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Did you know that in ancient times, in countries like China, the doctor only got
paid if the patient was well? If the patient got sick, the doctor paid the patient! Imagine that today!
That is why eighty-five percent of the contents in the earliest text
book of medicine is all about prevention, the key to sustainable health.
I began intensive training in sustainable health immediately after graduating in medicine, initially
through long, slow, gentle and deep breathing exercises for 1-2 hours per day, every day, until, ten years later, I could
do them 24 hours non stop, rain, hail or shine, at work, at play, at prayer.
Early one morning in 1979, the first year of my hospital internship, I was jogging around
New Farm Park, right next to the Brisbane River. The outward tide was gliding slowly by, shimmering violet-blue.
By the waters' edge, a young couple were 'playing' tai chi, exquisitely slowly, in perfect
synch and harmony, with profoundly graceful softness, like silk.
My life changed right there;
I began the life-long journey of discovering, through practice, study, and meditation, the
well described health benefits of chi kung; roughly translated, it means mastering energy.
Breathing very slowly with correct posture in stillness and in motion,
one develops balance, flexibility, suppleness and strength, an intuitive connectedness to the air, breath, and circulation, the
truth about energy, how each life form connects with each other and the planet to our Creator, who guides us into the
truth and inter-connects all life forms in a fragile weave called nature, and the miracle of life and wholeness.
Health and longevity is stretched by the breath.
After ten years of daily practice, i could maintain it for a whole day, non stop, and learned how
to apply it for good in all kinds of situations.
This helped me understand the quintessence of energy, how it gets out of balance,
and how it can be restored.
Chuang Tzu writes, in a parable titled “Dream and Reality” [1]: “Once upon a time I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither,
to all intents and purposes a butterfly.
I was conscious only of following my fancies (as a butterfly), and was
unconscious of my individuality as a man. Suddenly, I awakened; and there I lay, myself again. I do not know whether I was
then dreaming I was a butterfly or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming that it is a man.”
Sustainable
health and wholeness harnesses balance, flexibility and strength, spirit, soul and body. Like the gift of life itself,
this miracle is worth nurturing and guarding, and require exercise and discipline in the areas of faith,
food, and fitness. Go for it.
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