Rami's Blog

Like the Yin-Yang, Eastern Martial Arts and Western medicine are two halves of a whole. My mission is to preserve the ancient mind-body tools and pass them on to you.

 

Integrative Pain Management, Part 6: Putting the Tai Chi in Motion

This is a continuation of my Integrative Pain Management series, based on content selected from my chapter of the book Integrative Pain Management: Massage, Movement, and Mindfulness Based Approaches. 

See also: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. 

For in-depth routines to deal with upper back pain, lower back pain, and other conditions, check out my video courses on Udemy!

The full pain-fighting benefits of Tai Chi are experienced when the techniques, philosophies, and forms of the practice become an integrated whole. Relaxed and graceful movements, body connectedness and structural alignment, and qi circulation and evoking the spirit. Often, the tai chi master will teach just one of these principles for an entire week, until it has become habit for the student. Only then do they move on.

I encourage you to choose one aspect from the following list each time you practice. Focus on that aspect for the entire routine, and be forgiving if you do not perform the other aspects well. Slowly but surely, each aspect will become second nature.

The Major Principles of Tai Chi Movement

  1. A relaxed and open body, awareness of the alignment of spine and organs.
  2. An relaxed and open mind, alert to the body's movements, and its own thoughts.
  3. A well coordinated and aligned body, in each of the major segments:
    1. Feet planted firmly, with active arches. The body's weight balanced between them.
    2. A slight bend in the knees, keeping them directly over the middle toes.
    3. A gentle tension in the groin and anus, retaining qi through the "small heavenly circle."
    4. A small drop of the tailbone and "pushing out" of the lower back (not butt). The hips are the origin of all the power and movement in tai chi.
    5. Shoulders and elbows sink downward, become part of the torso structure and allow qi flow through the hands.
    6. The chin tucks in slightly and the crown point of the head aims straight up, allowing qi flow through the neck.
    7. The tip of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth, connecting the main qi pathway.

This list is the guide to body balance. As we read earlier in the series, eastern philosophy diagnosis pain as an imbalance somewhere in the body. When the body can be moved and circulated through a balanced tai chi form, the imbalance that is causing the pain is naturally treated.

With continuous practice, all imbalances in the body are naturally treated and lessened by tai chi.

And that completes my blog series based on excerpts from the book Integrative Pain Management: Massage, Movement, and Mindfulness Based Approaches. Next time on the blog: all new content!

Happy Stretching!

Integrative Pain Management, Part 5: The science behind feeling better with Tai Chi

This is a continuation of my Integrative Pain Management series, based on content selected from my chapter of the book Integrative Pain Management: Massage, Movement, and Mindfulness Based Approaches. 

See also: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. 

For in-depth routines to deal with upper back pain, lower back pain, and other conditions, check out my video courses on Udemy!

Chronic pain is not something that one can simply choose to stop having. It can be debilitating, in the mind and in the body, to deal with every day. This means that people suffering with chronic pain do not have much energy to expend on getting better. They need treatment that gives results. They need to know that the therapy they are about to try is not a waste of their most precious resources: time and strength.

So when it comes to mind-body therapies like tai chi, what are the measurable benefits? What can people expect to experience when they practice tai chi regularly?

Well first of all, practitioners of tai chi can expect all the benefits that have been linked with regular physical exercise. Tai Chi is, after all, a form of physical exercise. Best of all, it is a low impact form of exercise, which minimizes your risk of injury or inflammation, while also maintaining all of the plus-sides to an exercise routine. As I like to say: No Pain, LOTS of Gain.

What are these plus-sides I mentioned? Lower risk of heart-attack and stroke, increases in muscle strength, better coordination and balance, the list goes on and on. A simple Google search will yield many thousands of research papers written about the benefits of exercise on health.

On the other hand, tai chi is also a form of meditation, a technique which modern scientific study has begun to examine for its health benefits. Chief among these benefits are a positive immune response, and a reduction in stress levels.

Last but not least, tai chi itself has been the subject of several recent studies (which I helped create!) that found it effective for the treatment of pain related to rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and fibromyalgia. Scientific studies are slow and expensive, however, and in my years of experience, I have seen tai chi effectively help people who have chronic pain from all kinds of conditions, not just those three.

But remember: a mind-body program is only half of the battle. You need that program to be designed for you as a mind-body prescription by a qualified expert. You wouldn't take pain medication made by someone who doesn't know how it works, and you shouldn't fight pain with a routine made by someone who doesn't know how integrative therapy works.

Next week, we will conclude our series on Integrative Pain Management by reviewing the Core Principles of practicing tai chi, which you can apply to your routine to get the most pain relief out of it. Until next time...

