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.

 

Spring Training! Time to condition and balance...

Spring training is right around the corner, and professional baseball players across the country are preparing to...well... prepare! Athletes know that preseason conditioning is incredibly important to performance throughout the season. But building up strength is only half of the battle! Muscle imbalances are a precursor to injury, and for professional athletes, that can mean serious career repercussions.

Luckily, most of us don't have careers that will end because of a broken arm, but that doesn't mean that the weekend warriors and pick-up game enthusiasts out there should ignore muscle imbalances. Whether you play sports for fun, to relieve stress, to stay healthy, or all those things and more, injuries are something that we all want to avoid.

This week, we're talking about leg strength. If your typical workout or sport of choice tends to work only your inner or outer thigh muscles, and ignore the other, you probably have some leg strength imbalances. To help fix this type of imbalance, I developed an exercise based on the ancient Tai Chi move called "Pick Up Needle from Sea Bottom." Incorporate this into your training program or daily workout, and let me know how it works for you!

Next week: Another video lesson, but this time, for the upper body!

A Straight Spine Promotes Good Health

Ramel  Rones

Ramel  Rones

Qi Gong and Tai Chi have been developed across history to promote human well-being and enlightenment. The information on this blog, on my website, and in my courses, will guide you on your way to achieving better health, higher quality of life, and a reduction and prevention of pain and disease. I have been taught by internationally accomplished masters over the past 30 years, and I am committed to sharing the wisdom they have given to me with as many people as possible. I want to be your virtual Qi Gong / Tai Chi Master. I blog to promote both the learning of the ancient knowledge and its practice. I encourage you to read on, try some of what I recommend and see how you feel. If you feel better - do some more!

Let's think about a basic mind/body challenge: maintaining a straight spine all day long.

Straight spine

Straight spine

Unhealthy Slouching

Unhealthy Slouching

A straight spine promotes energy and blood flow to your internal organs and reduces internal stress. 

Slouching and collapsing the back constricts movement and creates stagnation around the internal organs, spine, vertebrae, and disks. 

Bulging disks, sciatica, lower back stiffness, and chronic pain could all be by-products of the negative effects that stem from years of improper posture.

A straight spine stimulates open and free lungs and deep breathing, encouraging more oxygen to flow throughout the blood system. Every cell in our body functions better with more oxygen. A straight spine also opens the back, and can promote greater freedom of motion.

Most of our furniture, both at home and at work, does not promote proper, straight sitting or healthy posture -- but it is not the furniture's job to straighten our spine! We can begin to sit and stand straight with a little extra awareness and effort. Straightening the spine throughout the day is pretty easy (just like deep breathing!) if we remember and practice a few key ideas.

First, understand I am not recommending what most people think of as good posture - the soldier standing at attention. Too stiff! Think about being more like an excellent dancer, or kung fu master: lithe and flowing, always in balance and upright. By developing more mind/body awareness through Qi Gong  and Tai Chi practice, you will be able to maintain a straight spine, and your whole body will thank you!

                       Three Spine Positions

                       Three Spine Positions

Healthy, Straight Spine

Healthy, Straight Spine

Read on, put your mind in your spine and remember to breathe deep!


Please visit my website at www.ramelrones.com for more information about me and my work to promote a healthy mind/body connection through Tai Chi / Qigong. Or you can explore Tai Chi/Qigong in more depth with my online video courses at Udemy.com.

Breathe Deep! A Simple Way to Promote Well-Being

Most of us are shallow breathers.

 

 Think about it, we only breathe deeply when we sigh or are out of breath. Modern life does not encourage conscious or deep breathing. Cars, elevators, escalators, trains and planes – most modern conveniences – prevent challenges to our lungs. Simply walking is not strenuous enough to get the breath going either. I joke that if you are not chasing your food every day or don’t do a cardio workout 4 to 6 times a week you are probably a shallow breather.

Pay attention, watch people around you. Do you see their chest expand and contract, do their ribs move? Probably not, except at the gym. Shallow breathing is everywhere – and our health is suffering for it.

For today and every day, why not breathe deep? This simple practice promotes energy and a sense of well-being by bringing oxygen and nutrients via the blood to every cell in your body. Deeper breathing means more oxygen, greater stimulation of your cells, and better health!

Inhale deeply, expanding the muscles and ribs outwards towards the arms (Wing Breath).

Inhale deeply, expanding the muscles and ribs outwards towards the arms (Wing Breath).

Deep breathing is a conscious decision. The key idea is to remember to breathe deep, especially after you forget. Every day, add a few deep breaths and you will move more oxygen through your body, nourish your organs and brain, and stimulate better health. Remain conscious of your breathing and, over time, you will breathe deeper and deeper more often throughout the day.

