I have been practicing an advanced form of qigong for almost 5 years now. The name of this practice is Falun Dafa.

Have you ever heard of or seen Tai Chi? Well, Falun Dafa is similar and yet very different. It is similar in the sense that is has slow and gentle movements. It is dissimilar in the sense that it is easy to learn. There are only 5 gentle exercises to that are so simple and easy to learn that a small child or an extremely elderly person could still learn and do them.

Another major advantage that Falun Dafa has is that it is free to learn and practice. There are no class fees or ongoing monthly dues to pay. You can download video instructions from a Falun Dafa web site or you can learn from an actual volunteer instructor.

The volunteer instructors can be found in almost every major city around the world. And they won’t charge anything to teach you this wonderful, energizing, health promoting exercise practice. I know this for a fact because I also serve as a volunteer instructor in the Kansas City area.

So what have I obtained from the practice after 5 years? That’s an easy and exciting question to answer. After just two months of this practice, a nagging and recurring back pain that I had for many years went away. I was able to stop getting back treatments from my chiropractor. That was 5 years ago and I haven’t needed any further treatment since.

What is exciting about the above example is that previously I tried many things to alleviate my back problem. Nothing else worked!

I’ve always been relatively healthy with only minor health issues throughout my life. I have meant other people that had more severe health issues that also received total relief from practicing Falun Dafa.

What do the exercises entail? Let’s talk about them here.

What I’m about to describe is from my own experiences, if you would like a more accurate description and explanation of the exercises, please reference a book by Li, Hongzhi, the man who brought Falun Dafa out to the public. The name of his book is Falun Gong. You can get a copy of his book for free from the main Falun Dafa web site, falundafa.org.

The first exercise is a gentle one that involves stretching from head to toe. To perform one cycle of the exercise takes about 3 or 4 minutes. It is done from a standing position with the knees and hips relaxed, until the gentle upward stretch that accompanies each of the exercise’s movements.

When practiced, this 3 or 4 minute exercise is usually repeated three times. In normal circumstances, it takes about 12 minutes to repeat this exercise a total of three times.

The second exercise is a standing stance with 4 positions. Each position is held for a length of time that can vary depending on the ability of the practitioner. In the beginning it would be fine to just hold each position for maybe 1 minute each or even less, depending on the person’s ability and comfort zone.

Advanced practitioners might work up to as long as 7 minutes or more for each position. However, you can gradual improve your time according to your own wishes and abilities.

The third exercise is a gentle exercise where you move your arms up and down in front of the body. In the first half of this exercise the hands go in opposite directions. In the second half, the arms go in the same direction. Each repetition of the exercise takes about 3 minutes. Generally, when practiced, people will repeat this exercise three times, for a total duration of about 9 minutes.

The fourth exercise is similar but different in that the hands trace a path around the entire body. The path travels along the front of the body and then up the back of the body. The hands reach about the level of the mid-back before being brought in front of the body again. The path is traced for a total of 9 times constituting one repetition of the exercise.

The fourth exercise is generally repeated three times when practiced. When done this way the total time to repeat this exercise three times is about twelve minutes.

The fifth exercise is done sitting down in the cross-legged position. The leg cross can be simple “Indian” style or slightly more advanced depending on the ability and comfort zone of the person practicing.

There is a sequence of hand gestures at the beginning and there are positions to hold. The duration of holding the hand positions can vary. Once again, how long is determined by the person practicing. Both how long you hold the hand positions and the overall duration of the exercise are entirely at the discretion of the person practicing.

In the beginning a person might only practice the fifth exercise for a few minutes. Advanced users may practice for an hour or longer. Again, it all depends on the ability and comfort level of the person practicing.

These are very simple explanations of the exercises. For more detailed and accurate accounts of the exercises read Falun Gong by Li, Hongzhi. Or alternatively, you can download his instruction videos from the main Falun Dafa web site mentioned previously.

