I’ve written about Qigong in the past, but there is more to the story.
Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor and I am not offering medical advice. The information here is not intended as a replacement for care from the appropriate healthcare professional. Please always check with your relevant medical professional beforehand on whether the specified ideas presented here are right for your individual situation. Please also note the relevant disclaimers for any resources shared, and see my companion post: Qigong Safety & Precautions.
My introduction to Qigong happened years ago. I trained to teach Qigong for Breast Health. A few years later, I discovered the Qigong for Cleansing on DVD (at the time) as well as a number of other customized styles of Qigong by a variety of people. More recently, I decided it was time to delve deeper, and learn more.
What is Qigong?
Qigong (pronounced chee-kung) is not something new. It is based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, and is thousands of years old. You may even find it spelled as Chi Kung. Typically more people are familiar with Tai Chi. Qigong is in the same family. Qi means life force energy. Gong means work or practice or cultivate. Therefore, the word Qigong means life force energy work/cultivation.
Qigong has been referred to by some as Chinese Yoga, and can be used for enhancing general health and longevity. While there are 3 main categories or branches of Qigong (Medical, Spiritual, and Martial), there are a lot of different styles of Qigong. Rather than learn one (or many) of the customized styles of Qigong, I sought to learn movements that were fundamental to Qigong. In YOQI, I found a wonderful program with knowledgeable and awesome teachers that allowed me to take the next steps in my Qigong journey, as well as continue growing.
Considered a moving meditation, among other benefits, a regular Qigong practice:
>Improves mood
>Increases cognitive focus
>Alleviates pain
>Boosts the immune system.
Some examples of deficient or stagnant Qi are:
>Fatigue
>Stress/tension
>Pain in the joints or body
>Digestive or bowel issues
Qigong works by balancing the flow of Qi in the body. Practicing regularly and consistently helps to support our natural self-healing capacity. Even better, Qigong is something that we can do for ourselves! The movements are easy and gentle, and they can be done laying down, seated, standing, and some styles can even be done while walking.
Taking Action
In November 2019, I hosted an event where I conducted interactive demonstrations of the following:
>Qigong for Stress & Anxiety
>Yoga for Seniors
>Qigong for Breast Health
We had a great turnout, and it was great to see the amount of interest in these areas. Moreover it was exciting to be able to empower individuals with techniques they can perform to help themselves.
Getting Started – Resources
Please do reach out to me if you would like help getting started in Qigong either individually, or with a group. Aside from that, here are some online resources you can check out to get started. NOTE: Please do reference the Qigong Safety & Precautions companion post for helpful information beforehand.
Qigong for Beginners: YOQI provides this excellent YouTube video available. It’s about 30 minutes.
Protection Cross: Here Marisa from YOQI presents the Protection Cross flow with detailed information.
Evening Qigong: Lee Holden offers this 20 minute Qigong practice that is good for unwinding in the evening. You may see some overlap of movements from the YOQI Qigong for Beginners video.
Qigong for Breast Health – Dragon Pushes Forward – This is a very brief excerpt on YouTube of one of the Qigong for Breast Health movements. Visit their main site for more information and additional resources.
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