Redwood: There is a wonderful story in your book, Miracle Healing from China: Qigong, in which you work on an 8-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. This took place at a Canadian medical facility, with dozens of physical therapists, nurses, and doctors looking on. Could you tell us what happened?

Chow: He was born with a foot and a hand that were disabled and paralyzed. His foot was extended so that he couldn't bend it at all at the ankle, and his rehabilitation doctor was there demonstrating his lack of motion to the group. They had unsuccessfully tried many therapies. I worked with it with Qigong for about three minutes, and then the foot bent to a 90 degree angle. He could never run before, he would topple over and fall on his face. But he then ran in front of the 75 professionals there, without toppling over. And he could keep his foot bent, and bend down, almost squatting. It was very remarkable.

Redwood: Were these results sustained afterwards?

Chow: They were sustained to near normal.

Redwood: From your book, I take it this wasn't an isolated case for you.

Chow: I get tremendous results with cerebral palsy and paralysis. For example, we had a quadriplegic gentleman in Ottawa, who could only move his arms. They had to lift him from the bed to the chair. The physiotherapists couldn't do anything with him. He was two years quadriplegic, and every time his leg would be touched, it would go into violent spasm. I spent two and a half hours with him. At the end of that time, he was able to control his spasms. We shook his leg, moved his leg, and did exercises with his leg. Then we sat him up on the side of the bed for the first time in two years, and he was able to balance by himself. The people familiar with his case there were just gasping with shock and surprise!

Redwood: How do you explain such dramatic effects?

Chow: We work with the phenomenon of energy, the qi, which the West is only beginning to touch upon now. It may be called by different names in different cultures. Qi governs all functions of the body, so the neuromusculoskeletal system, the emotions, and the spirit are all governed by the qi. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the qi travels in the meridian system that relates to the different organs of the body. In utilizing the meridian system in opening up the energy channels, whether that's by emission [sending of healing energy from the palm of the Qigong practitioner], tactile methods, or acupuncture, it rebalances any imbalances and reharmonizes the energy, so that these related parts of the body can function more normally.

Redwood: What do you feel in your own body and mind when you are giving Qigong treatment?

Chow: You have to be totally committed and focused. You can't just chat with people about other social things. The client and the master need to focus in on the breathing and proper posture, and visualizing and imagining good things happening to the body. I always tell them to get a visual image of themselves being healthy, whatever that is. They can imagine themselves as a butterfly flying around. Or they can imagine that they are able to run and do things normally. Or it can even be as abstract as, if they feel an affinity to mathematical equations [laughter], that they would imagine the most beautiful and perfect equation that they are. I let them create the image. That's really important. You cannot create an image for another person, because the needs are different for each person. When I work with a person we totally focus on the healing.