Physically Handicapped....   .... Spiritually Advantaged

In many ways, Qigong suits handicapped people more than any other group.  For one, taking into account the time involved.  On one hand there are various styles that require plenty of exercising time everyday and on the other, there are so many disabled people who have so much free time at their disposal they simply don't know what to do with it. 

But first, let's look at the whole picture, in order to fully understand why and how the physically disabled would benefit from Qigong.  Let's summarise the common characteristics of most people with disabilities.  Depending on their disability, most either cannot look after themselves or need to, more or less, depend on others.  Many feel agitated, bored, depressed, have complexes, have very low self esteem, are sensitive, demanding, throw tantrums and are physically inactive, causing more problems.  Some of them find refuge in eating or addictions.  All this adds more weight on their family and society.

Of course, this is not always the case, there are some great blind singers/musicians, athletes, scientists, successful business people who fully enjoy life, but these are still the minority cases.  Most, however, fit the former description. 

Some might say: "How can Qigong help someone who has no legs or eyes or cannot move?  I mean some of them are unable to practice."  Well, that is already a false statement. 

Among the myriads of Qigong styles, there are plenty that can be practiced while sitting in a chair or lying in bed, and many of them do not require any physical movements, such as Relaxing Qigong and Spontaneous Five Animals Play Qigong.  Or the ones that require minimal body movements, like Sleeping Qigong and Weight Loss Qigong.  Or only gentle arm movements like Fragrant Qigong.

Blindness and deafness should never prevent anyone from practicing Qigong, since most styles require the eyes to be shut right through the practice and to pay no attention to sounds.  As a matter of fact, it can work as an advantage.  With Qigong, for the best results, one needs to commit fully to the practice, in other words, have time, ambition, patience, perseverance, but also, a mind free of thoughts, compassion towards others and love towards the practice itself. 

Now, for all those who know about Qigong and all the wonderful things it can bring, it is quite clear that it's often other things in life that get in the way of dedicating enough time to practice.  Things that our modern busy life brings along that, whether we like it or not, we all have to do, such as work, travel distances, shop.  So, even the most committed practitioners often skip days or reduce their practicing time.  Not only that, it's often exactly those very things that make us tired, frustrated, short tempered, as well as constantly fill our minds with unnecessary thoughts.  There is a Qigong saying that goes "Qigong should be practiced 24 hours a day".  In other words, if you actively spend 1 hour a day practicing Qigong, it makes a huge difference how you spend the remaining 23 hours.  When your brain is full of rubbish and emotions that you cannot stop when you wish (such as when you practice Qigong) plus the physical exhaustion of running around like a "headless chook" cannot compare to someone (in this case, the physically disabled) who spends most of their day and night at home doing very little.

For that same reason, the most committed Qigong practitioners in China, from the past and nowadays, often leave society and go to the mountains and temples to lead a much simpler life in order to reach higher levels much quicker. 

But, what exactly can the physically disabled expect from practicing Qigong?  Among the thousands of disabled Qigong practitioners in China, many suffered from other conditions as well, such as severe headaches, epilepsy, asthma or were simply too weak and easily caught cold.  In most cases, that was the reason they began practicing Qigong in the first place.  After a few sessions, their health improved and they had much more energy.  They then embarked on a full Qigong journey that brought total recovery, not only to their headaches and similar, but in some cases to their disability as well.  Such as people with polio who were able to walk again, blind people who were able to see again.  There are numerous cases of deaf people who recovered their hearing after practicing Fragrant Qigong.  For that reason, many schools for the deaf in China, included Fragrant Qigong as part of their curriculum and achieved excellent results.  (However, there is a line drawn when people have completely lost a limb or a sensory organ because it will not grow back.)

Healing is the lowest level that Qigong brings in the process of rebalancing life energy and reaching high levels.  It can improve mobility, sharpen the senses, make them relaxed, happier, fully enjoy the practice and, for a change, make their lives much more interesting and meaningful.  It doesn't stop there, it can improve their intuition and induce all sorts of psychic abilities, such as energy healing, opening the third eye and seeing auras, x-ray vision, telepathy, teleporting.  The most committed ones can even reach the ultimate goal of human existence -the spiritual enlightenment and the level of understanding everything - the meaning of life and death, the reality of the spiritual world and the falseness of the material world, temporality and limitations of our physical body, eternity and depth of mind, eternity of spirit and so on .

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Treating disease is the lowest level of Qigong.  That's where it all starts, because there are no higher levels unless the disease is gone.  In other words, all diseases are a result of an imbalance or blockage of chi energy and since Qigong is primarily for rebalancing chi energy, it by default treats disease.

When you practice Qigong, you don't need the eyes, ears, arms or legs.  The mind is so powerful, that it can not only treat all kinds of illnesses, but it can open the door to a beautiful world you never new existed. 

It can give your life a new meaning, even help you understand the meaning of everything.  In that world, you are not disabled, not needing anyone's support.  You can become the master of your own destiny. 

Once you are there, you will see the material world very different than you did before.  Things that used to bother you, suddenly become trivial and you don't give them much thought anymore.