It wasn’t hard for me to get convinced that Zhineng Qigong was right for me. At a lecture before a weekend course in Turku, I realized that this was something I wanted to try. I participated in the course and my life changed over night.
Before I started practicing Zhineng Qigong I had suffered from stiff and aching shoulder as well as pain in my neck and back for as long as I could remember. It started already in my first years of school. I also hadn’t slept through one night for six years and after I was expecting my first baby, my right heel had started aching. When studying, I sought help from amongst others a physiotherapist, who explained that the pain in my shoulders and neck were because of my weak abdomen. This had me crying with desperation, since I did work out every day for at least an hour and I was in good physical condition. For many years I felt I never had any understanding for my problems. My mother had the same pain and over the years her neck had grown quite bent, so I understood that the condition was hereditary and that I would have to suffer for the rest of my life and have a crooked neck like her. I tried to get help in different ways, through chiropractics, electrical treatments and massage. The only thing that could give me some relief was zone therapy. I have always been physically active and I’ve tried a number of different types of physical exercise, just as I have always been open to different treatment methods.
I was at the point where I couldn’t even sit still, I had to move around all the time to keep the pain from becoming unbearable. It was as if I had nervous ticks that made me have to change the position of my shoulders and back. I could put my weight on my right foot for short moments only. I couldn’t lie in the same position for long due to the pain in my shoulders and I couldn’t lie on my back at all, since my heel would then touch the bed and start aching. It was completely impossible for me to relax my shoulders. I was very tense, had problems bending my head to one side and I had migraines. I couldn’t sleep and ended up extremely forgetful. I had fierce outbursts of temper. I would from time to time experience dizziness and a feeling of detachment from reality. I remember occasions that would really frighten me, talking to the completely wrong person about the wrong thing and having bad arguments with people about trivial matters.
I continued searching, even though I didn’t think there was anything that could change my situation. In the fall of 1999, when I heard about a course in something called Zhineng Qigong, I was curious, and even though I was not exactly hopeful, I participated in the course.
What an incredible feeling when things started happening already at the first weekend course! Already after the first day I felt a lightness and softness in my shoulders that I hadn’t felt before and I slept like a baby through the entire night, already the first night. I didn’t even remember that was possible. And after the second day day, my ticks and the continuous pain were gone. I could relax my shoulders, I could sit still and I would sleep well. I didn’t even remember my migraines until much later when I had a headache and was reminded of the fact that I had NOT had a relapse.
I have participated in many weekend courses in both Hold Qi Up and Shenxin Qigong. Since my job doesn’t allow for me to attend any summer courses, I haven’t yet, but during my years of practice a lot has happened and I can say with confidence that Qigong has changed my life. Through an x-ray that was taken for other reasons a year ago, I found out that the reason for my earlier problems partially were due to two vertebrae having fused in two different places in my neck. I was told that I will probably have more pain and less flexibility in my neck over time. As a matter of fact, I haven’t had similar neck pains for years and I can keep my back straight and relaxed since I started practicing. The pain in my right heel probably came from my right leg being two centimeters shorter than my left. This was corrected in November last year, not by Qigong, but the pain disappeared much earlier.
Regarding my mood swings, my partner tells me I seem much more harmonious now and he had noticed that I can deal with personal conflicts with a greater calm.
During the past year (2006) I’ve seen a number of major tragic changes when, e.g., my parents were divorced. It’s been a year of mental and emotional roller-coasters. I’ve felt very low at times and been reminded of my old temper. After I started practicing Qigong, I find it easier to calm down and distance myself. I can see the whole picture and not make every little problem a personal conflict. When I look back, I can’t help but wonder where I would be today if I didn’t have Qigong.
I’m very happy to have found this method and that it found me. Sometimes I actually feel that Qigong found me when I needed it the most. At times, especially when practicing in a group or at a course, I can feel an enormous gratitude spread inside and I’m filled with joy and peace.
Johanna Törnroth