Letters

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Our goal is to help EVERYONE who enjoys T'ai Chi and Qigong become a media spokesperson, educator, and local resource on the myriad of human issues and illnesses T'ai Chi & Qigong are proven to help with.

Below is an excerpt from the "Medical T'ai Chi" section of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi & Qigong"'s new 2nd edition. We encourage you to take this information and use it to write articles to magazines (popular and health), to write letters to the editor/health editor of local papers, to write to medical and nursing journals, senior magazines, drug rehabilitation publications, personal growth, spirituality, etc. etc. journals.

The following information will help greatly in this work. You can also use the below information to provide public talks on T'ai Chi and Qigong benefits. Teachers, you can often provide free workshops with local libraries, hospitals, schools, senior centers, etc. Pass around mailing lists when you do this, so people attending can later be notified when your classes begin, thereby growing your classes and improving the health of your community. So, many that can benefit from T'ai Chi & Qigong still don't know about it, and we want to help you help them to discover it.

FUNDRAISING RESOURCE (MEDICAL RESOURCE IS BELOW): We are also fund raising for next World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day. We have a Sitting Qigong audio that can be a great compliment to any classes of T'ai Chi or Qigong instruction. It is a simple technique that is a great intro to more complicated instruction you may teach, and it has an explanation side designed to introduce people who know nothing about Qigong or T'ai Chi to the world of healing energy, in a western/scientific based instructional approach. (If your school or you personally are interested, we can provide these audio tapes to you at 50% off retail, and you can use the profit to supplement your own local WTCQD organizing efforts). The idea as with all WTCQD efforts is to create a win/win/win opportunity for our int'l organizing efforts, your local efforts, and a great tool to enhance your students ongoing T'ai Chi / Qigong experience. [Reply to this Email with "WTCQD Fundraiser" in the subject line if you'd like to participate, or want more information.]

Thank you for all your work to help provide the world access to the healing power of T'ai Chi and Qigong.

[Excerpt from "The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi & Qigong" (Macmillan/Pearson Education, NY 2002). This is a partial list from the book, as email size limitations will not allow the entire list to be posted in one email. ALSO, the book thanks www.qigonginstitute.org for granting use of many of the below references.]

Although T'ai Chi and QiGong can play a positive role in many existing conditions, each condition is different and you must discuss T'ai Chi or QiGong with your physician before proceeding. Also realize that some of the research on T'ai Chi and Qigong mentioned below is sourced from research being done worldwide, with varying qualities of scientific method, and sometimes involving qigong medical treatment by professional qigong doctors or therapists using "emitted qi." Therefore, it is hoped that this research is not an end point, but a starting point, that will encourage a more expansive and lively health dialogue between doctor and patient, and in the research community worldwide on the self healing potential of the "qi" or life energy that exists within all of us. This is why you will find that in many cases below, I listed not only the research results, but also researchers explanations of why they thought qigong was so effective.

Author's Note: In a few listings direct quotes were lifted from foreign studies, and due to the language barrier grammatical errors were made in translation. In such cases, these errors often remain in the text, for fear of changing them may alter the researchers intended meaning. Also, on the "emitted qi" or "emitted qigong" studies mentioned below, I refer you back to Chapter 10's section on External QiGong, not because they are using that particular system of External Qigong, but so you have some general idea of what "emitted qi" means. Therefore, Chapter 10's instruction on a general health use of External QiGong is not meant to instruct you in how to treat the below diseases or maladies, the emitted qi in the below studies is often administered by Qigong doctors or therapists who have had much training in the field. So in these cases Chapter 10's section on External Qigong is merely illustrative to help you conceptualize what the researchers are talking about when they refer to "emitted qi." Also, for therapies below using "qigong exercises or therapy" there were many types of QiGong exercises employed in the various studies. As mentioned in earlier chapters there are about 7,000 forms of qigong listed in the Chinese Medica, and the QiGong exercises taught in earlier chapters are intended as overall general health enhancement techniques rather than treatment tools.

Many of the following listings are based on information provided by the QiGong Institute's Computerized QiGong Database, which contains 1,600 research abstracts. This Computerized QiGong Database may be the most comprehensive collection of research abstracts on QiGong medical and science research from around the world. This searchable database is a resource that should be on the computers of all health professionals, QiGong and T'ai Chi instructors, health reporters, and others interested in natural health options. It is available at www.qigonginstitute.org. Other research on T'ai Chi below is from articles sited at www.taichismart.com's Resource Library. You can visit the taichismart.com resource library to obtain article references for some of the Tai Chi research referred to below, and to keep abreast of new research on T'ai Chi and Qigong as it emerges from research centers worldwide.

ADD and ADHD. Research at the University of Miami School of Medicine has shown that adolescents with ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder) displayed less anxiety, daydreaming behaviors, inappropriate emotions and hyperactivity and improved conduct, after a five week, two day per week class (10 sessions). The improvements persisted over the two-week follow up (no Tai Chi) period. T'ai Chi meets many of the criteria for mood management techniques recommended for ADD (see beginning of this chapter).

Aging, delaying aging. The Shanghai Institute of Hypertension, Shanghai, China, did a study on qigong as a prevention and treatment of geriatric diseases and anti-aging process. They looked at several aspects of aging: Hypertension; Brain Function; and Sex Hormone Abnormality - and evaluated how qigong practice affected each.