Mr. Li also has another book called Zhuan Falun, which to my understanding expounds on the characteristics of the universe: Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. I wrote that with the hyphens to underscore that this is one characteristic and not three separate ones. Again, that is my understanding about them and much more profound understandings can be found in the book Zhuan Falun itself.

Because you can practice Falun Dafa with others in a group setting without being charged any initial or recurring fees, it seems like the perfect alternative to other exercises that charge money to participate in. Exercising with a group or alone is fine and each person may have his or her own preference on that. It’s enjoyable either way.

I personally practice it both ways. On the weekends we do have a group practice here in the Kansas City area and you are welcome to come join us if you are in the area. Fortunately, many cities throughout the United States, Canada and around the world have similar group practices. You don’t have to come to Kansas City to enjoy this wonderful practice.

I have one last item of note. It seems that some people can’t stand to see others enjoy something good. And this is no different. The current person that runs China, Jiang Zemin, is terribly furious at people who practice Falun Gong for no logical reason that anyone can come up with. He brutally persecutes those who practice it in China.

If you want to learn more about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, there is a web site that you can visit, faluninfo.net. They even offer suggestions to help end the persecution if you are so inclined.

I do hope you get the chance to experience what I have from the practice. The health of my body and a deep sense of peace and well being are some of what I have obtained.

This article is for information purposes only. The information is not meant to give advice or attempt to prevent, treat or diagnose any health problems. If you have or think you might have any type of health condition, please consult your primary care physician immediately. Consult him or her before taking up any form of exercise.

David Snape is the author of What You Should Know about Gum Disease available at GingivitisKiller.com/ GingivitisKiller.com/ A primary tool that promotes oral health can be found at OralIrrigatorDiscount.com/ OralIrrigatorDiscount.com/ Dave also answers questions at ToBeInformed.com/ ToBeInformed.com/

Skin lesions are marks on the skin and include a great many different things including moles and warts. A vast majority of them are benign meaning they are non-cancerous but if they prove to be painful, irritable, or an eye sore you may decide that you want to have them removed. This usually involves a surgical procedure although there are other ways now that many of them can be removed. Moles that have changed shape or color may turn out to be cancerous and it is advised that these are removed through surgery. A sample of the removed lesion is normally sent to a laboratory in order to be tested. This procedure is referred to as a biopsy.

1- Small and relatively harmless moles and warts can be removed with a liquid gas that freezes them or by smearing on a substance that has a similar effect. For larger lesions it may be necessary to have them cut off through surgery. This surgery is a relatively unobtrusive operation that will not necessitate an over night stay.

2- Usually a surgical removal of moles and warts will be done under local anesthetic. The area around the lesion will be completely numb but you will be awake to watch it. Sometimes it is necessary to have a general anesthetic that will put you to sleep for the duration of the removal. You should be fine to return home within an hour or two of having the operation but if you had a general anesthetic you should arrange for someone else to drive and stay with you for the next 24 hours in case you have a reaction to the drugs.

3- Once you’ve had moles and warts removed you are basically free to carry on your daily life. Care should be taken for the next few days to ensure that you don’t knock or scrape the effected area. There may be some discomfort and possibly a little pain around the operation area but Paracetomol should do a good job of numbing this pain.

4- Unless you have had non dissolvable stitches you should not need to go back to your doctor. However, you should keep a close eye on the area of the operation and if there is any excess swelling, oozing of liquid or the pain becomes worse then you should consult your doctor immediately in case it has become infected.

5- This is a very safe surgical procedure and most of the possible side effects are those that are due to the anesthetic. However, you may feel a little pain around the area of the operation and if the lesion was quite large then you may have a permanent scar.

John Mancini has been writing about moles and warts online and offline for a long time. Visit moles-and-warts-treatment.com moles-and-warts-treatment.com or mole-wart-removal.net mole-wart-removal.net to read more about matters like anal warts and wart treatments.