Global Standing - St. Jean Beach, French West Indies

Emei Qigong 'Tien Zi Zhuang - Heaven Form'

Happy New Year 2018 from MIT Qigong

Another year has come and gone and what a fantastic year 2017 was @ MIT! I'm truly honored to share the art of Qigong to such an enthusiastic group of loyal and inspirational health cultivators. Every week we use stillness and tranquility to return the mind, body & breath to the natural state. Our classes have always focused on core training which is the path towards remarkable results and in 2018, MIT Qigong & Harvard Qigong will continue to be the Boston areas leading Yiquan & Emei clubs. - Jim Roselando

Join the facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/mitqigong/

Low Post Zhan Zhuang - January 2017


Twisting Dragon Post - May 2017


Emei Qigong - August 2017

Happy holidays!!

Hello my friends,

     Well, its been another amazing year of Life Nourishing Qigong at MIT.  I truly appreciate the incredible support that each and every one of you show by not only making our classes week after week but also our events successful! 

     Indeed the MIT Qigong Club has become a powerful force for good health and good deeds.  Our Nepal Charity event raised $1600 for that devastated region.  We came together and stood with our brothers and sisters who were in trouble to let them know; Help is coming from MIT Qigong. 

     I also want to thank everyone for the support at Harvard.  Our Harvard Plaza Qigong sessions were memorable and a special thank you to Pearl for arranging the Boston College Radio Interview!!! 

 

     Thank you everyone for the extremely thoughtful and generous card.  I am looking forward to another year of fantastic growth and friendship with all of you in 2016. I wish you all a very Merry Xmas and Happy Holiday Season.

Peace,

Jim Roselando

 

 

 

 

 

 

Harvard Qigong with Coach Jim Roselando

Another great qigong session outside Memorial Hall at Harvard University. We miss the good old days of MIT, but the Harvard Qigong Club is already a huge success. 12 standing tonight! Thanks to Coach Jim Roselando as always. And thanks to all the members for their continued support. Join us every Monday (or Thursday when it rains) at Harvard. 

Sign up for our email list here: 

http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/qigong

10min Dr. Ma Li Tang's Gathering

5min Twisting Dragon Post

15min Mr. Fu Emei Heaven Post

5min Gathering Qi

5min Leg Qi

5min Twisting Dragon Post

Siu Lin Tao Form

Seal/Wash

MIT Qigong at the Great Dome

More than 20 people standing on June 16th, 2014

Join us next Monday at 7pm!!

Debiasing the Mind Through Meditation

Mindfulness and the Sunk-Cost Bias

1. Andrew C. Hafenbrack1
2. Zoe Kinias1
3. Sigal G. Barsade2

1. ¹Department of Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD
2. ²Management Department, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

1. Andrew C. Hafenbrack, Department of Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD, 1 Ayer Rajah Ave., Singapore 138676, Singapore E-mail: andrew.hafenbrack@insead.edu

From: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/12/06/0956797613503853

Abstract from The Harvard Business Review:  A Little Meditating Helps You Make Better Business Decisions
Research participants who had spent just 15 minutes in “mindfulness” meditation, focusing on their breathing, were 77% more likely than others to resist what’s known as the “sunk-cost bias,” the tendency to stick with a less-than-optimal strategy merely because a lot of money has been sunk into it, says a team led by Andrew C. Hafenbrack of Insead business school in France. In a fictional scenario, the participants had to decide whether to buy a highly efficient $10,000 machine shortly after spending $200,000 on equipment that was much less efficient (and couldn’t be sold). Meditation’s impact on the sunk-cost bias may have to do with its ability to improve mood and decrease people’s focus on the future and past, the researchers suggest.

MIT Qigong Club - Special Event

MIT Qigong Club

"Special Event"

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Emei Qigong Seminar Info

Master Sifu Fu Wei Zhong

Date: May 10-11, 2014

Time: 9:00-5:00

Location: MIT Cambridge

Cost: $300.00 ($200.00 'one day')

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Emei Qigong lineage holder, Master Fu Wei Zhong, will be coming to Boston for a veryspecial weekend seminar.  Master Fu will be teaching the Heaven & Earth sets which are the foundation of the Emei 12 Zhuang's. Master Fu will also be teaching Emei's 'Heaven Pounding Breathing' which was passed down from the martial arts aspects of Emei.

