Qigong: Harmonising the breath, the body and the mind

doi:10.1016/S1353-6117(03)00053-2

Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery

Volume 9, Issue 4, November 2003, Pages 198-202

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1353-6117(03)00053-2 Get rights and content

Abstract

Qigong is a form of exercise developed in China over millennia to prevent illness and foster physical and mental health. Despite many claims of the therapeutic effects of Qigong, the fundamental concepts and principles underlying this holistic therapy remain unfamiliar to Western populations. This article helps practitioners to understand the art of Qigong based on three main principles, harmonising the breath, the body and the mind.

Section snippets

Qigong defined

The word Qigong is composed of two Chinese characters, Qi and Gong. Qi refers to air, whereas Gong refers to skill or art. Qigong has been translated as breathing exercises. However in the field of Chinese medicine, the term is used to indicate a type of energy or dynamic force that sustains and nourishes life. Qi is therefore also translated as vital energy. It is believed that this vital energy circulates throughout the human body in a system of channels and collaterals, smaller channels that

Further explanations

Throughout the millennia a multitude of different methods have been devised and taught to achieve this state. Numerous as these may be, all can be grouped into two main categories. Concentration and mindfulness are types of meditation. Ornstein¹³ used a similar typology to classify different forms of meditation.¹⁴ In this respect Qigong is no different from other forms of meditation. During concentrative forms of meditation, learners are required to focus their entire conscious awareness on a

Conclusion

Qigong can be defined as an indigenous Chinese holistic form of exercise that originated at least 5000 years ago. Its main aim is to increase the harmony between mind and body, favour the movement of yuan shen over shi shen, increase the flow of vital energy through the body, and thereby foster health at all levels of the human organism and develop latent potentials. All exercises are based on three fundamental principles of tuning the breath, the body and the mind. These exercises may be

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Consequently, qigong can be more competently translated as an educated skill or an art through which one is able to release, strengthen, and operate this vital energy, thereby cultivating health at all levels of the human structure [15]. Qigong is composed of the following three main features: postures and action, the state of mind, and respiratory movement [16]. Traditionally, these three features are designed with detailed movements for posture correction, appropriate movements, and respiratory control [17].
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Improvement in patient’s preoperative state, postoperative recovery, and decreased postoperative complications, immune function, and rehabilitation all are benefits of TCM.47 Qigong is translated from Chinese to mean “energy cultivation.”48 As an ancient healing art it involves postures, exercises, breathing techniques, and meditations that restore balance to the body.
Qigong for the treatment of tinnitus: A prospectiverandomized controlled study
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According to TCM, good health is the result of free-flowing well-balanced Qi, while sickness or disease is the result of a blockage of the Qi flow or unbalanced Qi in the body. Qigong is considered to be a method to normalize these disorders and typically includes mind, body, and breath training [9,10]. Today, most Western practitioners see Qigong as a set of breathing and movement exercises with possible benefits to health through stress reduction and body activity.
Tinnitus is a frequent disorder which is very difficult to treat. Qigong is a mindful exercise and an important constituent of traditional Chinese medical practice. Here we performed a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of a Qigong intervention on patients with tinnitus. We hypothesized that especially tinnitus patients with somatosensoric components may benefit from the mind–body technique of Qigong.
Eighty patients with tinnitus of at least 3 months duration were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n=40) consisting of 10 Qigong training sessions in 5 weeks or a waiting-list control group (n=40). Tinnitus severity was assessed with a visual analogue scale (VAS) and with a tinnitus questionnaire (TBF-12) before treatment, immediately after treatment, and 1 and 3 months after treatment.
Qigong did not cause any side effects and was completed by 80% of the assigned patients. Compared with the control group, Qigong participants experienced improvement in tinnitus severity, as reflected by a significant reduction in both the VAS and the TBF-12. In the subgroup of patients with somatosensoric tinnitus, Qigong effects were more pronounced, resulting in a highly significant improvement in both scales compared to the waiting-list group.
These findings suggest that Qigong interventions could be a useful complement to the therapeutic management of patients with tinnitus and especially for those with somatosensoric components. Satisfaction with the intervention, a high degree of completion, and stability of the effects for at least 3 months after the intervention further underscore the potential of Qigong in the treatment of tinnitus.
Qi Gong's relationship to educational kinesiology: A qualitative approach
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The Taoist and Buddhist philosophies, which promote health and vitality through gentle exercises for breath, body and mind form the foundation for the Qi Gong theory (McCaffrey and Fowler, 2003). Basic principles of Qi Gong are grounded in traditional Chinese medicine (Dorcas and Yung, 2003). Qi Gong in Chinese means Qi (vital energy) and Gong (skill or art) and is essentially regarded by practitioners as a way of working with energy.
This paper qualitatively reviews two complementary therapies; Qi Gong and educational kinesiology (EK). It is being suggested that Qi Gong and EK may be united through a qualitative convergence and a shared underlying concept. The authors hypothesize that a coherent rationale can be formed through this conceptual synthesis and propose that to some extent Qi Gong movements and EK can be considered to work in unison with each other. The logical synthesis of these two therapies is being presented to identify Qi Gong movements with concepts of brain gymnastics and also to explain how this new construct can be developed and implemented into practice. When verified, this hypothesis will allow individuals to better understand Chinese health exercises from the modern science perspective such as neuroanatomy, neurophysiology and psychoneuroimmunology.
Qi Gong and physiotherapy: A narrative review and conceptual synthesis
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The practice of Qi Gong is based on the following assumptions: complexity and multidimensionality, various positive influences on an individual's wholeness through the mind, body, and the relationships between them. In a similar vein, the essence of physiotherapy as a multifaceted process requires teamwork and the efforts of various specialists such as psychologists, sociologists, occupational therapists, and nurses if patients are to benefit.
This paper aims to present the conceptual integration of Qi Gong and physiotherapy when considering the essence of their underlying principles. The author also emphasizes the usefulness of Qi Gong practice in clinical units and explains how Qi Gong might be extrapolated and incorporated into the theoretical principles of the physiotherapy process.
This paper reviews Qi Gong literature in a narrative manner. Consequently, during the discourse analysis some information regarding Qi Gong's and physiotherapy's essence is derived from the presented data to reveal the underlying core principles and the conceptual interface of both practices on the level of abstraction grounded in the qualitative approaches.
Within the scope of this article the existence of several similarities between these two ‘concepts’ has been suggested in terms of their multidisciplinary approach toward patients and complexity of holistic care.
Researchers, physiotherapists and their patients as well as Qi Gong practitioners can obtain valuable and additional arguments through the cross-fertilization of ideas across presented studies united by shared, underlying concepts.
Such conceptual enrichment may be a useful source of inspiration for physiotherapists concerned about their patients’ overall health on a daily basis.
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