Joan’s Boomer Blog

Today’s guest post is by Lauren Bailey and the topic is sex, baby boomers and healthy aging.

Anti-aging facial creams and a nutritious diet may help keep the wrinkles away and help keep your body in shape, but according to health experts, the real secret behind the fountain of youth may be found in the boudoir.

According to recent study conducted by HealthyWomen, a national independent organization that is dedicated to women empowerment and education, having sex at least four times a week can make couples appear 10 years younger than their actual age. Of course, the problem remains at the fact that most women have sex out of obligatory duty not pleasure, and thus don’t want have sex as often. But intercourse four times a week has many health advantages that can keep you looking younger and living longer.

Why is this exactly? Health experts say that sex causes you to release adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine-three chemicals that work to fight against aging factors such as depression and stress. They also activate the production of a special growth hormone that is specifically designed to block the absorption of free radicals in the air such as pollution and smoke that can cause deep wrinkles.

Lastly the three chemicals released during sex have also been linked to help ward of cardiovascular diseases, fight high blood pressure and improve renal function-all factors that can contribute to a longer, healthier life. But if you are not married and choose to use “casual sex” as an age-stopper, don’t forget about the importance of protection.

According to another study, there is an alarming number of baby boomers who do not engage in safe sex practices-especially among Caucasians. The study, which was commissioned by Indiana University, surveyed the sexual habits of 5, 865 people ranging between the ages of 14 to 94 and concluded that a majority of those over the age of 50 had unprotected casual sex-91% of men did not use condoms when having intercourse with a casual acquaintance, and 70% didn’t use condoms when having sex with someone they’d just met. While women on the other hand were a bit more careful, a good chunk still did not use protection.

Experts say that this behavior can partly be contributed to the fact that most baby boomers dive-into the dating market after years of having unprotected sex with a spouse and thus think that having unprotected sex with others is safe. But remember: no matter how old you are, sexually transmitted diseases are still a serious issue.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: blauren99 @gmail.com.

Would you like to be healthier and more physically fit in just six weeks time? I’m excited to participate in an upcoming health and fitness program called Luci Gabel’s Mind Body Blast, which begins September 26. I researched the program and I like Luci’s wellness approach. As a health and fitness coach and consultant, her program reflects a strong body, mind and spirit connection, which I believe is important to success.

I’ve always believed it’s important to make small, healthy changes over time, until they become a new habit. That way you can really stick to them in the long run as opposed to “going on a diet” or trying an unrealistic workout program, only to lose your incentive a week or two down the road. A six week program, with lots of information and support, is a good way to launch lifelong wellness changes in your life, to decrease stress, increase energy, lose some weight and tone some muscles.

The idea of making healthy changes in your life is to realize that in the process you’re giving up your old unhealthy ways and embracing something new, different and better. In the end you’ll likely lose weight, feel more energetic and be much healthier.

Luci Gabel, the creator and facilitator of The Mind Body Blast has an extensive nutritional background as well as an impressive assortment of fitness certifications, a master’s degree in exercise physiology from the University of Maryland (UMD) and a master’s in business management from John Hopkins’ University. All of this points to the fact that her health and fitness program is based on sound research and not fad diets or workouts.

The Mind Body Blast six week health and fitness program includes:

• Luci as your personal health and fitness coach. Ask questions, get advice and stay motivated. The program includes seven conference calls of about 30 minutes each to keep you in contact with Luci.
• There will be seven information-filled podcasts. Watch these anytime they fit into your personal schedule and keep them to watch again once class is over.
• Six exercise videos show you how to get the most benefit from your workouts in the least amount of time. A sample video on a total body workout on Luci’s website looks like fun.
• The program provides supplemental reading to to re-enforce the healthy new habits you’ll learn about during conference calls.
• For the entirety of the six week program you have access to a private, members-only forum. Discuss your challenges, share tips and advice and stay motivated with other members of the program.Having others to share with is an important aspect of success for many people and you will find it here.

The full price of Luci’s six week e-course is $169 but she’s offered a special discount to readers of my blog. Just put mbbearly into the code box, and you can purchase the class for $135 instead of $169 up through September 24.

Luci Gabels’ has an extensive list of health and fitness articles on her website, plus the free 20 minute workout video with a total body workout you can do pretty much anywhere. You can also sign up for 6 weeks of mind/body fitness tips delivered right to your email.