Master Fu has not taught Emei 12 Zhuang Qigong in the USA for many years. Don't miss this opportunity to train with a living legend.

*We will be limiting this event to 20 serious practitioners. Please contact me for more info and reserve your spot today!


Info on the Heaven & Earth sets:


The 12 Forms begins with the Heaven & Earth Forms. The primary application of Heaven & Earth Forms is in the ascending and descending of the qi in the Ren & Du meridians.

In the practice of the Heaven Form, the practitioner experience the ascending of the qi, and the main effect is in supporting the qi and the yang energy.

In the practice of the Earth Form, the practitioner experience the descending of the qi, and the main effect is in supporting the ying energy and suppressing the yang. When Heaven & Earth Forms are practiced together, the qi of the Heaven and Earth mingled within the body, and the flow of qi achieved a state of balance. The Heaven & Earth Forms are the foundation for all the other Forms.

Info on Master Sifu Fu Wei Zhong:

http://www.qi-journal.com/Qigong.asp?-token.D=Article&-MaxRecords=1&-SkipRecords=0&-Op=bw&Name=ErMei%20Qigong

Interview with Coach Jim Roselando

Interview with Coach Jim Roselando on MIT Radio: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pQaDv8i_Y4

"Qi is a form of energy. Gong means work. So Qigong is a form of energy cultivation. Through still exercise you can cultivate balance and smooth the energy through the whole body. The Dan Tien will be robust, the meridians will be flowing smoothly, which will gradually realign the body. You can stand and be still and cultivate the mind, the body, the breathing, just by relaxing." 

MIT Qigong Evening of Holistic Health

MIT Qigong & Health Yoga Life

 

An Evening Of Holistic Health

 

"Two Arts-Two Instructors"

 

Qigong: Jim Roselando

 

Yoga: Siga Bielkus

 

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When: 9/30/13 (Monday)

 

Time: 7:00-8:30

 

Cost: FREE

Thanks to everyone who participated!

We had a great turn out at our Evening of Holistic Health. Special thanks to Health Yoga Life instructor, Siga Bielkus, and MIT Qigong coach, Jim Roselando. Forty-five minutes of yoga followed by forty-five minutes of natural qigong!

An Evening of Holistic Health at MIT: Monday 9/30

MIT Qigong & Health Yoga Life

  An Evening Of Holistic Health

 

"Two Arts-Two Instructors"

 

Qigong: Jim Roselando

 

Yoga: Siga Bielkus

 

***

 

When: 9/30/13 (Monday)

Time: 7:00-8:30pm

 

Cost: FREE

Where: MIT Kresge Auditorium 

Little Theater

New Research - Qi Gong Lowers Blood Pressure

Shin, Kyung-Min, Ji-Eun Park, Sanghoon Hong, Taeseob Park, Minhee Lee, Yan Liu, Jung-Eun Kim et al. "568 A Randomized Controlled Trial for the Use of Qigong in the Treatment of Pre and Mild Essential Hypertension." Journal of Hypertension 30 (2012): e167.

Qi Gong encompasses many styles and forms within each style, many of which are traditionally used to benefit specific bodily systems. The researchers concluded that Qi Gong is safe and has a “positive effect on blood pressure and health status in pre and mild hypertension patients.” Based on these findings, the researchers suggest additional research to further explore the medical benefits of Qi Gong with a larger sample size of participants.

A total of 40 participants were randomized into a control group and a Qi Gong group. The Qi Gong group practiced the forms for a total of 5 times per week for a total of 8 weeks. Blood pressure reductions occurred in the Qi Gong group and not in the control group. Systolic blood pressure reduced significantly. Diastolic blood pressure was unaffected.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is comprised of five major branches: movement arts, acupuncture, herbal medicine, dietetics, bone medicine. Qi Gong and other arts such as Tai Chi are part of the movement arts division of TCM including other forms of breathing and meditation exercises. Most forms of Qi Gong involve meditation, synchronous breathing and physical exercise.

http://www.healthcmi.com/acupuncturist-news-online/792-qigongbp

Monday Night Qigong 3/11/13

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10min Gathering Qi

10min Leg Qi

10min Low Post

10min Natural Post

5min Low Post

5min Leg Qi

5min Ma Li Tang's Gathering Qi

Wash/Seal

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10 Steps to Zhan Zhuang by Wikihow

From Wikihow

This posture is the most common of all the tai chi (taiji) and qigong (chi-gung) postures, and is often used as a separate exercise to increase leg strength, concentration, deep breathing and chi (qi) flow.  The stance is used in standing meditation and is known as the Zhan Zhuang or Embrace the tree posture.

