The Healing Practice of Qigong

by Linda Gurick

Qigong is one of the most powerful and effective self-healing methods in the world today. It is both ancient wisdom and modern science. Qigong can do what no other medicine can: help your body, mind, and spirit to connect and function in harmony by allowing you to gain control of and direct your own qi or life force. It can reawaken and strengthen your body’s innate healing ability and helps you tap into the healing energy of the universe. The Chinese believe that the primary mechanism triggered by qigong practice is a spontaneous balancing and enhancing of our natural healing resources in the human body (Jwing-Ming, 1997).

There are so many stresses that we are subjected to in our life that begins to cause wear and tear within our bodies. With the advent of modern technology, it is only getting more excessive…financial, school and work achievement, relationships, national and world politics, new emerging devastating diseases, anxiety over time and schedules, economic concerns……the list goes on. The world may not be peaceful, but we can do much to create peace within. If we cannot change or remove ourselves from the stressful situations, we can at least control our reactions to it. Qigong can teach us to deal intelligently with stress and to develop skills to regulate the health, balance and movement of healing energy in the mind and body (Cohen, 1997).

It is difficult to say how old the practice of qigong is. Some believe it goes back more than five thousand years. The word qigong breaks into two words, qi and gong. Qi is defined as energy, life force and vitality and gong means to practice, cultivate and refine. Therefore, the definition of qigong is to cultivate and refine ones’ life force or energy through practice (Lu, 1999).

Qigong has been shown to affect many physiological mechanisms that have profound healing benefits. Some of the amazing things that qigong can do are strengthen the immune system lower blood pressure, adjust pulse rates, help alter metabolic rates, adjust oxygen demand, harmonize endocrine system functions, regulate some of the body’s basic building blocks and even slow the process of aging. One of the biggest benefits is that it can develop your intuition and let you see the world in a different way. This view is one that can take you beyond the senses. Above all, the qigong practitioner learns through their own experience that there is no separation between the body and the mind. (Liu, 1997).

There are five distinct qigong traditions: Taoist, Confucian, Buddhist, martial arts and medical. It is this last form of qigong that is beginning to attract a great deal of attention from Western populations. Qigong was suppressed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, which lasted roughly from 1965 to 1976. Around 1978, it began to rise in popularity again in China. More and more people around the world are becoming interested in this ancient energy practice. In 1988, the Chinese held the first World Conference for focusing on qigong medical research. These conferences have grown over the past decade (Cohen, 1997).

Thousands of qigong systems derived from the five basic traditions mentioned above exist in China. Some are ancient systems passes along for many generations; some are instant systems created by modern masters. Currently, very few qigong systems have been seen or taught in the United States.

Each qigong system works differently: some are easy to learn, but deliver few benefits; some are difficult to learn and the benefits are difficult to achieve; some are difficult to learn, but yield great benefits. Essentially, qigong is learned in two ways: by forms or by message.

In the system based on forms or techniques, you learn a variety of exercises and the emphasis is on doing these postures and movements correctly to stimulate your internal qi to help heal yourself. In this case, the practitioner must follow the master’s directions precisely to gain any benefits from the system. Results depend on correct posture, how much time you practice, and how well your master can teach.

The second category uses movements and postures, but in a different way. They are used to guide the power of the energy message from master to student. Doing the forms or postures correctly is not overly important- they are merely the vehicles for getting the energy message from master to student. The student then uses this message to help restore and reenergize the function of his or her internal qi.

If you are learning by message, your heart must be empty and open. The philosophy is one of true simplicity and emptiness: Nothing is everything. No technique is the best technique. By being empty in the everyday world, one opens the door to an invisible reality that underlies and supports three-dimensional reality. This connection to the universal energy can inform one’s every action.

The heart in traditional Chinese medicine refers not only to the heart as a physical organ, but also as the ruler of all the internal organs as well as the mental and emotional realms of being. In performing the task of pumping blood throughout the body, the heart also acts as a conduit for feeling and consciousness, communicating with every cell in the human organism. The heart is also the center from which the expression of unconditional love emanates. This universal compassion is at the core of all moral and spiritual systems that deal with spiritual growth and helping others. In qigong, opening the heart is seen as the true gateway to the highest form of practice. Only through complete emptiness, selflessness, and lack of purpose, can the Tao be realized (Lu, 1999).

Anyone can practice qigong, any age and any physical condition. It can be done standing, seated or supine. Implementing these basic movements with patients in a variety of health care settings could be very beneficial. Teaching qigong to patients with high blood pressure could empower patients to take control of their illnesses. For the cancer patient, the emotional effect may be as important as the energetic effect. Many feel that their body is so out of control with the cancer cells multiplying and having to turn their lives over to machines and strangers. By practicing qigong, the patient could feel that there is something they can do for themselves. They can control some aspects of their being. In addition, qigong could increase their appetite, immune systems, and energy levels (Cohen, 1997).

The practice of qigong will create increasingly dramatic changes in the practitioners life, especially the ability to think and function at a very high level in everyday life-solving problems, creating art, healing others, etc. The first level of changes experienced as a result of consistent and dedicated practice commonly occurs in the area of health, then enhanced sensitivity, and eventually, intuition and even psychic power. Qigong has the potential to enrich one’s ability to engage life in its fullest terms. (Lu, 1999).

References

Cohen, K., S. (1997). The way of qigong. NY: Random House.

Jwing-Ming, Y. (1997). The root of Chinese qigong (2nd ed.). Roslindale, Massachusetts: YMAA Publication Center.

Liu, H. (1997). The healing art of qigong. NY: Warner Books.

Lu, N. (1999). Traditional Chinese medicine. NY: Harper Collins.

For more information on qigong, try these links:

http://www.naturalhealthweb.com/topics/subtopics/qigong.html

http://tcmworld.org

http://home.global.co.zal~cppl/qig-links.htm

http://www.healthy.net/clinic/therapy/qigongandtaiji/