Post by nancylebovitz on May 17, 2007 11:19:59 GMT -5
I'm not absolutely opposed to efforts to lose weight, but I was only going to try something that didn't cut into my quality of life as idiosyncratically defined. At present, I'm not willing to modify what I eat, I hate getting out of breath, and I don't quite trust herbs and drugs. You might think there was nothing left.
However, there's still qigong. In particular there's Swimming Dragon. Here's the book: www.amazon.com/Swimming-Dragon-Chinese-Fitness-Beautiful/dp/0882680633 . Here's a video of what seems to be a slightly different version: www.taiji-qigong.com/dragon.asp.
Swimming Dragon is supposed to reset your metabolism to a younger age. I thought this might be something other than snake oil (dragon grease?) because the Eight Brocades from The Way of Energy[1] had done somewhat to straighten out my periods.
I've been doing twenty reps/day as recommended for about three weeks. This is pretty much the first exercise I've ever looked forward to doing, as distinct from doing t'ai chi or whatever because I know it'll be somewhat pleasant and I'll feel better afterwards.
One thing that made the exercise look promising is that you're supposed to think of new life and smile at the beginning of each rep. Most people don't think of new life even once a day, and it seems like a healthy thing to do. Another promising feature is that you're supposed to stand until your heart beat slows down to normal after each rep--attention to your heartbeat is an interesting though less challenging version of Steve's paying attention to it while fighting.
The big deal is that I'm more energetic. It feels much more natural to put out an effort. It's an easy default to do Swimming Dragon, Shoshanna Katzman's qigong set [2], three t'ai chi forms (and I might start doing four), and the Five Tibetans (currently at four reps) every day. And biking seems more convenient than it used to. This is astonishing.
My feet are a lot more sensitive and relaxed. In particular, some longterm tension across my insteps is fading out and I notice my soles and toes more when I do t'ai chi. I've also gotten some faint hints of my bubbling well points (chi centers behind the balls of the feet, analogous to the palms). They seem to be a big deal in t'ai chi, and I tend to have a total blind spot there. Also, the directions say "shift your weight to the balls of your feet" rather than the more usual "go up on your toes". This is a better way of thinking about it which hadn't occurred to me.
My right knee which used to be somewhat problematic going down stairs, is now down to the occasional very minor pain, and I'm going downstairs faster, too.
I'm spending more time in a state I'd call vaguely hungry. I can tell I'd like some food, but it isn't urgent.
I think my heat tolerance has increased, but I'll be more sure one way or the other in a month or two.
I'm able to go considerably lower--squatting while having both feet next to each other wasn't part of my standard repetoire.
I'm experimenting with doing it on one foot (alternate sides) as well as doing the standard version on both feet. I have an intuition that it will be good for my back and balance, and I believe it's safe so long as I do as many reps on one foot as the other and continue to do the two footed form. It will presumably also increase my foot and ankle strength. Going up on one toe (ok, transferring my weight to the ball of one foot) is a challenge, but it's getting easier.
I think it took me about a month of poking at it to learn the movement. My feet hurt quite a lot at the beginning, but that didn't seem to be a huge quality of life cost compared to the benefits, and it's just a little now. It takes about twenty minutes to do twenty reps.
I've been doing Swimming Dragon for about three weeks now. I haven't lost any weight (and from the way my clothes fit, I don't think my body composition has changed), but I think the benefits are well worth the time. The book says to give it a year.
If any of you try Swimming Dragon or are doing it already, I hope you'll post about it.
[1] "]www.amazon.com/Way-Energy-Gaia-Original/dp/0671736450]
[2]www.qigong4everyone.com/about.html Qigong for Staying Young. It's a twenty minute set with about 50 different moves in it. I'm about halfway through memorizing it. Regardless of the url, the some of the exercises are specifically for women.
Is there any way to turn the book titles into live urls?
However, there's still qigong. In particular there's Swimming Dragon. Here's the book: www.amazon.com/Swimming-Dragon-Chinese-Fitness-Beautiful/dp/0882680633 . Here's a video of what seems to be a slightly different version: www.taiji-qigong.com/dragon.asp.
Swimming Dragon is supposed to reset your metabolism to a younger age. I thought this might be something other than snake oil (dragon grease?) because the Eight Brocades from The Way of Energy[1] had done somewhat to straighten out my periods.
I've been doing twenty reps/day as recommended for about three weeks. This is pretty much the first exercise I've ever looked forward to doing, as distinct from doing t'ai chi or whatever because I know it'll be somewhat pleasant and I'll feel better afterwards.
One thing that made the exercise look promising is that you're supposed to think of new life and smile at the beginning of each rep. Most people don't think of new life even once a day, and it seems like a healthy thing to do. Another promising feature is that you're supposed to stand until your heart beat slows down to normal after each rep--attention to your heartbeat is an interesting though less challenging version of Steve's paying attention to it while fighting.
The big deal is that I'm more energetic. It feels much more natural to put out an effort. It's an easy default to do Swimming Dragon, Shoshanna Katzman's qigong set [2], three t'ai chi forms (and I might start doing four), and the Five Tibetans (currently at four reps) every day. And biking seems more convenient than it used to. This is astonishing.
My feet are a lot more sensitive and relaxed. In particular, some longterm tension across my insteps is fading out and I notice my soles and toes more when I do t'ai chi. I've also gotten some faint hints of my bubbling well points (chi centers behind the balls of the feet, analogous to the palms). They seem to be a big deal in t'ai chi, and I tend to have a total blind spot there. Also, the directions say "shift your weight to the balls of your feet" rather than the more usual "go up on your toes". This is a better way of thinking about it which hadn't occurred to me.
My right knee which used to be somewhat problematic going down stairs, is now down to the occasional very minor pain, and I'm going downstairs faster, too.
I'm spending more time in a state I'd call vaguely hungry. I can tell I'd like some food, but it isn't urgent.
I think my heat tolerance has increased, but I'll be more sure one way or the other in a month or two.
I'm able to go considerably lower--squatting while having both feet next to each other wasn't part of my standard repetoire.
I'm experimenting with doing it on one foot (alternate sides) as well as doing the standard version on both feet. I have an intuition that it will be good for my back and balance, and I believe it's safe so long as I do as many reps on one foot as the other and continue to do the two footed form. It will presumably also increase my foot and ankle strength. Going up on one toe (ok, transferring my weight to the ball of one foot) is a challenge, but it's getting easier.
I think it took me about a month of poking at it to learn the movement. My feet hurt quite a lot at the beginning, but that didn't seem to be a huge quality of life cost compared to the benefits, and it's just a little now. It takes about twenty minutes to do twenty reps.
I've been doing Swimming Dragon for about three weeks now. I haven't lost any weight (and from the way my clothes fit, I don't think my body composition has changed), but I think the benefits are well worth the time. The book says to give it a year.
If any of you try Swimming Dragon or are doing it already, I hope you'll post about it.
[1] "]www.amazon.com/Way-Energy-Gaia-Original/dp/0671736450]
[2]www.qigong4everyone.com/about.html Qigong for Staying Young. It's a twenty minute set with about 50 different moves in it. I'm about halfway through memorizing it. Regardless of the url, the some of the exercises are specifically for women.
Is there any way to turn the book titles into live urls?