Hypertension: A twenty year study of 204 patients with hypertension showed a mortality and stroke mortality rate to be about half that of the control group, only taking hypertension medication, for those practicing Qigong exercises in addition to medication. When hypertension was controlled, various accompanying geriatric diseases (e.g. coronary heart disease and diabetes) and aging manifestation were relieved. These results indicate that qigong is an effective measure for preventing and treating geriatric diseases, and anti-aging process.

Brain Function: Using an EEG, 220 subjects were studied, 83 healthy adults, 42 healthy aged, 33 hypertensive patients practicing qigong and 62 hypertensive patients who didn't practice qigong. Results indicated that qigong played a major role in the improvement of the brain function of the hypertensive aged patients.

Hormones: Abnormality of sex hormones was an important cause in diseases and aging process. Results suggested that qigong can regulate the abnormal sex hormones, though the patterns in males and females are somewhat opposite. Qigong can nourish the essence of life, reinforce the kidney and delay aging process. The above study indicates that qigong is an effective measure in preventing, treating geriatric diseases and delay the aging process.

AIDS. Studies indicate regular T'ai Chi practice may boost one's T-Cell count while improving outlook, and providing a soothing gentle exercise. The relaxed forms effectively oxygenate the body while moving blood and lymph throughout.

Allergies and asthma. The stress reduction benefits of T'ai Chi and QiGong help the body maintain elevated DHEA levels. Low DHEA levels have been directly linked to allergies. High stress levels are linked to the frequency and intensity of asthmatic reactions as well.

Angina. Biofeedback aspects of T'ai Chi and QiGong can help students learn to regulate blood flow, by awareness of warmth in hands and feet. Evidence suggests this skill may alleviate some forms of angina.

Anxiety, chronic. The relaxed abdominal breathing that T'ai Chi and QiGong promote can be a beneficial adjunct to therapy. (Observation shows that for trauma based anxiety T'ai Chi's more active moving therapy may be more comfortable than sitting qigong's progressive relaxation therapy, for some people with trauma based anxiety, such as Delayed Stress Syndrome.)

Arthritis. T'ai Chi's low impact causes no joint damage (unlike other higher impact exercises), while its weight- bearing aspect may encourage development of bone mass and connective tissue.

Back pain. Prevention Magazine reported a study where, after one year of T'ai Chi classes a group of men and women ages 58 to 70 found increased strength, and increased flexibility in their back, helping to reduce the odds of back pain.

Balance disorders. T'ai Chi practitioners fall only half as much as those practicing other balance training, making T'ai Chi perhaps the most effective balance conditioner known.

Baldness, premature. QiGong and T'ai Chi promote stress management and blood circulation. Some QiGong exercises, such as Carry the Moon, specifically promote circulation in the scalp.

Behcet's Disease. Behcet's Disease is a kind of chronic recurrent disease. The pathology is mainly changes in vasculitis symptoms. The clinical manifestation is: oral mucosal ulcer, perineum and reproductive organs ulcer, soit is also called Beheet's triple syndrome. Neijiang Central Hospital of Management, Heilongjiang, China claimed to have cured five patients suffering Behcet's Disease. They believe that this was due to Qigong's ability to build up immunologic function, increase the blood flow volume by the concentration of the mind to improve nutriture, and promote the union of the oral mucosal ulcer with swallowing great amounts of saliva and breathing much oxygen.

Blood pressure, low blood pressure. At Lixin County Hospital of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) in Anhui province, China, they have studied the effects of using qigong health exercises combined with standard medical drug therapy. Researchers referred to TCM theory to explain that they believed qigong therapy may be good for low blood pressure. They reported, "According to TCM theory, medical qigong's function is related to inducing the production of interferon, improving the microcirculation, clearing free radicals and adding the hepar blood flow, and improving hepatocellular metabolism, hepatocellular regeneration, and moreover, it may rectify low blood pressure and low blood coagulation state, prevent and cure fatty liver."

Brittle bones/ Bone Loss in women. Research from the National Institute of Mental Health reports that the stress hormones found in depressed women caused bone loss that gave them the bones of women nearly twice their age. T'ai Chi and QiGong's ability to relieve both depression and cleanse stress loads may make it a powerful tool for women trying to maintain healthy bones as they age.

Bronchitis / emphysema, chronic. Sitting QiGong and/or T'ai Chi may show positive results over time in appetite, sleep, and energy levels, but also rather dramatically and healthfully in decreasing breaths per minute.

Burns, healing of. Researchers at the Navy General Hospital, Beijing, China studied effects of emitted qi on the concentrations of hemoglobin in burnt rats.

Researchers suggested, "Anemia is the main complication of severe burn. A large amount of evidence shows that anemia can occur in several hours postburn. Effectively correcting anemia can markedly improve patient's body resistance, promote the healing of surface of wound and increase the survival rate. Moreover, new findings suggested that emitted qi could promote the amount of RBC and the concentrations of hemoglobin.

After their study, the researchers concluded, "The concentrations of hemoglobin in the [qigong treated] treating group returned to normal value 7 days earlier than that in the control [with no qigong therapy]. This evidence indicated that emitted qi not only affects on protective RBC, but promotes synthesis of hemoglobin." Put simply the qigong treatment expedited the healing ability of the burnt rats.

Cancer. Several clinical studies reported that a combination therapy of drugs with personal practice of qigong provided a better outcome than drug therapy alone. The Guangzhou College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China, researched the effects of emitted qi (External QiGong, see Chapter 10) on carcinoma. They reported, "The emitted qi may promote normal function of human immune cells while killing the tumor cells suggesting that qigong is a feasible means to the treatment of carcinoma."

