In Chinese the word "Qigong" has two characters, Qi (Chi) and Gong. "Qi or chi" means life energy and "Gong" means daily effort. In short, Qigong is a practice to use Qi for different purposes including self-healing. Everyone is born with chi and everyone has the potential to use chi for many purposes. It is the same way as swimming, we are born with the potential to swim but only when we acquire the skill to swim then we can enjoy different water activities such as scuba diving, water polo, free style, butterfly swimming, etc. In the same manner, the skill to use chi is trained not born. Once a person is trained how to use chi, he or she then can use chi for martial arts, dancing, weight lifting (yes, weight lifting as the Chinese trained weight lifters using qigong!) and of course, medical, self-healing.
Qigong (“chee-gong”) is an over five-thousand year-old Chinese health method that combines slow graceful movements with mental concentration and breathing to increase and balance a person’s vital energy. It has been popularly referred to as Chinese yoga. Qigong is an integral part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, along with acupuncture, acupressure, and herbal medicine. Literally millions of people practice Qigong in China and around the world each day to successfully treat diseases ranging from osteoarthritis to cancer, to improve their overall health.
The first intentful correction (i.e. mindful adjustment) involves body posture. Incorrect posture results in decreased or blocked energy flow, the unnecessary expenditure of energy, a decrease in stamina, and greater susceptibility to injury or illness. Doing moving forms of Qigong is a particularly appropriate way to train for sports like climbing because you must adjust and be totally aware of your weight distribution, balance, and posture as you make each move.
The second intentful correction involves breathing. In spite of years or decades of practice, most of us breathe in a non-optimal way: On the in-breath, our chest fills up with air and little air gets into the abdomen. Interestingly, we all came into the world knowing and practicing the right way to breathe; we had to learn the wrong way through the experience and conditioning of growing up. The form of breathing most used with Qigong is abdominal breathing, where on inhale the lower abdomen expands and fills with air before the chest, and the abdomen contracts on exhale. The third intentful correction involves mental state or awareness. Regulating your mind is a practice designed to reduce stress and increase your awareness of the moment, helping you to achieve a state of pure consciousness by stripping away thoughts and emotions that keep you unnecessarily immersed in the complexity of your daily life. Qigong meditative techniques, such as mindfulness meditation, are combined with slow, deep breathing and gentle movement. Start your Qigong practice using any meditative technique with which you are familiar.
Yi, Qi and Jing are the three most essential internal components in the practice of tai chi. Yi is the mind, Qi the vital life energy and Jing (not to be confused with Jing which is the internal force or strength and Jing which means serenity) the sexual energy. These components constitute the internal power of Qi gong.Improving them will enhance your level of Qi gong.
This is a good question and it comes up a lot in my workshops. There are SO many theories about when is the best time to practice Qigong. Some talk about certain hours to feed certain organs, some discuss connecting with various stars at specific times. Theories abound. The problem with theories is that many disagree with each other... and many aren't proven... such is the way of theories. For my personal practice (which is influenced by many Masters who I studied with) includes a routine of Qigong energy harmonizing and physical stretching immediately after waking. Yes, this means before you check emails or make phone calls or eat breakfast. This is a great way to set your "resonance" for the day. I also do a shorter set right before I go to bed. Again, this is the last thing you do to set your resonance for sleep... so after you brush your teeth and after emails and so forth. I usually only spend 15 minutes on this session... it is a slow and deep practice, designed to put me into a peaceful state of mind/body/spirit. I immerse myself in gratitude for waking to a new day each morning... and immerse myself in gratitude at night for all the "waking dreams" I had during the day. The real key in Qigong practice is to find your own groove and savor your forms when it feels right for you... when you can be in your presence. Sometimes this may be amidst the chaos in the middle of the day, when you need to stop the patterns that get you all caught up... and then just take time for yourself to return to your core, to honor your energy, and return to gratitude and self appreciation and love.
Having studied and worked for many years with a variety of teachings, and masters of internal energy, martial and spiritual arts,