I had been working in the service area, in pupil feeding in different schools, for about 15 years before I was put on the sick list. During the last years my stubbornness was my only motivation, because by then a much too big and heavy working burden had already put their traces in form of worn out shoulders and back. When I was put on the sick list two years ago my body was crooked and stiff from the waist and upwards, turning the body was not to be considered and I could not raise my arms above the waist.
I needed help with most of the daily tasks: Getting dressed,taking a shower or bath, washing my hair, cleaning the rooms etc. and everything I undertook became projects that requested a lot of time and effort. I had to be inventive to manage my daily life, e.g. use a flower stick with a sponge in one end enabled me to handle the shower/bath by myself. I got help by a chamber-made to put things strait. I could wake up in the middle of the night by my own scream – I had turned around in my sleep and cried out in pain. An ordinary sneezing was a catastrophe, it felt like the whole chest was torn apart.
Mentally I was not only in the bottom, my feet was down through the bottom.
During the past years I had tried many alternative methods, but not found anything that could give me any help. When I through a cousin heard about Qigong I was particularly sceptical, but I decided to give it a chance. I heard that you had to stand silently with your eyes closed when you practised Zhineng Qigong and I thought a lot of how to manage that. But that became my smallest problem.
I participated in my first course in the autumn of 2002. Tears came into my eyes and I was sweating. My body was filled with pain. I took every chance to sit down. I was dejected when I came and even more when I left. But evidently something drew me because after the course I participated in our group-trainings. I felt like a cat among ermines but I experienced a positive harmony within the group and I felt like I was welcome. All this made me a little happier when I walked home compared to when I came to the training.
It was not until my third weekend course in autumn 2003 that I reached a turning point. It gave me maximum of everything. I experienced a feeling of happiness and got bigger motivation for training. The course was the start of a better life in more harmony. My body has successively become more flexible and my standing posture more straight. And, I can raise my hands almost all the way up above my head. If I practise I can manage my pain. Gone are the grimaces that earlier showed up in my face when I started to practise, instead of the gentle smile. I can tidy up my rooms and manage my personal hygiene without any means. And above all, I imagine that practising has become a need. I miss an important piece in my daily life if I skip the training. I don’t get angry due to small things, I think more before I open my mouth and I don’t have to engage in everything that happens around me, just in the things that matters to me.
Karola Karlsson