Qi Gong
Qi Gong
Qi Gong is classified as one of the practices known as “energy healing,” a category that includes Reiki, therapeutic touch, and the Korean practice of Chundosunbup. Dating back more than 3,000 years to the Shang Dynasty (1600 to 1100 B.C.), Qi Gong is believed to be the basis for traditional Chinese medicine.
Qi Gong is intimately connected with the practice of Tai Chi in that both exercises utilize proper body positioning, efficient movement, and deep breathing. A quiet focused mind is also essential to both.
The main difference between Qi Gong and Tai Chi is that Tai Chi is a martial art. Usually practiced slowly, Tai Chi movements can be sped up to provide a form of self-defense, whereas this is not the case with the forms of Qi Gong.
As a result, the visualization that accompanies a particular form is different:
For a movement in Tai Chi that might involve visualizing the external consequences of a motion (e.g., disabling one’s adversary), the same movement in Qi Gong would involve the visualization of an internal consequence of qi flow (e.g., qi flowing down your arm, healing your arthritis).
There are two forms of Qi Gong practice: internal (nei qi), consisting of individual practice, and external (wai qi), whereby a Qi Gong practitioner “emits” qi for the purpose of healing another person.
External Qi Gong is not a meditative practice according to the working definition developed for this report. Specifically, is not a self-applied practice, and there is a relationship of dependency between the practitioner and the person being treated. For this reason, this review is restricted to studies using internal Qi Gong.
Qi Gong is said to have several thousand forms.
There are five main schools or styles of Qi Gong, each emphasizing a different purpose for practice and incorporating different exercises:
Taoist, Buddhist, Confucian, Medical, and Martial. It is believed that every Qi Gong style has its own special training methods, objectives, and compatibility with an individual’s constitution and physique. Despite this variation in technique, the main function of Qi Gong is to regulate the mind.
Qi Gong
Main components: Qi Gong, literally “breathless exercise,” consists primarily of meditation, physical movements, and breathing exercises. The main components of Qi Gong vary, but most emphasize correct posture and body alignment, regulation of respiration,posture, and mind, as well as self-massage and movement of the limbs.
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In general, Qi Gong consists of two aspects:
(1) dynamic or active Qi Gong, which involves visible movement of the body, typically through a set of slowly enacted exercises, usually performed in a relaxed stationary position.
(2) meditative or passive Qi Gong, which comprises still positions with inner movement of the diaphragm. In some concentration practices, the eyes are closed and the tip of the tongue touches the front of the upper palate.
Essential to both aspects of practice are alert concentration, precise control of abdominal breathing, and a mental concentration on qi flow.
Qi Gong, as a practice of self-regulation, includes regulation of the body (e.g., relaxation and posture), breath (to breathe deeply and slowly), and mind (thinking and emotion). Methods for the regulation of the mind vary. Some forms of Qi Gong stress thinking, e.g., focusing on a specific object or visualization. Other forms emphasize regulation of the emotions (e.g., a peaceful and calm mood), but let thinking go or remain “no-thought.”
Accordingly, Qi Gong techniques may be classified as one of two forms: concentrative Qi Gong and nonconcentrative Qi Gong.
Self-practice of Qi Gong consists of three major forms:
Guided movement (dynamic form), pile standing, and static meditation. Whether with motion or without, the aim of Qi Gong is to remove all thoughts and focus on a region of the body known as “dantian” (the elixir field). As the body relaxes, the mind concentrates on the elixir field and all other thoughts are erased, while respiration becomes deeper and gradually decreases in frequency. When the respiration rate is decreased to four or five times per minute, the subject falls into the so-called Qi Gong state.
It is recommended that a student practice only one type of Qi Gong before learning another as not all techniques are congruent.
Qi Gong
Breathing: Qi Gong breathing is characterized by a concentration of attention on dantian in concert with inhalation, exhalation, and holding of breath in order to stimulate qi and blood, and to strengthen the body. There are many ways to regulate the breath in Qi Gong including natural breathing, chest breathing, abdominal and reverse-abdominal breathing, holding the breath, and one-sided nostril and alternating nostril techniques.
Attention and its object: A main tenet of Qi Gong is that intention can direct the qi within the body; the mind leads the qi, and qi leads the blood. To exert this control over qi, the practitioner must calm the mind and clear it of thoughts. A person’s success Qi Gong is directly related to the ability to concentrate in this way. This is done by focusing the mind and body on correct breathing, and the visualization of qi as a substance moving through the body.
Qi Gong
Spirituality and belief: Qi Gong posits the existence of a subtle energy (qi) that circulates throughout the entire human body. Pain and disease are considered to be the result of qi blockage or imbalance; strengthening and balancing qi flow can improve health and ward off disease.
Taoism, an ancient spiritual tradition in East Asia, is a philosophical perspective underlying the practice of Qi Gong. The Tao is the indefinable ultimate reality—the process involving every aspect in nature and in the entire universe. Similar to the worldviews of Buddhism and Hinduism, Taoism emphasizes harmony with nature. The universe is viewed in a dynamically continuous flow and constant change.
Basic concepts considered essential to the understanding of Qi Gong include qi, vital energy, and gong, the skill, control, training, cultivation and practice of adjusting physical, mental and spiritual phenomena.
Yin and yang, two other crucial concepts, are
complementary opposites: yin signifies decrease, stillness,darkness, the six solid organs (lungs, spleen, heart, kidneys, pericardium, and liver), and bodily substances; yang signifies increase, activity, lightness, the upper and exterior parts of the body, the six hollow organs (large intestine, stomach, small intestine, urinary bladder, gallbladder, san jiao [not an organ, but the sum of the functions of transformation and interpenetration of various densities and
qualities of substance within the organism]), and bodily functions.
Qi Gong
Training: Because of the possibility of Qi Gong-induced disorders from improper practice, or from the combination of incongruent forms, proper coaching is considered mandatory for safe Qi Gong practice. Qi Gong should be practiced twice daily for 20 to 30 minutes with no single session exceeding 3 hours.
Criteria of successful meditation practice: Correctness of technique is judged by a Qi Gong Master. No statement of the criteria for evaluating successful outcomes was available in the literature.
Recommended:
This report is based on research conducted by the University of Alberta Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) under contract to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). No statement in this report should be construed as an official position of AHRQ or of the U.S. Department of Health and Human services
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