While Battling Cancer, Haven Instructor Found Solace Through QiGong

The cancer had started in one of Felicia J. Ho’s breasts and spread to her lymph nodes. She had been diagnosed in the beginning of 2011, and the chemotherapy, radiation and surgeries lasted for nearly all year.

Sometimes she dreamt that she didn’t have cancer. Other times her battle with cancer would fill her dreams. Ho would rouse from sleep believing that it was all but a nightmare. Sadly, cancer was still the only reality.

Throughout, the QiGong (pronounced “Chee-gung”) classes Ho participated in through Columbia Association were her respite and her joy. “It was my heaven on earth, like the light at the end of my tunnel,” Ho said. “The challenge was to still be a mom, take care of my son, run a household and still stay together. All I had to go do was get myself to a QiGong class and it would just help me process. There’s something about QiGong that releases the emotions and engages the spirit in play.”

There’s been no evidence of cancer for more than a year and a half. The 43-year-old Clarksville resident can now look back at the role QiGong played during her battle. And as an instructor at Columbia Association’s (CA) new Haven on the Lake mind body retreat, Ho speaks highly of the numerous benefits that QiGong can provide. “It’s an exercise that works on the mind, body and spirit and to heal all three aspects,” she said. “And most importantly, it’s fun!”

QiGong utilizes the ancient Chinese art of meditation and energy cultivation by performing specific postures, slow gentle movements, controlled breathing and mental focus. Regularly engaging in QiGong can bring balance and harmony to the entire mind and body, promote healing and increase vitality.

It is one of several mind body movement classes offered at Haven on the Lake, which is expected to open in December on the lake level of the new Whole Foods Market in downtown Columbia. More information on the wellness retreat can be found at HavenOnTheLake.org or by calling 443-864-0557.

Ho grew up in Columbia, graduated from Wilde Lake High School and then moved to Pennsylvania to get her bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College. She later headed west to the University of California, Los Angeles, earning her master’s degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures. She recently received her Ph.D. in the same subject.

Ho returned to Howard County with her husband, Lan-Feng Tsai, and their son, who is now 11. She started taking Tai Chi and QiGong classes through Columbia Association and began teaching a few years ago.

She is looking forward to what Haven on the Lake will bring to the area.

“I think it’s sometimes hard for us all to take a breath and take the time to heal,” Ho said. “Haven is a perfect place to realize how much we really deserve that.”