I have a mighty exercise for you which will assist you in achieving more every day. You will find it different from the rest of the general advice out there. Its effects are noticeable for many after the first week. It will relax and energize you at the same time. It will boost concentration. It also works as an exercise. It is easy to learn.
It was a tradition for thousands of years to keep the practice and techniques a secret within families. But over time certain individuals wanted to share this gift with as many people as possible. Nevertheless, even after decades of its exposure to the west, it has yet to enter the mainstream thought as Yoga or meditation has. We are talking about the practice called Qigong which means life energy cultivation.
Some will get thrown off by its spiritual aspects, but there is no belief required to reap its benefits. There are numerous statements across the web to its healing powers both on the mind and body. Having tried different practices like yoga and meditation. Nothing really beats the effectiveness of qigong. In fact, many have mentioned how it complements their meditation practice.
More Than Just Exercise
“I have struggled with chronic fatigue, depression, and a lot of health problems. I have been meditating sitting for 6 years now and have had great progress and couldn’t live without it. But it wasn’t until I tried Qigong that I truly understood what was wrong with me and why I felt so shitty all the time.”
“A year has passed now and I have most of my energy and all my health problems have almost completely healed and still improving.” – Reddit user.
“Anxiety decreased significantly for participants practicing Qigong compared to an active exercise group. Depression was shown to improve significantly in studies comparing Qigong to an inactive control” – Study
The Benefits of Deep Breathing
If you look at how babies breathe, they breathe deep down to their stomachs. After a few decades of living in modern society, we forget how to breathe. You will find that most adults breathe shallow, breathing only with their chest. This has its consequences and is often a contributing factor to developing an illness later in life. Qigong is a practice of returning to deeps breaths combined with various poses. Here are some deep breathing benefits.
- Decreases stress, increases calm
- Relieves pain
- Detoxifies the body
- Improves immunity
Once you start our own practice you will in time feel more grounded, focused, and productive. It’s a perfect aid to anyone who wishes to perform and achieve at a high level. The practice will allow you to work for longer hours, have more energy through your daily activities. Out of all the self-care practices, I have tried, Qigong is the clear winner.
Self Therapy
We have a western equivalent of Qigong called Bioenergetic Therapy – sometimes called “bodywork”. The main author of bioenergetics is called Alexander Lowen. He came out with the theory that our bodies and our minds are closer than we thought. We have a tendency of storing trauma and childhood experiences in our bodies in the form of chronic muscular tension.
In our modern society, we learn to suppress feelings that are not socially acceptable. We condition ourselves to wear a mask for our peers. As years fly by we mistakenly believe the mask is who we are. Along with that, we might have developed psychological hang-ups both personally and in our social relations. Have a look at Alexander Lowen’s books if you want to learn more.
The good part is that Qigong will aid you in becoming who you really are – without the mental baggage. As you progress in your practice you will start to feel tense parts of your body opening up and becoming soft again. Suppressed memories and emotions might flow through you for a short moment to be released forever. With these blockages opening-up, your psychological make-up will start to change. It is truly something you have to experience for yourself.
The Theory
You have probably heard of acupuncture, it is a practice of releasing blocks in the body’s energy channels or meridians. Qigong practice works on the same energy channels as acupuncture but without the needles. As the body’s energy systems get cleaner and your progress in your practice you will be rewarded with a happier, focused and stable state of mind among other things.
The name Qigong consists of two words Qi and gong. In the west “Life energy cultivation”. Qi sometimes called “chi” – means energy. The goal of qigong is to increase the flow of qi through the channels in the body and to store more of it inside the body. More precisely it gets stored right behind the navel. The storage point is called “Dan Tian”. It suggests that our bodies can work as a battery for bioenergetic energy.
Healing Reactions
Healing reactions are various symptoms your entire system goes through while detoxing. It is a sign of deep healing. Usually dealing with old infections, wounds, injuries, and other imbalances from the past. According to holistic medicine, we all carry latent diseases in our bodies such as toxins, yeasts, and parasites which is due to our processed diet. Along with that, we are exposed to much higher levels of heavy metals in our environment.
I have to say that this is something that is very real. I have tried various healing protocols such as heavy metal detox, liver flush, coffee enemas and juicing programs. A healing crisis is very real and is something you have to experience for yourself instead of spending hours on the web reading statements from people who have never had to deal with autoimmune disease and similar.
The body has a clever way of dealing with toxins in that it stores it deep in the tissues and organs for release at a time where the body has energy and resources to let it out for excretion through the bloodstream, liver, and kidneys.
Practicing Qigong will within weeks or months trigger healing reactions. The good thing is it will usually last for a short period. A few days at most. What are some of the things that can happen during a “healing crisis”?
Staying Youthful
The great thing about Qigong is that you don’t have to believe in any of it in order to reap the benefits. But like many others before you – with practice, you will probably start researching the topic on your own. For instance the energy we talk about cant be seen but it can be felt – in time when you practice you will feel a tingling sensation in your hands or other parts of your body.
As you age you will experience a dip in energy, those of us who have entered their 30s know what I’m talking about. This is a problem, especially if you have big goals or are already working as an entrepreneur. Different body parts stiffen up, health issues like weight gain are also common problems.
Qigong will help you get an increase in energy – aiding you in your personal and professional life. I know this is a bold statement nevertheless its true.
If you work up to 20-30 minute sessions a day you will experience it works as a physical exercise too.
Other things I have personally noted is smoother skin and a glow. Becoming supple even though I don’t stretch. Improved posture. Emotionally grounded. Deeper sleep.
How To Start
As you search the web for qigong and similar exercises you can find many free options and that is fine. That’s how I started my journey. But it might not yield the same results as a book written for beginners.
Saving you a lot of hours of research I highly recommend the book – The Way Of Energy by Master Lam Kam-Chuen. It is said that the exercises will give you something to work with for the next 2-3 years as a novice. And is the traditional way of starting a Qigong practice. I hope you try this out and I wish you good luck.
– Bogdan
References