Healing Combat Trauma

Tooling Up...Low-Key Ways to Cope with Some of PTSD's Challenges

Another observation from the recent retreat, written about earlier, here:

There was somewhat of an attempted mutiny among the younger male OIF/OEF combat veterans that they had come to the retreat to learn "tools," but felt that they weren't actually come away with any. Gathering tools wasn't the focus of the retreat; building community was. However, their frustration was real, and it seemed that what they meant was tools for reintegrating with their families, and tools for dealing with their PTSD. But here's something that really stood out, and spoke well of the Vietnam veterans who were there in the process.

Two of the "tools" that were being offered at the retreat were qi gong -- which we've written about at length on this site, and encouraged many veterans with PTSD to try, always with positive results -- and meditation. Meditation is an important mind-body skill, and eminently teachable. The classes were offered, optionally, first thing in the morning, and sometimes later in the afternoon as well, for non-early-risers. At one point during the retreat, classes in both were offered for the whole group, during a mid-day session that everyone could attend (and childcare was offered, every time -- making it possible for anyone who wanted to attend to be able to go.) As the graduate of two week-long sessions (the practitioner training, and the advanced training) at the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C., in a track called "Healing the Troops," I know that these skills, among others, are both worth learning, because they increase resilience and promote internal peace, better stress management and balance. In other words, good tools for any of us to learn, including combat veterans with PTSD or their families, who are under a lot of stress.)

The early morning sessions were well-attended by a broad cross-section of the retreat's participants, and you could see people responding to various degrees to these new experiences. But one thing happened that puzzled me.

Right after I learned of the frustration of some of the younger vets about not having access to the "tools" they were looking for, the mid-day session of both qi gong and meditation was offered. Many of these same guys sat in the back of the room, not participating, and generally (though lightly) mocking the goings-on of the other, more interested participants, some of whom were also vets, until they were asked to leave the room so the others could better concentrate. Those who stayed appreciated the renewed ability to concentrate without them, and after the sessions wrapped up, they gave some important feedback. One veteran apiece from the older generation had gravitated to each of the new practices. The qi gong had helped one to begin to feel more peace than he had in a long while (according to him), and while qi gong didn't resonate with another older vet, meditation really had. He said that he found while he practiced it, it allowed him to go within and get some much-needed peace from a long-term chronic pain. 

I thought about how wonderful it was that both these veterans had persevered, tried something new, opened their hearts and minds to an unfamiliar experience, and yet had their lives blessed by that. They were literally leaving the retreat with new "tools" to practice...while the ones who had been so vocal in their frustration about not getting tools had actually missed the opportunity to learn the same. It's not that the tools didn't work...they had only to look to the experience of the older vets to see how. But unfortunately they missed the whole experience. And it made me wonder whether there's something about being an older vet...and suffering for decades, not just months or years...that somehow also creates a great openness and humility when it comes to trying new things that just might have a blessing encoded within them. Two sets of combat veterans, each with PTSD. Two sets of different frustrations. But one successful experience when it came to accessing new tools. There's a lesson in that for all of us, I'm sure.

Editor's note: If you want to know more about meditation, click here.

More Recommendations for Qi Gong DVDs for Veterans with PTSD from PBS' Lee Holden

Following up on a post from over the weekend, I was able to find my earlier notes which list the rest of the recommendations from Qi Gong expert Lee Holden, featured on PBS. This was the list in full of what he recommended for veterans suffering from PTSD. (Read the earlier post, linked here, called "The Beneficial 'Moving Meditation' of Qi Gong," for why Qi Gong is a great stress-reduction technique.) Lee Holden's DVDs are only available through his website, and VERY occasionally, used, from Amazon.com. His website is linked here. If you order more than one DVD, look for a shipping special (current at this time) for ordering four. 

(His newest DVD, due to be released in August of 2010, is available for pre-order on Amazon.com. It's not necessarily one of his recommendations for PTSD, but if you grow to like his material, here's one more. Usually you have to order his DVDs from his site alone, but this one will also be available for Amazon, which will probably help with the distribution of it, too.) Here's the link to that DVD.

Qi Gong for Stress Relief (previously mentioned, the #1 recommendation:

Qi Gong for Upper Back and Neck Pain:

Qi Gong Flow for Beginners: ("The PBS favorite...")

