Rami's Blog

Like the Yin-Yang, Eastern Martial Arts and Western medicine are two halves of a whole. My mission is to preserve the ancient mind-body tools and pass them on to you.

 

Morning Meditation: Nourish Your Organs and Spirit

Nourishing the whole body using the rising sun is an ancient meditation practice. Using this meditation between sunrise and noon will strengthen and upgrade your energetic and immune systems, and at the same time nourish your internal organs, strength the core, and awaken your spirit.

The practice involves facing east and directing your Third Eye area toward the rising sun, leading the sun's energy in through the Spiritual Valley and down the center of the body, all the way down to your lower energy center. This meditation can be done standing or sitting, indoors or outdoors.

Meditation Practice During Sunrise

Find a spot where the sun will shine about 10 minutes before sunrise, standing or sitting down on a firm chair. Lengthen the spine as though the top of your head was connected to the heavens by a string and create space for your internal organs.

Have your feet solidly on the ground to make a strong connection to the ground and reduce the stress on your joints. Visualize the connection of your energy with the earth energy coming up from the ground.

Place your hands one on top of the other below your belly button right in front of your lower energy center. Remember to wrap yourself with a blanket or coat on cold days to keep the energy inside the body and prevent its dispersal into the air as extra heat.

Breath deeply through the nose, feeling the energy travel in through your forehead, down through your chest and stomach and into your lower abdomen. When you breath out, visualize the negative energy leaving your body through the breath.

Repeat this for as long as you are comfortable, paying attention to the warmth that spreads through your body. Visualize the warmth spreading all through your organs, even into your extremities all the way to the tips of the toes and fingers.

And that's it!

Happy Stretching!

Tai Chi Tips for Sports: Upper Body Injury Prevention

Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of my Tai Chi Tips for Sports series!

Whether you are a top tier athlete, or just a weekend warrior, short-duration stretches are not adequate for injury prevention. In sports like baseball and tennis, one of the most common types of injuries are shoulder injuries, due to the stress caused by swinging a racket or bat, or throwing a ball with all your might.

To keep muscles loose and elastic, I developed this stretch based on the Tai Chi forms "Close Tai Chi" and "Return to the Mountains" (see the video).

I know you don't have a wall like the Green Monster to stretch with, but any smooth, tall wall will do! Happy Stretching!

Tai Chi Tips for Sports: Leg Strength and Balance

Welcome back mind-body students! If you missed last weeks episode of Tai Chi Tips for Sports about improving lower back rotation, you can check that out here.

This week, we talk about the Up and Down strengthening exercise as it relates to sports training and conditioning. You also get to find out the specific Tai Chi form inspiration for the Up and Down move. It's called "Pick Up the Needle from the Sea Bottom."

Hope you enjoy! Happy Stretching! 

Tai Chi Tips for Sports: Improve Rotation in the Lower Back

Happy New Year everyone! Good to have you back.

We are starting this year with some older videos of mine that are very important at this time of year: Tai Chi Tips for Sports.

Many of the most popular sports will begin their pre-season training and conditioning in the next couple months. Rebuilding strength is good, but maximizing your flexibility is much more important for avoiding injury. All too often I hear about athletes who seem totally fit before the season starts, and then in their first game, BOOM, they tear a ligament, or twist an ankle, slip a disc, or something else.

This happens because they are not fully prepared to perform at 100%, which is what their events require. In the coming weeks, I'll be showing you three of the most important exercises an athlete can do to achieve peak performance and avoid injury during their season.

And of course, this is not just for athletes! Maybe you only golf on weekends, or occasionally play a pick-up game of basketball, or perhaps you just work on your feet all day. These techniques are for you too!

This week, the static stretch for "Ward Off," also called the "Chair Twist." Enjoy!

Looking Back at 2016 on the Blog

Here we are! The end of 2016. Hard to believe another year has gone by on the blog. We've covered a lot this year, so let's take a quick look back!


Blog Series Highlights

The Guide to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). We began the year with a look at 'SAD,' a disorder that affects millions of people, causing depression-like symptoms during the winter months. We showed you three exercises you could do to manage the major symptoms of SAD and experience a higher quality of life during the colder, darker months of the year. Check out the workout: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

The Series on Integrative Pain Management. In this six part series from late summer, we gave you a summary of the mind-body pain management strategies and research I contributed to this book. This is a great series for people looking to understand the scientific theories and evidence behind mind-body healing, as well as some of the philosophical underpinnings of Tai Chi and Qi Gong.

Achieving Physical and Mental Balance Workout Series. Next, we created the series on achieving both physical and mental balance. This workout and post series will give you the tools needed to achieve a calmer mind and reduce your risk of accidental falls and trips. It also added some advanced techniques for people who are younger and unlikely to have harmful falls.

Mind-Body Workout for People Age 70+. And how can we forget the series we just finished? This, combined with the Balance series, makes a very well-rounded mind-body course for elderly students. And best of all, it is totally free! Just bookmark these pages and reference them at any time. (And also remember, if you are an elderly student looking to do these exercises, ask your doctor and have a younger person there to help you!)


Udemy Courses

It's that time of year that people make resolutions to exercise more and treat their body and mind better. If you are someone who has difficulty keeping those resolutions for more than a few weeks, a great way to stick to them is to use one of my Udemy courses to easily divide up the exercises you should do each day. No planning needed, just log-on, click play, watch the learn video, and then practice along with me in the practice video. You only need to do one exercise a day to start a good habit.

I have all kinds of courses available, including:

It's never too late to sign up for a course and start changing your day-to-day life. Give it a try!


More Classes and Workshops

We've also had some great classes and workshops in 2016, including last week at the Tufts Women in Medicine and Sciences Committee special Week of Wellness celebration on December 8th! If you didn't make it to one of my events in 2016, be sure to keep an ear open for events in 2017.


Taking a Break

Just like we did last year, we'll be taking a break on the blog from now until January 13th, when we'll be back with more mind-body techniques, tai chi, qi gong, and meditation tips, tricks, and discussions.

Until then, Happy Holidays! And as always, Happy Stretching!

Exclusive Videos Available for Free on Cancer Wellness TV

Welcome back mind-body students!

This week's blog is a reminder to all of our subscribers, especially the newer subscribers, about the other website that you can find my free content on: Cancer Wellness TV.

I helped to co-found Cancer Wellness TV as a one-stop shop for all cancer complementary treatments and lifestyle choices for patients and survivors. This includes mind-body exercises and training, nutritional information and recipes, and support therapies like writing therapy and support groups. Best of all, it is all free. Cancer Wellness TV is funded entirely by volunteer subscriptions and contributions.

If you or someone you know has been touched by cancer, please share this one-of-a-kind resource with them. Our goal is to get these resources into the hands of every patient and every survivor.

But if you are simply a mind-body student looking for more tai chi and qi gong instruction, signing up on Cancer Wellness TV is still valuable! There are many videos I have made exclusively for Cancer Wellness TV, including:

If you want to get access to these videos, all you have to do is make a quick account on Cancer Wellness TV. The free account grants you access to everything on the entire website, no exceptions.

Happy Stretching!