What is QiGong and Chinese Medicine?
Qigong is a branch of Chinese medicine or treatment, that has been in use for thousands of years but is most associated with post-Mao China at the start of the cultural revolution.
The ‘qi’ in ‘qigong’ means breath or gas in Chinese, and, by extension, ‘life force’, ‘energy’ or even ‘cosmic breath’. ‘Gong’ means work applied to a discipline or the resultant level of skill, so ‘qigong’ is thus ‘breath work’ or ‘energy work’.
Some people view Qigong as a set of movement & breathing exercises, resulting in healthful benefits through stress reduction & exercise. Others view it in more ‘metaphysical’ terms, claiming that cosmic qi can be drawn into the body and circulated through channels or meridians.
Millions of people today both in China and around the world regularly practice qigong as a health maintenance exercise. Chinese hospitals have officially recognized qigong as a medical technique since 1989.
The Chinese government decided (after many years of debate) to officially manage qigong through government regulation in 1996, and they also listed it as part of their National Health Plan.
Qigong can help with stress management for it’s practitioners, through diaphragmatic breathing, which is an important component of the relaxation response. Taoist qigong, in contrast, employs the inverse breath of inhaling to the back of the thoracic cavity, rather than diaphragmatic breathing. It has been stated that diaphragmatic breathing may lead to reproductive pathologies for women.
It has been suggested by Yan Xin, who practices both Western & Chinese medicine, that for qigong to be accepted fully by the modern world, it must pass scientific study testing. He and others began systematic study of qigong in the mid 1980s in research institutions both in China and the United States. To date, more than 20 studies have been published.
There is agreement by both Chinese and Western medicine practitioners that qigong can maintain health and improve health also, by encouraging movement, improving joint flexibility and resilience, and increasing the range of motion of practitioners.
Kelly Lake is a frequent writer on issues affecting alternative medicine, holistic approaches to health care and well being. Most of Kelly’s work can be seen at Chicago Healers. Chicago Healers main mission is helping people find just the right holistic practitioner in the Chicago land area.