Cardiovascular Benefit. Research has shown that T'ai Chi can provide the same cardiovascular benefit as moderate impact aerobic exercise. The Harvard Women's Health Watch reported, "studies support T'ai Chi [use] for heart-attack and cardiac-bypass patients, to improve cardioresperatory function and reduce blood pressure."

Chronic pain. Students often find anything between mild pain relief and complete alleviation of chronic pain by using T'ai Chi and/or QiGong.

Circulation and nervous system disorders. T'ai Chi promotes circulation and can have a very integrating affect on the mind and body.

Compulsive / obsessive disorders. T'ai Chi and QiGong's mindful awareness of self and constant reassurance that we can breathe through and relax into any situation may be a helpful adjunct to therapy for OCD, which gently exposes patients to their fears. Again, introduce T'ai Chi and QiGong only with your therapist's approval.

Concentration/Qigong uses in education. Although the researchers of this study in Xinjiang, China, admit limitations and imperfections in their research, they find encouraging signs that Qigong exercises could greatly enhance the educational experience for primary school children and beyond. The class they had practicing QiGong exercises found physical improvements, improved eating habits, better deeper sleep, higher energy levels, less eye strain, and a reduction of problems with what researchers called "Restless Disease," which may be what we refer to as ADD or ADHD in the West (Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder).

Coronary disease. Ganshu College of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) in China claimed to have found strong evidence that Qigong exercises may help with coronary disease. The average age of the patients was 65 years old. There were 14 men and 26 women. 5 cases had suffered myocardiac infarction and 35 cases insufficient blood supply. After qigong exercises, the obstruction in the Du Meridian was removed in 35 patients, amounting to 87.5%. Others practiced the 3-4 step qigong. Each patient had practiced qigong for 500 hours. According to ECG and symptoms, 18 cases turned to normal, 19 cases had marked effectiveness and 3 cases had no change.

Depression and mood disturbance. Regular (daily) T'ai Chi practitioners usually find less incidence of depression, anxiety, and overall mood disturbance.

Diabetes. T'ai Chi's stress management and increased circulation qualities make it ideal for diabetes. In a Beijing University of Chinese Medicine & Pharmacology study, 24 patients were requested to keep on doing qigong exercises for 2 hours a day for 3 weeks, and to keep normal living habits and take medicines as usual. According to the result, researchers found that blood sugar can be lowered successfully by doing qigong exercises. Furthermore, 42.9% of the patients took less medicines but had more staple food.

Digestion, improving. T'ai Chi's gentle massage of internal organs, and stimulation of blood circulation and Qi promote healthy digestion.

Drug Uptake, Ken Sancier of the Qigong Institute, East West Academy of Healing Arts, San Francisco, California reviewed voluminous studies done worldwide and concluded that QiGong & drug therapy is superior to drug therapy alone, citing the following 3 studies.

(1) A 20-year study of hypertensive patients, Kuang, Wang, et al reported that patients who practiced qigong exhibited more stable and lower blood pressure than the control group. The dosage of hypotensive drugs could even be decreased in the qigong group, while it had to be increased in the control group. . . . hypertensive patients in a qigong group needed smaller doses of a hypotensive drug than the control group. (2) In the case of patients with advanced cancer, Sun & Zhao reported that a combination of drugs and qigong resulted in greater improvement of symptoms (e. g. strength, appetite, diarrhea free, weight gain) than the control group. (3) Omura reported that drug delivery is enhanced by qigong. For example, in the treatment of infections, drug uptake was enhanced by applying "qigongized" paper, e. g. qi emitted to paper, to the afflicted area of the body.

The explanation of the superiority of the combination therapy is based on the theory of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). TCM, which includes qigong, is a holistic practice that promotes free flow of qi and blood throughout the body. Where tissues are under stress because of injury or disease, qigong can enhance qi and blood circulation to that area so that nutrients may more efficiently be delivered to the affected cells and also waste products in the stressed tissue can be removed more readily. This dynamic situation promotes self-regulation of the functions of the body, permitting self-healing. If drugs are needed to promote healing, qigong appears to enhance the delivery of the drug to cells of the body.

Flexibility Enhancement. Harvard Women's Health Watch reported an Emory University study showing that T'ai Chi may possibly improve elasticity in ligaments and tendons, create stronger knee flexors and extensors, and create better posture.

Gall Stones. The Navy General Hospital, Beijing, China, did a study using emitted qi (See External Qigong, Chapter 10) to find if a particular emitted qi therapy could help people pass gall stones. They reported, "Among 30 cases of cholelithes (Cholelithes is a common disease of the biliary duct system, which may result in gall stone problems.), 6 were males and 24 females. The average age was 54. Accurate diagnosis was done by B ultrasonic examination. The subjects had had the problem for from 3 months to more than 10 years. One course of treatment lasted for 5-10 days. Treatment was given once per day and 30 minutes at one time. After one course of treatment, 28 patients began to discharge stones. The positive rate was 93.33%." Researchers believed this was because, "The emitted qi massages the liver directly and getting rid of blood stasis so that the circulation of blood in the liver and bile is promoted, and it may cause gallbladder to contract and make the biliary duct dilate. As a result, bile washes and pushes the stones to the biliary duct then to duodenum."