This six week health and fitness program with Luci Gabel begins September 26 and ends November 7. I hope some of my readers will share in the program with me.

If you’ve always wanted your own personal health and fitness coach, now is the time to get more information on the Mind Body Blast with Luci Gabel.

Baby boomers want comfort AND style in their shoes but because they suffer from various foot conditions or diseases like arthritis or diabetes which can cause foot pain, finding that comfortable shoe can be a real challenge. I recently discovered an orthopedic style shoe which is actually so fashionable you’d never know it’s orthopedic and they are made by Drew Shoe.

For the past 20 years or so, I’ve been very careful of my shoes, most often opting for athletic shoes, which seemed to offer the most comfort and support for my feet. I’d steered clear of sandals and other more fashionable footwear because they made my feet and legs hurt if I had to walk more than a few yards in them.

I was really delighted to find out about Drew Shoes. Drew Shoes makes fashionable stylish orthopedic shoes, especially designed for for various foot conditions, such as diabetic shoes, shoes for hammertoes, arthritis, bunions, plantar fasciitis, ankle valgus and others. They also offer Velcro strapping so there is no ties to contend with. I recommended these to my father, who has neuropathy in his hands and can no longer tie a shoe.

Drew shoes have comfortable, plushy sole, which molded to my feet as I walked more in them. They have several layers of sole which is especially engineered to help support the foot and alleviate pain from various foot problems. There is a heel stabilizer and foam cushioned collar, plus a removable, soft cork dual-density insole with memory foam. The outer sole adds support with a flexible, shock-absorbing EVA layers. The Dora sandals which I tried also have three adjustable Velcro® brand straps for added customization. Read more about what makes Drew Shoes Different from other orthopedic shoes.

Drew Shoe - Men

Drew shoes come in dozens of styles, including the Dora sandals which I’ve been wearing and several other fashionable sandals. They also offer men’s and women’s clogs, athletic shoes, dress shoes and boots with the same comfortable, stylish engineering. To get the perfect fit, you can order Drew shoes by size AND width so even people with very wide feet can find a comfortable shoe.

Part of healthy aging is finding products that enhance our lifestyles while accommodating certain conditions we get as we grow older. An ordinary day should include lots of walking and wearing a comfortable shoe can make the difference in how well we go through our day, both for exercising and for simple tasks like walking the grocery aisles. If you suffer from any health condition which affects your feet, or if you’re just looking for a fashionable, comfortable shoe, I’d highly recommend trying Drew Shoes.

Visit the Drew Shoe website and check out the dozens of different styles. They are currently having a promotion where you can enter to win a pair. You can also read testimonials from customers who have benefited from wearing the Drew shoe.

The following is a guest post is contributed by Mariana Ashley;

Research has shown that contrary to the former line of thinking that exercise was damaging to your joints, moderate exercise can actually reduce joint pain and stiffness, strengthen the muscles around your joints, and build one’s flexibility and endurance, according to the Arthritis Foundation. Other benefits include reduced inflammation and reducing your risk for other harmful health conditions, such as obesity, osteoporosis and heart disease.

After consulting with your physician or other health care practitioner to determine if you are healthy enough for certain types of exercise, consider the following tips for exercising through arthritis:

1.) It helps to stretch first.

If you ease into and out of an exercise regimen by warming up and stretching each day, you will likely feel less pain during and after a workout. Arthritis Today provides a variety of helpful free videos that can help you kick off a successful stretching regimen. You may even wish to get comfortable with the idea of simply stretching every day until you feel your body is prepared for the next step.

2.) Add weight training.

Start with very low-weight barbells and leg weights and work all major muscle groups throughout your week, including arms, legs, back, abdominals and chest. When you grow comfortable with bumping up the weight, do so, but test yourself first by doing fewer repetitions when you begin lifting more weight.

3.) Choose low-impact exercise.

Running and jogging and heavy aerobics are great for your heart, but many people with arthritis have pain that won’t allow them to jump, jerk around and pound the ground with force. Many opt for walking briskly 30 minutes a day, incorporating speed walking or walking hills or steep inclines to get their blood pumping. For many, a stationary bike is a good option.

4.) Low-pressure water aerobics.

You can get an excellent aerobic workout through water aerobics and avoid unnecessary pressure on your joints.

