A Depressive and Qigong (Chi-Kung)

• Prevalence of Meditation by James Spira, 3/30/98
  • (No title) by Gary Van Arman,LCSW, 3/29/98
    
    

Fed up with the psychic-blunting effects of SSRIs, I switched to St. John's Wort. When that was only partially successful, I returned to my pre-depression practice of daily meditation (inpsired by what I read at this site). The two worked fairly well together.

But when I began practicing qigong--not just the external forms but those including synchronized breathing and directing of qi--things got MUCH better. Specifically, I practice "The Eight Treasures" (similar but not identical to the better-known "Eight Pieces of Brocade"), as taught to me by Dr. Dean Deng, an internist and doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, who practices out of Chicago.

A word of caution: Legend has it that over zealous practitioners have been known to do themselves physical or psychological harm by practicing way beyond what the books or teachers recommend. It's probably a good idea to at least start out with a little live instruction from a teacher with a good reputation.

Bob Gordon

• P.S. : Moving the energy may release the issues by Bob Gordon, 3/27/99