Prince Charles tries chi - but drops his energy balls
By Rebecca English
Last updated at 8:10 AM on 11th February 2010
It was supposed to bring calmness to his head and restore energy to his body.
But Prince Charles didn't look entirely at peace as he contorted himself into the awkward shapes demanded by the ancient Chinese exercise of chi kung.
At one stage yesterday he struggled as he cupped his hands and raised two imaginary 'energy balls' above his head.
Believers say the movement corrects the flow of the body's natural vitality - or 'chi' - but it brought only a grimace to the face of the 61-year-old prince.
He told a fellow participant: 'I broke my arm in two places years ago which makes movement difficult.'
And instructor Guy Ho said: 'He dropped his energy balls twice. His energy was good and he was very focused but he needs a little work on his technique.'
Charles was visiting The Warrior Programme in Fulham, West London, a therapeutic course which helps soldiers recover from the psychological scars of war.
Thousands have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, which can cause mental breakdown and an inability to cope with civilian life.
The Warrior Programme was established in 2007 runs courses all around Britain, and also abroad, where ex-personnel are given expert psychological and physical therapy using both eastern and western techniques.
Prince Charles said: 'We owe a huge debt of gratitude to these remarkable people who have been courageous enough to join the army.
'It is a great joy....to see how many people have benefited from this programme which uses complimentary medicine and harnesses the best of both ancient and modern.'
Among those introduced to the Prince was Peter, who was approaching the end of a 24-year career in the army when his life was turned upside down by the shocking murder of three young children in Croatia in 1995.
The Warrior Programme is a three-day therapeutic course, which tackles emotional and mental trauma, at the Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation
A former warrant officer with the Royal Logistic Corps, the highest non-commissioned rank in the British army, he was on patrol in a village when he spotted the youngsters, aged 11, nine and seven.
As a father of four himself, he stopped to chat with them - mindful of the army's policy of winning over 'hearts and minds' - and even gave the children some chocolate he had in his pocket.
Later he was walking back through the village when he stumbled on their bodies.
The young friends were lying by the roadside in pools of their own blood after having their throats cut - punishment for talking to 'the enemy'.
'Those children were innocent,' he said. 'I could not get the memory of them out of my mind.....I could not get it out of my head that I was responsible and that if it were not for me, they would still be alive today.'
Peter was eventually discharged from the army in 1999, his marriage also having broken down due to the stresses of his job.
He was diagnosed with PTSD after an incident the following year when his son was tragically killed in a car crash two weeks before his 21st birthday.
He began to suffer nightmares about the Croat children.'I would wake up in the night screaming and sweating. My heart was pounding so much I though I was having a heart attack,' he said.
'I honestly believed that the death of my son was payment for what happened to those poor children in Croatia.'
Unable to work and finding himself homeless, he says his life was saved by the decision to transfer him to a sheltered housing complex for ex-servicemen where he was introduced to The Warrior Programme.
He believes it saved his sanity through a combination of cognitive therapy, meditation and the ancient Eastern exercises of tai chi and Chi Kung.
Peter, who still suffers from physical disabilities as a result of his time in the army, says he is 'finally at peace with himself' and has even found a job.
'The trouble is that the army still isn't very good at spotting those who are suffering from PTSD and those that do have it don't want to admit their problem out of embarrassment and the very real fear that their career will be sidelined,' he said.
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