QiGong (pronounced “Chi Gong”) combines physical movement and traditional therapy to help relieve illness and stress and prevent disease.  This centuries old practice accelerates the whole body’s healing process, which leads to healthy living and longevity.  The exercise-like movements are divided into several groups which focus on different parts of the body.  It combines deep breathing with whole body movements and stretching to promote energy flow to harmonize the mind, body, and spirit of the individual.  The student can isolate adjust certain movements depending on their own needs, so they work within their own limits.  Self massage, for example, as a part of Therapeutic QiGong activates the meridian system, to relieve and prevent illness and discomfort.  Many have received great health health benefits from the practice of QiGong, physically, mentally, and spiritually from illnesses and diseases like heart disease, hypertension, arthritis, fibromyalgia, back pain, neck and shoulder problems, digestive disorders, headache, depression, anxiety, and stress to name a some.  And there are other values as well.

To obtain these benefits, Therapeutic QiGong should be practiced regularly at a minimum of three times per week, preferably daily.  QiGong begins through entering a state of relaxation.  Free the mind from troubling thoughts (or as a friend refers to them “thought monkeys”), relax the shoulders, chest, waist, legs, and feet.  Relax the entire body, free from all tension. 

Breathe slowly, deeply, in through the nose, and out through the mouth.  With each breath, fresh oxygen is received, visualize that air entering your lungs.  Focus on positive things and feel the positive energy flow into the body.  With each exhale, carbon dioxide is released and other wasted air on a physical/biological level.  On the mental and spiritual level, worries, tension, stress, illness, and negative energies leave the body.  Feelings of warmth, safety, and comfort enter a new fresh, and revitalized awareness.

It may seem like a lot of information to think about while performing QiGong, but that’s what can be thought about as the movements become second nature through regular practice.  This is why QiGong is viewed as work on the internal state of being and TaiChi is viewed as an externalization of that internal awareness.  This is also why QiGong can be valuable to so many facets of life, including not only overall wellness, but how we work through the activities of life including other exercises, business, relationships, and family life.  The martial artists of ages ago, the true masters, were very aware of the importance in controlling their inner source of energy.  They learned that once the inside is balanced, the outward expression of movement is also more balanced…, powerful.  Take it to another level.  When our inner self is more balanced, our activities like family life, exercise, business, and physically draining activities like even boot camp, running, cycling, weight training… endeavors that could tax our physical being are less draining on our bodies because our entire being is engaged in the process, not just the muscles, the mind, other parts our body, but… our entire being is now engaged.

Want to be better at what you do?  Want to be healthier?  Want to overcome or adjust to  physical limitations?  Try QiGong.  There are different forms of QiGong including Therapeutic QiGong.  It can help you round out and bring balance into your life.