Yoga and chi gong both originated from ancient attempts to create optimal health and unify a practitioner's mind, body and spirit. While yoga has its roots in ancient Indian Vedic scriptures, chi gong grew out of the Chinese Taoist pursuit of longevity. Both practices include spinal stretching, mental focus and breath work. Choose yoga if you're interested in working on your joints, and you can kneel or sit on the floor comfortably. Chi gong is great if you are more comfortable standing and want to improve your balance.
Body
Both chi gong and yoga release stress and improve overall strength and flexibility. The deep breathing and intensive stretching of yoga might work to increase lung capacity, reduce blood pressure and lower heart rate, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine website. Some forms of chi gong include substantial strength training for the legs. A July 2010 review article in "American Journal of Health Promotion" found that chi gong improves bone health, cardio-respiratory fitness, immune function and can help prevent falls.
Mind
In both yoga and chi gong, a practitioner uses a strong meditative focus as he performs movements, allowing him to stay in the moment and direct his mind away from everyday concerns. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine notes that yoga might relieve anxiety, depression and insomnia. Chi gong improved quality of life, relieved psychological symptoms and improved self-efficacy --- an individual's sense that she can perform tasks and accomplish goals --- according to the "American Journal of Health Promotion" review article.
Recovery from Injury
Yoga and chi gong may both be effective in helping you recover if you hurt yourself, although you'll probably want to choose one or the other based on the nature and location of your injuries. Chi gong exercises move the spine smoothly and easily, focusing on gentle expansion and contraction that can help you recover if you have a stable spine injury, especially in the neck area, according to sports writer, ChanChun Hsu, in a 2010 article for "The Sport Digest," a publication of the United States Sports Academy. Because of yoga's potential as a pain relieving measure, especially for joint injuries, Army Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, recommended alongside other alternative therapies for wounded soldiers returning from combat, according to a September 2010 article published on the United States Army official homepage.
Healthy Aging
Yoga and chi gong both hold benefits for seniors who want to be more active. A 2006 article published in the journal "Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine" by Barry S. Oken and colleagues at Oregon Health and Science University noted that seniors aged 65 to 85 who did hatha yoga for six months experienced physical improvement and increased well-being, although they did not improve in terms cognition or alertness. A 2005 study published in the "Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance" found that chi gong can contribute to the quality of life of older adults. Study participants reported that they felt the relaxation benefits of chi gong most strongly.
References
- National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Yoga for Health: An Introduction
- PubMed: A Comprehensive Review of Health Benefits of Qigong and Tai Chi
- United States Sports Academy: Cervical Spine Injuries and Oriental Medical Chi Kung Exercises
- Army.mil: 'The Warrior Pose': Army Considers Yoga to Treat Soldiers' Pain
- PubMed Central: Randomized, Controlled, Six-Month Trial of Yoga in Healthy Seniors
- Education Resources Information Center: Qigong and the Older Adult
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