Healer, Heal Thyself(Part One)

Master Zi once said that the healing process begins when a sick man first sees the face of a true doctor, because in that moment, the sick man knows what healthiness looks like.

What many people don’t realize, when they look at many of the Senior students, and see the flexibility, healthy, and skill they demonstrate, is that many of us first arrived to Tai Chi with serious health problems and impediments.

When I first started Tai Chi, my posture was so warped from years of slouching that I literally could not stand upright, with my back straight, for more than a few seconds without experiencing pain.  I’d spent so much of my life staring at my feet, and reading books, my back was frozen.  Today, of course, you’d never know that.  My story is hardly original, and probably the least serious of the cases I’ve seen come into class.

Some of you know Kimmie, one of our senior students, who now lives in Atlanta, but visits periodically.  She remembers how she found Tai Chi…

“…in 1998 after several intense months of writing my masters thesis, my arm muscles suddenly became sore and swelled up--to a baseball sized inflamation on my forearms.  I lost strength, movemement, and flexibility to my shoulders, neck, upper back, arms, wrists, and fingers.  The pain was severe. I could not tie my shoes, hold a pen, drive a car, or type a single word on a keyboard.

Doctors diagnosed me with carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive motion overuse syndrome.  After a few months of unsuccessful "treatment" (pain medication) I went to the gym trying to find some sort of work out I could actually do in my currentstate, and ambled into Master Zi's tai chi class.

I couldn't figure out what had happened to my body during class, but my arms felt better, and my carpal tunnel went away.  I started going regularly, and studied with Master Zi for 7 years…”

I still remember when Kimmie came into class with braces on her wrists, and today, I watch her Tai Chi, and I’m just amazed.  But here’s another story.  We all know Pauline who is another of our most senior students, and here’s her story:

“I had a frozen left shoulder, and was not able to use my left arm.  I could barely raise it, and was in excruciating pain.  If someone touched it, I wanted to scream. I had difficulty sleeping, and my left arm literally was atrophying, it was like a piece of meat – it just hung there.

I’d never had anything like that before.  I had good medical insurance at the time, and went to every western doctor I could find.  They ran all these tests, and tried all these things.  Finally, I was in the office of this Neurologist, who was supposed to be the best expert around.  He gave me a collar.  I was literally supposed to dangle from a door to stretch out my neck.   I just felt like I was being hung.  Finally he said “Lady, you’re up there in age, it’s just what happens.” He offered me pain killers, and that was it.

Every time I stepped into that office, everyone was in walkers, and looked sadly sick.  I looked at them, and didn’t want that.  So, out of desperation, I went to Zi.  He was my last option.

After four visits of being worked on with acupressure, I was fine.

Don’t get me wrong.  When he worked on me, it was painful.  I hollered and yelled, just like everyone else.  But he was talking to me, and telling me what he was doing, and why, and was explaining about the meridians, etc.  When he worked on my shoulder blades, Ruth was there, and he had her come over, and said, “Look at this, when I do this you’re going to see a flow of blood, and the skin color will change.”  And she saw it, and said “wow.”  She could see it happening.

From day one, I got better.  My treatments were like 2 weeks apart.  He gave me exercises with each one, so I could do things to help keep my shoulder open.  I didn’t take any medicine, herbs, or aspirin.

I just gradually got use of my arm again.  And within four sessions, I was completely healed.”

When we talked on the phone about this, there was this pause here, and when she spoke again, you could hear this light, this joy in her voice as she said, with a deep satisfaction:

“So my left arm is as good as my right.”

This is Pauline.  This is the woman who Zi often calls the Master of the Sword  in our class.  If you didn’t hear this story, you would never know it had ever happened.  So when you hear a senior student talking about the benefits of Tai Chi, many of us are speaking from a very personal experience.

When you walk through the door, and you see any of the senior students doing their work, understand that there’s a history there.  We’ve all had the same problems, the same aches, and pains that many of you have.  Someone in our group can relate.  Some of us have even battled through cancer.

The work we do is special.  It’s powerful.  If you appreciate it, and do it, it’s a practice that can keep you healthy for a lifetime.

For some specific tips on how to find health in your practice, read the second part of this column in next month’s newsletter.