Managing Depression with Qigong

Feeling blue most of the time? Can't sleep? Taking lithium? Do you find plenty of time to take Western medicines to numb the pain but make no time to understand or work on and remove the causes of what's ailing you? ***

Then maybe you should also make a little quality time for some non-religious Eastern holistic approaches to health. Do not, however, begin tai chi, meditation, Qigong (Chi Kung) or other non-traditional roads to health without the advice of your family doctor or specialist. For "Western medicine has the best technology and strategies for ACUTE care" (Introduction). At a minimum, please, at least open and skim through the pages of Dr Frances Gaik's new (2009) book MANAGING DEPRESSION WITH QIGONG. ***

Dr (of Clinical Psychology) Gaik tells us that she has written this book "as if you were sitting in my office and we were talking about your problem and how to solve it, as I do with many of my own patients. I am going to walk you through the information and help you make change happen" (Introduction). And by golly, she does! ***

Dr Gaik explains Qigong, shows how quickly -- in some forms within minutes -- it can impact depression, the blues, sleeplessness and other bodily responses to modern stress. Her bibliography (References) tempts both specialist and non-specialist readers and ranges over material as late as 2008. Frances Gaik's ample 11-page Glossary is a fascinating read from A to Z: from Acupressure, that is, through Biofeedback, Breathing Exercises, Hypnosis, Reiki, Tai Chi, Transcendental Meditation, Yin and Yang all the way through to Yoga. There are 28 pages of illustrated Qigong exercises. ***

MANAGING DEPRESSION WITH QIGONG is neither the first nor the last word about supplementary treatments of depression and related ailments through alternative, holistic Eastern approaches, especially through Qigong (Chi Kung). But it is a darn good, readable, informative, practical up-to-date word. -OOO-