Tai Chi Benefits for Fibromyalgia and CFS/ME

December 12, 2011
by Jacynthe Sonne for FM/CFS/ME RESOURCES

If you have Fibromyalgia, and/or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) how many times has someone told you that if you just exercised you would feel better? That was a rhetorical questions, as most of us have heard that from doctors, family members, or well meaning friends. Not too long ago, patients across the globe were enraged at the "graded exercise" criteria in regards to treating CFS/ME. Graded exercise simply means, starting out slowly and gradually increasing over time.

Sixteen years ago, I had a doctor suggest exercise, and I just looked at him, like he must have been out of his mind. I had trouble getting out of bed to fix dinner for my family, let alone exercise. The pain and fatigue was so excruciating, that walking a hundred steps seemed impossible. In my youth and early adulthood, I was someone who was very "kinesthetic" by nature, I had studied ballet, did high impact aerobics, and weight training. Clearly, what I did in the past was not going to be happening now. I had been looking for something to try that would be gentle, because risking injury would only cause a flare. I had heard of Tai Chi Ch'uan (pronounced kwan), a Chinese martial art, that has claims of health benefits, including mental calmness and clarity.

I decided to take a Yang style, Tai Chi Ch'uan, taught by a local registered nurse. My first instructor, had been to China and studied with the Yang family, and she taught from a perspective of calming meditation. Any fears of potential injuries or flares, were quickly put to rest. We started out each session with a complete warm-up, very gentle movement. While this may sound easy, we then worked on "the walk." Tai Chi is about balance, the breath, and what you to do to one side, you do to the other. You take in a breath on one foot, and exhale on the opposite foot, while shifting your weight. The walk movement starts at the heel, while slowly moving through the rest of the foot, then just as you are ready to take the next step, you need to exhale and complete the movement to start all over. It does feel like learning to walk all over again, then it is time to add the arm movements, while keeping the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth.

After being bedridden for so long, and having vertigo, I could never balance on one foot, even for a neurological exam. Within a short time, I was able to stand on one foot, and no longer worry about falling over. I also noticed how calming Tai Chi is, it is difficult to have anxiety or focus on pain, when your body, brain, and breath are all working together. There is something very symbolic about releasing bad or negative energy and drawing in good energy, with every breath, which I found very helpful. There have been a few studies citing improvement with Tai Chi, Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

One study from the British Medical Journal, in 2001, cites a 84% improvement in CFS patients. The gentle movement of Tai Chi, along with the deep breathing, can certainly benefit CFS patients. In 2010, The New England Journal of Medicine, published a study involving Fibromyalgia and Tai Chi. "A clinical trial at Tufts Medical Center found that after 12 weeks of Tai Chi, patients with Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, did significantly better in measurements of pain, fatigue, physical functioning, sleeplessness and depression than a comparable group given stretching exercises and wellness education. Tai chi patients were also more likely to sustain improvement three months later."