Qigong
Qigong is a mindfulness activity that works on the mind, body, and soul connection within yourself.
It incorporates elements of movement, posture, breathwork, self-massage, sounds, and a focus on your intentions.
It is similar to yoga and has also been around for thousands of years.
What Is QiGong?
The name qigong comes from the word Qi, meaning subtle breath or vital energy, and Gong.
Gong means a skill cultivated through steady practice.
This suggests that to feel the full benefits of qigong, you will need to practice it regularly and work at the skill.
There are many different iterations of qigong, all of which are designed to target specific ailments.
Qigong is the most generalized of all the practices and is believed to help balance your body and soul.
When the practice is performed correctly, it helps to boost the energy flow through different systems in the body.
This helps to heal and nourish the body and many people find incorporating the practice into their daily lives helps them in a multitude of ways.
What are the benefits of qigong?
Qigong and other meditative techniques such as Tai Chi are very centered around mindfulness.
Activities like this have been proven to decrease the symptoms of anxiety, stress, pain, and depression.
Not only do they improve your mental health, but qigong practices have also been shown to improve physical health.
As a result of this, they also have a positive impact on the quality of sleep that you get.
The motions you move your body through during qigong (learn also about Zhineng QiGong) are very slow and gentle.
They warm your muscles, ligaments, and tendons slowly and gently to avoid injury.
The motions tonify your connective tissues and vital organs.
They also help to improve the circulation of fluids such as synovial fluid, lymph fluid, and blood.
QiGong Scientific Studies, Data and Statistics
There are several scientific studies with interesting results, data and statistics which show QiGong may provide many health benefits other than just general fitness and mindset benefits…
QiGoing May Improve Quality of Life, Fatigue, Mood and Inflammation in Cancer Patients
A 2009 study recruited 162 patients with a range of cancers and instructed them to use “Medical QiGong” as a means of improving quality of life as measured by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Fatigue, respectively, and mood status by Profile of Mood State.
Results: The study claims that Medical QiGong can improve cancer patients quality of life, reduce the side effects of their treatment, improve mood and reduce inflammation.
Yan Xin QiGong May Be Cytotoxic To Cancer Cells But Not Normal Cells
A 2006 study suggests that Qi of Yan Xin Qigong may regulate survival pathways in cancer versus normal cells and exert cytotoxic effects which could potentially be an approach for therapy.
QiGong May Reduce Drug Withdraw Symptoms In Addicts
A study in 2002 attempted to explore how effective Qigong was at detoxifying 86 heroin addicts aged 18 to 52 with a history of heroin use from 0.5 to 11 years, compared to medical and non medical treatment.
One group practiced QiGong, one received the detoxification drug lofexidine-HCl and the control group basic care and medications to treat severe withdrawal symptoms.
Result: The QiGong group had a reduction of withdrawal symptoms more rapidly than the other groups and lower anxiety.
50% of the Qigong group had negative urine tests by day 3 compared to 23% in the control group and 8% in the medication group suggesting that QiGong may be an effective way to detoxify for heroin addicts without side effects.
QiGong May Reduce Pain
A study from 1999 at the Pain Management Center at New Jersey Medical School looked to asses if QiGong could help 26 adult patients (aged 18 to 65 years) treatment-resistant patients with late-stage complex regional pain syndrome type I.
Results: 82% of the QiGong group reported less pain by the end of the first training session compared to 45% of control patients.
By the last training session, 91% of qigong patients reported analgesia compared to 36% of control patients
QiGong May Improve The Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease
A study from 2016 of 56 patients with different levels of disease severity were recruited from the outpatient movement disorder clinic of the Department of Neurology, University of Bonn to see if QiGong could improve their symptoms.
Result: More patients improved in the Qigong group than in the control group at 3 and 6 months.
The Science Behind QiGong
Hopefully these QiGong scientific studies, data and statistics show that QiGong could be beneficial not just for fitness or mental health but many different health conditions too.
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