Meditative passive qigong techniques can be practiced in any posture that can be maintained over time and involve breath and mind exercises, with almost no body movement. Tai chi originated as an ancient martial art, but over the years it has become more focused on health promotion and rehabilitation.

When tai chi is performed for health, it is considered a form of qigong and involves integrated physical postures, focused attention, and controlled breathing. Tai chi is one of the hundreds of forms of qigong exercises that was developed in China.

Other forms of qigong include Baduanjin, Liuzijue, Hu Yue Xian, Yijin Jing, and medical qigong. Three reviews from and that looked at only a small number of studies suggested that qigong may help to decrease pain in community-dwelling older adults participants , neck pain participants , and musculoskeletal pain in people 15 to 80 years old 1, participants.

Frequent and consistent qigong practice may be helpful for people with fibromyalgia in areas like pain, sleep, and physical and mental function. This, however, is based on initial research that includes only a few small studies. Two small clinical trials , ; total of 82 participants that were not included in the above reviews also found similar positive results of qigong practice in people with fibromyalgia.

A small amount of research suggests that using qigong as a complementary therapy may help with depression, anxiety, lung function, and physical function in people with COPD.

The amount of improvement seen in movement and walking ability was similar to that seen with other forms of exercise, such as walking and using a stationary exercise bike.

Improvements in balance, however, were greater with qigong than with the other types of exercise. The qigong exercise programs ranged from 8 to 48 weeks, with to minute sessions two to seven times per week. The amount of research on qigong for high blood pressure is small.

Although a review of 7 studies participants suggested that qigong may help to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure, the authors indicated a lack of firm evidence for this beneficial effect. Five of the six studies that compared qigong to no intervention showed that qigong was better.

The one study that compared qigong to conventional exercise showed no difference in benefit between the two. Qigong interventions ranged from 8 to 24 weeks and included to minute sessions two to seven times a week. A review of 33 studies 2, participants looked at the rehabilitative effects of tai chi and qigong for people with chronic heart failure.

Seventeen studies were on tai chi, 14 were on qigong, and 2 were on tai chi plus qigong. Compared to routine management alone e. When compared to other forms of exercise paired with routine management, people who practiced tai chi or qigong had similar peak oxygen consumption levels and 6-minute walking distances and higher quality-of-life measures.

The number of qigong studies that have included older adults is limited. Two reviews looked at the effects of qigong on the physical and psychological health of older adults.

Some of the results were positive, suggesting a potential benefit of qigong for older adults. A survey of reviews found sufficient evidence to support qigong for balance training and fall prevention.

When compared to more traditional interventions, qigong was found to have similar and sometimes better effects. A review of 4 studies involving individuals with substance use disorders found that qigong appeared to have a more positive effect on reducing anxiety than medication or no treatment.

The review also found that qigong led to significant improvement in depressive symptoms when compared to no treatment. Because the studies were small and not of high quality, the authors indicated that more rigorous research is needed to provide reliable evidence.

The amount of research on qigong for COVID is extremely limited. One review looking at the role of traditional Chinese medicine in COVID indicated that qigong has not been well investigated as a treatment for COVID and that there is a lack of high-quality evidence from well-designed randomized controlled trials.

Another review looking at complementary therapies and COVID listed only two very small studies on qigong, totaling 49 participants. The studies suggested that qigong improved physical activity, perceptions of difficult breathing, quality of life, and some measures of inflammation in the body, but the studies were not randomized controlled trials.

The reviews did not include a small randomized controlled trial of participants hospitalized with severe COVID in China. This study found that adding a rehabilitation program of acupressure therapy and qigong exercise to standard care shortened hospital stays and improved lung function and symptoms such as shortness of breath and cough.

Data were collected only while participants were in the hospital, which averaged A review indicated that there are few studies on the effects of qigong on the acute phase of respiratory infections in general.

Qigong appears to be a safe form of activity. Many studies have indicated no negative side effects in people practicing qigong, including people with chronic diseases and older adults. A review of adults with neck pain included two studies that found that qigong and other exercise groups had similar side effects, which occurred in less than 10 percent of the adults and included muscle pain, soreness, and headache.

There is no research on the safety of qigong during pregnancy and extremely limited research on practicing qigong while pregnant. Pregnant women should talk with their health care providers before starting qigong.

Pregnant women may need to avoid or modify some qigong movements. The intervention, called Qi exercise, involved physical postures various stretching, strengthening, and balancing exercises done while standing, sitting, or lying down , breathing techniques, and meditation.

Women in the intervention group attended two minute sessions weekly for 12 weeks. Certain practices that were contraindicated during a given period of pregnancy were avoided.

There was no mention of adverse effects among any of the pregnant women during the study. Various qigong organizations offer training and certification programs—with differing criteria and levels of certification for instructors. The NCCIH Clearinghouse provides information on NCCIH and complementary and integrative health approaches, including publications and searches of Federal databases of scientific and medical literature.

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Events Videos. It is called wu-ji in Chinese. The main focus of this qigong exercise is for posture awareness. Q1 Stand upright but relaxed, feet apart, knees relaxed, eyes looking forward, chin tucked in, shoulders relaxed. Cleanse your mind and focus on the correct posture-upright without being tense.