5.) Consider a personal trainer.

Personal trainers aren’t necessarily cheap, but they sure are great at customizing low-impact workouts for boomers with arthritis and making sure you are doing aerobics and weight training properly so that you avoid injury. Plus they help keep you motivated to exercise consistently.

By-Line:

This guest post is contributed by Mariana Ashley who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.

I’ve been learning tai chi for about eight months and I thought it was time to give an update on how I’m doing with it.

First, What is Tai Chi?

Tai Chi is a form of moving meditation, made up of slow, gentle, flowing movements which require focus, concentration and patience to perform. Tai chi began in China as a form of exercise for martial artists and each movement in Tai chi relates to a martial arts theory or posture. The benefits of tai chi include stretching all major joints and muscles, but gently, which makes it excellent for seniors. Tai chi isn’t only low impact, if done properly, it is NO impact.

Tai chi postures open up the flow of chi, or life force energy. Improving the flow of chi is thought to increase health and longevity, quiet the mind and reduce stress. Tai chi practice improves lung health because each movement involves one deep breath - “One movement, one breath,” as my tai chi instructor says many times in each class.

Over time, a daily tai chi practice will improve balance and muscle strength as well.

So, what has Tai chi done for me?

One thing I’ve discovered is that learning tai chi is addictive! I started out going to one class weekly at the local YMCA. Our instructor, Terry, is extremely knowledgeable and very precise. We practice the same movements over and over so we can learn them from the inside out, basically. According to Terry, in China those learning tai chi would do just one simple movement over and over for a month or more, until they had internalized it.

Back to the addicting part. I started getting up 30 minutes early to do my own daily practice. Then I added a Sunday advanced class about 3 weeks ago. Another newby in the class and I found someone from the class who has studied with Terry for 8 years and is willing to meet with us for two hours on Fridays, plus about an hour or so before each class.

So what am I gaining from all these tai chi sessions? Since tai chi is all about letting go of tension in the body, I find that I am not holding my muscles tightly wound like I used to. I think this is something most of us do without even thinking about it. We just live all tensed up.

Try this. Sit in a chair like you normally would. Then close your eyes, take a very slow, deep in breath. Let it out slowly. As you let out your breath, focus on releasing all tension in your body. Just watch it flow away and melt into the chair. This relaxed feeling is how tai chi teaches you to feel, not only when you’re practicing, but all the time. Once you release that tension, it’s hard to feel stressed about anything.

Releasing tension also helps me to sleep more soundly at night, which is a wonderful thing. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had many nights where I just keep waking up, unable to really fall deeply asleep. Since I started learning tai chi, I only very rarely have a night like that.

Although tai chi provides a gentle stretch to muscles, the more you do it, the more deeply you stretch so my muscles and joints feel much better. Close attention is paid in class to doing each movement the correct way so that no strain is put on the body. I know my yoga teacher always says yoga is not about being in pain but still, I think everyone finds themselves stretching a little beyond the painful point and holding a little longer than is comfortable, just to challenge themselves.

In tai chi, “Muscle strength has not yet been invented,” Terry says. He is constantly telling us to stop trying so hard, stop pushing, stop forcing. Tai chi is about letting go. In weightlifting, you want to do as many reps as possible to build strength and muscle. In tai chi, it is never about how many of given postures you do, it’s about how many you do with understanding.

Since tai chi focuses on moving from your center, balance improves. Movements are slow and flowing so patience, focus and coordination improve.

Since I began as a person who had trouble knowing right from left and certainly couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time. Tai chi is teaching me to get out of the mind and stop thinking about how to move my hands and feet together.

Another thing I’ve noticed is improved leg strength. Although I’ve been practicing yoga for about 2 years and taking other classes at the Y for probably 4 years, tai chi has really built up the strength in my legs. The reason is that you practice with knees slightly bent which builds muscle strength from the bone outward.

I walk my dogs every day and I have to admit that about a year ago I was experiencing some muscle weakness episodes at times when I was walking. Also, if I would get up from a chair after sitting for a long period, my legs would get a weak feeling and my muscles would ache until I’d walked a few steps. It occurred to me the other day that I never have those feelings anymore at all. My legs feel very strong.

