AltMed in the Mainstream
Tai chi improves mobility for those with degenerative nerve disease
Walking through Golden Gate Park, the Berkeley campus or other urban patches of grass, you’ve surely seen “pick-up” sessions of low-impact tai chi. What you may not have seen underneath these performative meditations is that these exercises can offer more than just a relaxing way to digest Sunday breakfast.
A study being conducted by the Department of Kinesiology at Louisiana State University is examining tai chi as a treatment option that’s bringing measurable relief to participants suffering from peripheral neuropathy (PN). PN is an incurable affliction that nearly 22 million Americans endure. The disorder is characterized by burning pains or numbness and loss of feeling in feet and legs, hands and arms. Symptoms lead to decreased flexibility and loss of muscle control for the sufferer.
Li Li, professor of kinesiology at LSU, oversees a group of about 75 individuals who participate in 60-90 minute sessions of the ancient Chinese practice of breathing, form, and meditation thrice weekly. Their progress in mobility and sensation is compared with the benefits of other exercise regimens practiced regularly by test patients, including walking and swimming. The results thus far: “pushing hands,” as tai chi is called, is the winner hands down. Many who had lost confidence in their ability to walk and even stand, observed Li, are tossing aside canes and walkers. The proof is also in the participation. Study-participants refuse to give up their tai chi routines and hundreds more who have PN are on a waiting list to join Li’s experiment.
Debbie Au, who teaches tai chi at San Francisco’s Chinese Culture Center, says the study’s results are not surprising, noting that tai chi has been linked by previous research to benefiting everything from shingles to immune-deficiency disorders. “I say that tai chi is no cure-all because I often see people treating it as a Westernized exercise routine, going through the motions for an hour, waiting for miracle results and then forgetting about it until next time. And that is not how it is meant to be used,” she says.
Au believes that the success stories out of Baton Rouge are just another example of the power that a lifestyle change can have over one’s overall health and outlook. “These people have sealed a physical and spiritual commitment with tai chi, and once your practice becomes a life choice, you can’t help but feel better in a range of ways.” — Kasey Clark
Flash Animations for Earth
Excluding Popeye and his passion for spinach, not many cartoon characters have shown us the power of keeping it green. Enter the loveably clueless set of city dwellers who star in The Unsustainables, a new animated series from Sustain Lane now airing on Comcast’s Bay Area-only Green Scene channel. Also available online (sustainlane.com/theunsustainables), each episode explores one element of eco-unfriendly living:
“Queen of Clean,” for instance, addresses the dangers of volatile organic compounds in common household cleaners, while “Spare the Air” takes on greenhouse gas emissions and smog-generating SUVs.
“We’re trying to address one issue at a time in a way that’s fun and entertaining and not all doom-and-gloom,” says Nancy Juliber, vice president of media and production for the SF-based green media company. The series is part of its larger effort to help U.S. cities, states, and counties adopt sustainable practices. To fill viewers in on everything from energy-efficiency to mercury poisoning, The Unsustainables chronicles the blunders of main characters like Ashwin, a pudgy, track-suited man who speaks with a brogue and adores trans fats; and Nellie, a high-strung high-schooler who pretties up her face with toxic beauty products. The only eco-wise one among the crew is a bespectacled goat that rocks Hawaiian shirts and gets his kicks at the dog races.
The animations are geared toward adults 18-49 years old, according to Juliber, but the show’s gentle humor and sweet spirit, not to mention its form of delivery, seems especially suited to younger audiences. Of course young and older will likely all have something to learn from the vignettes. “We’re all stumbling toward the future and trying to make changes in our society,” says Juliber. “With The Unsustainables, we’re providing a quirky twist on going green, which hopefully will empower people to make healthier choices in their lives.” — Elizabeth Barker
Kelly B — SF Eco-Fashion Designer Thinks Earth First ...or at least, second
As a little girl, San Francisco-based eco fashion designer Kelly Barry was immaculately dressed… right down to the matching bow that her mother placed in her hair. That is until she got her hands on the family sewing machine and started deconstructing her mom’s ‘70s clothing and wearing her outrageous creations to high school.