Say it!

I do not want to be a shallow breather!

I want to be a deep breather!

I want to breathe deep throughout the day!

Keep saying and thinking these three sentences, taking your first step.

Now the second step. 

Remember to remember! 

Even if you made the smart and healthy decision to be a deep breather you will find that you will forget again and again.

My reminder trick is to associate deep breathing with things I do every day. For example, when I brush my teeth I start my deep breathing. When I open or close a door I take a deep breath. Before I start the car, I breathe deep, at every red light, I breathe, while I wait for a bus, I breathe. While I listen to someone go on and on, I take deep breaths.

 When I use these reminders throughout the day it builds healthy habits and allows me to do more and feel better – and so can you!


Happy stretching, deep breathing, empty your mind, strengthen your energetic system and evoke your spirit!


Standing room only crowd at annual 2013 ThyCa Conference

Rami led two capacity filled sessions at the 2013 Thyca Conference in Philadelphia.

In September, 2013, Ramel (Rami) Rones, led two capacity filled sessions at the ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association  Annual Conference, in Philadelphia.

In addition to Tai Chi and Qi Gong, Rami integrates meditation and deep breathing with gentle movements to help patients improve their body, mind, energy and spirit.  He teaches at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Tufts University Medical School, Boston Medical Center and has consulted with Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital and other health care related organizations. He designed the Tai Chi training for a trial that looked at the benefits of using Tai Chi for Fibromyalgia which was published in the New England Journal of medicine.

Several students doing "Iron on the wall", one of Rami's favorites.   

Several students doing "Iron on the wall", one of Rami's favorites.  

 

Lori Cuffari, who attending one of Rami’s sessions remarked, “I loved the session and didn’t want it to end.  As a patient with advanced thyroid cancer, I’m always looking for a way to control the madness.  The drugs beat us up…badly.  But practitioners like Rami can make a bad situation palatable and bearable.”

After the session, Rami summed up his excitement about teaching at the conference by saying, "Teaching two sessions at the ThyaCa conference reminded me how nice, curious and genuine cancer survivors and their families are when it comes to empowering themselves with mind-body approaches to complement their goal to improve their quality of life.  Rick Abrams, friend and ThyCa member and I gave all attendees a coupon to take my online course for free, and I'm very happy that so many people are taking us up on this. I wish everyone great success"

An informal survey of participants overwhelmingly expressed their hope that Rami will come back next year when ThyCa 2014 will be in Denver.

For more information about Rami, visit:  www.ramelrones.com

Just announced, workshop Sun 11/10 with Rami in Boston

Have you ever attended a class taught by Rami?  If you haven't, this is a great chance to be taught and coached by Rami. If you have attended a class by Rami in the past, you know you'll always learn more with him.  This workshop is for everyone- beginners and people who have practiced for many years.

On Sunday, November 11 from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM, Master Teacher Ramel (Rami) will be leading a Sunrise Tai Chi class.

Click here to  learn more and sign up for the workshop.  Money back guarantee.

 Sunrise Tai Chi is a series of powerful mind/body exercises that awaken the senses, stimulate the mind, and fill your body and Spirit with abundant energy. Master-teacher Ramel (Rami) Rones will teach a simplified tai chi form to: 

* Revitalize your health and well being through deep relaxation, breath, meditation, stretching and strengthening techniques.
* Apply core principles of Tai Chi, Qigong, and Yoga together with Mind/Body Science to tap into the abundant universal energy.
* Prevent injuries and boost your immune system.
* Strengthen your muscles, tendons and joints.
* Free the skeleton from being a prisoner of the soft tissue.

Ramel is a champion martial artist on the leading edge of Qi Gong therapies for patients with cancer, fibromyalgia and arthritis. He is the author of the best-selling Sunrise and Sunset Tai Chi books and DVDs, a new online course, a disciple of Master Dr. Yang-Jwing Ming, and the first Tai Chi Master to co-author a study in The New England Journal of Medicine and featured in the New York Times.

After years of winning gold medals in China and in the United States, Ramel focuses his efforts on helping people with conditions such as cancer, fibromyalgia, arthritis, aging, injuries, and stress. He is a Scientific Consultant of Mind/Body Therapies at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Children's Hospital Boston and Tufts Medical Center, as well as co-author of numerous scientific publications. He lectures and instructs the techniques of the eastern Internal Arts in hospitals, institutions, and schools around the world. In addition to contributing articles to medical publications, Ramel has been featured on international television (CNN, National Geographic), in newspapers (New York Times, Boston Globe), magazines (Inside Kung Fu), books, and videos.

 Click here to learn more and sign up for the workshop.  Money back guarantee.