Gastritis, Chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) is a common yet difficult illness, according to researchers at the Institute for Industry Health, the National Mechanical Industry Commission, Xi'an, Shanxi Province, China. They studied using a combination of Daoying (qigong exercise) and Tuina (Chinese therapeutic massage) applied to 103 cases with Chronic Atrophic Gastritis (CAG), and during this study no medication was given for CAG. Out of the 103 cases, researchers claimed that after less than 3 months of daily exercises/therapy, 97.1% found some benefit, while nearly 70% found marked benefit, seeing a disappearance of abdominal distending pain, anorexia, belching, diarrhea, disappearance or relief of lesions, atrophic gastritis turning to superficial gastritis, or severe atrophic gastritis turning to mild.

Gastrointestinal Malignant Tumors. The Dept of Chinese Medicine, Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang, Jiangsi, China, divided patients into two group, i.e., the Qigong group and Control group, each having 20 patients with gastrointestinal tumors that had been treated by supplementary Qigong. Both the study/qigong group and the control group were operated, which was combined with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and Chinese medicine. The only difference was the study group also practiced various QiGong exercises each day for 30 minutes 3 times each day.

Researchers reported, "Their symptoms and the changeable objective norm were observed regularly and we found doing Qigong would surely promote the recovery of the functions of the stomach and intestines and the patients' appetite and improve the gastric and absorption functions, making the white blood cells remain normal and also making their cutaneous electric reaction become closer to normal adults. Their 3 and 5 year survival rate was obviously higher than that of the control group.

Through 5-year observation of this treatment, the Qigong group had 80% for a 3-year survival rate, and 45% for a 5-year survival rate. Compared with the control group which had 65% for a 3-year survival rate and 30% for a 5-year survival rate. Therefore, these two groups have quite different survival rates. Showing the supplementing treatment by doing Qigong can obviously increase the survival rate of the patients."

Geriatric Fitness. Prevention Magazine reported that "T'ai Chi may be the best exercise for people over the age of 60, . . . providing cardio fitness, muscle strength, and flexibility all in one simple workout that is easy on the joints."

Heart disease. At the Institute of Psychology, Academia Sinica, Beijing, China, 122 subjects who practiced qigong and 55 subjects who practiced Tai Chi more than two years (average age of 65) were used as experimental groups. Ninety others with similar age and education level who never practiced qigong or tai chi were used as a control group. The goal was to see how states of mind that add to the risk of heart disease would be affected. The results showed less depression and less anxiety and better quality of sleeping were observed in the qigong and Taijiquan group. The results also suggested that qigong was useful to the improvement of neuroticism and Taijiquan was useful to the improvement of psychoticism of EPQ. Type A behavior patterns could be changed by practicing qigong, but at least 5 years' practice is necessary for this to change.

Hemorrhoids. Some QiGong breathing involves the sphincter muscles, which may directly alleviate hemorrhoid symptoms. T'ai Chi's ability to reduce constipation lessens the aggravation of hemorrhoid symptoms.

High blood pressure. T'ai Chi can significantly lower high blood pressure in many cases.

Infections. Regular T'ai Chi practice is believed to increase the T-Cell count. T-Cells are thought to consume, virus, bacteria, and even tumor cells.

Insomnia. Students often remark of improved sleep and reduced insomnia after a few weeks of regular T'ai Chi and QiGong practice.

Leukemia. The Immunology Research Center, Beijing, China has begun studying the effects of externally emitted qi (see External Qigong in Chapter 10), to see how it affects Leukemia cells in mice. According to researchers, the result of this experiment showed that the emitted qi could kill or inhibit the L1210 cells of mice leukemia. After a body received it many times, the emitted qi could significantly reduce the number of L1210 cells in mice. The experimental study laid a theoretical basis for the treatment of tumors with qigong. However, although researchers assert that Qigong therapy will be a new way to cure carcinoma, they caution that, the mechanism and way that the emitted qi kills or inhibits L1210 cells of malignant tumors in mice needs to be further investigated.

Liver disease, hepatitis-B, etc. At Lixin County Hospital of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) in Anhui province, China, they have studied the effects of using qigong health exercises combined with standard medical drug therapy. Researchers claimed they found that ten kinds of liver diseases, especially B Type Hepatitus, could be cured with the combination of drugs and qigong. When drugs and qigong were used in combination researchers claimed the curative rate was found to be 24.3% higher, than the rate when only drug therapy was used. (73.3% vs. 49%). Researchers referred to TCM theory to explain this. They reported, "According to TCM theory, medical qigong's function is related to inducing the production of interferon, improving the microcirculation, clearing free radicals and adding the hepar blood flow, and improving hepatocellular metabolism, hepatocellular regeneration, and moreover, it may rectify low blood pressure and low blood coagulation state, prevent and cure fatty liver."

This article is not exactly CAM or the type of postings that I usually send out on the list server, but I read this article and thought that some of the members of Humed would find it inspiring. Especially since it comes from someone within our government! Let's consider it to be humanistic medicine for planetary health. I believe that we in Humed are the citizen-activists for medicine that Representative Kucinich describes. May Peace be Within You.

Spirit and Stardust - U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Praxis Peace Institute Conference Dubrovnik, Croatia Sunday, June 9, 2002

As one studies the images of the Eagle Nebula, brought back by the Hubble Telescope from that place in deep space where stars are born, one can imagine the interplay of cosmic forces across space and time, of matter and spirit dancing to the music of the spheres, atop an infinite sea of numbers.

