What is Qigong ?
Qi, pronounced chee, is energy or bio energy in and around your body. If we think of the body as a machine then Qi is likened to the source of power that makes the machine work.
Gong, pronounced Gong or Gung, means time plus effort, or to work at a discipline to absorb and accumulate Qi in the energy fields, called Dan Tian, of the body and to exchange Qi with the Universe.
Many people may have felt Qi movement in their bodies but not realized what it was. A classic example would be the rock and roll term "shiver up the backbone" . The spine is referred to as the Governor vessel or the sea of all Yang channels, Yang qi rises and the music or note or series of notes can have the effect of causing the Qi to rise in the spine giving that lovely feeling. With regular practice of a Qigong form Qi may be felt moving in other channels in other parts of the body, which is also a lovely feeling.
The word Qigong is, like yoga, a general term. There are many types of yoga and also many types of Qigong, some ancient, some new and some like Essence Qigong which blend the best of ancient and new to create a new type of Qigong. There are over 3000 different forms of Qigong and some forms have been in existence for over 4000 years. If you are a student of Yoga, regular practice of a Qigong form can help to speedily accumulate Qi or Prana, calm the mind, build stamina, help with your spiritual growth and deepen your experience of Yoga.
You may have heard Tai Chi or Taiji but not of Qigong before. Taiji is really a type of Qigong that was developed about 800 years ago as an internal martial art. If you are a student of Taiji, regular practice of a Qigong form can help to quickly cultivate your Qi which is the source of Taiji power.
One of the main goals of Qigong is to create an environment in the body conducive to self-healing, so that you can achieve and maintain physical, emotional and spiritual well being. It has been scientifically proven in studies around the world that regular qigong practice helps to both cure and prevent illness and also speed recovery after illness or surgery.
Qigong practice is divided into two types, static and dynamic. In static qigong we cannot observe visible external movement of the body and internal movement occurs. In dynamic qigong there are observable body movements. An example of static qigong is seated, standing or lying meditation during which the Qigong student focuses mind on their lower Dan Tian or energy field and no observable body movement occurs.
An example of dynamic qigong is moving meditation with visualizations during which the student of Qigong, standing upright moves parts of the body and focuses the mind to move qi into, out of or through the body.
