Qigong Therapy

Whether you're dealing with a physical challenge, stress or you simply want to feel more at peace, you might benefit from qigong. This ancient Chinese art that combines gentle movement with meditation helps you work with qi---vital life energy---to balance and harmonize your body, mind and spirit. Qigong is not a replacement for conventional medical therapies.

Theory

Qi is all around you, flowing constantly and abundantly, according to traditional Chinese medicine. It flows through our bodies, too---but stress and injury can often impede its free movement and lead to illness. The good news is that everyone can increase their qi flow and feel better through simple qigong exercises that are easy to learn, according to Roger Jahnke, director of the Institute of Integral Qigong and Tai Chi in Santa Barbara, Calif. and author of "The Healing Promise of Qi."

Types

Qigong exercises involve simple movements---raising and lowering your arms, turning through the waist---designed to put your mind in a meditative state and increase circulation. If you are too ill to practice qigong exercises, or you want an immediate and powerful qi boost, medical qigong might be for you. Medical qigong practitioners use their own qi to make changes to the energy field that surrounds and flows through your body, creating the conditions for healing. The practitioner might send you home with exercises to practice between sessions, to help you maintain any corrections she makes.

Considerations

Whether you're receiving medical qigong or practicing qigong exercises, you'll want to begin using what the qigong masters call the "three intentful corrections"---simple habits you can adopt to help qi flow more fully and smoothly, according to the website of the Qigong Insitute. First, correct your posture by straightening your upper spine while relaxing your low back and dropping your shoulders down into their joints. This correction helps to give your internal organs the room they need to function well. Second, breathe fully and completely with the diaphragm to induce relaxation. Finally, focus your mind on the present moment. This is the key to avoiding unnecessary stress as you go about your day.

What to Expect

In a typical qigong class, you will follow an instructor through a sequence of movements designed to circulate qi throughout your entire body. An instructor might remind you of the correct way to do a move, or perform a hands-on correction to adjust your posture. In a medical qigong treatment, the practitioner will interview you to determine the source of any symptoms you might have. In a typical session, you lie fully clothed on a massage table while the practitioner moves her hands through your energy field, about a foot away from your body, according to the website of the International Institute of Medical Qigong. (Reference 3) Emotional release is common during qigong practice and medical qigong treatments, since this work is designed to clear toxic emotions.

Research

Qigong exercise improves bone health, cardio fitness, quality of life and mental health, according to the Medline Plus website. Medical qigong can relieve chronic pain symptoms associated with fibromyalgia, according to a 2006 study published in the "Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine." Study authors K.W. Chen and colleagues at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey reported that some fibromyalgia patients experienced complete recovery after receiving between five and seven qigong treatments over a three-week period, while others reported significant reduction in their symptoms.