Anyone out there know of a treatment or even cure for Asthma?

[~jK~]

[Phoenix]

Hello there Tao Bums,

 

Would like to pick your brains on this one - I have had Asthma ever since i can remember, its well controlled with drugs & does not interfere with my life too much.

 

Has anyone heard of a treatment or even cure for the condition?

 

Would love to hear anyones thoughts on it & even what the condition is - from a Taoist point of view.

 

Thanks

Dietary changes may help. Try cutting out dairy and taking fish oil or algal oil in medium high dosages. A vitamin D supplement might also help, especially if you don't get enough sun. You might also test different foods to see if anything exacerbates your condition, and if it does, remove it from your diet or cut way back.

[Moonbar]

Hey Pheonix thanks for the advice,

 

I do take Omega 3 fish oil supplement & find it very good hadnt connected it with Asthma though.

 

& i do live in the UK so a lack of sunlight could definately be a contributing factor

 

Thankyou

[z00se]

I feel, GOLDISHEAVY, as per usual has the best overview of things. But i also feel it is unusable to the normal person. I understand what he says is so right and correct but using his advice i can't cure any of my problems. He is too far advanced and his suggestions are too diffuicult for the normal person to reap any benefits although he has some excellent suggestions - none of which i could think of to suggest myself. I suggest keep in mind his thoughts and ideas as you continue on your path and each step of the way you will realise more and more merits in his suggestions. The mind is mysterious and out your rational thinking ways. What he suggests is not an instant fix (although it could be) but it will happen in the future if you follow his ideas. The physical is slow to to change so give it chance. Continued, extended persistance is required to change what you think is impossible!

 

Goldisheavy is ulimately wise in many many things.

[Moonbar]

Thankyou Rainbow_Vein I will try the Imagery CD sounds interesting... & a little off topic... whilst reading your post I felt a very strong comforting energy - you have a good vibe

 

Zoose yes i understand Goldisheavy is a very learned chap i always read his posts - thankyou for your advice.

 

Onward & upward

[Phoenix]

 

& i do live in the UK so a lack of sunlight could definately be a contributing factor

 

Just FYI, vitamin D intake recommendations have historically been on the low side. Here are some newer recommendations:

 

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/deficiency/am-i-vitamin-d-deficient.shtml

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

 

Oh, yeah, Karen is right, there is no such thing as asthma disease, just a bunch of symptoms that doctors lumped together under a name so they can sell chemicals for the rest of your life as "treatments".

 

 

Uninformed opinion.

 

 

I also second the suggestion for the Buteyko method. It works, and it's what you are looking for.

Edited February 13, 2010 by TheSongsofDistantEarth

[.broken.]

Just wanted to give kudos to JK in particular for mentioning the benefit of raw foods and their ability to allow the mind/body to heal. Further kudos to those who mentioned other dietary healing methods. Watch Food Matters and Food, Inc. for further education on this matter.

 

Moonbar, if you're in the UK and fancy a trip to London for a healing session then I am confident that my teacher can heal you. Drop me a message if you're interested.

 

Peace,

James

[Moonbar]

Hello James thankyou for posting

 

Yes of course definately interested, tried sending you a PM , hopefully it made it through.

 

Bill.

[MKQ]

[Mal]

[devoid]

Hi Moonbar,

 

I was just about to tell you last night what I have started doing as daily practise which got me almost asthma free, when I suddenly had a case of asthma on my own after walking the dog.

 

Here's what I did of long run changes within the last year:

I practice Xingyiquan (Sun Lutang style) 5 elements several times a week and additionally I may practise some of the 12 animal forms that go with it on and off. I made some dietary changes to start loosing weight (modestly, but consistently). The 5 element exercises helps me balance things out - by doing them regularly (and only based on repeated practice) it's like resetting my system - I use it against many things: not feeling well, feeling beat, jetlag and allergies - both preventively as well as for treatment.

 

Before proceeding with explaining my experience, I find it prudent to say that my asthma was never so bad that I would seize breathing - I mention this only to give you an impression about the basics of this experience and to let you know that I don't know if I would be able to keep my cool if there was ever a risk of loosing conciousness as may be the case with some asthmatics.

