IN 1991, JOE Pinella was in an accident that sent his car
careening 203 feet off a cliff in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Initially, he was diagnosed as a quadriplegic. However,
an out-of-body experience on the operating table convinced him that he would get through this traumatic
experience and regain movement.
“I had this knowing that I could be OK again, which
was a complete contradiction of everything the doctor
saw,” he says, adding that his head was 2 to 3 inches over
his left shoulder; he broke his spine, losing two vertebrae
in his neck and four disks.
The doctors weren’t convinced. They advised the
40-year-old to accept a life of limited mobility.
Pinella had other ideas. As a teenager, Pinella had
started practicing tai chi and qi gong, ancient Chinese martial arts, known for their meditative and slow movements,
after being introduced to them by a Buddhist monk.
After the accident, Pinella called the monks at his
old monastery and asked if they could help. They
advised him to sit in a warm pool every
day and visualize the movements he
wanted to make. Following several
months of visualization exercises, he
noticed that he could move his right
arm in the direction he willed it. It
took seven years for him to fully
recover; he had to relearn everything
again, including all personal-care tasks,
eating and walking.
Today, Pinella, now in his 60s, says he
can do things he couldn’t do when he was in
his 20s, and he’s using his experience to give
back. He teaches tai chi and
qi gong classes in three
retirement communities in
Tucson, Arizona. He also
helps those living with
arthritis or Parkinson’s
and those recovering
from strokes. He’s also
filmed two DVDs
( joepinella.com) to
expand his reach.
He says, “This
was the pur-
pose of my life.
Everything
that happened
in my whole
entire life was to
bring me to this
point now, where
now I share what I
learned.”—Hana Medina
JENNI O’CONNOR WAS diagnosed in college with fibromyalgia, a
muscle condition that leaves her in pain and feeling exhausted. Six years
ago, at age 32 and size 18, she tried something radical: pole dancing.
She knew this form of exercise was often stigmatized, but she found she
was having fun in a positive, supportive atmosphere.
“I loved that the dancers were all different shapes and sizes
and all different ages,” says O’Connor. “That’s what made
me want to do it: seeing someone my size doing some-
thing so athletic.”
Today the Costco member, now a size 8, is co-
owner of Studio Phoenix Inc. ( phoenixpole.com),
a pole-dancing studio in Arlington Heights,
Illinois, which she opened two years ago along
with her business partner, Lauren Osters.
The activity has improved her condition to the
point where she is now able to suspend her body in
midair. She says pole-dancing is an incredible workout that combines gymnastic strength, acrobatic
flexibility and dance artistry.
“My fibromyalgia has improved significantly, and when I do have flare-ups, my body is
much stronger and able to handle them better,”
says O’Connor.
She says it’s never too late to start improving
your health, and she encourages others to do so. “And
you don’t need a fad diet or a secret remedy,” says the
mother of two. “Find something that makes you happy
and gets you moving: Dance, play a sport or try something
completely different and twirl on a pole.”—CG
Jenni
O’Connor
WILLpower
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took seven years for him to fully
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e
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—a
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COURTESY OF JOE PINELLA
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Joe
Pinella
