The gift of balance
From Hong Kong parks to healing classrooms: my journey into yoga and qigong. By Scott M. Harrison
Reading time: 2 minutes
When I was 11, I lived in Hong Kong. Each morning I noticed groups of elderly people gathering in the parks. They moved slowly, almost like they were dancing in silence, their arms floating, their feet grounding into the earth. Others sat still, meditating as the city around them stirred awake. At the time, I didn’t understand what I was witnessing. I just knew there was something peaceful, almost sacred, about the way they began their day.
Years passed. Life grew busier. I threw myself into education, career and adulthood responsibilities. Somewhere along the way, I became caught in what I now call my ‘Dragon years’, all yang energy, full of striving, pushing, achieving, but rarely pausing.
By college, my body began breaking under the pressure. At 20, I was diagnosed with severe arthritis and degenerative disc disease in my cervical spine. The pain in my neck was constant. A rheumatologist said: “Try yoga. See if it helps.”
It took courage, but I stepped onto the mat. Over the next decade, yoga became a lifeline. Not only did it help quiet the storm of depression and anxiety, but my physical neck pain — the pain I was told I might carry forever — began to ease. Today, both my body and mind carry less weight because of those years of practice.
Still, there were seasons when the pain — physical and emotional — felt too heavy. I even attended an intensive outpatient therapy group at the Mayo Clinic, searching for relief. Yet the only thing that truly shifted me was when I was introduced to qigong.
It felt like returning home. As I practiced those gentle, meditative movements, I remembered the awe I had felt as a boy on the bus in Hong Kong, watching elders sway and flow in the parks. Back then, I didn’t know the name of the practice. Now I recognise it as qigong, a gift waiting for me to learn and internalise.
Later, during my 500-hour yoga teacher training, one of my instructors encouraged me: “Why not bring these practices together? Share the fusion that has healed you.” That advice changed everything. For the past year, I’ve been teaching a weekly yoga–qigong fusion class. Each week, I share this story with my students — about Hong Kong, about chronic pain, about depression, and how balance returned to me through these practices.
When I watch my students moving — sometimes swaying like trees in the wind, sometimes standing strong like mountains — I see reflections of those Hong Kong elders. I see how wisdom travels across cultures and generations.
For me, yoga and qigong are more than exercise. They are a language of healing, a way to remember that wholeness is not about constant doing, but about listening, softening and letting balance restore us.
It began with a bus ride. It continues each week as I step into a classroom. And with every breath, I’m reminded that balance is not just something I teach — it’s something I’m still learning, still receiving and still grateful for.
Om Magazine
First published in November 2009, OM Yoga magazine has become the most popular yoga title in the UK. Available from all major supermarkets, independents and newsstands across the UK. Also available on all digital platforms.
