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.

A Book of the Void

From A Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi

The Ni To Ichi Way of strategy is recorded in this the Book of the Void.

What is called the spirit of the void is where there is nothing. It is not included in man's knowledge. Of course the void is nothingness. By knowing things that exist, you can know that which does not exist. That is the void.

People in this world look at things mistakenly, and think that what they do not understand must be the void. This is not the true void. It is bewilderment. In the Way of strategy, also, those who study as warriors think that whatever they cannot understand in their craft is the void. This is not the true void.

To attain the Way of strategy as a warrior you must study fully other martial arts and not deviate even a little from the Way of the warrior. With your spirit settled, accumulate practice day by day, and hour by hour. Polish the twofold spirit heart and mind, and sharpen the twofold gaze perception and sight. When your spirit is not in the least clouded, when the clouds of bewilderment clear away, there is the true void.

Until you realise the true Way, whether in Buddhism or in common sense, you may think that things are correct and in order. However, if we look at things objectively, from the viewpoint of laws of the world, we see various doctrines departing from the true Way. Know well this spirit, and with forthrightness as the foundation and the true spirit as the Way. Enact strategy broadly, correctly and openly.

Then you will come to think of things in a wide sense and, taking the void as the Way, you will see the Way as void. In the void is virtue, and no evil. Wisdom has existance, principle has existence, the Way has existence, spirit is nothingness.

Twelfth day of the fifth month, second year of Shoho (1645) 

Teruro Magonojo 

SHINMEN MUSASHI

Blizzard Qigong

I decided to do a little Nemo qigong 

in my grocery store parking lot...

Share pictures of your practice with us: qi@mit.edu

Guard the Mind

credited to Yun Hoi:  www.yunhoiwingchun.com

All suffering in this life and others is created by the unsubdued mind. Similarly, the basis of all the practices of the six paramitas, such as generosity, moral discipline, and so on, is the mind.

Nothing is more important than guarding the mind. Let us constantly keep watch over the wild elephant of the mind, curbing it with mindfulness and vigilance. This is how to avoid being influenced by different external conditions. But even in retreat in a very secluded place, if the mind is not kept under control, it will wander all over the place. Even completely alone, we can have an enormous amount of negative emotions.

How are we to guard the mind? We should use attentiveness to watch our thoughts and use mindfulness to judge whether we are acting correctly. With these two we have the means to annihilate all adverse conditions. But without them, we will not see whether our thoughts are positive or negative or whether we are doing right or wrong, nor will we then be able to use antidotes as necessary.

- Kundun, Dalai Lama Sonam

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!

26 Standing at MIT tonight!

There were 26 standing with us tonight at MIT Qigong!

Warm up

10m Gathering Qi

10m Left Shi Li

10m Right Shi Li

20m Low Post

5m Leg Qi 

Seal/Wash

TED Talk: Stepping back for 10 minutes a day

Andy Puddicombe describes the transformative power of doing just that: Refreshing your mind for 10 minutes a day, simply by being mindful and experiencing the present moment. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/andy_puddicombe_all_it_takes_is_10_mindful_minutes.html

"All it takes is 10 mindful minutes a day... We are so distracted that we are no longer present in the world in which we live. And the crazy thing is that most people believe that that is just the way it is, so let's get on with it. But that's just not how it has to be. When I first started meditating, I thought that it was just like aspirin for the mind. I didn't realize that meditation could be so preventive. I gave up everything and became a monk to completely give in to the present moment. By that, I mean, not being lost in thought, distracted, but instead, learning how to be in the here and now, mindful, present. I think the present moment is so under-rated, and yet we spend so little of our time there. Research has shown that humans spend almost 47% of their time lost in thought. In just ten minutes a day, you can impact your entire life. Meditation is familiarizing ourselves with the present moment. Most people assume that meditation is about stopping thoughts, controlling the mind. That's not true. It's about stepping back, watching the world with a relaxed, focused mind. It's only in learning to watch the mind in this way that we can learn to let go. Don't feel surprised if you feel a bit agitated when you first sit down to meditate. Meditation offers the opportunity to step back and get a different perspective and see that things aren't always as they appear. We can't always change every little thing that happens to us in our life... but we can change the way we experience it. You don't have to burn any incense or sit on the floor. Just take 10 minutes a day to step back and familiarize yourself with the present moment so you get to experience a better sense of focus, calm, and clarity in your life."