My name is Olof and I am 23 years old. For the last year I have been training to become a pianist at the School of Music and Music Education in Gothenburg. Since I started to practise Zhineng Qigong I have become much calmer and more relaxed while playing the piano.
Before when I played on concerts I sometimes got so tense that my legs had spasms, pulling my shoulders up almost level with my ears and tensing my jaw almost to the breaking point. Now that is not an ideal posture if you want to liberate yourself as a musician, especially not if you are considering it as a profession. As I realized my problem I tried various relaxation tapes and they worked well, I guess, when I was laying in bed. But how to be relaxed at the same time as you perform some physical activity was still an issue to be dealt with.
Through a friend of mine I heard about Zhineng Qigong and I joined two Weekend Courses and participated in Organized Evening Training once a week. After seven months of training, including a Summer Course, I am much calmer when I play the instrument. Spasms in my legs and tension in my jaw is in the past. When I played the piano for the first time in a week it felt as though I, since after the Summer Course, have got myself a set of brand new fingers. My control of fine movements is much improved and for the first time I am able to play without having to fight against the piano, which is the way I have felt about it before. I have also realized that if I can train away the mental blocks which impede my ability, I will be able to develop without limit and that feels marvellous.
I have also almost completely got rid of this muscular pain in my left calf which I had for the last five or so years. When the problem appeared the first time I saw different doctors and physiotherapists who gave me treatments without results. Since the pain did not appear very often except when I was standing up for long periods of time, I more or less forgot the complaint. But sometimes the pain came and then it really hurt. On the Summer Course I have been standing up for hours without feeling any pain.
I will continue to practise Zhineng Qigong as much as possible, not just for developing as a musician but also for living a healthy and happy life.
Olof NIlsson