 

Yesterday evening (Thursday) I had not trained since Tuesday night. After a huge rainstorm the night before (Wednesday) everything was blooming and pollinating like crazy in the summer heat and by the time I got home my nose and eyes were itching and running and I kept sneezing. As I settled down on the couch my bronchi's started swelling and test-pushing air out of the lungs confirmed that asthma was starting based on the rattling sound and the constricted feeling of my air pipe closing in. Over the next 45 minutes the situation deteriorated till a point where I thought to myself that few years ago, I wouldn't have been able to sleep the night for more than a few hours maximum before waking up with complete asthma unless if I would go immediately to the medicine cupboard and get my prescription spray.

 

Instead of getting my medicine, I did the following:

• Abdominal Breathing Exercises
  
• The metal element (pi quan / splitting fist) of Xingyiquan
  
• The Tai Bird Form (Tai Xing) of Xingyiquan
  
• More Abdominal Breating
  

 

When using abdominal breathing against asthma, I am particularly mindful of trying to breathe slowly and controlled by neither pushing nor pulling in air with the lungs, but simply letting it flow by controlling my abdomen. A point which I consider particularly important for me when using this in my case of asthma, is to completely exhale (and let the rest of the air run out of the lungs, instead of keeping them half full as often tends to be the case for me when having asthma). I did this for around 20 breaths or so.

 

I then proceeded to practising Xingyiquan Pi Quan (the metal / splitting fist) which is the element of the lungs according to Taoist and Xingyiquan theory. Instead of training for speed, I would train slowly, but with full intent and force while making sure to push my last breath of air out forcefully with the intent of lowering excess qi to the dantian (in Xingyiquan we use reverse abdominal breathing, contrary to what I described above). I practiced about 2 sets of this, back an forth - probably 12-13 fists and 4 turns in total)

 

Next, I practised the Tai Bird form of Xingyiquan which according to Sun Lutang has the properties of being helpful to the liver (another ailment of mine) and the lungs. Same princple with the breating as in Pi Quan. I practised this set back and forth just once, probably 8-9 fists and two turns.

 

Next, I continued with another round of 20 or so breaths of conventional abdominal breathing. as also described above.

 

By now, I still had asthma, but felt that it was certainly not advancing further. 20 minutes later, I went to bed and did another round of abdominal breathing (again making sure to exhale absolutely fully on each round). By now, my asthma was 80% gone. This morning I woke up and my wife noted that I hadn't snored (which I always do when being troubled by asthma and allergies in my sleep).

 

Thus, with this experience I hope to have helped encourage you to consider working on:

1. Abdominal breathing (as others have suggested, buy a book and practice it - you can learn it well within few weeks to a month if you put your mind to it.

2. Internal Martial Arts (IMA) - I described what I could use from my system above - another post suggested similar approaches based on taiji - all in all, I am sure it doesn't really matter which system, as long as you practice it diligently - in order to ensure that IMA works for you rather than to your detriment, it is however important to find an able master - consider looking up the yellow pages or ask around for kung fu schools specializing in IMA in your local community. Please note however, that this part can not be learned over night - so prepare to study hard for at least 3-6 months before deciding to drop it. (If you decide this may be something for you, that is)

[ShaktiMama]

Asthma Qigong by Ted J. Cibik, a medical qigong doctor. He cured his own asthma. I met the guy. He knows his stuff.

Ted's site

 

For symptomatic relief there is technique you can use to loosen a tight rib cage so you can breathe easier. Even people who don't have problems with asthma can feel their intercostal muscles loosening when they do this.

 

Find your sternum.

 

Lay two fingers, sword and fire fingers, gently on top of the skin above the sternum. just slightly touching.

Take a deep breath ( i know this is hard during an attack but any little bit you can do helps.)

As you take the breath, move the skin across the sternum with your fingers, towards the left side of your chest. Or if you are using your left hand towards the right side of your chest. You are just moving the skin, gently, on top of the fascia.

When you exhale, let the skin return back to it's original position.

 

Do this two times. In about 1 minute you should start to feel some relief.

 

It works so well most people think you are a magician. It is neuro vascular point that helps you relax the muscles of the rib cage.