THE art of "Qigong" is embedded deep in China's history and is now practised throughout the world and across many cultures.
Primarily, Qigong is a Chinese philosophy and practice of aligning breath, physical activity and awareness in a bid to promote mental and physical health.
In Inverness, Gordon Faulkner teaches Qigong at the Maggie's Centre, which is located in the grounds of Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, to try to help cancer patients, their family and carers to cope and manage the stress triggered by a diagnosis.
Gordon (59), who won the bronze award for his recently published book Managing Stress with Qigong in the health and fitness category of the Living Now Book Awards, said: "There is little more stressful in life than finding out you have cancer."
Gordon, who lives in Druid Temple Road in Inverness with his wife Maria, said: "There are so many stress management courses out there which many employers spend billions of pounds sending their employees on trying to combat stress-related problems which often lead to lengthy periods of time off work."
But he explained he sees a big flaw in many "stress management courses".
He said: "My argument is, if there is so many stress courses out there, which thousands of people are taking part in, why do statistics show that stress levels are rising year on year? I believe the approach to stress can't be for people to be told to sit down and have a cup of tea, it does nobody any good.
"People are making billions of pounds running these courses which are nothing more than sitting on a chair and pulling a ball of elastic bands or ticking boxes.
"The practice of Qigong is a practical way to prevent and deal with stress using different balancing, stretching and breathing techniques. Each movement has a specific purpose. People do a 10-minute exercise and the stress is gone. You can always see the change in people."
Gordon explained people who are coming to the Maggie's Centre are often dealing with stress on an accelerated level.
He said: "People are dealing with the fact that they have cancer and the treatments that go with it. It's important for people to deal with their mental well-being as well the physical well being.
"The people who come to the Maggie's Centre and have been taking the classes tell me they notice a real difference afterwards."
Qigong has been available to users of the centre for the past three years.
Gordon said: "I was contacted by someone in the Maggie's Centre and I was glad I was. To see the difference in people and results is great.
"Managing stress with the use of Qigong is a practical approach. For example, I was once in an airport and my bag had been stolen - it had my laptop, phone, you name it, in it. But I remained calm and went to the police station to report it and I was asked why I was so cool about it and I simply replied 'That's just what I do'.
"Qigong is a lifestyle approach. People can't always rely on their doctor to make them feel better or fix things all the time, people must also do something for themselves."
Former RAF serviceman Gordon has studied Chinese philosophy and martial arts for most of his life and is the principal instructor of the Chanquanshu School of Daoist Arts, a school that teaches yangsheng practices that cover martial, medical and meditational arts.
He spent many years researching and practising Qigong before he published his book.
He said: "The book is very useful because it explains exactly what each movement is for. I believe it's the first of it's kind.
"I was told to practise Qigong in a way that would help a problem that affected people where I live. Stress affects everyone and I knew this. I found that teaching in the Maggie's Centre was very beneficial to people. "
For more information, log onto www.quanshu.co.uk or call Gordon on 01463 321869.
Qigong session proved to be very relaxing
BEING a journalist, I would class my job on some days as pretty darn stressful, writes Jenna MacCulloch. Controversy comes with the role. On a good day it's exciting, on a bad day I've almost been tearing my hair out.
So when I was offered the chance to try out a class with a man who has recently published a book on stress management, I jumped at the chance.
I was also very interested in learning about how the philosophy and practice of Qigong was used by cancer patients and their carers, family and friends. Cancer has touched my family and unfortunately most likely will affect me or someone I know in the future.
I believe a healthy mental state of mind does make a difference to physical wellbeing and I am always interested in learning new thought processes and ways of thinking.
The warm and inviting atmosphere of the Maggie's Centre makes for a calming and serene place to take part in Qigong. I was openly welcomed by the staff and volunteers there and can honestly say I felt immediately more relaxed when I was in the building.
But as for Qigong itself? I was keeping an open mind.
We initially did a couple of warm-up exercises before calming oriental tones were played. The class was busy and we did it in what felt like a living room with a big carpet, rugs and plants.
Gordon counts through the movements during the exercises. But it's not like any other exercise class I've taken part in. The counting is slow and calming, the exercises are long and stretched out and my breathing slowed down almost immediately.
For once, I wasn't thinking about the long list of things I had to do that day, go to Tesco, finish an article, make the dinner - the list goes on. I was just focusing on the exercise. To say I was relaxed afterwards would be an understatement, even though it was only 10 minutes.
Afterwards, the 10 of us taking part in the class sat in a circle and listened to Gordon talk. I don't know whether it was his voice or the heat in the room, but I could have napped, which is very unusual for me during the day.
Gordon told us about energy levels, about Ying and Yang and about the dangers of stress attacking your mind. He told us our short-term memory is linked to our kidney energy and our long-term memory is linked to our heart energy.
He said: "As we get older, our kidney energy weakens, which can account for the fact that we can't remember what we did yesterday.
"Our heart energy is higher which is why we can remember clearly what we did perhaps 30 years ago."
His theories were fascinating to me. After the chat, we did the Qigong for around 10 minutes once again. It was very relaxing and I would be interested in doing it again.
'It makes a difference and it really helps'
GERRY Brown (63) goes to the Maggie's Centre in Inverness every Thursday with his wife Brenda. Both take part in Gordon Faulkner's Qigong class every week.
Gerry is battling prostate cancer with treatments at Raigmore Hospital. He is due to finish his treatment at the end of the year.
He said: "The Qigong class is very enjoyable. It's relaxing and once you do it a few times, it gets easier to know the movements. I feel it really does make a difference to my well being. It's important to look after the mind as well as the body."
Gerry told me the biggest benefit he noticed was his coping mechanisms for his "change in temperament" brought on by the cancer treatment.
He said: "Before the treatment I was a very laid back easygoing guy but when I started the treatment I became a bit short with people and angry. I was never like that before, so I decided to do something about it and try the Qigong class. It makes a difference and really helps."
He added: "After the class we all sit in a circle and Gordon tells us a bit about why it works and we all debate it. Sometimes it's very interesting and it's good to sit down and chat with everyone about it."
Centre offers vital support
LINDA Mackay, who is a cancer support specialist nurse at the Maggie's Centre, said it was a place primarily to focus on the wellbeing of the mind.
She said: "To be told you have cancer, no matter what the prognosis is, it's catastrophic. Most people believe they are a healthy person and to be told you have cancer is life-changing.
"Some people go into denial. Sometimes it can be a huge step for people just to walk through the door of the Maggie's Centre, because it's an acceptance that you do have cancer."
The building is in the shape of a human cell, at the point before dividing, Linda explained. It's bright, calming, serene and it feels just like a house.
Linda said: "Some people describe walking in here just like having a shawl put over their shoulders. That's certainly what we want."
A qualified person is always around at the Maggie's Centre, as well as a volunteer. Tea and coffee and biscuits around the kitchen table are in abundance.
Linda said: "We put the world to rights around this table. And the topic isn't always about cancer. We get all the newspapers and we keep up to date with what's happening. And then people can go and do what they want."
Comfy window seat chairs are plentiful and there's a Mac for those who want to keep up to date with emails and the outside world. There's also a huge library full of useful books.
Linda said: "We're hear to talk or to listen to whatever people or their families want to talk about. Or if they just want to come here for 20 minutes and read, that's fine too. Classes such as the Qigong are very important to people here."
For information about the Maggie's Centre log onto www.maggiescentre.org, call (01463) 706306 or email highlands@maggiescentres.org
