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Recommended Exercise Videos and Books
My first experience with an exercise video that really helped me was when a friend called to tell me that she had bought me a copy of Tai Chi for Seniors. For seniors? I wasn't a senior!! But I quickly learned that the simple QiGong (pronounced chi kung) healing exercises featured on this video are very powerful. That was about nine years ago. Then a couple of years later I found the Yoga for MS video. It made a profound difference for me and I combined the two disciplines, QiGong and adapted yoga. Then I discovered Gentle Fitness a year or so later, and added some of its variety to my exercise program. Later I discovered Dr. Roger Jahnke's book, The Healer Within. It offers some incredibly powerful, effective and very simple self-healing techniques from ancient Chinese medicine. ~o~
Formerly known as Pathways: Exercise for People With Limited Mobility, this video is very powerful, and very effective for relieving the spasticity that effects people with MS. It is highly recommended for relieving the low back pain which plagues many of us. It is also effective in helping strengthen the hamstring muscles which are so important for those of us with leg weakness. This video is based totally on Hatha yoga, which has been adapted and modified for limited mobility, and is mostly a floor or seated routine. Instructions are given for an assistant when one is needed. I cannot recommend this routine too highly. To order: ~o~ Gentle Fitness (DVD) by Catherine MacRae:
In Gentle Fitness she seamlessly blends the wisdom of Yoga, Tai Chi & Feldenkrais with today's state-of-the-art Exercise Sciences. She leads viewers through stretches, exercises, self-massage and breathing techniques that are easy, natural and therapeutic. Gentle fitness, 80% sitting, is great for strength, flexibility and balance. It will help your spirits rise and it just plain feels good! I use Gentle Fitness to alternate occasionally with the Pathways video, and insert parts of it into the Pathways routine each day. Both these videos stress the importance of proper deep breathing. I am convinced that deep breathing, practiced several times each day, is a key to staving off progression of MS. Many cultures in the world teach that the life force is in the breath, and I believe that to be the case. To order:
Tai
Chi for Seniors (DVD)
—Self Healing
Through Movement (Qi
Gong Report)
This video is divided into four segments. First, warm-up (simple loosening of the joints and gentle stretching) exercises, second are specific and very simple QiGong healing movements. Third the video features acupressure and self-massage, with specific simple techniques for strengthening the immune system, for arthritis, headaches and high blood pressure, for stimulating the entire neurological system, increasing memory etc. The fourth section of the video is a 4-minute simple QiGong Tai Chi "form," which uses only 10 easy movements. A friend purchased for me my first copy of this program, about 10 years ago, and by learning to work with Mark's simple, easy-to-learn QiGong movements I first made the connection between simple deep breathing and stretching exercises and halting the progression of MS. Even though initially designed for those 60 years and older, this program is ideal for anyone, especially those with limited mobility. To order: ~o~
The
Healer Within (book)
While nothing in this book is a magic bullet that will miraculously make your MS go away, I can unequivocally guarantee that if you will do these very easy-to-follow techniques, you will improve the quality of your life while aiding your body’s efforts at self-healing. This book uses the traditional natural Chinese medicine techniques of:
All the techniques taught in The Healer Within are drawn from the ancient Chinese healing system of Qi Gong (Chi Kung). Each technique is accompanied by how-to sketches, and all may be done either sitting, standing or lying down, so there is no one who cannot do them, whatever your level of disability. And each simple exercise is accompanied by easy-to-follow sketches. The best part is the very first few minutes you will experience a rush of energy and you will know without doubt that they are having a beneficial effect on your body. If you are a person who says, "I am just too lazy...I know that I won’t stay with an exercise program," which I hear a lot, please, please trust me. This is not just an exercise program. It is sooooooo easy and simple. And the results are immediate! If there is such a thing as a lazy way to health, this is it! Seriously, I can’t think of a single excuse for not doing this simple, easy program. Right now, as you read this, with open palms, vigorously massage your entire head and ears for a couple of minutes. Come on...please don’t read on until you do this little exercise. For at least a full minute vigorously massage your entire head and especially your ears. Feel the rush of energy throughout your body. This is just a tiny preview of how the self-massage makes your entire body feel alive and energized. Trust me and order The Healer Within today through this link to Amazon.com. I promise you will not be disappointed. ~o~ Four Steps
to Overcoming
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