Spirit merges with matter to sanctify the universe. Matter transcends to return to spirit. The interchangeability of matter and spirit means the starlit magic of the outermost life of our universe becomes the soul-light magic of the innermost life of our self. The energy of the stars becomes us.

We become the energy of the stars. Stardust and spirit unite and we begin: One with the universe. Whole and holy. From one source, endless creative energy, bursting forth, kinetic, elemental. We, the earth, air, water and fire-source of nearly fifteen billion years of cosmic spiraling.

We begin as a perfect union of matter and spirit. We receive the blessings of the Eternal from sky and earth. In our outstretched hands we can feel the energy of the universe. We receive the blessings of the Eternal from water, which nourishes and sanctifies life. We receive the blessings of the Eternal from the primal fire, the pulsating heart of creation. We experience the wonder of life multidimensional and transcendent. We extend our hands upwards and we are showered with abundance. We ask and we receive. A universe of plenty flows to us, through us. It is in us. We become filled with endless possibilities.

We need to remember where we came from; to know that we are one. To understand that we are of an undivided whole: race, color, nationality, creed, gender are beams of light, refracted through one great prism. We begin as perfect and journey through life to become more perfect in the singularity of "I" and in the multiplicity of "we"; a more perfect union of matter and spirit. - - This is human striving. This is where, in Shelley's words, " . . . hope creates from its own wreck the thing it contemplates."

This is what Browning spoke of: Our 'reach exceeding [our] grasp'. This is a search for heaven within, a quest for our eternal home.

In our soul's Magnificent, we become conscious of the cosmos within us. We hear the music of peace, we hear the music of cooperation, we hear music of love. We hear harmony, a celestial symphony. In our soul's forgetting, we become unconscious of our cosmic birthright, plighted with disharmony, disunity, torn asunder from the stars in a disaster well-described by Matthew Arnold in Dover Beach: " . . . the world, which seems to lie before us like a land of dreams, so various, so beautiful, so new, hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude nor peace, nor help for pain. And we are here, as on a darkling plain, swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight, where ignorant armies clash by night."

Today Dover Beach is upon the shores of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Our leaders think the unthinkable and speak of the unspeakable inevitability of nuclear war; of a nuclear attack on New York City, of terrorist attacks throughout our nation; of war against Iraq using nuclear weapons; of biological and chemical weapon attacks on civilian populations; of catastrophic global climate change; of war in outer space.

When death (not life) becomes inevitable, we are presented with an opportunity for great clarity, for a great awakening, to rescue the human spirit from the arms of Morpheus through love, through compassion and through integrating spiritual vision and active citizenship to restore peace to our world. The moment that one world is about to end, a new world is about to begin. We need to remember where we came from. Because the path home is also the way to the future.

In the city I represent in the United States Congress, there is a memorial to Peace, named by its sculptor, Marshall A. Fredericks the "Fountain of Eternal Life". A figure rises from the flames, his gaze fixed to the stars, his hands positioned sextant-like, as if measuring the distance. Though flames of war from the millions of hearts and the dozens of places wherein it rages, may lick at our consciousness, our gaze must be fixed upward to invoke universal principles of unity, of co-operation, of compassion, to infuse our world with peace, to ask for the active presence of peace, to expand our capacity to receive it and to express it in our everyday life. We must do this fearlessly and courageously and not breathe in the poison gas of terror. As we receive, so shall we give.

As citizen-diplomats of the world, we send peace as conscious expression where ever, whenever and to whomever it is needed: to the Middle East, to the Israelis and the Palestinians, to the Pakistanis and the Indians, to Americans and Al Queda, and to the people of Iraq, and to all those locked in deadly combat. And we fly to be with the bereft, with those on the brink, to listen compassionately, setting aside judgment and malice to become peacemakers, to intervene, to mediate, to bring ourselves back from the abyss, to bind up the world's wounds.

As we aspire to universal brotherhood and sisterhood, we harken to the cry from the heart of the world and respond affirmatively to address through thought, word and deed conditions which give rise to conflict: Economic exploitation, empire building, political oppression, religious intolerance, poverty, disease, famine, homelessness, struggles over control of water, land, minerals, and oil.

As we help others to heal, we heal ourselves. Our vision of interconnectedness resonates with new networks of world citizens in nongovernmental organizations linking from numberless centers of energy, expressing the emergence of a new organic whole, seeking unity within and across national lines. New transnational web-based email and telecommunications systems transcend governments and carry within them the power of qualitative transformation of social and political structures and a new sense of creative intelligence. If governments and their leaders, bound by hierarchy and patriarchy, wedded to military might for legitimacy, fail to grasp the implications of an emerging world consciousness for cooperation, for peace and for sustainability, they may become irrelevant.

As citizen-activists the world over merge, they can become an irresistible force to create peace and protect the planet. From here will come a new movement to abolish nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction. From here will come the demand for sustainable communities, for new systems of energy, transportation and commerce. From here comes the future rushing in on us.

How does one acquire the capacity for active citizenship? The opportunities exist every day. In Cleveland, citizens have developed the ability to intercede when schools are scheduled to be closed, and have kept the schools open; to rally to keep hospitals open; to save industries which provide jobs; to protect neighborhood libraries from curtailment of service, to improve community policing; to meet racial, ethnic and religious intolerance openly and directly.

