What is Medical Qigong and its Benefits
Aug 20, 2013Developed over 2,000 years ago, Medical Qigong is becoming extremely important in the world as healthcare costs rise, economies are shrinking; the world is waking up to the fact they need to find alternative preventative medicine in order to increase their health and well-being. The Medical Qigong that was used anciently can treat various disorders today. What is Medical Qigong? The word “Qi” means air or energy. The word “Gong” means work. The word “Medical” is self-explanatory. What is not so obvious is how does one apply Qigong to the medical aspect?
Medical Qigong principle lays on the fundamental belief that all illness arises from imbalance, stagnation in energetic patterns. It is used to treat these disorders and is used as a preventative medicine by restoring and adjusting energetic balances, breaking through stagnation bringing unimpeded flow and circulation back to the body. These are the benefits of Medical Qigong.
With all the Qigong available how do you choose?
Medical Qigong is functional Qigong. Medical Qigong has many benefits. After 500 AD the Taoists realized that people who were practicing more dynamic Qigong were living longer lives and much healthier than those practicing primarily static and still Qigong and meditation. Chinese Medicine doctors recognized the benefits of this dynamic Qigong and began to develop the existing Qigong forms with Chinese Medicine principles. People saw this Qigong as a more functional form of Qigong that had tangible results as opposed to the still and static Qigong in which could take many years and only hope to get results.
What Medical Qigong Can Treat
Medical Qigong has been used in not only ancient China, but also modern day China to treat a wide variety of illnesses and disease. It is often used in conjunction with Chinese Medicine herbs and even now western medicine.
Medical Qigong in China has been used for thousands of years and still to this day to treat various disorders such as:
- Cancer (all types)
- Sports Injuries
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Orthopedic Disorders
- Broken Bones
- Sprains
- Strains
- Common Cold
- Flu
- Emotional Disorders
- Depression
- ADHD
- Bipolar disorder
2 General Categories of Medical Qigong
- Outgoing Qigong Therapy
Outgoing Qigong therapy requires a recipient and a giver. One might suffer from an illness or worse. They seek a Qigong therapy practitioner to do healing work on them. The person administering the therapy will infuse the receiver with healing Qi. The practitioner can use various healing sounds and or light visualizations depending on if they are treating a certain organ. Tui Na can be considered a type of Outgoing Qigong therapy.
- Medical Qigong Exercises
Medical Qigong exercises are designed to open up the meridian channels.
3 Levels of Dynamic Medical Qigong Exercises
- Meridian Qigong- Jingluo Gong
- Organ Qigong- Nei Zang Gong
- Bone Qigong- Gu Tou Gong
In the first level of Medical Qigong, the practitioner needs to open up the Meridian Channels of the body. The Chinese say the meridians are like the rivers that flow to the oceans and lakes of your body. The oceans and lakes of your body are your organs. If a river is blocked, stagnation and stress will build. If it does not find a way to flow, it will burst or find another path that may change the natural course of nature. In Taoism we are a microcosm of nature. If your meridians are blocked, not opening and flowing on a regular basis then the proper nutrients, oxygen and Qi cannot flow to your organs. This is like cutting off the oxygen supply to them. They cannot breathe. Once you cut off flow to them, they will suffer. If they suffer to long, you can end up with damage to your organs. Therefore it is imperative to keep your Meridian Channels open and flowing. Once you have opened your meridian pathways the next step is to massage your internal organs. Our Organ Qigong Set is made up of 8 Qigong movements and 3 warm-up exercises. By completing this entire set you will have gently massaged your internal organs in multiple ways and angles through various stretching movements coupled with compression and expansion of the body in many ways. I can tell you once you experience this Qigong you will want to do it every day at least once to help increase your overall health. It really wakes my body up and gives me good feelings all over.
After you have completed the Organ Qigong set the next level is to guide the Qi into the bone marrow, tendons and ligaments. This is an advanced stage of Medical Qigong as it is also more challenging than Meridian and Organ Qigong as it requires deep stances coupled with deep twisting movements.
The Qi feelings you will derive from each of these sets feel different. If practiced together you have the opportunity for maximum Qi development and a preventative medicine program that is for free and can be practiced whenever you want.
Sitting Medical Qigong such as Primordial Breathing with the Golden Elixir Breath has many benefits and is used to treat a variety of gastrointestinal disorders and other illnesses. The saliva in traditional Qigong is considered the Golden Elixir. The Taoists believe it has a huge amount of powerful healing benefits.
I highly recommend you incorporate a daily Medical Qigong routine into your schedule as I do, to gain maximum natural preventive medicine.
It’s never too late or too early to start learning Qigong! We have personally taught Medical Qigong to students in their teens all the way to patients and students in their 80s.
We offer Medical Qigong ebooks, books, online courses, live events and teacher trainings.
Contact us today to learn more and choose from our specifically designed modules for proper Qi and body development.