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Meditating in Motion with Tai Chi

Duke Cancer Institute offers free weekly drop-in Tai Chi sessions

John Hillson, right, leads patients, staff and visitors through Tai Chi movements in the Duke Cancer Center's Quiet Room.  Photo by Marsha A. Green.
John Hillson, right, leads patients, staff and visitors through Tai Chi movements in the Duke Cancer Center's Quiet Room. Photo by Marsha A. Green.

Azzedine Chergui inhaled deeply as he gently raised his hands above his head and exhaled when he slowly lowered his arms, letting them hang loosely from his shoulders.

He repeated the motion, focusing his thoughts on the smooth movement of his arms.

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"I can feel my mind calming down and my body relaxing when I focus like that," said Chergui, a resident advisor for Duke Hospital's International Patient Program.

Chergui was among half a dozen participants in a free, weekly drop in Tai Chi session offered by the Duke Cancer Institute at 3 p.m. every Friday. The 45-minute class meets in the Quiet Room of the Duke Cancer Center. Sessions are open to patients, visitors and staff who want to explore an ancient Chinese art that uses slow, controlled movement to reduce stress and encourage relaxation and awareness of the body.

On a recent Friday, as the lights in the Quiet Room transitioned through an hour-long cycle mimicking dawn, noon and dusk, John Hillson, a nurse in Radiation Oncology, helped the group explore Tai Chi moves.

"Imagine yourself filling with water as you raise your hands," said Hillson, as he demonstrated the movement for the group. "As you lower your hands, imagine the water draining away, washing away your worries, your tension, anything negative."

Hillson recognizes the value of mind/body practices for patients and has been delighted to work with the Duke Cancer Institute to bring Tai Chi to the community since June.

"Tai Chi has its roots in the martial arts, but at its root it is about bringing together mind and body," said Hillson, who has practiced Tai Chi for 25 years. "What we practice here is creating a relaxed mind and coordinating it with easy, natural movement. People often call it `meditation in motion.' "

In a Tai Chi sequence during the class, participants shifted their weight from leg to leg, feeling the subtle sensation of muscles pushing and pulling. Hillson asked participants to note the sense of solidity when the ankle, knee, hip and shoulder aligned in a balanced column. As he invited participants to add slow arm gestures to the rhythmic movement, he approached Chergui and repositioned his knee to improve his balance, then guided his arms so they were centered in front of his chest.

"This is about remembering what it feels like to move normally, to move easily," Hillson said.

Chergui has attended the Tai Chi sessions nearly every week over the summer. He is grateful that Duke Cancer Center offers this regular respite from his busy work of translating for Arabic and French speaking patients. 

"I feel de-stressed and recharged after each session," he said. "It's an indescribable feeling of mind body harmony that I wish everyone could experience."