| ChiLel provides fighting chance |
| Paul Conaty, Atlanta, GA |
While most of us were celebrating the New Year with champagne and party favors, I was in Critical Care at Kennestone Hospital. My blood pressure was 270/180 and my kidneys had failed. I had always been a workout nut and marathoner yet within two months my weight had dropped from 195 to 157 pounds. I was hooked up to various machines unable to move or eat; staring at the ceiling, wondering if I would ever make it out of the hospital alive.
| ChiLel Helps Lupus |
| Karen Wong, Plymouth, MN |
It has become clear that my practice of ChiLel has greatly benefited me. My acupuncturist says my energy has increased and is noticeable in my pulse. My lupus symptoms have decreased; I've gained needed weight; my hair has stopped falling out. Never have I been able to get through a winter without a cold or flu until this year. I feel stronger. My deepest gratitude to you.
Back to Top
|
After a few days of extensive tests, the doctors informed me that they were only able to elevate my kidney function to fifteen percent and that it was only a matter of time before permanent dialysis was the logical outcome of my illness. The doctors closed my file and suggested that I be extra nice to my relatives in the event one of them might be compatible for a kidney transplant. My father came to the hospital and wheeled me out.
I had just made partner at my accounting firm. Yet, instead of enjoying the fruits of my labor in the prime of life, all my hopes and dreams and passions for life were crushed. I spent the next few weeks consuming highbloodpressure medication and eating minuscule portions of tasteless food. My follow up blood work indicated no kidney improvement.
One afternoon, I was desperately hungry and so decided to stop in at a local deli and have a sandwich. Usually I carry the Journal & Constitution with me to read, but somehow that day I forgot to bring the paper. So instead I picked up a free publication and read Luke Chan's article "World's Largest Medicineless Hospital." With basically nothing to lose, I phoned Luke and ordered 101 Miracles along with the accompanying videotape.
Within a month my kidney function had improved to forty percent. My weight and appetite were slowly returning. I was no longer focusing my attention on last will and testaments, but on returning to the gym. The next month was difficult and deceiving because, even though I was increasing my practice time, my symptoms worsened, with chi seeming to have little or no effect. However, I continued to press on with my practice. Those who had recovered from their illnesses had, above all, never given up.
After four months of practice, I am now classified as a medical "other." My kidney function has improved to sixty percent and the dosage of my blood pressure medication has been cut in half. Whenever I walk into the clinic to get a blood test, the nurses and staff personnel start whispering little comments about me. Thank you Master Luke for introducing me to ChiLel. I will continue to work hard until all kidney function is normal.
Back to Top
|
| A Beacon of Hope |
| Judy Poehler, New York City |
I chose to attend the recent workshop on ChiLel at Omega Institute after a long illness resulting from exposure to toxic chemical solvents at my office over five years ago. Among the many debilitating symptoms resulting from this illness were the loss of my voice due to neurological damage, as well as pulmonary and immune system dysfunction resulting in difficulty breathing and blood abnormalities originating in the bone marrow. Over $60,000 vanished into the coffers of allopathic medicine for little more than opinions, and I had begun  to resign myself to the probability of being permanently handicapped when I read Luke's article "The Medicineless Hospital." I sent immediately for 101 Miracles. The poignant stories in this book, as well as the news of an impending workshop at Omega, offered a beacon of hope which was too compelling to resist.
During this workshop we learned and practiced the three basic ChiLel exercises: Lift Chi Up and Pour Chi Down, Three Centers Merge Standing and La Chi, and participated in group healings as well as individual healing work by Luke. My experience with the Three Centers Merge Standing method was so profound that I have been diligently practicing Chi Lel ever since I returned home. I believe that during this practice an energetic rebalancing took place which has shifted my body into a healing dimension in which it will eventually, with regular ChiLel practice and affirmation, be able to stabilize and return to a normal state of harmony, or wellness. The following is a condensed version of notes I wrote immediately after completing the standing method for the first time:
"Standing with my feet angled and as if sitting in the air, I placed my hands together in front of my navel, fingertips touching as if holding a ball of energy. As soon as my fingers came together I felt an electric charge between them, followed by a surge of energy rising up through my body from my feet to the top of my head, as if all the energetic pathways inside my body were being flooded by a warm tidal wave. I began to visualize blue sky expanding into infinity, encircling the globe, and soon felt the energy form the universe moving into my body through my head, feet and centers of my hands. With my inner vision, I suddenly became aware that my physical body was beginning to dissolve, slowly merging with the universal chi field that is the source of all life. Tears which I could not control began to flow down my cheeks from under my closed eyelids, for I had entered a place of perfect stillness, timelessness and tranquillity: an immaterial, transcendent world consisting of the unformed pure essence of life, a place of infinite possibility for healing. My body had become pure energy and all pain and illness had disappeared. When the exercise ended, I felt dazed and ecstatic without fully understanding why. Back in my room, as I was preparing for dinner, I realized in an instant that I was born free of pain and convinced without a doubt that my body had shifted into a healing state in which I would ultimately be able to completely restore my health. The expression, "suddenly, out of the clear blue sky" came to mind on my way to dinner and haunted me for the rest of the weekend!"
