To relieve, deal with and eliminate fatigue I have created a Mind-Body routine based the eastern health and martial arts philosophies, Chi Kung, Tai Chi, and Meditation. My experience working with different ages, abilities and backgrounds in groups and for individuals has given me insight into the different ways fatigue effects people and some easy techniques that help. Fatigue on one hand could be because of weakness which according to Chi Kung and Chinese medicine is being too Yin. For example, weak muscles or what is called Sarcopenia or “vanishing flesh,” weak bones or osteoporosis, a coll ..read more

Hello again Mind Body Practitioners! Today I want to talk about the importance of sleep. We all know and have experienced how getting less than 7 hours of sleep at night can affect you the next day. We all know that a good night’s sleep is essential, but, for many it is easier said than done. The importance of getting more than 7 hours of good sleep, including deep sleep, is essential to our physical and mental health. A good night’s sleep regulates and produces the positive hormones that we need to keep our heart and blood vessels healthy. On the other hand, sleeping less than 7 hours per nig ..read more

Welcome friends. Today I would like to share Part 1 of a 3 part radio interview I did with Rashid Westcott of OXFIT RADIO. Radio Interview Part one In the rest of this blog, I summarize the first part of the interview and I added some pictures and many interesting links; enjoy. One of the stretches, or body marker, I talk about in the interview, for example, is for your quads which I like to call the Heron stretch. You can see where you are on my scale of flexibility and how to practice it 3 different ways depending on your flexibility. I also added pictures for another, more advanced stretch ..read more

For some, working from home is the new normal. Wearing a mask is normal. I even started to like it in the cold air of Boston. We have a vaccine but we have not made it to the end of this pandemic yet so we need to stay strong but also patient, flexible and calm: easier said then done. A very common discomfort a lot of us struggle with due to inactivity, working from home and sitting in front of our screens day and night is lower and upper back pain. Another common issue is neck, shoulder pain and headaches. For some, sleep is an issue. Integrating a mind-body routine into your daily life will ..read more

The holidays are here but so are the shortest days of the year. It is dark and cold and on top of that, because of Covid –19, we are isolated: no friends, no family, for some, no work, no income and not spending as much time outside.  Some people enjoy and love it and some don’t. Whether you enjoy it or not, practicing the candle meditation is a great way to improve your mood from the deep breathing and emptying your mind and to improve your posture and create alignment by emphasizing the major up and down forces in the trunk. Meditating can also stimulate your energetic system, evok ..read more

Seeking Participants for virtual Tai Chi for IBS Study Are you interested in joining this pilot study? Over the last 2 months I implemented an 8 week Tai Chi intervention that I designed for Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Constipation (IBS-C) in collaboration with Kyle Staller, MD, MPH director of the Gastrointestinal Motility Laboratory and Brad Kuo, MD of the Digestive Healthcare Center. We just finished the first group and we are about to start a second group. If you are interested, or know somone who might benefit from a Tai Chi Intervention for IBS-C we are looking for qualified participant ..read more

Hello again Mind-Body Practicioners. I want to share with you this short Tai Chi form I designed as part of a Chi Kung/Tai Chi intervention for a pilot protocol at MGH to help deal with IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, its side effects and symptoms. Front view Side view This Chi Kung/Tai Chi intervention is divided to 4 categories: Self-massage and dissolving Visualizations Freeing the skeleton and building strength A short Tai Chi Form Cleansing and Nourishing Meditations, sitting and standing This mind body intervention emphasizes many important principles and techniques from both Ch ..read more

The final piece of the article I wrote for The Journal of the Tai Chi Union for Great Britain. Enjoy! Hello mind-body practicioners of health and martial arts! Have you been practicing? During our physical isolation it is important to keep exercising physically, mentally and spiritually. The Tai Chi move push provides all three benefits of a mind body workout in one practice. Let’s continue our exploration! The second installment of the article I wrote for The Journal went over push on a physical level, sitting and standing. Now that you are familiar and comfortable with the external movement ..read more

During this time when we are all isolating ourselves physically and at the same time dealing with both mental and physical stress, in the interest of not falling apart both physically and mentally and to strengthen our immune system I thought that practicing some mind body exercises would be a great opportunity for both fun and health. When you sit around for hours and days your soft tissues (muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and skin) start to shrink on top of your skeleton (your bones). I like to describe this as our skeleton being a prisoner of our soft tissues which starts a negative ch ..read more

Another installment from an article I wrote for The Journal of the Tai Chi Union for Great Britain. Enjoy! Click here if you missed Part 1 External & Internal Tai Chi Movements for Cancer Patients, continued When one is diagnosed with Cancer or when going through treatment, either chemo, radiation or surgery, the level of stress and anxiety is very high which can have detrimental effects on your mood and quality of life. Over the years I have witnessed people diagnosed with Cancer literally holding their breath and looking as white as a ghost because of fear and anxiety, sometimes even af ..read more