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What Is Qigong? A Beginner’s Guide

Qigong follows conventional Chinese medication ideas, which declare that qi flows by way of our our bodies. According to TCM, folks are likely to really feel their greatest when qi travels freely, however well being issues can crop up if the power turns into stagnant or blocked in a sure space of the physique. Through easy poses and patterned breathwork, qigong is believed to take away obstacles to advertise a wholesome circulation of qi.

Beginners first discover ways to coordinate bodily actions with breath by way of the repeated apply of workout routines. Once they obtain correct kind, college students work on turning these workout routines into shifting meditation, or discovering the change in power throughout the postures, actions, respiratory patterns, and transitions.

It might sound easy, however there’s rather a lot taking place throughout the physique and thoughts throughout a qigong apply.

For starters, the gradual, light actions are believed to heat up your tendons, ligaments, and muscular tissues; mobilize the joints; and promote the circulation of physique fluids (like blood, synovial, and lymph).

Meanwhile, deep respiratory, which performs a central position in qigong, calms the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) nervous system and prompts the parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) aspect of your autonomic nervous system, Bouguyon says. The autonomic nervous system regulates involuntary processes like respiratory, heartbeat, and digestion.

By tapping into the parasympathetic nervous system, qigong may also help scale back stress and nervousness, which has many implications for well being. “Qigong offers the beautiful gift of working to quiet the mind, settle the emotions, and relax into the body,” Bouguyon says.

From the standard Chinese medication perspective, qigong optimizes the circulation of power in your physique to assist mitigate or attend to any variety of situations.

Take constipation, for instance. It could be considered in relation to the spleen, which regulates the first digestive course of in conventional Chinese medical thought, says Bernard Shannon, a physician of TCM, the chair of the NQA, and the founding father of the International Medical Qigong College in Bradyville, Tennessee. (Shannon notes that the spleen is much like however conceptualized in a different way than the traditional medical understanding of the bodily organ.)

As he explains, constipation usually has one in every of two causes, in keeping with TCM yin-yang idea, which appears to be like at sickness as an imbalance of yin power (conceptualized as chilly, comfortable, and passive) and yang power (conceptualized as heat, arduous, and lively).

“If you have a yin deficiency, there’s not enough moisture, and so you’re constipated because it’s too dry. If there’s too much yin, it becomes stagnant and can’t move forward. It’s kind of like quicksand — you take a step forward, and it slides back,” Shannon says. (This is one view of constipation from TCM. Other theories and faculties of thought that contain qi, blood, and different patterns share similarities to the yin-yang idea however have totally different approaches.)

A practitioner who focuses on utilizing qigong for well being functions, like a licensed acupuncturist and TCM practitioner who additionally provides qigong, will enable you decide potential qigong postures to assist transfer extra of that power towards your spleen to alleviate constipation, in keeping with Shannon.

Qigong instruction isn’t regulated by the federal authorities,

so do your analysis earlier than consulting a practitioner. Many nationwide and worldwide qigong organizations provide coaching, certifications, and business requirements. You can discover certified qigong practitioners by way of the Red Thread International Qigong Institute, the International Medical Qigong College, and the NQA. It’s additionally important to work in an integrative method along with your major physician to be sure to are evaluating any signs and issues through a standard medical perspective alongside your visits with an acupuncturist and qigong practitioner.

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