I’ve written in my blog before about suffering from some form of neuropathy. Who knows what kind because the neurologist certainly can’t tell me. Anyway, I’ve suffered a full body tingling sensation that was constant for about 5 years. Since doing tai chi on a daily basis, plus qigong, which is another form of energy exercise, my tingling has diminished and not only that, I find I’m not really thinking about it.

The tingling used to bother me every minute of the day, plus I’d suffer from restless leg syndrome and leg pain in the evenings and at night. Now I go through entire days and never notice any of this at all. I think focusing on the tingling was causing stress and the stress was making it worse. I also like to think that opening up the energy channels so the chi can flow freely has reduced any neuropathy symptoms.

If you’re interested in aging well, and who isn’t, give some thought to finding a tai chi class near you. Most YMCAs and senior centers offer tai chi classes, or you can find one at many martial arts studios too. I have several tai chi cd’s and you can learn basic postures from those as well. Qigong exercises are easy to learn and help you reduce stress and learn the flowing, meditative aspects of tai chi.

Here are some of the cd’s I’ve found helpful for getting started:

Tai Chi For Daily Practice by David Dorian Ross. Also available to “rent” for 7 days for just $2.99.

T’ai Chi Beginning Practice also by David Dorian Ross.

Qigong Beginning Practice. This 2 cd set includes a television production done for PBS on qigong by Garri Garapoli. My husband and I do these exercises 2-3 times a week and once you learn them, you can do a few every time you have a few moments and want to loosen up.

Garri Garapoli and his wife, Daisy Lee Garapoli, have several dvd’s out, including Qi Gong for Cleansing, which are all very good.

There are dozens of tai chi and qigong dvd’s out, but these are my favorites.

Don’t expect to learn everything at once when doing either tai chi or qigong. Even learning one movement and practicing that every day is giving you benefits. Find a few exercises you like and do them every day and see what happens. You might just get addicted!

Learn more about tai chi and qigong on WebMd

Would you like to have your own home business as a coach, helping others reach their own health or fitness goals? Many people want to be healthier but need a mentor. There are programs out there to help you set up your business.

My friend Tom Grimes is a Certified Health Coach with Take Shape for Life. Here is what he had to say about his health coaching business:

Take Shape For Life is a long-term plan for healthier living that starts with healthy weight loss using the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan and the support of a Health Coach. Your Health Coach will work with you one-on-one along your journey to Optimal Health and provide support every step of the way as you learn The Habits of Health and apply them into your daily lifestyle. With the help of my Health Coach I lost 80 pounds in 23 weeks.

During this period I also became a health coach and have worked with men and women who also want to achieve Optimal Health. When I started most of the health coaches had experienced success with the program. Now others are joining us as coaches.

The good news is that weight loss starts healing your body even before you’re ready for your “after” picture. A study at the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center in Houston shows that shedding even a modest amount of weight can improve your health. In the study, doctors focused on weight loss among patients with metabolic syndrome, a constellation of risk factors (excess abdominal fat, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and others) that lays a foundation for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

“Our study has shown that weight loss of as little as 6.5 percent … results in substantial reductions in blood pressure, glucose, triglycerides, and total cholesterol, all factors that lead to heart disease,” says Christie Ballantyne, M.D., one of the study’s researchers. “These impressive results occur early in the weight loss, well before individuals even begin to approach their ideal body weight.”

It has been very rewarding watching people regain their health and their lives.  Just watching them reduce clothing sizes is exciting.  I feel I’m helping get American Healthy one person and a time.

if you’d like to know more about Tom’s coaching business or if you need the services of a health coach yourself, check out his website.

Another coaching business I’ve become interested in recently because of my daughter is Beach Body Fitness Coaching. She joined this business as a fitness coach and originally I signed up too, just to help her out. However, as I found out more about Beach Body, I began to see how the concept of health and fitness coaching could help Baby Boomers.

Beach Body products include Shakeology, a nutritional shake with over 70 healthy whole food nutrients. This program comes with a cd workout program called Shakeology as well. Other Beach Body fitness products include Slim in 6, a 6 week fitness program which promises to help you reshape your body in 6 weeks and even a Yoga program. Club membership includes meal plans, recipes, a community for help and support, and of course, the help of your own fitness coach.

Club members get a 10% discount on products and coaches get a 25% discount on their own purchases.