Active citizenship begins with an envisioning of the desired outcome and a conscious application of spiritual principles. I know. I have worked with the people in my own community. I have seen the dynamic of faith in self, faith in one's ability to change things, faith in one's ability to prevail against the odds through an appeal to the spirit of the world for help, through an appeal to the spirit of community for participation, through an appeal to the spirit of cooperation, which multiplies energy. I have seen citizens challenge conditions without condemning anyone, while invoking principles of non-opposition and inclusion of those who disagree.

I have seen groups of people overcome incredible odds as they become aware they are participating in a cause beyond self and sense the movement of the inexorable which comes from unity. When you feel this principle at work, when you see spiritual principles form the basis of active citizenship, you are reminded once again of the merging of stardust and spirit. There is creativity. There is magic. There is alchemy.

Citizens across the United States are now uniting in a great cause to establish a Department of Peace, seeking nothing less than the transformation of our society, to make non-violence an organizing principle, to make war archaic through creating a paradigm shift in our culture for human development, for economic and political justice and for violence control. Its work in violence control will be to support disarmament, treaties, peaceful coexistence and peaceful consensus building. Its focus on economic and political justice will examine and enhance resource distribution, human and economic rights and strengthen democratic values.

Domestically, the Department of Peace would address violence in the home, spousal abuse, child abuse, gangs, police-community relations conflicts and work with individuals and groups to achieve changes in attitudes that examine the mythologies of cherished world views, such as 'violence is inevitable' or 'war is inevitable'. Thus it will help with the discovery of new selves and new paths toward peaceful consensus.

The Department of Peace will also address human development and the unique concerns of women and children. It will envision and seek to implement plans for peace education, not simply as a course of study, but as a template for all pursuits of knowledge within formal educational settings.

Violence is not inevitable. War is not inevitable. Nonviolence and peace are inevitable. We can make of this world a gift of peace which will confirm the presence of universal spirit in our lives. We can send into the future the gift which will protect our children from fear, from harm, from destruction.

Carved inside the pediment which sits atop the marble columns is a sentinel at the entrance to the United States House of Representatives. Standing resolutely inside this "Apotheosis of Democracy" is a woman, a shield by her left side, with her outstretched right arm protecting a child happily sitting at her feet. The child holds the lamp of knowledge under the protection of this patroness.

This wondrous sculpture by Paul Wayland Bartlett, is entitled "Peace Protecting Genius". Not with nuclear arms, but with a loving maternal arm is the knowing child Genius shielded from harm. This is the promise of hope over fear. This is the promise of love which overcomes all. This is the promise of faith which overcomes doubt. This is the promise of light which overcomes darkness. This is the promise of peace which overcomes war.

"Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is made clean again." -Dag Hammarskj�ld

Psychiatrist Elisabeth Targ, a preeminent researcher in the field of mind/body medicine, died July 18th of a brain tumor at the age of 40. Dr. Targ was a practicing physician, Professor of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, and Director of The Complementary Medicine Research Institute at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

Dr. Targ was a kind, brilliant, and beautiful woman, devoted to helping reduce human suffering and exploring the frontiers of human knowledge. Described as an "out-of-the-box scientist before the phrase became popular," she took on some of the most challenging conditions known to science and society. Her interests spanned an uncommon range of issues including schizophrenia, psychoneuroimmunology, learned helplessness in mental health, and the health benefits of meditation and contemplative prayer. According to her colleagues, Dr. Targ's aim in conducting rigorous research was never to provide final or definite answers, but to create question generating hypotheses, bringing new horizons of science into view.

Having practiced medicine as a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco early in her career, Dr. Targ's studies drew her to probe the possible role of the mind-body-spirit connection involved in medical healing. She began her formal inquiry through a peer-reviewed study on the complementary use of alternative medicine in the treatment of women with late-stage breast cancer. Based upon the success of the study, she helped create a center sponsored by the Department of Defense at the University of California, San Francisco, which she helped direct.

No project captured her enthusiasm and commitment, however, more than her continuing study of the possible efficacy of prayer in healing. Through randomized double-blind clinical trials, she and her colleagues found strong evidence that HIV positive AIDS patients, who received prayers from distant healers of a variety of faiths, had significantly better medical outcomes than patients who did not receive supportive prayers. This groundbreaking study was published in the Western Journal of Medicine in 1999, and was discussed in diverse forums ranging from Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and a soon to be published article in Oprah Magazine. Her monthly column in Spirituality and Health Magazine, "Open Mind - Open Heart", helped translate research findings into a popular medium.

In 1997, Dr. Targ designed a study and secured funding from the National Institutes of Health to explore distant healing and prayer as trainable skills that nurses and other health professionals might integrate into their healing work. Principally, the study examines the efficacy of prayer on patients with a rare form of brain cancer, glioblastoma. Shortly after receiving funding from the NIH, Dr. Targ herself was diagnosed with this same form of cancer.

Elisabeth received her M.D. and Russian language translator's certificate from Stanford University, where she also received a master's degree in Neuropharmacology, and bachelor's degrees in biology and Slavic languages. She was born in New York City. Dr. Targ was the wife of futurist Mark Comings; daughter of the late computer educator, Joan Fischer Targ, and writer and laser pioneer Russell Targ; the niece of world chess champion Bobby Fischer; and the granddaughter of the late William Targ, editor-in-chief of G. P. Putnams and Sons publishers.