Qi Gong The Flow Continues:

The Beneficial "Moving Meditation" of Qi Gong

When April Fool's Day rolled around, one world-famous T'ai Chi teacher had this as his status update: "April 24th is 'World T'ai Chi and Qi Gong Day. (It is, by the way.) Brazil has declared it a national holiday, Utah has recognized it, and [name of giant pharmaceutical company] has filed a preliminary injunction against it."

(Anyone who's ever observed the battle between Western medicine and Complementary and Alternative medicine or "CAM" would get that joke... We've come to expect peace of mind in a pill, not in a lifestyle practice or an exercise that can reduce stress and improve immunity.)

T'ai Chi and Qi Gong are both ancient Chinese practices. T'ai Chi is more correctly a type of martial arts, and Qi Gong is often termed "a moving meditation." "Qi" is the word for what the Chinese see as the "life-force energy." This same Qi (or Chi) is what acupuncture moves along energy meridians. Qi Gong is one of several practices, including T'ai Chi and Yoga, that are effective at relaxing "body, mind and spirit." Unlike the other two, however, Qi Gong is less demanding physically, so can be done by a broader range of people, including seniors and the disabled.

In "The Complete Illustrated Guide to Chinese Medicine," Tom Williams, Ph.D., writes about these arts, "In many ways Qi Gong and T'ai Chi represent the paradox that is central to the whole way of thinking in Chinese medicine. These practices are so gentle and apparently effortless, yet they are in fact inordinately powerful and bring tremendous benefit to anyone who adopts them as part of a regular healthcare strategy."

As the Wall Street Journal reported last year, "Alternative medicine is mainstream. The evidence is mounting that diet and lifestyle (including practices such as Qi Gong, T'ai Chi and Yoga) are the best cures for the worst afflictions."

There's much to be said on behalf of this multi-thousand-year-old practice, which 100 million Chinese who practice it daily in parks, both morning and evening. It's a low-cost "health care system" that's available to all. Unlike the more rigorous T'ai Chi, Qi Gong can be done standing, or even sitting in a chair. It can be learned in a class, or at home with a DVD. There is a selection of DVDs likely to be found at your local library; and online at Amazon.com, at Gaiam.com, and at ExerciseToHeal.com. 

Lee Holden, who had a show on PBS about Qi Gong, talks about how Qi Gong leaves you "relaxed, balanced and energized." When I asked Holden which of his dozen or more DVDs he would suggest for people struggling with PTSD, he recommended "Stress Relief Qi Gong," among others. (His DVDs are available on his website, linked here.) 

Why would Qi Gong practice be particularly beneficial for veterans with PTSD? Holden clarifies:

"Qi Gong switches the nervous system from the stress related ‘fight or flight’ mode to the restorative healing mode of the parasympathetic branch. EEG shows that, in people practicing Qi Gong, the cerebral cortex enters a state of calm that few people experience, even in sleep."

(Holden is also the author of "Seven Minutes of Magic: Recharge Your Body Each Day with Qi Gong," linked here.)

Here's a sample from that DVD:

Aspects of Qi Gong, especially its less rigorous nature, combined with its health benefits, including stress reduction, make it a good fit for veterans. Leading a Vietnam combat veteran through some a Qi Gong routine, as we both followed along with a Lee Holden DVD, I asked him how he felt afterwards: "Great!" was his response. He had tried T'ai Chi, but found that he and other vets could not adapt quickly enough to it.

In my own battle with chronic fatigue syndrome years ago, after trying the best of Western and Eastern medicine, I found that it was T'ai Chi and Qi Gong that "built energy" and "moved energy" that allowed me finally to recover.I had the good fortune to take instruction in person from a wonderful instructor who adapted her instruction to even those in chronic pain, and I remember that we could do the Qi Gong exercises sitting down, and yet still experience the benefits. If you're in the Seattle, Wash. area and you can go in person to a class, I recommend Kim Ivy at Embrace the Moon, because I know her work. But if you have to get your instruction from a DVD, Lee Holden and Francisco Garripoli are highly recommended.

For more information about Qi Gong and its health benefits, there's one website in particular that's a treasure trove of information: the Qigong Institute, and it's linked here. I would also suggest reading what Lee Holden has written about it, linked here.

(Note that you may find Qi Gong spelled several different ways, including "Qigong" and "Chi Kung.")

Finally, here are two informational videos that describe a little bit more about what Qi Gong is and what the experience of practicing it is like:

and