One thing I liked about the Company is that the products, Shakeology and P90X are nationally advertised and the company is doing an advertising push to raise awareness of fitness and their products. It’s really gratifying to help people have their own “before” and “after” programs, losing weight and getting fit.

If you’d like more information about becoming a Beach Body fitness coach, check out this short informational video about fitness coaching.

If you have an interest in health and fitness, coaching could make a fulfilling part time or full time retirement business for you. You can work at home, make your own schedule and help others at the same time. As baby boomers age, more and more are becoming interested in healthy aging. Nothing is as motivating to your own healthy lifestyle than motivating others too!

Brain games are becoming more popular as baby boomers start to have more “senior moments.” Let’s face it, as we get older, we start to lose some of our brain function. We forget things. We lose things. We sometimes feel like we are slipping - just a little - mentally.

The good news is that by doing brain teasers and brain games, we can actually improve our brain function and keep those old wheels turning in our head. As a rule, I don’t go in for playing games, unless it’s a rousing game of Scrabble or Apple. I see friends and relatives, old and young, with their eyes glued to their iPhones, playing some game or other and I think “What a waste of time.” For me to play a game like that, it has to have a purpose. Improving brain function is a pretty good purpose, I think.

There are quite a few sites out there for brain games. Some charge a subscription fee but I’ve found some free brain games online that are fun and they help improve language skills, problem solving, analytical skills, memory and concentration among other things.

Brain Training 101 offers free games and a newsletter , plus you can sign up for a “free brain training power Pack” which includes a braining training guide and a brain booster audio. The free games include memory power games and brain teasers and puzzles.

Senior Ark is a great site I just recently discovered. If you go to the home page and scroll down past all of their interesting topics for seniors, you’ll find a list of free brain games for seniors.

AARP - Of course AARP offers many resources for seniors and brain games is no exception. There are five categories of games and puzzles, for analytic skills, problem solving, keeping your brain sharp, language skills and improving memory and concentration.

These brain training games come from Parade Magazine. The six different games here each tell you what they do for your, ie improve problem solving and processing speed, and then gives you easy to follow directions. Parade also has other areas of interest if you like browsing, such as health and fitness.

Games for the Brain offers over 40 brain games of different kinds. You can even get them sent to your mobile device here.

If you’re one of the millions of iPhone and other mobile device users, I’m sure there are also dozens of brain game apps you can download. I’ll have to ask my kids about that one-lol

If you don’t mind spending a little money for brain games, here are a couple of good puzzle and game teaser books from Amazon.

Entertain Your Brain: More than 850 Puzzles! Math problems, lateral-thinking conundrums, brain teasers, whodunits, IQ tests, trivia quizzes…as well as an assortment of baffling optical illusions and amazing stunts using paper, scissors, and other items found around the house.

The Total Brain Workout In all, there are 450 puzzles for you to solve in this book. They are organized into nine chapters, each containing fifty puzzles that have a specific brain-based objective built into them. The fifty puzzles in Chapter 1 are designed to help activate the language areas of the brain, for example, whereas those in Chapter 2 are designed to stimulate visual thinking areas.

The Big Book of Brain Games: 1,000 PlayThinks of Art, Mathematics & Science is a collection of 1,000 challenges, puzzles, riddles, illusions. Ranks difficulty from 1 to 10.

I know there are many more resources out there as brain games gain in popularity. If you know of any you’d like to see included, or if you’re an old hand at brain games, I’d love for you to comment.

The following healthy living article is a guest post by Jim Rollince, a member of the creative writing department at Gym Source, a distributor of home gyms and exercise equipment including treadmills, ellipticals, arc trainers, bikes and more.

Exercising to avoid the seasonal flu is amongst some of the top preventative measures to take during the cold season.

Research demonstrates that a certain amount of exercise each week will help strengthen the immune system against viruses that attack during cold season. The general consensus is that 30 minutes a day/3 or 4 times a week is a perfect amount of exercise for most people. This includes things like:

• Aerobics
• Weight-lifting
• Running
• Cycling
• Treadmills
• Ellipticals

For some people, they take on more challenging activities like intramural sports (i.e. – soccer). Athletes find enjoyment in athletic competition, and through this enjoyment they’re typically able to double the normal workout of the average gym visitor. Keep in mind, entertaining intramural sports can sometimes be the equivalent to two workouts combined; people should keep this in mind when frequenting the gym 3 or 4 times a week. Letting the body rest with a maximum of 2 or 3 days can eventually offset this. This brings me to my next point.

