Blog

Qigong - The Most Widely Used Form of Preventative Medicine in China

Did you know that we all possess incredible healing powers? The Chinese do - they call it Qigong. Based on the principles of Chinese medicine, Qigong (self-healing exercises) teaches us how to harness life energy (Qi or Chi) in order to treat and prevent all sorts of diseases, especially the chronic ones. It enables us to take control of our own health, thus freeing us not only from all kind of health problems but also from all kind of health practitioners. It safely takes care of all the body's organs, systems and functions and is even fun to practice!

Even though Qigong has been practiced for thousands of years, it has only been known of in China because of its remoteness from the rest of the world as well as due to its political isolation throughout history. However, even in China, many of the best styles of Qigong were, up until most recent times, kept secret and only known to a few.

Old China

In the old China, practitioners of Chinese medicine were actually being paid to prevent illnesses rather than to treat them. Once their client would become sick, the doctor would stop being paid. That made them search for the best possible preventative methods, including herbs, massage, healthy food, spiritual practices, Feng Shui, Tai Chi and so on. Among them, Qigong would often bring the best results.

New China

After going through numerous wars and revolutions in the last 200 years, China has fully recovered. Its economy, science, technology and arts are flourishing. Chinese medicine has established itself as a valuable part of their health care system, equaling western medicine in importance and being far preferred by many Chinese people.

Qigong too has become more established than ever before. Among the main reasons for its development would definitely be China’s political stability as well as improved living standards of the common people. The average person is now able to spend more time and money into their health and wellbeing. Another very important factor is because Qigong saves the Chinese government tens of billions of dollars every year that would otherwise be spent on hospitalisation, expensive treatments, rehabilitation programs, sick leaves and family support.

Modern Research

Amazing healing results achieved by practitioners of Qigong intrigued open minded Chinese scientists to conduct some research. It started soon after WWII, but it has been over the last 40 years that it has been implemented on a larger scale involving many respected scientific institutions with teams of experienced researchers, doctors, Qigong masters and millions of patients.

The end result - scientific proof that Qigong is beneficial in the treatment and prevention of hundreds of known diseases and even the formation of a completely new science called the "Science of Life" that has reached enormous proportions.

Benefits of Practicing Qigong

The benefits of practicing Qigong are many and varied. Not only can it treat and prevent numerous diseases (including the ones western medicine is still struggling with or can only help reduce the symptoms of) but it is good for reducing stress, combating addictions, improving circulation, sight, digestion, reducing the side effects of drugs to name a few. It is especially recommended to older people.

In science, every experiment covers a specific research target and tends to prove one point at a time. When these points are put together, the picture that is being painted become much clearer. In this scenario, indicating that Qigong is not only beneficial to the individuals who practice it, but to their families and to the rest of the society too. Let us see how:

A typical study would be to take a group of people of certain age, sex, profession and illness that practice Qigong for certain period of time. They are then compared to another similar group of people who do not practice it (the control group). After the collection of data and its careful analysis, conclusions are drawn and, as a rule, it would show, without exception, that those who regularly practice Qigong always end up with far better results. For example, their blood pressure, blood test, heart rate, liver function… would have either normal readings or much closer to normal values than of those in the control group.

Putting it into perspective, for an individual who lives a normal life and practices Qigong every day, it can make a big difference:

It can treat most illnesses they may suffer from. It can save them a fair bit of time and money, otherwise spent on doctors, tests, specialists, drugs, transport, while at the same time not being able to earn any money. Not to mention all the frustration, anger, pain, worry, waiting rooms etc. that often go along with all that. It does not even take into account the things like being incorrectly diagnosed, being prescribed wrong medications (and damage caused by that), side effect of drugs and unnecessary operations, which all far too often happen. But one of the biggest advantages of Qigong is that it gives them control over their own health. Enabling one to become actively involved in the process of healing their own illnesses and at the same time fully enjoying the whole experience is invaluable. And last but not least, the fact that Qigong has saved many lives and relieved many people from unbearable suffering is like adding icing on the cake.

Since Qi Gong can prevent many diseases, it can prevent a lot of the above from happening altogether. It boosts our energy levels, keeps us regular, improves our sleep and keeps us happy. Those are only some of the benefits experienced by individuals who practice it.

Now, how about their families? It's not hard to see in how many ways they end up benefiting too. How can they not be involved in their father's, mother's, sister's or children's disease? There is no less frustration, anxiety, worry, for the loved one(s) on their part too. Far too often they have to spend their own time and money, take days off work and so on. And it's pretty much the same with the community as a whole. There's a burden on the health care system, on the companies paying for sick leaves, insurance companies. The benefits of Qi Gong can be and are much bigger than one may realise at first.