Bill Douglas, foreground, leads the very first
World Tai Chi & Qigong Day celebration in Kansas City

How Tai Chi & Qigong Change the World

by Bill Douglas / World Tai Chi & Qigong Association

In major corporations, hospitals, schools, universities, and even maximum security prisons a soothing and silent act is transforming the world. Tai Chi and Qigong are increasingly being used worldwide to increase productivity, improve health, enhance learning, and reduce violence and drug use. The side benefit is the spiritualization of humanity.

What practitioners soon realize is that when they begin using Tai Chi and Qigong to "do better in their career," "lower their high blood pressure," "reduce their anxiety and depression," "improve their ability to learn," or to "let go of violent or abusive life patterns," they by the nature of the process also begin to become more spiritually conscious.

Increasingly millions worldwide are learning that their abundance, health, ability to learn, and life style choices are dependent upon the clarity with which they see the world. Or in other words -- their spiritual awareness. The Chinese have long found in their medical research that the mind, body, spirit, and emotions are all inextricably entertwined. Tai Chi & Qigong are highly developed mind/body sciences that bring one's internal awareness to extraordinary levels. We begin to "get to know ourselves" on deeper and deeper levels.

Today society is being forced to get to know itself at deeper and deeper levels because of a growing national and world health challenge that seems like a growing crisis until we look deeper. The Chinese character for "crisis" is made up of the two characters "danger" and "opportunity." This means that within any danger is enfolded an opportunity for extraordinary growth. The rising popularity of Tai Chi & Qigong are tied to a growing danger. You see, hundreds of millions worldwide are being drawn to mind/body tools like Tai Chi & Qigong for one increasingly intense reason -- STRESS. Stress is epidemic worldwide, and the UN World Health Organization has experessed concern about growing levels of depression worldwide due to the stress caused by the disorientation of modern change.

Psychological research indicates that "even good change" can be stressful. And change is inherently woven into the very fabric of modern life. In fact, the information and technological revolutions are exponentially speeding up the pace of modern change to bone jarring levels leaving most of us reeling. Bill Joy, Chief Scientist for Sun Microsystems explains that the speed of change is now doubling "exponentially" every 18 months. Others believe it is even faster than that. Change is good, but humanit'ys "inability to adapt" to this level of change is leaving our health and outlook both limited and damaged. Chronic stress can inhibit cognitive skills and even shrink parts of the brain. The majority of illness is caused by chronic stress, and the 6 leading causes of death are stress related. Also, our environmental and social collective decisions can be skewed when made under chronic stress.

So, now moving on to the "opportunity," this danger is bringing to the fore. The world is now being exposed to practices that were for centuries the domain of only monks and priests who'd put themselves in a life of catharsis and spiritual exploration. Corporate executives, professional athletes, students, teachers, police and firemen, and even prisoners in prisons, are now beginning to explore their inner being as they learn to use Tai Chi and Qigong for "stress management" purposes. The possibilities are extraordinary as humankind enjoys the centering and healing qualities of these tools, which may begin to foster healing decisions in corporate boardrooms, or less chaos in society as a whole. Every decision we make may be positively influenced in profound ways by clarifying our consciousness through tools we are learning for "other" reasons.

Tai Chi & Qigong are like lubricants that offer us tools to become more fluid and adabtable in these modern times. The physical and mental "loosening" exercises they feature, also make us more flexible in all aspects of our lives. So, it is no surprise that Tai Chi and Qigong organizations are at the cutting edge of using the emerging technology of the day to further their goals of individual and social health and healing. An organization called World Tai Chi & Qigong Association now uses the power of the internet to literally heal the world, by providing medical and scientific research information on the benefits of Tai Chi & Qigong to government, business, health care, and education worldwide. However, their healing message goes beyond physical health healing to promoting healthy international links through many cultures and countries. They have also created what has become an unprecedented example of global cooperation for world health, called World Tai Chi & Qigong Day. On the Saturday of the week of United Nations World Health Day, World Tai Chi & Qigong Day begins in Australian cities, where mass Tai Chi and/or Qigong exhibitions unfold in public squares and parks. This soothing event then expands across the planet time-zone-by-time-zone across Chinese, Russian, Japanese, African, European, North South American cities, and finally ending with the events in Hawaii.

These events have been covered by CNN, Fox News, The New York Times, The South China Morning Post, German Int'l Radio, Israeli TV, Xinhua, Agence France Presse, and hundreds of media worldwide. PBS stations and Canadian National TV have run Qigong/Tai Chi documentaries in conjunction with this extraordinary annual event. China has declared May to be Official Taiji (Tai Chi) Month for the first time in history, many believe because of the efforts of the World Tai Chi & Qigong Association which had its beginnings in Kansas City 4 years ago. This year the global World Tai Chi & Qigong Day is expected to be in over 80 countries, and many like the event in Rome, Italy expect their events to be as much as 4 times larger than last years. Los Angeles is expecting 2,000 to do Tai Chi together in downtown Los Angels, nearly twice last years numbers.

If you would like more information on Tai Chi & Qigong, you may visit http://www.worldtaichiqigongassn.org or www.worldtaichiday.org, where you may also experience a free twenty minute Sitting Qigong: Relaxation Therapy streaming video, that is entitled a "Daily Dose of Bliss."

Bill Douglas is the Founder and International Director of World Tai Chi & Qigong Association. You can contact him through the websites, or by emailing wtcqd2000@aol.com, or by phone at 913-648-2256. He is also the author of The Miracle of Stress, and The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi & Qigong.


RETURN TO OMPLACE HOME