My heart goes out to you. It’s a struggle that never seems to end. Unfortunately my teachers and I are locked into the New England, and possibly New York area.

However, if you check the ‘net in the Chicago area for qigong, you will find that many tai chi chuan masters teach it as part of their curriculum. Look for a teacher who has been doing it for a long time. Many Chinese teachers in this country have a “lineage” going back to China–and teach genuine qigong that has stood the test of time for centuries. In the meantime, check out a book called “The Way of Energy” by Master Lam, on Amazon.com. It details the standing post exercises I practice. I have found standing post to be very effective in helping the immune system and strengthening the body. If you can’t do it standing, do the postures sitting down on the edge of a chair. The key is the abdominal breathing, which kicks in the parasympathetic nervous system, calming the mind and body, and also stimulates the lymphatic system which relies on breathing and muscular action to pump it. The postures also direct energy through the body and stimulate the thymus gland, over the heart, which kicks out lymphocytes such as T-cells, the body’s natural cancer killers.

My email is rcellal@sbcglobal.net. Let me know how your search is going. Perhaps I can do some digging.

Godspeed.

Bob

Sally