Qigong is an ancient Chinese mind and body technique that dates back to around two thousand, five hundred years ago. Qigong like techniques have been practiced for around about five thousand years.
Qigong involves what is called moving mediation. It is meant to be slow and fluid with deep rhythmic breathing to help balance the mind and body. Qigong is used to straighten and stretch the body to increase fluid movement, enhance balance and improve mood. Qigong can also be used to help relive stress and anxiety to help emotional functions.
It is truly its own study and these are just some of the things that Qigong can help with. Yes, “Qigong is an exercise that works with the body’s energy pathways,” but I will talk more about Qigong and how it works with the energy pathways of the body in later posts.
I practice Qigong on a daily basis now. This started a few weeks ago. Before that, I practiced Qigong maybe once a month to two times a month. I was introduced to Qigong while participating in my Master’s Degree. As part of one of my class’s requirements I had to practice Qigong for a week and I did.
I picked one of the Qigong videos that was provided by the class. This was a ten minute Qigong video. Before doing Qigong, I had mild lower back pain that would not go away. Nothing I did made it go away, so I just dealt with it.
As I started the Qigong video I followed along with the Qigong movements that dealt with the lower back. In not even a minute I felt a hot liquid like substance run down my neck to my lower back and down to my feet. Feeling this, I stopped the video for a minute. I can tell you when that happened I was thinking, “I just messed my back up and may need to go to the ER”. So I sat for a minute to feel it out.
I took the time to make sure everything with my back was okay. When I noticed my lower back pain was gone, I decided to finish the Qigong video.
To this day, I have no more lower back pain. All I can say is that Qigong healed my lower back pain. This was very powerful to me.
Qigong has so many great health benefits. I personally enjoy and love doing Qigong. When I practice Qigong I feel more energized and enjoy in a better mood. It gives me a better head space to work from. I feel so alive in my body when I do Qigong. I truly do feel connected to both my body and mind in a balanced way.
I think that everyone should at least try Qigong a few times and see how they feel afterwards. You do not have to have a healing experience like I did but it could just be that you feel better mentally or emotionally. You could always incorporate Qigong into your weekly exercises routine. I hear one of my yoga teachers say, “a little yoga goes a long way,” and I think a little Qigong can go a long way.