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Relaxation
The Taoist Way

JACK WILLIAMS COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

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he body, relieved of the de-
mands of depleting exer-
cise, begins to gently dance
with the mind. Blood flows
freely, lubricating the inner or-
gans. Deep, concentrated breaths
crescendo in a chorus of sighs.
Welcome to the qi gong show:
a form of ancient Chinese exer-
cise in which posture, breathing,
visualization and contemplation
are on equal footing with chore-
ography.
It's time out for tension. Sweat
for the soul.
"I think of it as a hormone sup-
plement, a stress reducer, an
anti-aging pill with no side ef-
fects," says Rosanne Shensa, an
80-year-old qi (pronounced chi)
gong instructor.
Qi gong — a Chinese word for
Taoist exercises that balance and
strengthen the flow of energy
that connects body, mind and
spirit — is equally accessible to
the frail and the fit.
Shensa's classes attract peo-
ple from 20 to 90. The discipline
is less strenuous than tai chi, a
more vigorous product of qi gong
that emphasizes balance and
strength.
As a woman who has recov-
ered from two heart attacks, a
broken hip and a broken wrist
within the last few years, Shen-
sa isn't about to embrace any-
thing overly strenuous.
So she walks a couple of miles
(down from five in her 70s) and
practices yoga and qi gong daily.
Five years ago, she started teach-
ing it in San Diego.
"You're never stiff, aching or
hurt after qi gong," says Shensa,
who taught yoga before two trips
to China familiarized her with qi
gong.
"You learn to bend properly,
without locking your knees," she
says. "You let your breathing be
natural, going through the steps
of breathing with Chinese music
in the background."
Shensa's classes range from 1
to 2 hours, often including in-
struction in acupressure — a
form of self-massage geared to
points in the body targeted by
acupuncture.
"Qi gong is used in hospitals in
China," she says. "I stayed at a
rehab hospital and received
training from doctors there. In
China, research has shown that
cancer patients who practice qi
gong need much less chemother-
apy and have a greater rate of
cure.
`The explanation often used is
that by relaxing the body and
regulating your breathing, you
arouse endorphins (brain chem-

icals that have a pain-relieving
effect)."
While tai chi has been credit-
ed with similar results, the pre-
dominantly senior population
that qi gong addresses is often
unable to retain the balance and
hold the requisite poses.
"You can get too tense trying
to do something so exactly as tai
chi," Shensa says. "With qi gong,
you just kind of flow through it."
Shensa has a master's degree
in vocational rehabilitation coun-
seling from San Diego State Uni-
versity. She taught school, from
elementary to high school, in her
native Ohio. She worked two
years for the Peace Corps in Ja-
maica after the 1978 death of her
husband, a Harvard-educated
economist.
And while working at smok-
ing-cessation workshops,she cre-
ated a relaxation tape to help
smokers quit.
These days, her focus is on
staying pain-free and energetic.
"One of the most common
phrases older people hear from
doctors," she says, "is, 'Well, what
do you expect at your
age? " Shensa's favorite retort:
"A 90-year-old man with an
aching right knee went to a doc-
tor. 'What do you expect at your
age, and with rheumatism?' " the
doctor asked.
The man replied, Doc, my left
knee (the good one) is also 90
years old."
Armed with an attitude and
gentle exercise regimen, Shensa
enters her eighth decade with re-
solve.
"My peers and I don't care how
long we live," she says, 'just how
slow we die."

Chromium
Questioned

Unable to find enough scien-
tific evidence to buttress the
enticing claims of chromium pi-
colinate as a fat-burning tool, the
Federal Trade Commission is
taking a hard line.
In November, the FTC forced
three leading marketers of the
supplement to refrain from
claims that the pills promote
such changes as weight loss, fat
burning, muscle building, cho-
lesterol lowering and the pre-
vention of diabetes. The heavily
marketed supplements, de-
signed to address a widespread
shortage in dietary chromium,
have ample studies to support
their efficacy, but not FTC
specifications. 0

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