What is Qigong?

Qigong is one of the five branches of Traditional Chinese medicine including more familiar practices like acupuncture, massage, herbology, and nutrition. It is also a part of the Chinese National Health plan taught and practiced in schools, universities, and hospitals. It is a daily practice that is easy to do anywhere and at any time. It can be done standing or seated but is best practiced outdoors to make an easier connection with the earth, nature, and the universe. If you cannot be outside, it is good to practice in front of a window. 

Qi or chi as in Tai Chi means vital energy. Gong means to work, cultivate, or master – together qigong means energy work or to master your energy. Gaining awareness of the energy fields in our bodies and learning to work with and guide them increases balance and encourages a continuous energy flow that fosters health and equilibrium in the mind, body, and spirit.

How it Works

Qigong practice recognizes the human body is an energy system. Energy is our life force and Qigong practitioners become skilled at working with their internal energy to keep it flowing, to amplify or minimize it, tapping into it, and bringing in external energy as needed. Qigong is a tool for awakening energy and balancing it in our system. If we have too much energy, it can help to calm us. If we have too little, it can help to generate it. If our energy is stuck, it an help to move it and redistribute it or release it if it is not helpful.

Qi is like a battery that we are born with. Our battery’s energy is stored in the lower Dan Tien (lower abdomen behind your navel). Like your cellphone battery, strong batteries can be easily recharged and hold a charge longer. When our battery needs a charge, we sleep, eat, rest, breathe, and meditate. We reach into the world around us to recharge our energy with offerings from the earth, nature, and the universe.

The Practice Entails

Qigong can be considered meditation in motion. The repetitive nature of qigong movements promotes a meditative state that relaxes the mind and increases breath and body awareness. Like meditation, setting an intention for your practice, clearing your mind, and practicing the qigong movements releases stress, grounds your body, and elevates your sense of wellbeing.

Qigong practices consist of a variety of movements, breath focus, stillness, sounds, visualization, and meditation. Each movement, posture, and focus has a purpose or intention to direct your energy where you want or need it to go. Most qigong movements fall into one of these eight categories:

1. Breathing and mindfulness to center you and enhance your focus
2. Invigorating postures that warm you up, stir up your qi and prepare you for the practice
3. Stretches and Daoyin movements that guide our qi and gather it so it can be moved
4. Purging and dispersing postures move qi in the body and release it if it is not serving us
5. Qi-building Postures are still postures that help to generate more qi
6. Circulating flows are postures and movements that circulate and balance the qi. They help to bring external qi into our bodies from our environment and keep it from stagnating within our body
7. Directing: Our thoughts are powerful, using this power through meditation and visualization to achieve the your desired outcome
8. Storing and sinking Qi (to the Tan Tien): Once the qi is gathered, generated, and flowing, we can move it into our battery for storage so we can access it as needed.

Qigong practices incorporate the seasons, directions like north and south, earthly elements like water, earth and fire, simulating animal movements, the yin and yang channels, the sky, nature, mother earth, and the universe. All interconnected and working together as one. 

Practicing Qigong is a commitment to your body and yourself to cultivate a skill that offers an incredible amount of healing power by enhancing your natural healing potential. Keeping your qi flowing can help to prevent pain, disease, and illness. 

What is the difference between Qigong & Tai Chi? 

Tai chi is more popular in the West, but Tai chi and qigong are both ancient Chinese traditions that relieve stress and increase energy. The difference, Tai chi is a martial art – that prepares you to fight. Qigong is a medicinal and spiritual art or system of wellness that promotes health and healing.  

Tai chi is more complex. It involves a series of movements that can take many months to learn. It focuses more on form and discipline while qigong is less rigid, but still offers numerous benefits. Qigong includes energy generating postures, often one single move repeated several times, or standing practices that involve no movement at all.

Both practices increase your self-awareness, your attention and intention, focus, and breath awareness. They help to reduce stress, improve posture, balance, and general mobility, and increases muscle strength in the legs.

What about Yoga?

A quick comparison for yoga and qigong. Yoga is better for static flexibility, building strength, and stretching while qigong helps to improve balance, focus, increase circulation, reduce stress, and helps you to engage with your natural energy or qi. Qigong is a great compliment to any yoga practice.

To Learn More About Qigong, visit this website: https://www.consciouslifestylemag.com/qigong-exercises-healing-energy/