qigong movement therapy were reported, one indicating improvements in symptoms and the other in movement harmony.”

Clients suffering with fibromyalgia may be dubious about physical exercise. Understanding why a person whose muscles already hurt and is physically exhausted would be suspicious of the benefits of working out, will help you communicate compassionately with them. While exercise is probably the last thing a person with fibromyalgia feels like doing, it is crucial for muscular health and pain relief. By increasing oxygenation of muscle tissue, exercise improves flexibility, range of motion, strength, endurance and energy levels.

When clients complain that prior attempts at exercise have been disappointing, explain that this is likely due to the increased pain that can occur from unaccustomed muscle use. In those with fibromyalgia, the brain misinterprets signals from the muscles, causing your body to act protectively as if the muscles were injured. Instead of its well-meaning purpose, this misinterpreted signal feeds the cycle of fibromyalgia by perpetuating muscle weakness, pain and fatigue.

While helping your client begin or stick with an exercise program demonstrates invaluable support, make certain a physician has approved of their activities. Listed below are some helpful tips on exercising with fibromyalgia from industry experts:

1. Start slowly – Frustration for not being able to accomplish what used to be simple can easily result in giving up or doing too much. The rule for fibromyalgia is to start small, and only increase exercise gradually.

2. Progress sequentially – Always start the journey to fitness with a regular stretching program. Stretching will release some muscle tightness, decreasing the number of pain signals going to the brain. The next phase is muscle strengthening. After flexibility and strength are increased, aerobic and endurance activities can be added.

3. Minimize eccentric muscle loading – Simultaneous muscle contraction and lengthening is typically too demanding with fibromyalgia. When working with any muscle group, separate stretching the muscle from contracting the muscle into different exercises.

4. Focus on posture – Making sure to find one’s center of balance will correctly distribute the body’s weight and reduce how quickly the muscles fatigue. Proper posture can help reduce unnecessarily held muscle tension.

5. Limit muscle contraction time – Prolonged muscle contraction can perpetuate pain by fatiguing muscles too quickly. Make certain to take regular breaks from any activity. This can range from taking a break from swimming to do a two-minute stretch, or pausing for three seconds after every minute of vacuuming.

Working with fibromyalgia can be a terrifically rewarding niche for massage therapists. As one of the most encountered chronic pain syndromes in women, there is currently no medical cure for this mysterious condition. While massage therapy is one of the top-rated options for fibromyalgia, results are magnified when accompanied by a regular exercise program. The five tips listed above can help clients with fibromyalgia incorporate exercise into their health maintenance routine. By recruiting both massage and exercise into a treatment plan, fibromyalgia sufferers have a better chance of conquering this increasingly common syndrome.

Recommended Study:
Fibromyalgia and Massage

References:

Mannerkorpi, K, Exercise in Fibromyalgia, Current Opinion in Rheumatology, March 2005.

www.exercise.about.com, Exercising with Fibromyalgia, Paige Waehner, About, Inc., 2007.

www.fmaware.org, Starting an Exercise Program with Fibromyalgia, Lisa Lorden, National Fibromyalgia Association, 2007.

www.mayoclinic.com, Fibromyalgia, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2007.

www.myalgia.com, Everyday Flexibility Moves, Janice H. Hoffman, Fibromyalgia Information Foundation, 2007.

www.myalgia.com, A Fibromyalgia Patients Guide to Exercise, Sharon R. Clark, PhD, FNP, Fibromyalgia Information Foundation, 2007.

Posted by Editors at 11:28 AM

© 2009 Institute for Integrative HealthCare Studies. This work is reproduced with the permission of the Institute. www.Integrative-Healthcare.org

Polarity therapy has established itself as an effective system of alternative healthcare. Founded on similar physical concepts, adding chromotherapy to polarity-based bodywork is likely to enhance client results. What is chromotherapy?

by Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.

For centuries, a select group of alternative healthcare practitioners have known that colors can dramatically affect health, inner harmony and emotions. Although those trained within the conventional medical model may doubt the efficacy of color therapy, or chromotherapy, a surprising number of success stories have surfaced touting the ability of color to impact human health. As the science behind chromotherapy is uncovered, it is easy to recognize it’s parallel with polarity therapy. Since polarity therapy and chromotherapy are both deeply routed in the basic laws of vibrational physics, these two modalities make a logical union.

Chromotherapy
Based on the premise that different bands of the light spectrum produce different effects in the human body, chromotherapy is known as a vibrational healing modality. When color and light strike an individual, they influence that same vibration present in the body.

