My Personal Experience in Learning Sing Ong Tai Chi
I had never really been active in sporting events during my life due to low self confidence and low self esteem. After leaving school and joining the workforce I did start to pursue more individual exercise routines to help me to feel better about whom I was. This mainly included gym work.
I have had many health problems throughout my life. In 1996 I was involved in a motor vehicle accident and then another one a year or so later. I received injuries to my neck, shoulders and chest area on both occasions. I literally could not move for months. My whole upper body had seized up. I have also had lower back pain for many years to varying degrees. My rehabilitation work included gym work, swimming, stretching programmes as well as treatment from physiotherapists, osteopaths, and chiropractors. My chiropractor found scoliosis in my lower spine from routine x-rays.
I then did computer courses following this and continued to have ongoing shoulder and neck problems.
I had always been aware of the benefits of stretching due to my injuries. I tried yoga on and off over the years. About the same time I started to learn Shao Chi Chuan, self defence. I was hoping to make big improvements, but as my health further deteriorated I was unable to carry on. Any progress made quickly disappeared. Years later I tried Pilates. All these things that I was trying very quickly made me aware of the abnormal amount of muscle tightness and very low flexibility through my whole body. This made it very difficult just to do simple tasks as well as trying to hide the many physical symptoms I would have trouble controlling in class. I did not know what these symptoms were, and dreaded the thought of being different in some way and standing out amongst others. This had prevented me in doing further classes.
In 2005 I was diagnosed with severe depression along with Anxiety Disorders, including Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Social Phobia, Agoraphobia with Panic Attacks and elements of Compulsive Obsessive Disorder. I had a wide range of treatment from many professionals from the Anxiety Disorders Unit in Christchurch including breathing techniques, muscle relaxation techniques, massage therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and exposure tasks to name a few. It was such a relief to finally get a diagnosis. This certainly explained many things and made a lot of sense. The constant anxiety, the inability to relax was a huge factor in my muscle tightness and very low flexibility.
In February this year I went along to the Sydenham Branch in Christchurch to find out about joining Sing Ong Tai Chi. After talking to Chief Instructor, Master Chan, I decided to join.
This was a real challenge for me. I was so scared and anxious about putting myself out there even after the great treatment and progress I had made. It took me many months to get comfortable in this environment. I always put myself at the back of the class so as to help prevent anyone notice the shaking in my arms and legs or the inability to do things well. It has been hard at times to distinguish between anxiety and muscle tension or in fact some of both. The whole class would go through the warm-up exercises together, I then had to contend being under closer scrutiny with new people as we were taught how to perform the two sets of exercises away from the main class. These needed to be learnt and graded on before starting to learn the main form.
This has been undoubtedly one of the best things I have ever done. Though progress has been slow, I am making progress. The exercises are designed to loosen up the joints, muscles and tendons. I am noticing lots of changes to my body. I stand straighter, walk more freely, my balance and co-ordination are improving all the time and so is my flexibility. My back pain has almost disappeared. Every area of my body is starting to free up.
The more I do this, my symptoms of anxiety and muscle tension are becoming less and less. I have since put myself up near the front of the class. My confidence and self esteem are getting better day by day. I am also sleeping better. This is a beautiful gentle form of exercise to increase your overall health and well being and I would recommend this style to anyone to learn.
By Grant - 2007