Happy Stretching!

Integrative Pain Management, Part 4: Tai Chi as Balanced Regulation

This is a continuation of my Integrative Pain Management series, based on content selected from my chapter of the book Integrative Pain Management: Massage, Movement, and Mindfulness Based Approaches. 

See also: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. 

For in-depth routines to deal with upper back pain, lower back pain, and other conditions, check out my video courses on Udemy!

Last week, we discussed how Tai Chi philosophy diagnosis pain, especially chronic pain, as an imbalance somewhere in the body. In particular, and imbalance that causes an irregular flow of our qi, or blocks our qi flow entirely. This week, we're diving into the methods by which Tai Chi treats pain inside of the category of integrative pain management.

Tai Chi's dual nature, the yin-yang balance, is often thought of as embodying both water and earth at the same time. Flowing, stable, strong, fluid, yielding, forceful, powerful, smooth. It is a lot to keep in mind while you are doing your exercises! No one masters all of these things all at once, of course. It takes years of practice to work on each facet of a well-rounded tai chi practice.

When you are able to control all these parts of your tai chi, your quality of life and function from day-to-day is highly regulated. It is consistent, balanced, and you are much more in touch with it.

The key elements of how tai chi helps treat chronic pain can be though of as the five regulations. 

  1. Regulating the Body: Relaxation is the first thing that people notice when they begin a tai chi routine. Most experience deep relaxation on their first time doing tai chi. The flow of blood and qi is affected by our stress levels: higher stress means higher blood pressure and worse qi flow. The better we are at relaxing on command, the better for our health.
     
  2. Regulating the Breathing: I have talked extensively about breathing on this blog. It is the foundation of regulating every other element on this list. A deep breathing practice that develops the lungs will not only increase oxygen intake, but also strengthen the energetic pathway between the outside universe and the inside universe. The quality of the breath is what allows us to experience healthy qi flow, and also to focus our qi within our body. Both of these abilities are necessary to treat chronic pain.
     
  3. Regulating the Mind: Like I spoke about in the previous parts of this series, the mind and the body are linked, and tension or pain the mind can cause similar affects in the body. Developing the ability to calm the mind, and have "thoughts of no thoughts" as I like to say, is key to sustaining the relaxed and steady state that tai chi seeks.
     
  4. Regulating the Qi: Once the previous three pieces of these elements begin to develop, the qi will naturally return to a balanced flow. This redoubles the pain-fighitng and healing effects of the tai chi practice. Regulating the body, breath, and mind is like being able to run a full mile without stopping. It is a great foundation. Further regulating the qi on top of that is like improving your time when running that mile. There is always room to grow with qi flow.
     
  5. Regulating the Spirit: This step is how you connect your tai chi practice, and your being, to the wider world. It is very important to establish the connection to feel balanced in your life as a whole. A sense of place and belonging, a sense that you are attached to the world, will greatly improve your overall quality of life.

Next week, we will examine the scientific research that has recently shown tai chi and other ind-body practices to be effective as improving health and wellness.

Don't forget! This Sunday, June 26th, I am teaching a 3 hour class on Balance and Stability at YMAA in Andover, MA from 11am-2pm. Please register and join us! I hope to see you guys there.

Integrative Pain Management, Part 3: Qi, Imbalance, and Pain

This is a continuation of my Integrative Pain Management series, based on content selected from my chapter of the book Integrative Pain Management: Massage, Movement, and Mindfulness Based Approaches. 

See also: Part 1, and Part 2. 

For in-depth routines to deal with upper back pain, lower back pain, and other conditions, check out my video courses on Udemy!

Tai Chi is not like other martial arts or physical activities in the western world. Tai Chi is about body, mind, breath, energy, and spirit. Rather than being focused on building explosive strength or aggressive action, tai chi cultivates calmness, stillness, and balance.

This balance is well-represented in the yin-yang symbol, and in the relationship between the body and the mind. In Chinese philosophy, the mind and body are made of, and connected by, qi. Qi can be thought of as the energy that circulates through the body. By connecting consciously with our qi, we can affect the body and the mind in positive ways. But this connection exists even when we aren't familiar with it, and mental and emotional stress can cause physical symptoms, such as chronic pain.

When pain occurs in the body, eastern philosophies typically diagnose it as an 'imbalance.' This imbalance could be tension in certain areas of the body, stiffness in certain tissues, or any number of other things. To reestablish balance, tai chi develops the opposite, and yet complementary, sides of the yin-yang relationship. Strength and flexibility. Movement and stillness. Breathing in and breathing out.

