Many of you know about yoga as a form of exercise originating in India that includes stretches, breathing exercises and meditation. The Chinese parallel to yoga is qi gong, which can be translated as the cultivation of qi. Qi is the equivalent of prana, the yogic term for life breath. You can think of qi and prana as that which separates the living from the dead. The whole basis of Chinese medicine is to bring the body into harmony by moving qi and blood through the body. When there are blockages of either qi or blood, disharmony results that ultimately causes disease.

Just as there are various forms of yoga, there are different forms of qi gong as well. Qi gong can consist primarily of sitting or standing meditation or limited and slowly executed physical motion. No matter what form is practiced, focusing on deep breathing is a fundamental part of qi gong.

I practice qi gong employing mainly the standing meditation method every morning shortly after I enter my clinic and before I start seeing patients. Qi gong is my way of getting ready for the day and creating a healing atmosphere in my clinic. I begin qi gong by first focusing on my breath. My breathing slows down and I breathe deeply filling up my abdomen with my breath. Once my breathing has slowed and I am breathing deeply filling up my whole body with my breath, then I envision qi flowing through the top of my head at the crown point down through my head, my neck, and down my spine and then running out the souls of my feet. Chinese medicine often refers to humans as being between heaven and earth and it is believed that by practicing qi gong, heavenly qi runs through the body and connects with the grounding earth energy. Qi gong therefore fills the practitioner with the yang energy of the heavens which connects to the yin energy of the earth. This connection of the qi from heaven and earth supports and nourishes the qi gong practitioner.

The standing position to practice qi gong is done with feet shoulder width apart, knees bent so that the thighs fully support the weight of the body, hands cupped in front of the body as if holding a giant beach ball, and the spine straight. Imagine sitting on a horse or if you were just about to sit down in a chair. Believe me when I say this is not a particularly easy position to hold for any length of time, but with practice it does become easier and it does allow the practitioner to focus on breathing and envisioning qi washing through the body. This stance promotes the flow of qi through the body. I usually stand in this position for about twenty minutes every morning. The focus is to envision qi running through me, washing out the toxins that may have accumulated and filling me with pure universal qi.

To many of you, this type of exercise may seem quite strange and of little redeeming value. I would like to point out that several medical studies have shown the long-term benefits of practicing qi gong. Researchers, mainly in China and Europe, have been able to document the flow of qi through the meridians or pathways used in acupuncture, but they have not been able to directly link the benefits of practicing qi gong until recently when several studies show promising results from the practice of qi gong.

One study conducted in Shanghai over 20 years included over 400 people who had high blood pressure. All of the participants took medication for their blood pressure. Half of the research subjects practiced qi gong twice daily for thirty minutes. Over the course of the study, thirty percent of the qi gong group was able to reduce their medication as compared to an increase of blood pressure and medication for the control group who did not practice qi gong.

Another study indicated that the practice of qi gong promoted bone density. A bone density study of men between the ages of 50 and 69 showed significant improvement in those who practiced qi gong daily as compared to those who did not.

A study of the effects of chemotherapy also indicated that the practice of qi gong lessened the effects of chemotherapy. Those subjects practicing qi gong improved their strength, appetite, bowel function and weight as compared to the control group.

One of the most interesting studies that just concluded looked at the effects of qi gong on heroin addiction. In this study 86 male heroin addicts between the ages of 18 and 52 participated in the study and were divided into three groups: 34 in the qi gong group, 26 in a medicated group and 26 in a control group. The qi gong group practiced qi gong daily. The medicated group received a detoxification drug over ten days of gradually reducing the drug. The control group received basic care and some medication for severe withdrawal symptoms. The method of measuring the effects of qi gong versus the detoxification medication was urinalysis, anxiety assessment and an electrocardiogram.

After ten days, the study concluded that the qi gong group had a reduction of withdrawal symptoms and these symptoms passed much more rapidly than the medicated group or the control group. Negative urine tests occurred by day 5 in the qi gong group as compared to day 9 of the medicated group. Anxiety scores were also less for the qi gong group as compared to the medicated group.

In conclusion, the practice of qi gong does promote the smooth flow of qi through the body which in turn permits harmony of the mind, body, and spirit. Now that spring has finally arrived, there will be a group of us practicing qi gong down by the river in Founder’s Park every Monday (weather permitting) at 8:30 a.m. Please feel free to come and join us. All are welcome. It’s a terrific way to start off the day.

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