The set of frequencies related to musical notes demonstrates how the vibration of color can influence the human body. If two properly tuned guitars are in the same room and the G string is plucked on one guitar, the G string on the second guitar will also ring. This phenomenon occurs because the sound frequency of the G note travels across the room causing the resonant frequency of the G string on the second guitar to sound. Likewise, the body’s organs have their own resonant frequencies associated with each chakra and meridian. Well known to physicists, the electrically charged molecules composing living tissue is always vibrating. Thus, chromotherapy practitioners can tune their clients for optimal wellness by exposing chakras and meridians to the color needed.

Some of the properties of color that render it a potential healing tool include:

· A property of light, color is electromagnetic energy.

· Different colors of light have different wavelengths.

· The shorter the wavelength, like violet, the faster it vibrates; the longer the wavelength, like red, the slower it vibrates.

Creating resonance between the body’s vibrating electromagnetic particles and the desired color’s vibration helps chromotherapy recipients achieve a more healthful state.

Chromotherapy in Practice
Applying the principles of chromotherapy, a therapist can utilize light and color in various forms. Some of its more common applications include projecting colored light onto certain areas of the body, suggesting colored visualizations and incorporating various colored materials into a session. Each basic color used in chromotherapy is associated with a different chakra and relates to different physical and emotional issues:

· Red – Red stimulates brain wave activity, increases heart rate, respiration and blood pressure and excites the sexual glands. It energizes the first chakra located at the coccyx. Warming and energizing, red is appropriate for someone who is tired, cold and has poor circulation.

· Orange – The color of joy and wisdom, orange energizes the second chakra located at the sacrum. Regarded to stimulate the appetite, orange is beneficial for illnesses of the colon and digestion.

· Yellow – Related to the solar plexus chakra, yellow energizes, lifts the mood, improves memory and can improve digestion.

· Green – Affecting the heart chakra, green is calming to the central nervous system. A good color for cardiac conditions, high blood pressure and ulcers, green also benefits those suffering from depression and anxiety.

· Blue – The color of the throat chakra, blue is a good color choice to influence respiratory or throat difficulties. Calming and cooling, blue may help counteract hypertension.

· Indigo – Related to the brow chakra, indigo can improve problems with the sinuses and face. It has also been used to help heal burns and reduce pain.

· Violet – Associated with the crown chakra, violet is cleansing, strengthening and peaceful. Affecting the skeletal system, it is often used therapeutically to improve immunity, arthritis and relieve headaches.

Polarity Therapy
Polarity therapy is a natural health care system that is also based on the human energy field. Relying on the constant motion of molecules, polarity therapy is aimed at balancing the constant pulsation of energy between positive and negative poles. These poles create fields and energetic lines of force throughout the body. Dr. Randolph Stone, the founder of polarity therapy, explains that a disturbance in this energetic system causes a departure from good health.

By incorporating energy mapping of the five natural elements (Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth) and the seven primary energy centers or chakras, polarity therapy encourages each energetic field to achieve unrestricted, optimal vibration levels. A polarity practitioner adds their own energy to a disordered field, to create vibration in unison. Known in physics as a Bose-Einstein Condensate, creating vibratory unison allows a dysfunctional organ to work more effectively. Similar to understanding entropy in quantum physics, proponents of polarity therapy acknowledge that healing occurs as energetic order is restored to systems that had previously been disordered.

Polarity in Practice
Mostly using very gentle types of bipolar contact, polarity bodywork involves many techniques. Characteristic of polarity, bipolar contact is when a practitioner uses the fingers of both hands to energetically and functionally link related areas of the body for energy movement. Methods used include cranial holds, rocking movements, techniques similar to reflexology and some osteopathic and chiropractic influenced moves. However, polarity therapy always emphasizes energetic work over manipulation. Since forceful manipulations are not part of polarity therapy, it is suitable for elderly and frail clients.

Whether practicing polarity therapy or chromotherapy, bodyworkers have the opportunity to put their physics knowledge to good use. For a Western science trained, analytical mind, both modalities are logical ways to influence well-being. If proficient in both chromotherapy and polarity, practitioners can combine the two to increase the therapeutic effectiveness of their sessions.

Recommended Study:
Polarity Therapy

References:

http://healing.about.com, Color Therapy – Chromotherapy, Phylameana lila Desy, About.com, Inc., 2008.

Rowen, Robert Jay, MD, 9 Alternative Health Scams, Second Opinion Publishing Inc., Atlanta, Georgia, 2002.

www.biopulse.org, Color Therapy, Association Alternative Medicine, 2008.

www.polaritytherapy.org, Polarity Therapy: An Introduction, Will Wilson, American Polarity Therapy Association, 2008.

Posted by Editors at 12:36 PM

© 2009 Institute for Integrative HealthCare Studies. This work is reproduced with the permission of the Institute. www.Integrative-Healthcare.org

Senior citizens who participated in four movement-therapy sessions showed improved balance and gait, increased leg strength, and significantly decreased leg pain, according to a recent research study.