There’s also a great deal of research that shows how too much fitness can be detrimental to one’s immune system. Grueling endurance training has been known to affect the immune system negatively – This would involve running more than 40/50 miles a week. For athletes required to perform at such high levels, it’s recommended that they get immediate rest and warmth following their long sessions. Typically, this would encompass marathon and long-distance runners.

Technically speaking, during a vigorous cardio routine, the body will react with a temporary decrease in immune system function, producing certain hormones that definitively lower immunity. Otherwise known as Cortisol and Adrenaline, these stress hormones can raise blood pressure and cholesterol levels, further suppressing the immune system. This can ultimately lead to overtraining syndrome, which can include any of the following symptoms:

• Drop in performance
• Insomnia
• Depression
• Headaches
• Muscle Pain
• Joint Pain
• Decreased appetite
• Increase Injury

But moderation is the key to achieving a successful workout while avoiding sickness. Again, working your body for a solid 30 minutes a day, 3-4 times a week will effectively help safe-guard your body from disease. Conjunctively, rest and recovery days are essential to allow your immune system to “catch up.” If you’re already ill, it’s highly recommended to avoid the gym altogether, until you’ve had a chance to get well.

I just read an article in Natural Health magazine which said stepping out of our comfort zone is good for our

I took up knitting and yoga and made myself this yoga blanket

physical and mental health As we get older, though, many of us find a routine and stick to it because it is comfortable. Why change things that are working for us? Why take a chance?

I see this in my own parents. They are in their 80’s and their routine never varies. They eat breakfast, lunch and dinner on a tight schedule. They “go to town” to get groceries on a certain day of the week and eat breakfast at the restaurant where the waitress knows them by name. This structure gives them security, I think. As long as the routine continues the same, life is good.

Many of us fall into this sort of comfortable routine living as we get older but, as this article said, you don’t have to take up bungee jumping to gain benefits from shaking things up. Even small changes can create new neurological connections in our brains, boost our mood and improve our health.

It can be scary to try something new. I remember the first time I walked into a yoga class at the Y. I’d done yoga on my own with DVD’s off and on for years but never taken a class. Despite the instructor’s speech about not judging for how well we did, I was afraid all the people in the class would be 20 year old down dog experts and I’d look stupid.

What I found in that class though were people in various stages of expertise. There were a couple who really stood out but most of the class was just like me. There were even a couple people who had a good 20 years on me and they were in there stretching and doing their best.The real challenge became more about improving by my own standards than about how I looked to others.

Taking a class can be a great way to get our of our routine. Many community colleges have special deals for seniors. The one near our home allows seniors to pay just $20 and then take any number of classes from the list, which covers historical topics, hobbies and crafts, travel, and many others.

It’s easy to get stuck eating at the same restaurant all the time too. You enjoy the food so why not? Next time you find yourself heading for the same old watering hole, try something new. Maybe you’ve never had Vietnamese food or Thai food. Maybe you’d love them if you tried them. If you aren’t sure what to eat, as we weren’t on our first trip to a Vietnamese restaurant, ask the waiter or waitress what the specialty is.

If you like cooking, try new recipes or take an ethnic cooking class in a cuisine that is new to you. If you like walking, try a new park to walk in. Try a new hobby. A couple years ago, I took a knitting class and was hooked. Knitting now gives me a chance to challenge myself with trying new patterns and stitches. Anything that keeps you studying and seeking new information and techniques is good for your brain.

Doing something that challenges you is always a good way to break routine. To me, taking up yoga at 58 years of age was a challenge. It’s challenged my mind as well as my body and it made it easier for me to walk into my first tai chi class, where, once again, I feared looking like an idiot among the experts.

Many of the new things I’ve tried in recent years have ended up becoming new passions of mine. Other things, I tried once and then moved on but I got something out of every experience.

Retirement is a time when we should be trying new things that we haven’t had time for in the past and falling into a rut, doing the same things because they are a comfortable habit mean we are missing a chance for new adventures which help keep us young at heart.

Do you have certain things you do because they are comfortable? What new things have you tried in the past year and what did you get from the experience?

