More about qigong
Qigong's ancient origins
Qigong comes from China where its history stretches back over 4,000 years. Qigong is linked to the ideas of Chinese traditional medicine and the concept of internal energy which rests or flows in the body, particulary along certain channels or meridians . Qi ("chi") is the Chinese word for this idea of internal energy, gong is the word for work and so qigong means energy work or practice. Qigong exercises are often linked to a particular intended effect on the body's energy and its flow through the body. You may have heard of Tai Chi, a martial art which is related to qigong and uses similar ideas.
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We have a blog entry which discusses some of the different ways in which the Eastern concept of Qi can be approached by those more used to western approaches to health.
Balanced sets of exercises
Qigong is typically practised as a defined and balanced set of exercises. The sets have names such as Baduan Jin (the eight treasures), Da Wu (the great dance), and Liu Zi Jue (six healing sounds).
These sets contain a number of exercises each working on a different part of the body. A single exercise typically involves a body posture and graceful movement leading into a stretch, possibly with some supporting muscle work. The movement is coordinated with the breath. An individual exercise is often repeated.
A full set of exercises may take about 15 minutes, each exercise flowing into the next.
Health Qigong
We teach a qigong system called Health Qigong. Health Qigong is the result of a modern effort, led by a group of Chinese universities and institutes, to study the ancient exercises and produce a standardised form guided by modern scientific research.
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The Health Qigong sets have music associated with them and we often practise accompanied by the music. This has become a popular feature with those who come to our sessions.
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We are trained by and members of the British Health Qigong Association.
Evidence of benefits
The following extracts are taken from recently published research into the use of qigong.
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Individual Stress Prevention through Qigong
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"Studies with RCTs [Randomised Controlled Trials] have shown that practicing Qigong impacts the effects of stress and overactivation by decreasing stress levels, hypertension, depression, and anxiety, and improving the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, immune function, sleep quality, cognitive functioning, and stress appraisal. Four elements of Qigong appear to contribute to these positive effects, i.e., physical training, active relaxation, focused attention, and conscious breathing. Together, extensive empirical evidence suggests that Qigong provides an effective means for individual stress prevention that individuals can use to recover from stress and sustained activation, regain homeostasis and mind–bodybalance, and improve their physical and psychological well-being."
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This is the conclusion from "Individual Stress Prevention through Qigong" a research paper by Karen van Dam, Faculty of Psychology, Open University of the Netherlands, 6419 AT Heerlen, The Netherlands. Published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 17, Issue 19, 2020.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Baduanjin Qigong for Health Benefits: Randomized Controlled Trials
"The aggregated results from this systematic review show that Baduanjin Qigong practice is beneficial for quality of life, sleep quality, balance, handgrip strength, trunk flexibility, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and resting heart rate."
Taken from the Conclusion of "A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Baduanjin Qigong for Health Benefits: Randomized Controlled Trials". A Paper by Liye Zou, Jeffer Eidi SasaKi, Huiru Wang, Zhongjun Xiao, Qun Fang, and Mark Zhang. Published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Volume 2017.
Copyright © 2017 Liye Zou et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.