Qigong Classes Jan 15 - 21, 2024
What’s Joint Integrity?
You may have heard this term, perhaps in a doctor’s office. It refers to the stability and soundness of a joint. As a student of human movement, I appreciate how the term encompasses so much more than just strength. Joint integrity, when applied to the body, implies a balance of strength, range of motion, and function. You may think you need to stretch more, but it’s possible what you really need to do to bring comfort and function back to your body, is to work on building joint strength and integrity.
How does a joint lose integrity? Too much physical stress will do it, but so will too little, as our joints require a certain amount of “good stress” (reasonably challenging movement) to maintain strength in their connective tissues. The healing challenge of mindful, balanced, and consistent exercise brings blood flow and lubricating, nourishing synovial fluid to the joints, contributing to their strength and integrity, and helping to relieve pain and inflammation.
You can guess where I’m going with this: Qigong is all about maintaining joint integrity. “Silk reeling” encourages circulation and good range of motion, and exercises such as “Lunge and Flow”, “Swimming Dragon”, “Turtle”, and so many more safely challenge and strengthen the joints and their connective tissues. On a deeper level, the mindful movements of Qigong help us learn to identify the delicate line where our strength is, perhaps, challenged too much. At that point we learn to pull back, modify, or skip a movement altogether. Wholeness. One-ness. Integrity. It’s all about balance.
Schedule Notes:
Next FREE live/in-person/online Qigong at Millbrook Library is Friday, January 19, 10-11 am. Please register at Millbrooklibrary.org to receive the link to participate on Zoom.
World Dance Jam class, live and in- person, begins Saturday, January 20, 3 pm, Core Collective Studio at 34 Front Street, Millbrook, NY. I don’t want to bombard you with emails, so check your in-box for the announcement with all details, sent out Sunday p.m. I’d LOVE to have you there! In person is best, but we’re going to make it available on Zoom as well. Of course, please contact me with any questions.
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