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Qigong, chi kung, or chi gung is a practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and meditation. With roots in Chinese medicine,martial arts, and philosophy, qigong is traditionally viewed as a practice to cultivate and balance qi (chi) or what has been translated as "intrinsic life energy". Typically a qigong practice involves rhythmic breathing coordinated with slow stylized repetition of fluid movement, a calm mindful state, and visualization of guiding qi through the body. Qigong is now practiced throughout China and worldwide, and is considered by some to be exercise, and by others to be a type of alternative medicine or meditative practice. From a philosophical perspective qigong is believed to help develop human potential, allow access to higher realms of awareness, and awaken one's "true nature".
What Are The Health Benefits Of Qi Gong ?
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Qigong has been purported to enhance health and well-being with many benefits, including improving cardiovascular function, healing specific acute diseases, and increasing longevity. The word Qigong (Chi Kung) is made up of two Chinese words. Qi is pronounced chee and is usually translated to mean the life force or vital-energy that flows through all things in the universe. |
The second word, Gong, pronounced gung, means accomplishment, or skill that is cultivated through steady practice. Together, Qigong (Chi Kung) means cultivating energy, it is a system practiced for health maintenance, healing and increasing vitality.
The research reported that qigong practice played a positive role in each of ten categories:
- Bone density: prevented bone loss and increased bone mineral density;
- Cardiopulmonary effects: decreased blood pressure and heart rate, increased heart rate variability, and improved biomarkers;
- Physical function: improved performance indicators (e.g., chair rise, 50-ft walk, gait speed, muscle contraction strength, flexibility);
- Falls and related risk factors: decreased falls and increased balance;
- Quality of life: improved perceived physical health, psychological state, social relationships, etc.
- Self efficacy: improved confidence and ability to manage health problems, pain, stress, and novel situations;
- Patient reported outcomes: decreased reporting of pain, improvement of diverse symptoms including discomfort and sleeplessness;
- Psychological symptoms: decreased anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and fear; improved mood and biomarkers such as stress hormones (e.g., lower cortisol);
- Immune functionandinflammation: improved immune blood markers (e.g., leukocytes, eosinophils, and antibodies) and decrease inflammation markers (e.g., cytokines, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6).
- Mental health: qigong can benefit or ameliorate mental health conditions, including improved mood, decreased stress reaction, and decreased anxiety and depression. Most medical studies have only examined psychological factors as secondary goals, however various studies have shown significant benefits such as decrease in cortisol levels, a chemical hormone produced by the body to manage stress.
How Does Training Methods With Qi Gong ?
Qigong comprises breathing, physical, and mental training methods based on Chinese philosophy. While implementation details vary, all qigong forms can be characterized as a mix of four types of training: dynamic, static, meditative, and activities requiring external aids.
- Dynamic training: Involves fluid movement, usually carefully choreographed, coordinated with breath and awareness. Examples include the slow stylized movements of Tai chi chuan, Baguazhang, and Xing yi. Other examples include graceful movement that mimics the motion of animals in Five Animals,White Crane, and Wild Goose (Dayan) Qigong.
- Static training: Involves holding postures for sustained periods of time. In some cases this bears resemblance to the practice of Yoga and its continuation in the Buddhist tradition. For example Yiquan, a Chinese martial art derived from xingyiquan, emphasizes static stance training. In another example, the healing form Eight Pieces of Brocade (Baduanjin qigong) is based on a series of static postures.
- Meditative training: Utilizes breath awareness, visualization, mantra, and focus on philosophical concepts such as qi circulation. For example, in the Confucius scholar tradition meditation is focused on humanity and virtue, with the aim of self-enlightenment. In various Buddhist traditions, the aim is to still the mind, either through outward focus, for example on a place, or through inward focus on the breath, a mantra, a koan, emptiness, or the idea of the eternal. In Taoist and traditional Chinese medicine practice, the meditative focus is on cultivating qi in dantian energy centers and balancing qi flow in meridian and other pathways.
- Use of external agents: Many systems of qigong training include the use of external agents such as ingestion of herbs, massage, physical manipulation, or interaction with other living organisms. For example, specialized food and drinks are used in some medical and Taoist forms, whereas massage and body manipulation are sometimes used in martial arts forms. In some medical systems a qigong master uses non-contact treatment, purportedly guiding qi through his or her own body into the body of another person.