She is survived by her husband, Mark; father Russell; brother Alexander, a physician in Palo Alto; three nieces Sasha, Sonia, and Sylvia; and brother Nicholas, an attorney in Washington DC. The family suggests that remembrances be directed towards the support of her ongoing study of love and healing, through the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, California where Elisabeth was a research fellow.

For more information contact Russell Targ (650) 323-8550 http://www.etarg.net
http://www.etarg.org

^{Thank you for informing me of your
new issue and in fact of JNLRMI itself and your excellent website. I browsed it
fairly extensively and I liked very much your focus on the intersection of
quantum mechanics, nonlocality, biological systems and consciousness. This is
such an obvious connection and yet I don't think any publication has identified
it as such, in just the way you have.

I found it relevant to my own interest in greatly broadening our approaches to
SETI. Quantum interconnectedness should be considered crucial to the development
of SETI theories and techniques, but it is never even mentioned, to my
knowledge.

I have been developing my own website , devoted to the problems in SETI and the need to reform that field. I
deliberately avoid the academic, scholarly style, because I believe this affords
me the scope to make assertions that can speak deeply and directly to what the
thinking and conscious reader feels or knows or suspects. In spite of that, I do
strive to achieve consonance with sound scientific thinking, while paradoxically
decrying the institution of science itself.

One of my pages Open
SETI Physics 101, touches on the many areas of physics that the SETI
community ignores in building and presenting its paradigm. If they took these
areas into account, they simply would not conduct SETI in the way that they do.
Until today, though, I am afraid that I too ignored an important topic that
would revolutionize SETI: nonlocality. Thank you for reminding me of
this, and for providing a highly provocative set of articles in your Journal. I
have now added one or two paragraphs on the subject with supporting links
to your pages, and I have taken the liberty of discussing your website and
providing links to it and to one of the papers I found there.

Perhaps there will be some interaction between ourselves and our readers.

Best regards,

Gerry Zeitlin}

^{I was pleased to discover The Qi Manifesto and the affiliated
community of researchers. I look forward to the exchange of ideas here both
because of the subject matter and the varied backgrounds of the researchers who
are participants. Specialization is necessary in science but nature is not as
neatly divided as are the separate chapters of the different textbooks. There
are profound developments occurring in many disciplines that share common themes
and have profound consequences for our understanding of nature as a whole.}

^{I have recently published a book called The Holonomic Paradigm:
Biophysics, Consciousness and Parapsychology that explores some of these
data. I suggest that a paradigm shift is emerging in science through the very
sort of research that is focused upon in The Qi Manifesto. In
particular, the study of quantum coherence and subtle energies in biology is
bringing the life sciences to the brink of change comparable to the developments
that occurred in physics at the start of the twentieth century. At the same
time, the incorporation of subtle energies into physics, whether one describes
them as implicate order, zero point energy of the vacuum, or with other terms,
introduces equally profound implications.}

^{Most remarkable is the convergence of subtle energies within living organisms
and the subtle energies of physics that extend science into domains that some
refer to as �nonphysical�. As a result, new hope emerges for a fuller
understanding of acupuncture, consciousness, psi, and the very nature of life.
In the holonomic paradigm, as I describe it, new relationships can be seen among
data collected within different disciplines over many years. Although the new
paradigm is only in the process of emerging, there is enough data to see that a
new foundation is being laid for science the implications of which we can not
yet begin to assimilate.}

However, to publish it, was possible only in 1991 (Gariaev P.P., Chudin V.I., Komissarov G.G., Berezin A.A., Vasiliev A.A., 1991, Holographic Associative Memory of Biological Systems, Proceedings SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. Optical Memory and Neural Networks. v.1621, p.280- 291. USA.), and then in (Gariaev P.P., "Wave based genome", Ed. Obsh. Pl'za, 279p. In Russian (1994)), where the biggest chapter of the book is devoted to this effect.

But this paper is ONLY about the DNA fluctuation dynamics, investigated by a method with laser correlation spectroscopy, and there is no relation to the DNA phantom effect.

David Peat

2. Modernizing & Popularizing Tai Chi and Qigong's Healing Message: Why Are T'ai Chi and Qigong for You and the Information Age?

From: Bill Douglas, Founder of World T'ai Chi & Qigong Day and author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi & Qigong" (Macmillan Reference 1999).



Most illness is caused by stress. In fact, our aging is accelerated by
stress. Studies show that change is stressful, even "good" change. So, as
we computer jockeys settle in the saddle of a new age of rapid information
exploding around us, we need an edge that can help stay healthy, sane, and
vibrant.

T'ai Chi and Qigong provide the perfect balm for our generation. T'ai Chi
and Qigong's gentle series of relaxing motions cleanses the body's tissue of
accumulated stress and by doing so boost all aspects of our health systems.

Our time is filled with paradox.   Our problem in the modern age stems from
the great promise of the modern age. The information age is a tidal wave of
data being created by and offered to our "left brain." This is the part of
our mind that is analytical, calculating, and categorizing the world. Of
course we know this is a powerful and important part of who we are, this is
the part of the mind that "gets things done," "pays the rent," "build's the
houses," and "makes the cars."   However, our "right brain" is getting left
behind a bit in our rapidly changing techno-world. Our "right brain" is the
"feeling," "smelling," "sensing," "enjoying," part of the mind. This is the
part of the mind that smells the flowers, not to analyze the smell, but to be
filled with its beauty. So, when we go to the cyber mall, our right brain
doesn't get to play, because there are no Auntie Anne's Pretzels to smell, or
warm sunlight streaming in through the big sky lights. Of course the cyber
mall is a great and wonderful thing, which saves us time, money and gas for
our car, and thereby saves the environment.