The Posture of Tai Chi — for Dan Tian awareness. From the vast void, the infinity, the universe developed into a state of Tai Chi, the infinitive or supreme ultimate similar to the Big Bang Theory of the modern science. Everything in the universe are comprised of two opposite and complementary halves, yin and yang.

The main purpose of this is for Dan Tian awareness. Dan Tian is the area approximately three fingerbreadths from the naval. It is the centre of Qi and the commander of body movements in tai chi practice. From Q1Posture awareness. Q2A: Slowly bring your hands up, palms facing each other, breathing in.

This is the working of yin and yang. Closing is yin and opening is yang. The purpose of this exercise is for breathing awareness.

Breathing is the centre of all qigong exercise. The ancient Chinese believed breath is life and Qi is the life energy to maintain health and inner strength. Q3A: From the previous posture, breathe in, open hands to shoulder width. If your knees feel tired, gently straighten them.

Q3B: Breathe out, pushing hands towards each other as close as possible without touching. Gently bend your knees if you have straightened them in the previous move.

Continue opening and closing hands three times, or multiple of. Complete the exercise by stretching your hands forward, return to the previous position and straighten your knees.

Do this exercise three or less times to start with and then more as you are get stronger. As you breathe in and out, imagine there is a gentle magnetic force between your palms.

Pull against this resistance as you breathe in and push against it as you breathe out. Keep your mouth closed but not tight, tongue lightly touching the upper palate. This breathing method is a modification of traditional qigong based on modern medical research into the deep stabilizer muscles.

It helps to sink your qi to the dan tian and to enhance qi power, in turn improving internal energy. It can be incorporated into all your qigong and tai chi movements. You can practise the breathing either sitting or standing upright. Be aware of holding the correct posture.

People using qigong as a complementary therapy for a medical condition should be especially picky when choosing a qigong practitioner. Use directories offered by the Red Thread International Qigong Institute , the International Medical Qigong College , and the NQA to help you find a qualified medical qigong practitioner.

Thanks to its ever-growing popularity, there are many options for trying qigong. Here are a few tips for beginning your practice. Intrigued by the spiritual side of qigong? Opt for classes that advertise a spiritual practice.

And if you want to see how qigong might improve a chronic or acute condition, search for a qualified medical qigong practitioner and have a discussion with your primary care or integrative medicine provider.

Lin recommends going into your qigong sessions with curiosity and an open mind. Observe any sensations and changes you experience throughout the practice and be prepared to ask questions.

When done for general health and well-being, the effects of qigong are, for many, immediately noticeable. However, benefits also may increase with repetition. Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy.

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By Lauren Bedosky. Medically Reviewed. Justin Laube, MD. History How It Works Jump to More Topics. What do Oprah Winfrey and Tiger Woods have in common? As a foundational component of traditional Chinese medicine TCM , qigong dates back thousands of years and was first documented in Daoist Taoist writings around A.

Most forms of qigong originated from Daoist practices focused on cultivating and maintaining personal health. Included in those practices were exercises made up of postures, breathwork, and intention setting.

The exercises initially mimicked the movements of animals and then evolved as people gained a deeper understanding of human anatomy and physiology. Tai chi, a later practice that emerged from qigong, is slightly different in its roots. Tai chi originated as a martial art, but modern forms tend to focus more on health and rehabilitation.

Qigong follows traditional Chinese medicine principles, which claim that qi flows through our bodies. According to TCM, people tend to feel their best when qi travels freely, but health problems can crop up if the energy becomes stagnant or blocked in a certain area of the body.

Through simple poses and patterned breathwork, qigong is believed to remove obstacles to promote a healthy flow of qi. Beginners first learn how to coordinate physical movements with breath through the repeated practice of exercises. Once they achieve proper form, students work on turning those exercises into moving meditation, or finding the change in energy within the postures, movements, breathing patterns, and transitions.

For starters, the slow, gentle movements are believed to warm up your tendons, ligaments, and muscles; mobilize the joints; and promote the circulation of body fluids like blood, synovial, and lymph.

Meanwhile, deep breathing, which plays a central role in qigong, calms the sympathetic fight-or-flight nervous system and activates the parasympathetic rest-and-digest side of your autonomic nervous system, Bouguyon says. The autonomic nervous system regulates involuntary processes like breathing, heartbeat, and digestion.

As he explains, constipation often has one of two causes, according to TCM yin-yang theory, which looks at illness as an imbalance of yin energy conceptualized as cold, soft, and passive and yang energy conceptualized as warm, hard, and active.

Many national and international qigong organizations offer training, certifications, and industry standards. You can find qualified qigong practitioners through the Red Thread International Qigong Institute , the International Medical Qigong College , and the NQA.

To avoid confusion, the Red Thread International Qigong Institute groups the many qigong styles into three basic categories.

This category encompasses qigong styles that seek to boost overall health and well-being. Health qigong is the most widely available form of the practice today and is usually taught in group classes or one-on-one sessions. Medical qigong is the use of qigong to improve a disease or medical issue.

This style should only be done under the direction of a trained and qualified medical qigong practitioner. A less common form that is more of an alternative and fringe approach to medical qigong is known as external qigong, or qi emission, in which a qigong practitioner emits their qi to heal others.