healthbriefs
WormWood
World Tai Chi & Qigong Day
Fights CanCer
O
n April 25, World Tai Chi & Qigong Day
researchers at the univer-
exhibitions and teach-ins in hundreds
of cities in 65 nations on six continents will
sity of washington have dis-
unfold, as people gracefully move into and covered that a compound
glide through sequences of poses, practicing
derived from the sweet
the age-old Chinese exercises of qigong and
Tai chi. Qigong means cultivating one’s vital
wormwood plant (Artemisia
life force energy (qi) over time. As a practice,
annua L), an ancient herb
it combines movement, self-massage, medita-
tion and breathing. Tai chi is the most well-
used in chinese medicine
known and popular moving form of qigong; it and in Asian salad dishes,
is essentially meditation in motion.
is more than 1,200 times
Reported benefits of Tai chi include improved
posture, balance and flexibility, muscle
more specific in killing
strength and definition, energy, stamina and
certain kinds of cancer cells
agility, all while reducing stress and promot-
ing a general sense of well-being. Since the
than currently available
American Heart Association reported on Tai
drugs. the finding heralds
chi’s effect of lowering blood pressure in older adults a decade ago, supporting
science has been emanating from the Mayo Clinic, National Institutes of Health
the possibility of a more ef-
and American Cancer Society. Extensive medical studies conducted in China fective chemotherapy drug
underscore qigong’s ability to ease chronic problems such as hypertension, al-
with minimal side effects.
lergies and asthma, and to improve cardiovascular health.
Roger Jahnke, doctor of Oriental medicine, author of The Healer Within and
director and chief instructor of the Institute of Integral Qigong and Tai chi, says,
Source: University of
“When you cultivate balance and harmony within yourself, or in the world—
Washington,
that is Tai chi. When you work and play with the essence and energy of life,
2008
nature and the Universe for healing, clarity and inner peace—that is qigong.”
For more information visit WorldTaiChiDay.com.
sleeping on it Helps us learn
S
leep helps the human mind learn complicated skills and recover learning
we thought we had forgotten from the previous day, concludes a new study
by the University of Chicago. Howard Nusbaum, professor of psychology at
Conquering
the university, explains that “Sleep consolidates learning by restoring what
Cravings
was lost over the course of a day and by protecting what was learned against
Cravings for sweets can thwart any
subsequent loss.”
diet, but new research suggests that
Researchers tested their theory by asking 200 college students
we can get cravings under control
to learn a new video game containing a rich, multisen-
by taking a short, brisk walk. Walk-
sory virtual environment, in which players had
ing, like any other exercise, has been
to use both hands to deal with continu-
shown helpful to people trying to
ally changing visual and auditory
manage dependencies like
signals. The volunteers, most of
alcohol and nicotine,
whom had no previous gam-
and the same seems to
ing experience, were divided
hold true for food
into three groups, each trained
cravings.
and tested at different times of
the day. The groups that were
Source:
allowed to get a good night’s
University of
sleep before being tested again
Exeter, 2008
the next morning achieved the highest performance scores.
10 Phoenix
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