Practice Qigong To Heal The Mind Body And Soul

Qigong has been loosely translated in many ways.

Chinese Characters for Qigong

It is an ancient Chinese symbol that translates literally as “cultivating vitality & energy. But today we tend to break the term into Qi and Gong. Qi referred to as air, breath, life force and Gong meaning energy, hard work, merit, skill and patient accomplishment. From this we can see many translations, but practitioners today generally mean “breath work” or cultivating your “life force”.

Through thousands of years, Qigong has become one of the significant aspects of Chinese Medicine. Practitioners are taught to regulate and coordinate their breath thereby strengthening their body and their health. Qigong ultimately has its roots from thousands of years of practice and perfection by combining existing knowledge at the time with influences from other areas and cultures. The most significant being Buddhism.

Through observation, practitioners learned that some breathing techniques combined with meditative focus led to better health and general well being. While Qigong is noted for its physical practice of poses, breathing and exercise, the basis is spiritual combining knowledge from Taoism [Daoism] and Buddhism. In the early days of Qigong many of the techniques still practiced today began in the temples of the Tao and Buddhist monks. By living a spiritual life, it is believed that an individual can achieve the true balance of mind, spirit and body.

Master Duan Zhi-Liang Wuji Qigong

Qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine

Qi or Chi (pronounced Chee)is the foundation of traditional Chinese Medicine. Qi is the life force moving through our bodies through the meridians used by acupuncturists, providing nourishment and health for all of our organs and systems in the body. Qigong uses breath control and movement of the Qi through the body to release blocked energy or too much energy which causes an imbalance that leads to disease. Chinese doctors spend much of their time finding these blocks and determining the cause. Often part of their treatment is Qigong exercises aimed at restoring the balance of energy in the body.

Once the balance is achieved, energy flows freely. Traditional Chinese medicine is very different from western medicine, in that it does not just treat a symptom. The patient is taught how to keep themselves healthy and free of disease through free flowing energy. Cultivating Qi by manipulating breath to achieve strength and well being, a Qigong practitioner plays a vital role in his or her own health.

Tai Chi as westerners call it or Taijan in Chinese is the practice used by ancient warriors to increase their strength and stamina, their physical dexterity and coordination by concentrating on the breath. Thus it can be seen that Qigong works on a whole person using focused movements, quiet stillness in meditation to achieve the benefits of good health. As an alternative medicine the practitioner learns to coordinate the mind, body and spirit.

Qigong Poses

Just as we have often heard we only use 10% of our brain, so too do we only use a small portion of the energy within our bodies. The air we breathe quite literally is the breath of life, and most of us do not breathe properly and as a result, we become ill. These two facts have been juxtaposed in Qigong, where proper breathing helps bring good health. In China, you will see millions of people in the parks everyday practicing Qigong. In most cases, this is a preventative practice, so that the individual can maintain good health.

There are certainly, cases where the Qigong Masters in conjunction with the Chinese doctors intervene in illness to effect cures. Most of these instances are for broken bones, surgeries and the effects of environmental diseases. Thankfully, the phenomenon of Qigong has spread throughout the world and millions of people are now using these movements, breath control and stillness to achieve their own good health. Meditation, or stillness, is one of the main components of Qigong. Many of the movement exercises also involve meditation, like the walking meditations used in the treatment of cancer.

In the beginning much of the information was kept secret in the temples, because if you were a monk with these skills it was a way to earn your living. Equally, if it was the martial art forms you did not want your enemy to learn your strengths. For thousands of years Qigong was a way of life for many in China. But during the Cultural Revolution, Qigong was outlawed as ‘a religion’ and many Qigong Masters were put to death. Thankfully, today, the Chinese government recognizes the benefits of Qigong as a medical technique and has funded numerous studies to prove the efficacy of Qigong As near as anyone can determine, Qigong began in China nearly 7,000 years ago.

Today there are almost 3,000 forms of Qigong.

For some reason, Tai Chi gained the interest of the western mind first and became one of the most recognized forms of Qigong. Because of the Chinese government’s research into Qigong, Western Medical Doctors have visited China and participated in some of the research and brought back the information to the western world. Through these exchanges, Qigong has flourished and is accepted by western doctors as one of the components of preventative medicine that can improve the overall well being and energy levels of a person.