So, what do we do? Well we get the BEST of both worlds, is what we do. T'ai
Chi and Qigong are exercises to balance the mind. T'ai Chi and Qigong teach
us to "experience" life for shear pleasure, thereby creating balance in our
busy "get things done yesterday" world. IF you learn T'ai Chi & Qigong and
practice it in the morning "before" you sit down at your computer, your right
brain, or sensing/enjoying brain, will be turned on more. You will "feel the
texture" of your computer's keys. You will remember to take the time to get
a nice cup of green tea, or herbal cinnamon spice tea, and interrupt your
staccato keyboard occasionally to smell the tea's rich aroma, feel the warmth
in your hands, and to breathe the breath of life deeply into your lungs.
Although you are still at the cutting edge of the information age revolution,
you are also in the garden of life. This will give you an edge in the long
run. Why? Because chronic stress diminishes our cognitive skills and
therefore our creativity. Einstein said, "Creativity is more important than
knowledge." So, even if we have the world's knowledge at our fingertips, if
we are too stressed out to use the knowledge "creatively", we are much less
effective. Plus we're not as much fun!!

For a list of health and performance benefit details on T'ai Chi & Qigong, go
to www.worldtaichiday.org's "Resource Library." But the bottom line is T'ai
Chi & Qigong are exercises to practice "enjoying life." It's great that most
of us don't have to go out and fight the cold hard elements of winter or
blazing summer, replete with all the bugs and strain of a hard physical job.
But, if we don't take the time to "enjoy" this emerging life, it doesn't make
much of an improvement. And it's not enough just to say, "I'm going to enjoy
life more." We actually have to practice mind/body tools that can affect our
brains integrative and brain wave activity, as T'ai Chi and Qigong are proven
to do. T'ai Chi and Qigong are extremely sophisticated mind/body sciences
evolved over millennia, and just now being made available to the entire
planet after centuries of being closely guarded secrets in China. So, even
though they are ancient, they are in many ways just as cutting edge as the
multi-gigabyte pc is.

So, don't just be cutting edge with your left-brain. Go all the way, and
stretch the envelope with your right brain too, by weaving T'ai Chi and
Qigong into your life. You will be forever glad you did, and so will
everyone you work with.

^{Man can achieve the highest of human possibilities only through the fullest
exploitation of the vast potentials of his mind and this knowledge only can help
him to lead a purposeful, triumphant life. It is highly unfortunate that the
discipline of psychology, which is of greatest interest and importance to the
whole of mankind, is still in the rudimentary stage of development and that
many-sided faculties of the human mind such as creativity, artistry,
originality, high thinking, emotional stability, will-power, memory etc, remain
poorly understood and outside our conscious control.}

^{Among all the countries in the world, only India has devoted maximum
attention to the exercise of control over senses and mind through the system of
Yoga propounded by its ancient seers. In fact, their knowledge of the
functioning of human mind seems to have been far more complete and comprehensive
than what is known to even the very best among the modern Western psychologists.
The ancients knew that human nature at its worst can be bestial and demonic and
at its best can be noble and divine. Mind is responsible both for man�s
bondage and liberation. The remnants of the evolutionary animal past remain in
the human sub-conscious as Vasanas, or impressions and unless these
predispositions of the mind are gotten rid of totally through the practice of
Yoga, man maight continue his animal past in the human present, to his own
detriment. Self-improvement and personality development to achieve the highest
of human possibilities can, therefore, be possible only through the eradication
of the animal instincts and lower tendencies by the adoption of the Yogic
discipline.}

^{Human memory is the repository of all the past learning experiences
both good and bad, but conscious mind can gain access to only a limited number
of thoughts - and that too only one at a time. Intellect is the discriminating
faculty of the mind and will is guided more by feelings than rational thinking.
Free will accepts pleasure and freedom and rejects pain and discipline. Mind can
be scattered and dissipated with conflicting thoughts or can be collected and
concentrated on one single objective and goal. In verse 41 of Chapter II of the
Gita, the Lord says that the firm and resolute have only one single aim in life
whereas in the irresolute one the thoughts are many and divisive. In verse 15 of
Chapter V, the Lord declares that consciousness is enveloped by the past
habitual tendencies and because of this dark Cloud of Unknowing, beings get
deluded. In the next verse He adds that to those whose ignorance (in the shape
of past impressions -Vasanas) is destroyed by the knowledge of the Truth about
Self, their intuitive knowledge of the Supreme Self manifests itself as bright
as the Sun.}

^{Amongst all the species, only man has moral awareness and spiritual
consciousness and he can alone evolve and progress psychically to reach the peak
of moral purity and spiritual perfection. Man should preoccupy itself with a
single profound objective and highest ideal and use the will power to attain
that ideal and achieve the peak of peace, happiness and fulfillment. Only the
achievement of this laudable objective can make life worthwhile and existence
purposeful. Emotional problems cannot be tackled intellectually by experts and
specialists who themselves do not have any clear idea of the meaning and purpose
of their own lives. Unless man knows how to control his mind through Yoga to
direct it purposefully to attain the highest goal of liberation, he cannot
exploit to the full extent the vast potentials of consciousness.}