What is qi gong?
Qigong is an ancient Chinese system of postures, exercises, breathing techniques, and meditations. Its techniques are designed to improve and enhance the body's qi. According to traditional Chinese philosophy, qi is the fundamental life energy responsible for health and vitality.
Qi Gong (Chi Kung), literally “Energy Work”, is the widely practiced art of moving and balancing Chi (life force energy) throughout the body to maintain health and prevent illness. The practice includes body postures and movements, breathing techniques and focused intention. It has been practiced in China for more than 4000 years, and like Tai Chi, was held as a family or village art and not shared with outsiders until the mid twentieth century.
Qigong (pronounced "chee-gung," also spelled chi kung) is translated from the Chinese to mean "energy cultivation" or "working with the life energy."
Qigong means "working with the qi." It is the ancient Chinese art and science of becoming aware of this life energy and learning how to control its flow through a precise choreography of posture, movement, respiratory technique, and meditation. Like biofeedback, qigong teaches psycho physiological self-regulation; the student becomes aware of bodily functions conventionally considered involuntary-- blood pressure, respiratory rate, even the flow of blood and nutrients to internal organs-- and learns to restore a healthier balance. However, unlike biofeedback, no technical devices are needed. Qigong is one of the most cost-effective self-healing methods in the world. The only investment needed is time, a half-hour to an hour each day; the dividends of better health, increased vitality, and peaceful alertness accrue daily and are cumulative.
Qigong is the preventive and self-healing aspect of Chinese medicine and was used in the past, as today, to teach patients how to improve their own health. The major early text on qigong is the Dao-yin Tu "Dao-yin Illustrations" (168 B.C.). Dao-yin is an ancient word for qigong. This work contains illustrations of forty-four qigong postures prescribed by ancient Chinese doctors to cure specific ailments. The patriarch of Chinese medicine, Hua Tuo (second century A.D.) was one of the great early qigong masters. His "Five Animal Frolics" imitate the movements of the Crane, Bear, Monkey, Deer, and Tiger and are still practiced today. Hua Tuo said that just as a door hinge will not rust if it is used, so the body will attain health by gently moving and exercising all of the limbs.
Qigong is practiced by more than 80 million Chinese people and probably by tens of thousands in the United States and Europe. Qigong has been rigorously tested in controlled scientific experiments and clinical trials and is often used as an adjunct to conventional allopathic medical treatment. Hypertensive patients who take medication and practice qigong fare better than controls who only take the medication. Similarly, there is solid evidence that qigong can improve immune function and mental health, and prevent disabilities that come with age. Qigong acts like Vitamin C, increasing the activity of an enzyme that helps to deactivate free radicals, highly reactive chemicals that promote tissue degeneration and loss of memory. In 1995 the Journal of the American Medical Association published evidence that Taiji Quan, a form of qigong, is effective at preventing loss of balance and falling injuries among the elderly. Researchers at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine confirm that Taiji Quan works like aerobics at reducing high blood pressure.

How will you benefit from qi gong?
In traditional Chinese medicine, Qi Gong is considered beneficial for a large variety of medical conditions. Many practitioners believe there is a role for Qi Gong in treating chronic conditions such as cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, stomach ulcers and asthma. Scientific evidence suggests a possible role for internal Qi Gong in the treatment of high blood pressure; this therapy may be beneficial when used with other treatments (such as prescription drugs). There is preliminary evidence that Qi Gong may manage pain and anxiety associated with pain. Internal Qi Gong actively engages a patient in his or her own health care and can be performed in the presence or absence of a Qi Gong master.
Using gentle movement, breathing techniques, and visualization Qi Gong strengthens the connection between the mind and body and enables us to shift our focus inward.
Qi Gong is gentle and safe enough for anyone to do and can have many wonderful health benefits such as:
• Stress reduction • Enhanced focus • Improved blood flow • Greater awareness of the physical body become calm and focused • Anxiety and Depression • Cardiac issues • Help carpal tunnel, neck & shoulder pain • Aid digestion and weight control • For all ages and levels of physical ability • Blood pressure • Detoxifying

What are the uses of qi gong?
Qigong is mostly taught for health maintenance purposes, but there are also some who teach it, especially in China, for therapeutic interventions. Various forms of traditional qigong are also widely taught in conjunction with Chinese martial arts.
Qi Gong is sometimes described as "a way of working with life energy." There are three main branches of Qi Gong: medical (used for healing), spiritual (for self-awareness) and martial art (for self-protection). Qi Gong is generally intended to be harmonious with the natural rhythms of time and season. It may be practiced daily with the aim of health maintenance and disease prevention. Medical Qi Gong can be an active (internal) or passive (external) noninvasive technique that involves five steps: meditating, cleansing, strengthening/recharging, circulating and dispersing qi. Specific movements, meditations and sounds are used for each step.
There are three main reasons why people do qigong: 1) To gain strength, improve health or reverse a disease 2) To gain skill working with qi so as to become a healer 3) To become more connected with the "Tao, God, True Source, Great Spirit" for a more meaningful connection with nature and the universe. Qigong can help practitioners to learn diaphragmatic breathing, which can be helpful in combatting stress.
The few uses of Qi Gong are:
• To expand linear movement by rotating and pulsing muscles, tendons, and ligaments • A balance between the strength and length of muscles • Correct alignment of the bones (while still and in motion) • To isolate trouble areas • To achieve deep, long, soft breathing in order to saturate the body with oxygen • To massage and improve the functioning and strength of internal organs • To tap into the power of the mind and spirit and activate our internal healing mechanisms