It’s pretty rare for me to get a cold. If I do I’m usually sick for a day or two and that’s it. Well, you guessed it. This one of those times… and a Summer Cold no less!
This cold hasn’t really knocked me out but it has hung on for about 4 days and has somewhat drained my energy. If I’m feeling tired and I do some tai chi I find myself more energized and last night really clinched it for me, again. I was teaching class and was feeling particularly tired just before hand. By the end of class I was full of energy despite being at the tail end of this cold.
Last fall I wrote a post, Cold And Flu Season, The Natural Flu Shot, where I talked about the positive impact of tai chi on the immune system (click on the title here if you’d like to read it). This morning I woke up feeling a bit better yet still a little drained, so I did a few minutes grasp birds tail stationary drills and immediately felt better. Now I know this because I’ve experienced it many times over the years. The thing is it still amazes me. It’s one of the benefits that really got me hooked on tai chi.
When I started taking tai chi I was also studying an external art and had no intention of going very deeply into it. As time passed however, I met Master Cui, took some of his classes, and the enthusiasm of my teacher, Laoshi Holland, infected me as well. Now I can’t imagine life without tai chi.
If you’re looking for a boost, either physical or mental, try tai chi. If you’re wondering about sticking with it, try it when you’re down and then try it when you’re up. If you’re really paying attention I’ll bet you’ll decide to stick with it.
Your thoughts?
John
P.S. I found this Summer Cold pic here: http://justbecause-res.blogspot.com/2008/12/sniffle-sneeze-achoo.html
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walt (60 comments)
955 days ago
I visit an acupuncturist (not a quack: trained at UCLA) several times a year, just on a preventative basis. He claims that people who do tai chi and/or qigong develop “chi shields,” which prevent colds and flu from entering the body — or, he says, if they do enter, they will be mild, and not affect “the soft organs.”
Is that Medicine? Science? Or just supposition? The recent NIH report on alternative therapies would answer “No, no, and yes.”
Still, there’s a ton of anecdotal evidence, like your experiences and my own, that would indicate that some sort of “protection” develops from regular practice.
John Crewdson (479 comments)
955 days ago
Interesting Walt. I hadn’t heard it put quite that way before. Thanks for commenting.
John
Experimental Digital Art (2 comments)
950 days ago
I have summer cold and i feel terrible. Why do people get colds in the summer? Any tips on how to reduce the lenght of time of a cold as i have a party tomorrow evening….
Experimental Digital Art’s last blog post..Images That Speak of Your Golden Moments
John Crewdson (479 comments)
949 days ago
Experimental,
My method is to use visualization where my immune system goes in as an army and routes out the infected cells. I also take very hot baths, in effect giving myself a fever (don’t over do this one). I’m rarely effected by a cold for more than 1 to 2 days, sometimes only 1/2 a day.
Good luck,
John
How to Prevent Flu (1 comments)
939 days ago
Visualization really does help. That and really positive thoughts. When I used to meditate more often, I never ever got sick when using those methods.
John Crewdson (479 comments)
939 days ago
Yep, all these things help and are the next best thing to prevention.
John