It is helpful to think of pain as the body's way of sending the mind a message. It is saying, "Hey! Something is not working properly! Pay attention to it." As you begin to do a regular tai chi routine for chronic pain, you will learn to connect your mind with more specific details of your pain than just "hurting" or "not hurting." You will be able to idetify where the pain originates, and what movements and exercises help it the most.

Next week, we'll discuss the components of a tai chi practice and how it actually increases function in the body as a whole, and fights pain as part of a holistic, integrative treatment.

Speaking of balance and imbalances, coming up on Sunday June 26th, I am teaching a 3 hour class on Balance and Stability at YMAA in Andover, MA from 11am-2pm. Please register and join us! I hope to see you guys there.

Integrative Pain Management, Part 2: Mind and Body

This is a continuation of my Integrative Pain Management series, based on content selected from my chapter of the book Integrative Pain Management: Massage, Movement, and Mindfulness Based Approaches. 

See also: Part 1.

For in-depth routines to deal with upper back pain, lower back pain, and other conditions, check out my video courses on Udemy!

Pain is not just a physical sensation, it is also a psychological phenomenon. This is particularly true of chronic pain, which can go on long after a physical injury has healed. The interplay between mind and body when it comes to pain is extremely complex, but there is one thing about it that is dead simple: the power of the mind cannot be ignored.

An amazing example of this power is a condition called Phantom Limb Pain. This effect can occur when an injured or paralyzed limb is amputated, but the amputee continues to experience pain as though the limb were still there. Obviously, when a limb is amputated, the nerves that were responsible for sensing pain in that limb are also gone. However, the brain has 'learned' over months or years of real pain, that the limb, even after it is gone, is in pain. it isn't until the unconscious mind can 'unlearn' that the limb is in pain, and instead learn that the limb is gone, that the chronic pain will go away.

This technique of experiencing the pain and then learning to release it via the mind is one of the main reasons that integrated strategies for managing pain have so much potential. Mind-body techniques like Tai Chi target pain in both the body and the mind. A dedicated mind-body pain management routine can simultaneously reduce pain caused by the tissues, as well as pain caused by a learned psychological pattern, or other mental obstacle.

Next week, we'll discuss how Eastern philosophies reconcile the split between mind and body into the flow of energy, or qi, in the body, and how that relates to our experience of pain.

Happy Stretching!

Integrative Pain Management, Part 1: The Problem of Pain

Chronic pain is a common symptom of countless conditions and injuries. Whether it's from fibromyalgia, knee osteoarthritis, cancer, or any other ailment, chronic pain can take you from 60 to 0 in no time flat. When doctors can't treat the underlying causes of chronic pain, "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning" just doesn't cut it.

Over the years, numerous solutions to the problem of chronic pain have developed, such as surgery, Cortisone shots, and Physiotherapy, to name a few. Each of these strategies has their ups and downs with regards to cost, invasiveness, permanence, chance of success, and so on. Many people find that one or more of these treatments is the solution they were looking for. Others, however, try all of them without any luck.

A recent development in the world of pain treatment is the widespread use of prescription painkillers, opioids in particular, which are a type of drug that works on the nervous system directly to inhibit pain. Common prescription opioids for pain relief include oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, and fentanyl, an accidental overdose of which is believed to have caused the death of the late great musical artist Prince. 

The consequences of prescribing addictive substances to patients, even in highly controlled dosages, are only coming to light now. The numbers, however, are already staggering. In 2012, 259 million opioid prescriptions were written in the US, which is enough to give one bottle of pills to every adult in America. In 2014, nearly 2 million Americans were addicted to prescription pain killers, and in the same year, almost 19,000 Americans died from overdosing on them. The rate of such deaths has quadrupled since 1999. (For these stats and more, check out the ASAM's opioid addiction report, as well as the CDC's section on opioid overdose.)

And perhaps the worst part of this national situation is that these people still have chronic pain. The painkillers only work for as long as they are taken, and eventually the body will develop a tolerance for the medications that will make them less effective. The solution that I and many others have collaborated on is Integrative Pain Management. This mind-body approach not only avoids the dangers of prescription medication or surgery, but also seeks to incorporate the entire being (body, breath, mind, energy, and spirit) into the healing process, and fix the underlying causes of the chronic pain so that, through practice and discipline, it can be cured and not just numbed.

Over the next several weeks I will be posting integrative pain management content selected from my chapter in the book Integrative Pain Management: Massage, Movement, and Mindfulness Based Approaches. Share the blogs with your friends, post them on Facebook, and retweet me on Twitter so that we can get this pain-fighting knowledge to the people who need it.

Happy Stretching!