Bill Gallagher PT, CMT, CYT 

1 Stand with the feet about shoulder width apart.

2 Turn the toes in so the outside of the feet are parallel.

3 Sit back to bend the knees and fold in the hip joints to go into a shallow squat (up to a 45 degree bend in the knee).

4 If you tend to be "knock-kneed" (valgus), gently roll the knees out a bit without moving the feet. This will tend to lift the arch. Don't allow the big toes to lose contact with the floor. If you are bow-legged (varus), gently roll the knees in.

5 Release the lower back to allow the coccyx (tailbone) to hang down.

6 As your tailbone hangs down, lengthen the back of your skull up.

7 Hold arms as if embracing a tree with elbows hanging down

8 Sink the shoulders down.

9 Use inhalation to expand body and exhalation to release unnecessary tension down into the ground using the bones as conduits.

10 Hold. Most teachers recommend building up to a minimum of 20 minutes, but beginners may feel fatigued far earlier, and it is advisable to practice caution.

External Qigong Therapy in Treatment of Cocaine Withdrawal

Medical Qigong: http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/acm.2012.0052

Objectives: This pilot study examined the feasibility, preliminary efficacy, and determined the effect sizes of external qigong therapy (EQT) in reducing cue-elicited cocaine craving and associated symptoms among recently abstinent cocaine-dependent (CD) individuals.

Methods: This study randomized 101 CD subjects to either a real EQT (n=51) or sham EQT control (n=50) group. Subjects underwent a baseline assessment and a weekly cue-exposure session for 2 weeks. Total EQT or sham treatments ranged from 4 to 6 sessions in 2 weeks.

Results: EQT-treated subjects displayed a greater reduction in cue-elicited craving (p=0.06) and symptoms of depression (p<0.05) with medium effect sizes.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated the feasibility of delivering EQT among CD individuals early in residential treatment. Future research should include a larger sample and examine the mechanisms and potential longitudinal benefits of EQT.

Practice to make the body balanced

From Qi Magazine - Issue 90

By Michael Tse

Sometimes we can look at the sky and wonder why it is different every single day? It is like that because it is blancing itself. We are also changing, but the change is to balance with nature, our bodies are part of nature and so they need to be in harmony with it. We cannot tell the sky what weather we want because the weather changes so that the earth can stay balanced. It is all about balance and this is the same reason we get hot, cold, sick, feel good and even feel emotional. This is also the principle of Qigong. We need to practise to make the body balanced. Moving the body in a Qigong way allows it to work things out by itself.

Qigong during radiotherapy recovery

Qigong improves quality of life during breast radiotherapy
By Delicia Honen Yard
Oncology Nurse Advisor - February 11, 2013

The ancient mind-body practice of qigong may help relieve depressive symptoms and enhance quality of life among women undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer.

Mind-body practices appear to improve quality of life in cancer survivors, explained Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and colleagues in their report for the journal Cancer. However, they pointed out, little is known about the benefits of such activities for persons undergoing radiotherapy.

Working with associates in Shanghai, China, where the study patients were located, Cohen's group randomized 49 women with breast cancer to a modified version of Chinese medical qigong consisting of synchronizing one's breath with various exercises. These women attended five weekly, 40-minute classes during their 5-to-6-week course of radiotherapy. An additional 47 women with breast cancer were assigned to a wait-list control group and received the standard of care.

The mean age of the participants was 46 years (range 25 to 64 years).They had stage 0 disease (7%), stage I disease (25%), stage II disease (40%), or stage III disease (28%). Slightly more than half the women (54%) had undergone mastectomy.