When she went off to college to study her other passion: environmental science, Barry tucked her love for design into her back pocket. But, she says, “Instead of doing my organic chemistry homework, I would sew.” Barry decided to marry her two passions, creating the sexy and sustainable fashion label Kelly B Couture.
The line hit the runway at San Francisco Fashion Week with a spring collection that is urban, sassy and most definitely wearable. The collection features an en vogue high-rise organic cotton and linen pencil skirt, a floor sweeping bamboo gown and a glamorous one-piece bathing suit.
Fashionistas from uptown might be pretty surprised that Barry’s line is sustainable. “Organic doesn’t ring very fashion forward,” she explains. Part of the challenge of taking green mainstream is that there still aren’t many sustainable textiles to choose from. “I do everything I can to make it sustainable while still staying fresh.” For Barry, that means taking the available sustainable fabrics and adding a little life in the form of ruffles, bold colors and trim.
Why does Barry help mother earth through fashion rather than working for the EPA? “Clothing is a form of art that everyone can relate too. Everybody wears it. It’s a platform to get everything that is important to me out there.”
And for the gals who buy Kelly B Couture only because it looks fab, Barry says, “People are going to pick up the hangtag and learn something.” — Summer Bowen
Vino Green-o
Consider raising your glass to French rabbit — a vintage wine that comes in a high-tech container. Organic, biodynamic and sustainably harvested, French rabbit’s 100 percent recyclable, lightweight “Tetra-Prisma” package makes it the perfect choice for the grape drinking greenie on the go. The TetraPak (made from paperboard, aluminum foil and plastic) holds two more glasses of wine while toting lighter and in less space than your average wine bottle. And although we can’t confirm or deny the results of their number crunchers, the folks at French Rabbit claim this newfangled system reduces packaging by 90 percent, cutting down on the environmental costs of shipping and distribution. To seal the deal, French Rabbit has partnered with nonprofit American Forests, pledging to plant a tree for every four containers sold.
Grapes in French Rabbit’s catalog — which includes pinot noir, chardonnay, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and their family reserve — are harvested in the Languedoc Roussillion region along France’s southern coast. Before tightening the cap, keep the wine fresh by raising the rabbit ears (found on either side of the TetraPak) and squeezing out any extra air. But just a tip: be careful trying this at home, especially after consuming a few glasses and with a brand new rug under your kitchen table. Oh la vache! — Jenny Rough
Worth Repeating
“Out of 168 countries surveyed by Jody Heymann, who teaches at both the Harvard School of Public Health and McGill University, the U.S. is one of only five without mandatory paid maternity leave — along with Lesotho, Liberia, Papua New Guinea and Swaziland.” — Writer E.J. Graff decrying inaccurate media depiction of mothers “choosing” to exit the workforce; in reality, cultural and corporate restrictions make mothers’ work lives impossible (Columbia Journalism Review, Jan/Feb 2007).
“I cannot support a [mission] that leads to corruption, human right abuses and liars. I am sullied — no more. I didn’t volunteer to support corrupt, money-grubbing contractors, nor work for commanders only interested in themselves. I came to serve honorably, and feel dishonored.” — Suicide note of Col. Ted Westhusing, West Point teacher and father of three, who volunteered for what he thought was a noble cause in Iraq (Texas Observer, 3/16).
“So what is the ethical response to global warming? Christians must start by acknowledging their complicity. The vast majority of our resource consumption does nothing to glorify God. In fact, it does just the opposite.” — J. Matthew Sleeth, MD, responding to conservative Christians’ attempts to stop the National Association of Evangelicals from speaking out on global warming (Truthout.org, 3/11).
“Would it be better if he instead ran the country at the same time he was clearing brush on a ranch?” — NY Times columnist Frank Rich responding to Katie Couric’s suggestion that John Edwards might not be able to run the country while dealing with his wife’s health crisis (4/01).
