An entertaining article just appeared in the Guardian Unlimited health section. Pete Doherty, a British musician who is probably best known for his decadent lifestyle involving heavy heroin usage and public misconduct, recently completed a tour with no cancellations and surprising onstage professionalism. Apparently, Doherty has become a practitioner of chi gung and tai chi.

Doherty has thus joined the ranks of veteran alt rockers Iggy Pop, who maintains his ripped-at-60 look via daily chi gung and swimming, and Lou Reed, who spends several hours each day practising tai chi with US master Ren Guang Yi. Reed released an ambient album, Hudson River Wind Meditations, in the summer, specifically designed to accompany workouts, and refers to his impressive biceps and triceps as his “Tai Chi muscles”.

The article goes on to discuss exercise addiction: could Doherty be simply trading one addiction for another? They conclude that chi gung and tai chi work differently than other “addictive exercises”:

With an addiction, it’s all about the sympathetic nervous system; you’re stuck in it 24-7, all stress, all agitation. Chi gung does the opposite: it helps you move into the parasympathetic nervous system, it brings about relaxation and real calm.

Good news for drug rehabilitation programs then, should they choose to take note!