Multilevel analyses revealed that compared with the control group, the qigong participants reported fewer depressive symptoms over time. Depressive symptom scores in the qigong group declined from a mean of 12.3 at the end of radiotherapy to a mean of 9.5 through the 3-month postradiation follow-up. No changes in depressive symptoms were noted in the control group over time.

Women in the qigong group who had elevated depressive symptoms at the start of radiotherapy particularly benefited from the intervention, reporting clinically significant degrees of less fatigue and better overall quality of life than the controls. Women with low levels of depressive symptoms at the start of radiotherapy had good quality of life throughout treatment and 3 months later regardless of whether they were in the qigong group or the control group.

No significant differences between groups emerged for two other outcomes measured: sleep disturbance and cortisol slopes.

The fact that the benefits of qigong were largely observed after treatment ended may indicate that the practice prevents a delayed symptom burden or speeds the recovery process, particularly for women with high levels of depressive symptoms at the start of radiotherapy.

Help support Acupuncture under the Social Security Act

Sign the White House Petition to Designate 'Acupuncturist' as a Recognized Healthcare Provider under the Social Security Act

Dear Supporter of Acupuncture,

There are only days left to sign a crucial petition to alert the Obama Administration to the fact that acupuncturists are not currently recognized as healthcare providers under the Social Security Act and, therefore, cannot get reimbursement for services provided to Medicare patients.

The Social Security Act does recognize other healthcare professionals such as dieticians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse midwives, and clinical social workers.
By changing the compensation structure allowed under Medicare, we can ensure that patients have access to their local acupuncturists.

The petition, started one month ago, needs 25,000 signatures by February 10 to get a response from the White House regarding the inclusion of acupuncturists in the Social Security Act. Currently, we have over 10,000 signatures. If you have not yet signed this important petition, please do so now by visiting the following link by February 10:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/recognize-acupuncturist-healthcare-providers/NTNpVFnp

Please immediately spread the word and forward this petition to your friends and family as every signature counts!

Thank you for your support and action!

Practice makes perfect

by Kate Britton

Qi Magazine - Issue 90

Simply going outside every day to go through our forms is not necessarily going to have a marked impact on our skill level.  There is training and there is training.

Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes, but I am not entirely convinced that we can ever reach perfection.  That would imply that there comes a point when, no matter how much more we practise, we just cannot get any better.  I do not think that can be true.  I believe that if we continue to train, we will always keep improving.

There are three basic ways in which we can practise all the skills we have learned. The first I call ‘Maintenance’. This is when we simply run through the forms that we know so that we do not forget the sequences. This is necessary to some extent, especially when we are short on time. When we are learning a new form, for example, we concentrate a lot of our time on that one, which means that we have less to spend on everything else we know.  We may, then, have to just run through some of our forms quickly to keep them fresh in our mind.  Because, as an instructor, I know quite a few forms and it is impossible to practise them all every day, or even every two or three days.  But I like to make sure that I practise everything I know at least once a week.  If I leave something for two or three weeks, the detail starts to disappear, and the form begins to become blurry.  If I leave it longer than that, whole sequences begin to get lost.

The second way we can train is to practise for ‘Health’. This is extremely important, since the main reason we learn skills such as Qigong, Taijiquan and Chun Yuen Quan is so that we become healthier, stronger and more flexible. But when training for health, both our mind and our body must be relaxed. This means that we cannot be thinking too much about each move and how we might make it better. In fact, we need to empty our mind and let the movements heal our bodies.

However, if we only practise for health, and our movements are never checked, eventually your forms may become sloppy and lose definition. Finally, we need to practise for ‘Improvement’. When we do this we look at each move in detail to see how we can make our performance better. We can go over and over a short section of form to see if we can improve our posture and the framing. Practising to improve your skill is extremely important if you are an instructor. Once you start teaching you have to start running to stay ahead of your students. Just as you want to see them improve, they want to see you gaining more skill so that as the years pass you still have a lot to share with them.

So a combination of all three methods of training is necessary if we want to continue developing.

When people first join a class, there are usually some who do not practise at all between lessons, which seems a bit of a wasted opportunity to me.  We are given a very valuable gift that will help us stay healthy and mobile into old age.  Of course, if you do not practise from one week to the next, then you will have difficulty remembering what you learned the previous week. Repeatedly going backwards each time you attend class is demoralizing, especially when those who started at the same time begin to move ahead, leaving you behind. You will probably very quickly give up. But with a little effort in your spare time, even just for ten minutes a day, you can start moving forwards each week, and begin to reap the rewards to be had from these fascinating arts.

