What Chinese medicine can teach Vt.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060717/OPINION/607170317

July 17, 2006Anne T. O'Brien The cost of health care and access to it is a huge concern for many Americans. As both a consumer and practitioner of medicine in Vermont, it is clear to me that people are both benefiting from and suffering under the current system. Health care is costly and while Vermont's health care professionals are working hard to heal, help and cure diseases, it has become apparent that western medicine on its own is not always successful at making us responsible for our own health -- or empowering us with the resources to do so. In researching the healing practices of other regions, I have found many interesting practices used around the world where cultures without access to all of modern medicine's treatment options achieve and maintain healthy lifestyles through other means. One such method is a cornerstone of traditional Chinese medicine called qigong. This ancient discipline has been used in China for millennia and today, over 60 million Chinese practice these techniques to maintain and promote health. Qi (pronounced "chee") is breath or energy, and gong (pronounced "gung") is the skillful working of the qi. In harmony and under the right tutelage (Qigong Masters), these two forces can help emit healing energy from the body. The benefits of qigong have been shown to reduce healing time after surgery by half, normalize the blood pressure, heal tuberculosis and liver disease, relieve myopia, improve mental performance, reduce the frequency of strokes and deaths related to high blood pressure, and improve blood sugar levels in diabetics. Qigong also has been effective in the treatment of substance abuse, obesity, respiratory conditions, asthma, the effects of aging and allergies. In largely rural areas like Vermont, this practice might seem as inaccessible as China itself but this summer, the University of Vermont is bringing the healing powers of the east to the Green Mountains. Under the instruction of Dr. Effie Poy Yew Chow, a world renowned energy medicine practitioner who has been practicing medical qigong for over 40 years will be a guest faculty at UVM teaching a course in Healing Qigong this month. She will be conducting an intensive QiGong weekend class beginning the evening of July 21 and concluding on Sunday July 23 as part of UVM's Healing Therapies 2006 program. Chow is an award-winning healer and teacher. She is the president of the East West Academy of the Healing Arts and a former Chair of the World Congress on Qigong. She was appointed to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy by President Clinton. If nothing else, our current health care system serves to motivate everyone to become accountable for his or her own well-being. If you are a health care practitioner or person with an illness, or are simply interested in improving your own qi, please take advantage of this course and the expertise of its very special and highly talented teacher. This introduction to qigong will be informative, culturally interesting and may open a door to a low-cost, yet powerful, tool for optimizing the health care of all Vermonters. Given the history and current use of qigong by tens of millions of people worldwide, this practice is certainly sustainable and worth a second look as we examine our options for achieving physical and mental balance, maintaining good health and, most importantly, reversing the downward spiral of chronically ill Vermonters.The writer is senior curriculum developer and chairwoman of the health care team at the University of Vermont's Department of Continuing Education. For more information, visit learn.uvm.edu/healingtherapies.