I'd always been active-I was an aerobics(有氧运动)instructor for 30 years and was also a keen runner-but from the age of 40, I began having problems with my hip and knees and started getting joint and lower back pains. The pain became too much. I couldn't do the exercise that I was used to,and I started putting on weight. By my 50th birthday, I was nearly 90kg and felt so miserable. I was struggling with body confidence, and had lost my direction.
Fiends suggested I try Qigong classes, a Chinese form of yoga. I felt the benefits after the first class. I loved the slow movement, the connection back to breath and the emphasis on mindfulness-it was the focus I needed.
The general principle of Qigong -which is connected to Chinese medicine - is that you have to find balance in the body to allow the energy to flow around. Stress and injury cause blockages and lead to health problems.
For most of my life I'd always eaten healthily, but had fallen into bad habits of loving sugary carbs(碳水化合物食物), which led to my weight gain. Starting Qigong helped me go back to my healthy diet. The combination of the improved diet and exercise improved my mood. I'm even finally free of the joint pain that was troubling me.
It is ironic that I was a high-paced aerobics instructor for most of my life, who now does very slow,mindful movements. If you'd told me years ago that you can lose weight by doing this kind of practice,I wouldn't have believed you, but it makes sense to me now, that at this stage of my life, removing the stress from my body is really what it needs. Two years on I feel so much younger than I did the day I turned 50; I have more energy and I feel much happier in myself.
