Digesting the Moose Jaw adventure: Part VIII, Wave hands like clouds

Older posts in this series:
Intro
Digesting the Moose Jaw adventure: Part I
Digesting the Moose Jaw adventure: Part II NERVES, baby
Digesting the Moose Jaw adventure: Part III Sensory testing for pain
Digesting the Moose Jaw adventure: Part IV Nature of Pain
Digesting the Moose Jaw adventure: Part V Mindfulness
Digesting the Moose Jaw adventure: Part VI Sensory testing 2
Digesting the Moose Jaw adventure: Part VII, Pain and Depression

There were other presentations in Moose Jaw, one on opioids (Lynette Kosar, pharmacist), one on injecting spines (Sujay Ishwarlall, anesthesiologist, Saskatoon, no public profile), one on online team building (Vernon Curran online from St.John's NL), one on medico-legal risk management (K. Reducka), a pretty interesting one by Susan Tupper on pain management across the lifespan, and another by her on interprofessional program planning for pain.

The brain can only absorb so much, though. I must say, mine wandered fairly extensively at times.

One presentation that brought it back into focus, into the present, was on Tai Chi. Shane Kachur from Regina (4th picture down) explained how Tai Chi could be used to help people with chronic pain. I was too busy eating to be able to take notes, unfortunately, and his presentation, slides and everything, isn't in the binder with the others. He has agreed to send me his presentation/references, and when he does, I'll add the references in a list at the bottom.

He presented the slideshow while we were all busy eating lunch on Day 2, and I must confess, I found the food a bit distracting. As I recall, some of it was about different kinds of pronunciation relating to positions or moves in Tai Chi, some of the deeper history of the form, its connection to martial arts. I think there were references to studies that had been done on Tai Chi and pain, but like I said, I'm waiting for those. 

Anyway, after we ate we were invited to stand up and learn how to stand, hold an imaginary ball, then move to the other foot and change hand position so that we held the imaginary ball in mirror position, hands reversed. I can see how this would challenge the motor output parts of the brain, in a novel way, slide nerves harmlessly around, and provide lovely interoception. 

We learned (or at least tried to) something called "Wave hands like clouds". It looks nice, feels relaxing.  
(The man in the video is not Shane, by the way. Thank you, instead, to Rich Marantz.)