Before you start your Qigong Exercise…

Qigong Exercise 4

My Story

I’ve been practicing Qigong for ten years.  Before I started, I wasn’t interested in Qigong at all.  How I got involved was unintentional, and because of that, I also believe it was a blessing from heaven.  I just wanted to do something with my teenage daughter during one summer to keep her away from troubles, and she said she wanted to try Yoga.  Interestingly, the Yoga Center I picked wasn’t teaching Yoga but Qigong. I think they presented themselves as a yoga center because Qigong wasn’t so popular. 

I thought I was pretty healthy until then, but I realized I wasn’t as healthy as I thought.  After I started to practice, I was hit by fatigue that lasted a few months. Many years of accumulated tension up to that point came out of my body with the form of fatigue.  

I went to the Yoga Center every day, even after I was left alone because my daughter went back to school.  I found Qigong practice very fascinating and went for more and more intense training for about two years.  By the end of 1-year training, I was teaching classes every morning, and I was planning to open my own Yoga Center. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I decided to become a massage therapist instead, but I’m so glad that I dedicated a few years to receive this training. 

What is Qigong?

Qigong started before 2400 BC in China. I think people with a long history like China and India seem to have incredible patience to learn, systematize, and practice their studies.  It’s too much for me, as a Japanese, I don’t have that much patience, but I’m glad they did.  I don’t go into in-depth and detail information here, but if you are interested, “Simple Qigong Exercises for health” and “Qigong – the secret of youth” by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming are good books to study. 

So, back to my simple explanation, Qigong is the training of Qi (energy).  Once Chinese people learn about Qi, they developed Daoism, Buddhism, Eastern science, Eastern medicine, martial art, etc. They are not separate things but intertwined together. The sickness doesn’t just come from the physical body. It starts with your mind. When you have excessive thinking and emotions, it causes blockage in your meridian channels (energy paths) in your body and makes you sick.  Qigong exercise is not only working on your physical body but also your mind and emotions to release that blockage. 

Seven benefits of Qigong Exercise

  1. Improve & maintain your health, and slow down the aging
  2. Loosen up & recondition your torso (spine & hips)
  3. Energize your body
  4. Strengthen internal organs
  5. Improve joint problems
  6. Improve digestive system
  7. Prevent breast & prostate cancer

 Five tips for effective exercise

  1. Time of Practice – the best time: right after waking up, the 2nd best time: before bedtime
  2. Do not practice with a full stomach – You need to be comfortable.
  3. Drink water – have a glass of water as soon as you wake up.
  4. Breathe naturally – breathing is a crucial key to eliminate waste in the body.
  5. The adequate number of repetitions – the right amount of exercise is essential to achieve a good result.

If you don’t remember anything I said above,  relax, be happy, and pay attention to your body. How far you can stretch is not important. The more important thing is how much you are paying attention to your body and have a sincere attitude towards your goal.

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