QI Gong Strong

Tulip allowed something new into her life during retirement — the ancient Chinese healing tradition called qi gong (chee-gong) . It is an effortless and sometimes mentally intense exercise, yet very calming to the heart, mind and soul. It diverts her thinking about the stresses and pressures of everyday life, creates a pause, a welcome pause, and sometimes even changes the trajectory of her life. It’s like a mysterious power, a cleansing of sorts. It’s a tremendous realization of how the mind can indeed transcend traditional health care practices or decisions that aim to restore personal confidence, self awareness and self love, as well as provide a more confident appreciation of simple self-help health practices, the power of nature and peaceful living.

Her first exposure to qi gong came on the Caribbean island of Aruba located at the southern most part of the main body of the big, blue, beautiful Sea. It is a simple, small Dutch island of 100,000 residents and almost solely depends on tourism for its economic survival. Most people work in the tourism industry and smart entrepreneurs have created sustainable businesses encompassing that reality.

When the words qi gong first appeared on the Daily Activities Board at the La Cabana Resort — where Tulip resides now and then, her typical  reaction was typical of anything new or unrecognizable : “Too weird, forget it!” 

But then, her curiosity peaked as she watched, from afar, the group of twelve sitting in chairs one Wednesday morning, barefooted, calm and oblivious to anything else around them, and just calmly and peacefully doing simple, slow leg, arm and head exercises. It was enough to bring Tulip out from behind the fully bloomed plumeria to sign up for the next session.  

Tulip refers to the entrepreneur/instructor as the “Island Shifu (teacher of qi gong”. She is a calm, pleasant, learned person with a very clear vision of the good life — a life of peace and harmony with the earth, nature and one’s inner self. 

Through brief conversations and a bit of research, Tulip has learned that she left the busyness and loudness of urban life in her motherland — The Netherlands, travelled around a lot, lived in different places and then finally settled in the warm, predictably quiet, serene life of a small island. She drew strength from her passion for meditative processes and natural, sensible health care, immersed herself in studying, learning and practicing various options, and has now created an empire of offerings for people of all walks of life, all ages and abilities, tourists and residents, to discover, appreciate and embrace. Her presentation truly reflects and respects a successful and happy matrimonial relationship between Mother Nature and humanity, and her demeanor envelops a genuine caring for the well being of those who join in.

Attendance has been consistently impressive and classes have sprung up at various locations, and at various times, to maximize access for the tourists and residents of the Island.  Sessions and special events are now being advertised on social media, on a website, and through word of mouth, making this entrepreneurial venture more than just a personal success story.

Thanks to the hard work, passion, commitment and dedication of “the Island Shifu of meditative medicine”, over the past two decades, the people of Aruba and tourists now have easy access to an impressive array of self help, self awareness and self care exercises such as Tai Chi, Tao Yoga, Breathing Therapy, Mind Ninja, Energy Healing, Sound Healing, Acupuncture and the amazing world of qi gong.

The humble Shifu has lifted her being and skillsets to great heights and all the while she has maintained her groundedness, as well as her calm and peaceful demeanor, getting much pleasure from sharing her passion and knowledge willingly and freely with others. In turn, she has encouraged and inspired a diverse mix of local people and tourists whose minds, spirits, bodies and lives have now been positively enriched, and impacted forever more.

Tulip, who lives a half a world away, is one of the beneficiaries of qi gong exercises and carries those skills proudly with her every day. She realises it is but one way to nurture her inner self, to keep the blood flowing and the breathing easy. It is also the best way for her to manage or avoid stress in her increasingly active retirement lifestyle, filled with a wide range of social, cultural, creative, recreational and community  activities and projects. Her life may seem overwhelming; but, short time-outs along the way for a bit of qi gong works amazingly better than any pill!