Qigong for Health and Healing

It seems unfair that as we near our retirement years, when we should finally have the chance to enjoy life and do as we please, we find health issues are consuming our time and energy. As we age, it becomes even more important to find a form of exercise that can help us stay healthy and even help overcome the health issues we may already have.

For the past few months, my husband and I have been hooked on qigong exercises,. We started by taking a six week class but at $12 a class for each of us, we decided to look around for some qigong DVD’s to do at home. I found several that provide great workouts and we alternate them so we don’t get bored with any one.

Qigong for Health and Healing

What is qigong?

Qigong is a gentle, flowing form of exercise from China, used for healing and energy medicine. The slow, meditative movements incorporate breathing techniques to cleanse, strengthen, and circulate the life energy (qi) throughout the body. Spending even 15 minutes a day doing qigong exercises can lead to better health, increased immunity and energy and reduced stress. Other qigong benefits include better balance and increased mental focus.

More Benefits of Qigong

Anyone can do qigong. Even for those who can’t stand, the exercises can be done sitting in a chair. Beyond purchasing a DVD or taking a class, there is no equipment to buy, no warm ups to do. Once you memorize some of the exercises, you can do them anyplace, anytime.

Watching a gigong practice, you would never guess that pretty much every muscle in your body is being worked and internal organs massaged so lung health, digestion and circulation are also improved. My husband has had shoulder and neck pain for years due to sitting at a desk all day, working at the computer.  He said for the first time in all those years, he can turn his neck without pain and his shoulder pain is gone.

The other day, my digestion was off. I had severe heartburn and thought perhaps I’d caught some sort of bug. I didn’t feel like doing anything but I decided to do about 15 minutes of cleansing exercises with a qigong DVD and about half way through I felt totally normal. All my indigestion was gone and it didn’t return.

After I spend about 30 minutes doing my daily qigong practice I feel refreshed, energized and more focused. This is the sort of exercise you look forward to doing and you miss it if you don’t do it. In the past, I’ve done treadmills, lifting weights, aerobics, etc and qigong is so much easier and more relaxing, yet it does all the things these other forms of exercise do too.

If you have any health issues, a daily qigong practice for health and healing will benefit you. Almost all the DVD’s we have are by instructors who have overcome severe health issues using qigong.

How do you get started in a Qigong Practice?

As I mentioned, we took a class to begin with but now that I’ve purchased and used several qigong DVD’s I can tell you, a class isn’t really necessary. All the DVD’s we have also give lots of information on how to do the exercises and why you are doing them. Here are some of our favorites:

Qi Gong for Health and Healing: A Complete Training Course to Unleash the Power of Your Life-Force EnergyLee Holden’s course covers everything you need to know about qigong. There are five DVD’s with 10 hours of instruction and exercise routines. There are qigong exercises for morning to energize and and evening to calm. Six audio cd’s and a workbook complement the video with information, breathing exercises and guided meditations. If you can’t take a class, this course is the closest thing you’ll find.

I’ve ordered a a few qigong DVD’s that I tried and sent back for various reasons. These are the ones we use a couple of times each week at least:

Qigong Beginning Practice Garri Garripoli and his wife, Daisy Lee Garripoli, have several qigong DVD’s out for different issues such as cleansing, better digestion and stress reduction. We have several of these but we always seem to come back to the Beginning Practice. The entire routine takes over an hour but it covers all the basic qigong exercises.

This DVD set also has an extra DVD done by Garri Garripoli for a PBS special which tells the story of qigong and his personal journey back to good health using these exercises.

If you’re also interested in Tai Chi, DVD’s by David Dorian Ross are a good bet. I like this one, T’ai Chi Beginning Practice because there is a tai chi practice section and about 30 minutes of qigong energy exercises in a different segment.

If you are interested in qigong for health and healing or learning basic tai chi forms, these three instructors have many DVD’s out (I have several by each of them) and they are all very good.

Qigong is a form of exercise, true, but somewhere along the way, you begin to realize that you’re getting much more out of it than improving health and physical fitness. A daily qigong practice offers benefits beyond physical fitness. Doing the slow, focused excercise routines clears your mind, and you feel relaxed and free of stress. This is something you can carry into your day and you feel better all the time.

More information on Qigong and Tai Chi

QiGong Institute
Qigong Institute on YouTube
National QiGong Association