One of the major principles in Chinese philosophy is that change is constant. The concept of qi (vital energy, influence, and so on) even implies movement and change - the movements and rhythms of life. Thus, when we are wanting to make a change in life, we can see it as entering into a natural movement, like the current in a river, rather than as a struggle.

This is particularly true when we are making changes to improve our health. So how do we begin to make these changes without struggling? According to Chinese medicine, we begin with very small steps in the most fundamental areas.

Three of the most important influences on health are:

• Movement/ Exercise/ Qigong

• Foods/ Nutrition/ Eating Habits (frequency of meals, size of meals, etc.)

• Work & Rest Cycles / Energy Management

If your goal is to improve your health, begin with one small change in each of these three categories. For example, take a walk for 5 minutes or do qigong for 10 minutes every day, add one serving of cooked vegetables a day into your diet and take a 5 minute break each hour that you are working to relax and move. Each one of these changes is small, but together, over time, they will begin to have a very strong effect. You will find that once these changes are integrated into your life they will begin to grow and expand quite naturally without a lot of will power.

The most important thing is to begin making the change, no matter how small. Big steps and drastic changes don’t make things happen faster, in fact they usually end up causing the opposite reaction after a short time. Small changes have a profound effect over a longer period of time. Keep in mind that persistence is the key to accomplishing this, not skill, luck, innate ability or genetics.

Making small changes may seem slow from the short term perspective, but it has a powerful effect over time, and, perhaps most importantly, is rooted in reality. This means that whatever change you make is rooted in the reality of your life and what works for you, rather than in what someone says that you should do or be.

I have seen countless people make major changes in their life by taking this approach. What is most interesting to me is that if I ask them about it 6 months or a year later they have made huge progress and are still making little changes, taking small steps to accomplish big goals.

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This is a tricky question because there really is not one answer. The best answer is: it depends. If there is a short term problem it will probably not take very long to address it with the herbs. For example, if you eat something that doesn’t agree with you, you can take an herbal combination that will help the digestion almost immediately.

However, chronic or long term problems generally take longer to address. This doesn’t mean that there won’t be any change for a long time, it simply means that improvement will be progressive over time. In general with a chronic situation we look for small but steady improvements, with markers such as less frequency of the problem occurring and less severity when it does occur. We make progress in this manner and then continually build on it. Now, some specific days may be better or worse, but if we look at a set period of time there should be an obvious overall level of improvement, a continuing movement towards health.

We have our ongoing weekly Medical Qigong class and practice group continuing on Wednesday evenings. The ongoing class provides inspiration and support for your regular Medical Qigong practice. There is information on the ongoing class on the classes page of our website (click the link below and scroll down) or you can call or email me for more information.

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