Qigong Improves Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Article: Chaoyi Fanhuan Qigong and Fibromyalgia: Methodological Issues and Two Case Reports – Source: The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Nov. 9, 2012. [Epub ahead of print]

By J. Sawynok, et al.

Background: Qigong, which has many forms, was recently described as "meditative movement," and represents a self-care technique that can contribute to improved health. There are challenges involved in research into qigong, including defining the amount of instruction required for threshold effects, and whether there is a relationship between amount of practice and outcomes. Recent clinical trials examining Chaoyi Fanhuan Qigong (CFQ) for fibromyalgia have used a standardized regimen of practice over an 8-week period. 

Case report: Between a pilot trial and a subsequent larger controlled trial, 2 individuals with fibromyalgia of over 20 years' duration undertook levels 1-4 CFQ training involving movements and meditation at a community-based event and then practiced regularly over a 1-year period. They subsequently both undertook further training, and consolidated their health gains. 

Both observed major reductions in pain, improvements in sleep, mood, emotions, food and other allergies, and consider their condition essentially resolved. They have ceased taking several medications and have resumed their lives. 

Results: The information provided by these individuals could not be derived from a clinical trial, as it is unlikely people would commit to this amount of practice. 

Conclusions: The case study approach provides data with respect to extent of practice, perseverance and long-term outcomes, and provides valuable insight into the potential of this self-care practice.

Source: The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Nov. 9, 2012. [Epub ahead of print] By Jane Sawynok, Department of Pharmacology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada;  Chok Hiew, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada; Dana Marcon, Personal Training Clinic, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.  Contact: jana.sawynok@dal.ca

Qigong in the News: International Business Times

By IBTimes Staff Writer | October 18, 2011 6:58 PM EDT 

Stress and anxiety may often cause pain in your stomach, according to reports.
Here are a few suggested meditation techniques, that may relieve any pain that lasts more than a day or so.

• Guided meditation. Sometimes called guided imagery or visualization, with this method of meditation you form mental images of places or situations you find relaxing.
• Mantra meditation. In this type of meditation, you silently repeat a calming word, thought or phrase to prevent distracting thoughts.
• Mindfulness meditation. This type of meditation is based on being mindful, or having an increased awareness and acceptance of living in the present moment.
• Qi gong. This practice generally combines meditation, relaxation, physical movement and breathing exercises to restore and maintain balance. Qi gong (CHEE-gung) is part of traditional Chinese medicine.
• Tai chi. This is a form of gentle Chinese martial arts. In tai chi (TIE-chee), you perform a self-paced series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner while practicing deep breathing.
• Transcendental meditation. You use a mantra, such as a word, sound or phrase repeatedly silently, to narrow your conscious awareness and eliminate all thoughts from your mind.

• Yoga. You perform a series of postures and controlled breathing exercises to promote a more flexible body and a calm mind.

There are many types of meditation and relaxation techniques that have meditation components that don't result in people having to resort to a number of costly methods to fight stress and anxiety.

Making Yourself at Home with Acupuncture by Ken Rosen

Acupuncture is both clinical and mysterious. It has a long lineage practiced differently around the world by different schools of practice – five-element, Chinese, Korean hand, and Japanese Toyohari to name but a few. I recently found out that there are 30 different schools of acupuncture in Japan alone. And, of course, acupuncture is practiced differently still by individuals. The big point here is that people are getting relief; no matter what style of acupuncture or what individual. 

Acupuncture is rooted in a larger system of medicine which is known globally as Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM. Traditional Chinese Medicine comprises five distinct branches of medicine to help people govern their health. The five branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine are exercise, nutrition, acupuncture, herbal medicine, and structural medicine like massage. Acupuncture, as a branch, has grown globally as well. I have met TCM practitioners from far-away places like Norway, England, India, America, Germany, Israel, Iceland and Thailand, to name a few. People from all over the world are finding relief from serious physical and mental illnesses with this ancient therapy. Acupuncture treatment most likely started with people poking each other in places that hurt with tools in a form of crude massage, or as way to lance boils. Eventually, the Chinese mapped rivers of energy called meridians, or channels, on the body. Much the way energy flows down a river, the same is true in the body. Energy moves quickly in some places, deeply in others, and also stagnates in common acu-point locations. As time passed, the ancients refined specific points on these meridians that created a broad range of action on both physical and emotional conditions. Needles used to be made from bones, then eventually metal. Today, they are made from stainless steel, making them also sterile and disposable. What Happens During an Acupuncture Treatment? After a series of questions, a practitioner of Chinese Medicine will look at your tongue, feel your pulse, and reach a diagnosis. Then an acupuncture prescription will be matched to your diagnosis. The combination of acupoints are needled and heat therapy (moxibustion) or mild electrical stimulation may be added to the needles. Needles are retained in the body for a period of 20 to 30 minutes. During that time, the nervous energy of the whole body tries to push these needles out and tunes into itself for healing. When the needles come to equilibrium with the body and mind, a healing message has been received. Unlike a needle that takes blood out of your body, an acupuncture needle is solid. It is not designed to cut through flesh. It is like putting a chopstick into a bowl of noodles. Instead of cutting into your body, it pushes tissue aside, letting your body’s nervous system grab it, reject it, accept it, and thereby reboot your whole system. This is how acupuncture is able to treat such a wide range of conditions. Needles vibrate within your body to help bring you into balance. The needles vent out built-up qi, which could be manifested in muscular pain, emotional tension, or a chest cold. Ultimately an acupuncture treatment should catapult your whole being into a deep state of ease so your body and mind can overcome energy imbalances, pain and disease.

The soft overcomes the hard – Tao Te Ching

These words from this ancient classic remind me of the tremendous power of acupuncture. Hard needles go into tight or hard acu-points or muscles, but it is the power of your soft body rejecting and then accepting these needles that makes the treatment effective. Your body has to become soft in the reaction to the hard needles. It is only natural.

The Benefits of Meditation (MIT News)

The Benefits of Meditation

Anne Trafton, MIT News Office

In a study published online April 21 in the journal Brain Research Bulletin, the researchers found that people trained to meditate over an eight-week period were better able to control a specific type of brain waves called alpha rhythms. 

The researchers did brain scans of the subjects before the study began, three weeks into it, and at the end of eight weeks. At eight weeks, the subjects who had been trained in meditation showed larger changes in the size (amplitude) of their alpha waves when asked to pay attention to a certain body part — for example, “left foot.” These changes in wave size also occurred more rapidly in the meditators. 

Subjects in this study did not suffer from chronic pain, but the findings suggest that in pain sufferers who meditate, the beneficial effects may come from an ability to essentially turn down the volume on pain signals. “They learn to be aware of where their attention is focused and not get stuck on the painful area,” says Kerr, first author of the paper.

The subjects trained in meditation also reported that they felt less stress than the non-meditators. “Their objective condition might not have changed, but they’re not as reactive to their situation,” Kerr says. “They’re more able to handle stress.”

The researchers are now planning follow-up studies in patients who suffer from chronic pain as well as cancer patients, who have also been shown to benefit from meditation. 

Catherine E. Kerr, Stephanie R. Jones, Qian Wan, Dominique L. Pritchett, Rachel H. Wasserman, Anna Wexler, Joel J. Villanueva, Jessica R. Shaw, Sara W. Lazar, Ted J. Kaptchuk, Ronnie Littenberg, Matti S. Hämäläinen and Christopher I. Moore. "Effects of mindfulness meditation training on anticipatory alpha modulation in primary somatosensory cortex." Brain Research Bulletin. 2011 Apr 8