After experiencing so many years of pain and loss, it is tempting to dismiss this experience as mere wishful thinking, but I choose to believe that. because it was so powerful, my health will continue to improve as long as I am diligent about practicing; and listening to my body's inner teacher when it reminds me to connect with the ancient qigong healing tradition, the masters, teachers and healers of ChiLel; and to the universal chi field available to each of us for the support of our health, the curing of illness, the enhancement of the quality of our lives and ultimately the health of the universe.
Back to Top
|
| ChiLel Eases Chronic Fatigue Syndrome |
| John Nadzam, Pittsburgh, PA |
In 1992 I was diagnosed with Epstein Barr Virus, a form of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Chronic Fatigue has various symptoms including depression, sleeplessness, digestive problems, poor memory, sore and aching joints, and a never-ending battle with colds, flu and sinus infections. Granted this is not a lifethreatening disease, but it does take a disabling toll on your will to live and your belief that you will ever have the energy, or desire, to do anything more than just exist. The closest analogy that I have for this feeling is that you place your life on "automatic pilot" and just let it go by, because you do not have the will, energy, feeling, or desire to live it.
When I first started practicing ChiLel over a year ago, I thought that it would be easy to learn the simple movements. I had been teaching a Japanese method of qigong for seven years and thought that the 100day gung would be easy to complete. It was not.
During my 100day gung, I had a very difficult time remembering how to do the Lift Chi Up, Pour Chi Down form. I fought with myself constantly through the good days and bad days to do just one more day of ChiLel. On my good days, I enjoyed the practice and felt increased energy. However, on my bad days, I did not use the sixteenminute tape, and instead just hurried through the form as fast as I could. There were quite a few bad days. One very positive event happened when I had completed over eighty days. I woke up at 4:00 a.m. and realized that I had not done my form. My sleeplessness turned out to be an advantage, since I got out of bed and did my form. I was surprised that I did this, and even more surprised that after completing the form I fell back asleep almost immediately.
After I had finished my 100day gung, I stopped doing ChiLel. I was glad it was over, and did not know if I would ever continue my practice. But, after a few days, I wanted to do another 100day gung, which I completed with a much different attitude and much greater level of energy. As I am writing this, I am not sure that I can explain in words exactly what happened. As I look back at that time period, I realize that my healing had been to feel the desire (will/energy/chi) to continue through the good days and bad days as I practiced. And to realize that, even though there may be several bad days in a row, the good days will happen. Something kept me going during the first 100 days, and prompted me to do my second 100plus days. I can only attribute it to the chi that I received, on both the good and the bad days.
 Continuing my practice of ChiLel, I have noticed my energy level steadily increasing. And, when I attended the ChiLel retreat at the Omega Institute in New York, I had my second healing. While Luke was making corrections to my form, my shoulders relaxed, and I had an overwhelming feeling of release. It is easy to describe the physical aspect: I released the tension in my shoulders and my muscles relaxed. However, the emotional aspect is almost beyond words. For the first time in many years, I felt that I had turned off the "automatic pilot." I cannot describe this in words, but only say that there is a feeling of clarity and openness that had been missing, and that has now returned.
I will start teaching my first ChiLel class in a few weeks at the Community College of Allegheny County, in Pittsburgh, and a few weeks later I will start a second class at the Sweetwater Arts Center. I am looking forward to sharing ChiLel, and relating the student's experiences to you
Back to Top
|
Copyright © 1997 Benefactor Press