Other kids’ dads were into golf, gourmet cooking — maybe a
little yoga. Alex Tuggle‘s dad was into qigong.
It all started in the late 1970s when the senior Tuggle, then a
successful Southern California lawyer, sought an acupuncturist to help
his wife. “By chance,” says Tuggle, “one of his law clients recommended
Hua-Ching Ni.”
A world-renowned Taoist master who traces his wisdom through an
unbroken succession spanning 74 generations back to the Han Dynasty, Ni
arrived in the United States in 1976, shortly before Tuggle’s mother
became his patient. She was so pleased with the results that she began
studying acupuncture herself. Meanwhile, the lawyer was learning yet
another skill from Ni: qigong, which he liked so much that he
became an instructor. Tuggle retains vivid childhood memories of
practicing with his dad’s group every Sunday morning in a park at age
six or seven: “We had to wake up so early, those Sundays. I didn’t want
to go. My sister and I were the only children in the group. It was like
church, except that nobody at school could relate.”
But later, those childhood lessons would prove infinitely precious.
Hit by a car while rollerblading at age twelve, Tuggle sustained a
broken ankle and a serious head injury that kept him in intensive care
for two weeks and a foot-to-hip cast for even longer. “I thank God that
I survived such a devastating blow to my body,” he reflects. But the
accident’s effects ran deep. As a young adult, Tuggle suffered painful
neck stiffness and unbearable pressure in his head. After other
treatments failed to help, he returned to his roots.
With qigong and acupuncture, “my muscles were able to loosen
up. … Through much practice and observation, I found certain
techniques for relieving pain, muscle aches, orthopedic misalignment,
and many other musculoskeletal ailments.” These worked for him —
as, he surmised, they had worked for countless others through the ages.
Making up his mind to spread the wisdom, he followed in both of his
parents’ footsteps and is now a qigong instructor and licensed
acupuncturist practicing in Oakland.
As he does every Monday evening, Tuggle teaches Sacred Turtle
Qigong at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists
Hall (1606 Bonita Ave., Berkeley) on July 27. Sacred Turtle Qigong
targets the spine, back muscles, and kidneys: “For me it’s been the
most powerful healing tool.” It involves stretching meridians, using
the breath to visualize and guide energy through them. This
visualization entails “drawing water energy up from deep inside the
earth — the turtle represents the water element — then
using it to nourish our spinal fluid, brain, bones, and kidneys, which
are the main water organs.” Tuggle proffers a favorite comparison:
“Even if you cut a tree all the way down to the roots, but then you
water the roots, it’s going to grow back.” 6 p.m., $5-$10. Holistic-Back-Relief.com