You and Your Qi

by Adam Wallace
Qi Magazine - Issue 87
Summer 2008

Your Qi is your life. Abundant Qi ensures good health and vitality, speedy recovery from illness, and quality of life. Deficient Qi spells listlessness and illness, and no Qi means death, literally.

When your Qi is full you feel comfortable inside, no matter the weather. On extremely cold days you may feel the temperature on the surface of the skin, but inside you will feel warm, so the extremities and joints do not suffer. When Qi is deficient, you can even feel cold internally on warm days. This is why the elderly fear winter especially.

Your Qi level is directly related to how you see the world and respond to it. When your Qi is full and stable you will feel balanced, vibrant and confident, with a deep sense of peace and harmony. Mental clarity, wisdom,  and mood all depend on the Qi level, so when Qi is low you will not only feel physically weak, vulnerable and insecure, but also become cantankerous, melancholy, anxious or fearful and suffer negative and confused thinking. When Qi is unstable you may experience severe mood swings, become easily enraged, or suffer manic depression (bi-polar disorder).

Many people suffer heart attacks or strokes because they are not sensitive to their Qi or do not know how to control it through regulating the breath. The attack often occurs when the body is stressed and the mind is preoccupied or ‘out of the body’. Qigong regulates and balances Qi with the mind and breath and so prevents Qi becoming overstimulated and stuck. I would wager that no one has nor ever will suffer a stroke or heart attack during their Qigong practice as they are mindful of the internal body. If they practice every day (especially twice or more), they need never worry as the effects of training last for many hours, so regularity maintains order.

Many people today complain of having no energy. They work, come home, collapse and repeat this day-in and day-out. They run themselves into the ground, literally. The way we feel, in general, is a reliable barometer for what is going on internally. Before we become seriously ill, we will generally feel an overall sense of malaise. This is a warning signal. Over time, if nothing is done to remedy the situation, we then become fatigued, burned out and run down. When Qi level is weak the immune system too is weak. So when fatigued, sickness invariably follows. Then comes the enforced rest at home or in hospital and the ubiquitous medication that must be taken until the last days of life. Medications interfere with Qi but the average person taking these medicines can be too disconnected from his body to even notice.

Your Qi level, as it is at this very moment, is the result of your parents’ combined Qi (the good and the bad), together with that gained since birth, from food, water, air and exercise/rest. (The more you exercise the body with breathing fresh air and relaxation, and without exhausting it, the more it recharges, just like a car battery.) So you can take the Qi your parents gave you, use it wisely to go beyond life expectancy or you can squander it hastily.

Everything we do in life uses Qi, so we must spend it wisely. Eating the wrong food, in large amounts, uses a lot of Qi for digestion and this results in the feeling of heaviness and sleepiness. Even breathing can waste Qi unnecessarily when it is not natural. Reading, especially at the computer, uses our Qi and weakens our vision, so it is important to take frequent short breaks in order to let the eyes recover and avoid eyestrain. Many men complain of exhaustion and their doctors cannot diagnose the problem, but Chinese medical doctors would be able to detect that they have weakened kidney Qi through immoderate sexual intercourse. People complain of symptoms but remain unwilling to restore balance themselves by making necessary recommended lifestyle changes, especially if it involves depriving themselves of pleasure.

Many patients today undergoing chemotherapy use Qigong and/or Chinese medicine to help remedy the symptoms of treatment (aching muscles and coldness in the bones) instead of using Qigong as the primary treatment. During the days they practice they feel better because their Qi level has been elevated but after the ensuing chemotherapy session they feel terrible as the treatment damages the kidneys and erases all the good Qi cultivated from practice. So, the patient takes one step forward and three steps back. No matter what the illness may be, the only way to truly recover is to bring up the Qi level so the body has sufficient Qi to combat and overcome the illness. When the Qi is not strong enough, illness gains ascendancy and ultimately triumphs, resulting in a weakened state of health or death.

The factors that determine our Qi are (mostly) under our direct control. Therefore, largely, our lives are the result of our choices.