“Senior citizens benefit from movement therapy” was conducted by Kristen Hartshorn, Jesse Delage, Tiffany Field, Ph.D., and Loren Olds of the University of Miami School of Medicine. Field is the director of the university’s Touch Research Institute. The study was published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies.

Thirty-two subjects with an average age of 86 were recruited for the study from two retirement communities and randomly assigned to either a movement-therapy group or a wait-list control group.

The movement-therapy group attended four 50-minute sessions throughout a two-week time period. Each session began with a warm-up, during which subjects typically sat in a circle and focused on breathing; raised their arms and legs; and rolled their necks. Self-massage was also performed.

After the warm-up, participants engaged in large, whole-body movements, such as swaying, pushing, stamping, twisting, turning, stepping and swinging.

This was followed by resting and sharing, when participants took a break to notice any changes in themselves, such as increased heart rate or expanded respiration.
The last portion of the movement therapy was most intensive, as subjects were encouraged to fully explore the dynamics of a movement, such as the feeling of rocking or swaying. At times they worked in pairs, mirroring each other, or used props to take the movement further. Breathwork, progressive relaxation of the entire body, imagery and visualization were also used.

Range-of-motion data and self-reports were collected from subjects in both the movement-therapy and the control group on the first and last days of the study.

Overall body pain, back pain and leg pain were rated on visual analogue scales (VITAS) ranging from 0/no pain, to 10/worst possible pain. Leg strength was rated on a 10-point scale, from very weak to very strong.

The Tinetti balance and gait evaluation was used to measure subjects’ range of motion. Each item was rated from 0-2, and a higher total score was considered optimal. The balance evaluation included items such as sitting balance, arising, standing balance, turning 360 degrees and sitting down. The gait evaluation included items such as step length and height, step continuity, step symmetry and walking stance.

“Although there were trends in the reduction of back pain, only the leg pain significantly decreased over the course of the study,” state the study’s authors.

Results showed that those who participated in the movement therapy improved in their functional motion on the Tinetti scale, specifically in terms of gait. Leg strength increased, and leg pain was decreased significantly. The change in the means for overall pain and back pain were in a positive direction, but not significant.

“The combined effects of the movement therapy on leg strength, gait, and reduction of leg pain suggest that this may be an effective therapy for these problems in the elderly,” state the study’s authors. “The freer movements and lesser degree of structure and concentration required of the elderly make this a more enjoyable kind of movement therapy than the more frequently studied Tai Chi.”

- Source: University of Miami School of Medicine. Authors: Kristen Hartshorn, Jesse Delage, Tiffany Field, Loren Olds. Originally published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, January 2002, pp. 55-58.

During and after five weeks of tai chi lessons, adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) showed less anxiety, daydreaming, inappropriate emotions and hyperactivity, according to a study by the Touch Research Institute (TRI).

“Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: benefits from Tai Chi” was conducted by Maria Hernandez-Reif, Ph.D., Tiffany Field, Ph.D., and Eric Thimas.

ADHD, often treated by drugs such as Ritalin, is characterized by inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. A 1998 TRI study showed that massage was effective in increasing focus, improving mood, reducing fidgeting and lowering hyperactivity in adolescents with ADHD. This study examined whether tai chi, the Chinese martial art of slow-moving, meditative exercise, would have similar effects.

Thirteen adolescents with an average age of 14-and-a-half years and a diagnosis of ADHD participated in the study. They were taught tai chi postures for 30 minutes, twice a week for five weeks.
Sessions consisted of breathing exercises accompanied by slow raising and lowering of the arms, twisting and turning of the arms and legs, shifting body weight, rotating and changing direction.

The Conners Teacher Rating Scale was used by the subjects’ teachers to evaluate their behavior prior to the tai chi classes, during the classes and two weeks after the classes ended. The 28-item scale rates overall hyperactivity, as well as subcategories of anxiety, asocial behavior, conduct, dreaming and emotion.

Results of the study showed that the adolescents’ teachers perceived them as less anxious, emotional and hyperactive. These improved scores remained consistent throughout the two-week follow-up period, without tai chi.

“The results of this study and our earlier massage therapy study provide encouraging support for two alternative therapies for treating adolescents with ADHD,” state the study’s authors.

“In addition to little or no side effects, especially appealing are the documented effects of Tai Chi and massage therapy for reducing anxiety and hyperactivity, the major and most difficult symptoms to manage in children with ADHD.”

- Source: Touch Research Institute. Authors: Maria Hernandez-Reif, Ph.D., Tiffany Field, Ph.D., and Eric Thimas. Originally published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, April 2001, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 120-123.