Unpleasantly stiff
By the end of 2014 I began to experience an unpleasant stiffness in my body. When I changed the tyres on my car ready for winter, it was impossible for me to squat. I had to use the hammer and the wheel cross in order to get down on my knees and get the job done. At that time I also had difficulty in straightening my right leg, finally to the point where I began to limp. Because of the limp it began to hurt in other places as well. When I saw the doctor he stated: ”For some reason you have a problem with stretching your right leg” !?! He sent me to a physiotherapist and with her excersices I slowly got better. I had a colleague who has been doing qigong for a long time and having talked quite a lot with him, I signed up for a weekend course. By the end of the course, when sharing our experiences, I realized I was able to stretch out my leg forward and exclaimed happily: ”I can’t do this”. With qigong it suddenly became better instead of slowly and steadily becoming better!
Calmer, fresher and better sleep
After the good result of the weekend course I was hooked and began training regularly at home and at evening group training. I am lucky enough not to have any big medical issues and with regular training I became more agile and limber. I became calmer, slept better and was more fresh and alert during daytime. I simply felt much better from training.
Putting the feet together
When I started training qigong I rediscovered an old problem. When skiing in the 70’s, you were supposed to have the skis close together (in the extreme case, monoski) if you wanted be a little ‘hip’ on the slopes. My legs were not built like that. I went around like a geek with ten centimeters between the skis – until in the 80 ‘s the conclusion was that though it might be elegant with the skis close together – it was not always effective. I had completely forgotten this problem! I did not have any reason to stand with my feet together until the first weekend course. I was just not able to put the feet together then. After some time of training I could do it, but my knees were unstable and wobbled to and fro. A lot of focus and energy was on keeping my feet and knees in place.
Something was straightened out
I have a natural scientist on my shoulder that has been whispering: ”You know that bones and cartilage do not just suddenly change”. Every time I have had to correct him: ”You see for yourself what is happening and you don’t think our colleagues lie to us, do you?” Then he has withdrawn, mumbling. During the Summer course when I was resting before dinner, my hip began to ache slightly. Later during mealtime, something happened in my ankle. I had no idea what had happened during the evening training, but I suddenly remembered I had not focused on my knees. I am still rather knock-kneed but something did shift and was straightened out in my body so now I stand in a stable position which makes training much nicer. The little natural scientist has shamefacedly promised not to bother me again!
La qi after car accident
At the end of September 2016 we collided with an elk when driving through Småland. My wife and I were taken to Kalmar hospital by ambulance, with collars and spineboards. My neck was X-rayed and fortunately it showed no sign of damage. We escaped with bruises, beaten black and blue and with numerous small cuts. Very quickly my right arm started to hurt badly. It was very sensitive to touch. There was a stinging and buzzing feeling too. Then and there I could do nothing more than La qi, so I did that rather diligently. I got proof of the good it did me when I overslept one morning and I missed my morning training. In the afternoon I had more pain than in the days before.
Stopped taking medicine against nerve pain
My pain increased and I went to the hospital several times. My neck, still questionable, was now checked with MRI, but that did not give any clues. Finally, I was diagnosed with nerve pains, in spite of the fact that no injury was discovered. The doctor prescribed medicine against nerve pain in such quantities that it could have lasted a year on a maximum dosage. I feared I would be stuck with the medicine for a very long time. I was resistant to taking a medicine that manipulates the nervous system and that gives a lot of side effects but it did numb the pain. I had to focus on lowering the dosage as soon as possible. With the help of the medicine I was now able to do qigong more intensively – which resulted in me being able to cut down the dosage after a while.
When it was time for the weekend course in December, I was able to stop taking the medicine. I was not free from the pain but it had eased to a level where I could handle it without medicine. During the course I experienced noticeable improvements. I no longer felt pain in my arm when in a normal position, even if there still was a nerve pathway in my fore arm and palm that was sometimes irritated.
Nerve pain disappeared
The final improvement came during the Winter course. During a training session with Kai He Fa I felt a sudden burning sensation on the inside of the elbow. It ran like a lightning along the fore arm and out into the hand. It happened twice. After the training session I noted I no longer felt the injury in the arm.
Björn Thulin