The Oakwood resident works out with a personal trainer four times a week, focusing on cardiovascular exercise and strength training, and she also practices Qigong (pronounced chee gung) weekly with Sharon Trekell, director of the Inner Well Institute in Kettering.
Qigong, which, like Tai Chi, is often referred to as yoga standing up, combines movement, postural alignment, breathing and mental focus to balance and enhance energy, according to Trekell, who is a certified integral Qigong and Tai Chi instructor.
Sebaly, who has had both knees replaced, says her doctor is “delighted” with her overall health. “Qigong is so slow, and it’s a wonderful pick-me-up to do in the afternoons. I feel energized,” she said.
An inactivity epidemic
The ACSM applauds people like Sebaly who get the recommended 150 minutes of physical inactivity a week. According to Ellen Burton, program director for Exercise is Medicine, inactivity is an alarming and fast-growing health problem and contributes to a variety of disease and complications, include obesity, diabetes and cancer.
In fact, more than half of adults (53 percent) do not meet the recommendations for sufficient exercise in the United States according to ACSM.
While more health care professionals are prescribing exercise as a way to help cure or lessen what ails their patients, Burton hopes some day all doctors will make “level of physical activity” a standard vital sign question in each patient visit. The ACSM is promoting policy changes in public and private sectors that support physical activity counseling and referrals in clinical settings.
Trekell, a health and wellness coach with a doctorate in psychology, says exercises such as Qigong are beneficial in preventing and managing illnesses. She said she has had doctors refer patients to her who have been diagnosed with myriad conditions, ranging from cancer to multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia.
Get moving
Burton said the most important thing in getting — and keeping — physically active is finding a sport or activity you enjoy.
“It depends on what a person likes to do,” said Burton, who holds a master’s degree in public health. “If someone told me to run five miles daily on a treadmill, I would not find that motivating.”
But suggest swimming, walking or dancing, and she would be game.
In addition to its physical benefits, exercise is also is a tremendous way to reduce stress. “All the cognitive effects are wonderful,” explained Burton.
Dana Penn, 57, of Washington Twp. turns to Qigong, which she started in January with Trekell, for its calming effects.
“I started Qigong to help me with stress, basically,” she said, adding her job as a business analyst for a software company was particularly demanding. “I had already really liked Tai Chi, and it’s so beautiful.”
She also does yoga at Inner Dance Yoga Studio in Oakwood twice a week. She practices Qigong daily for 20 to 25 minutes before breakfast and attends Trekell’s class every Tuesday night at the Church of the Cross United Methodist in Kettering.
“I think Qigong is so powerful. I am just in love with it,” she added. “I get a lot of peace from it. I miss it when I don’t do it. ... It’s a different type of movement than yoga, and it challenges the body and the mind in different ways.”
According to the National Qigong Association, Qigong is an ancient Chinese health care system that can be classified as martial, medical or spiritual.
Some practices increase the qi (energy); others circulate it, use it to cleanse and heal the body, store it, or emit qi to help heal others. Practices vary from the soft styles such as Tai Chi, according the association, to the external, vigorous styles, such as Kung Fu. However, the gentle movements of most Qigong forms, of which there are 5,000, according to Trekell, can be easily adapted for all age groups and fitness levels.
Trekell began studying Qigong while she was working on her graduate degree in the early 1990s, and she, too, was looking for a way to ease the pressures of daily life.
“It’s a wonderful contemplative practice that keeps you in state of equanimity,” she said. “I just don’t get ruffled much. It’s very grounding and centering. ... Qigong is fabulous for increasing vitality and longevity.
“We have a extraordinary medicine, called qi, in ourselves, and if we can circulate that, we will have optimal health and stress relief.”
A sense of well-being
Mary McDonald, 70, of Yellow Springs, cites Qigong as instrumental in helping lower her blood pressure, to the point where she doesn’t need to take medications, and lose weight.
“My daughter, Cory, was living in Seattle, and I ran into some health problems when I was sixty-something and I was overweight. I was talking to her, and she said maybe I should try to find a Qigong class. Well, I thought I will probably not find a class out here.” But she easily found the Stone River School of Tai Chi and Qigong in Yellow Springs.
“I have no idea why I went, but I would do anything to avoid going to doctor,” she said.
When McDonald first started training in 2003 with Stone River owner and instructor Brad Fraley, who splits his time between Yellow Springs and Madison, Wis., she was using a cane. Slowly, she realized health improvements.
“I was slow in learning the form of Qigong. For me, remembering the next move was difficult,” she said. “I took a lot of private lessons from Brad, and it is really a lifetime thing. I am decent in doing the form and I still love Qigong. As my time went on, I dropped a bunch of weight.”
With regular Qigong and yoga, McDonald said “my energy level is sufficient for my age, and I am a lot more attuned to my body and what it needs and wants.”
“Qigong in the U.S. is parallel to yoga, in the sense that people want something to feel more alive in their bodies and to be able to calm themselves from the overstimulating qualities of our culture,” said Fraley.
Penn encourages people to consider Qigong as one way to get active.
“You have to experience it, and you need to go in with an open mind. On the surface, it doesn’t seem like it’s very much physically, but it is very powerful. It’s not easy to do; the more I do it, the more I am able to focus inward and be very mindful of the movements and what their purposes are.
“I am just happy I discovered Qigong,” Penn said. “I am glad I was led to where I am. It’s been a wonderful experience, and I can’t imagine not having in my life.”
Sebaly adds: “Qigong is a marvelous way of strengthening and building balance in a calm and controlled way.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-0671 or rmcmacken@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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