There are a variety of health benefits that practitioners of qi gong can enjoy. Proponents of the exercises, also called "chi kung", believe that following a regular exercise routine of qi gong can improve your health in a number of ways. The practice of qi gong is based on the belief that the body is innately equipped with the ability to maintain and heal itself, and that all that we have to do is to learn how to assist the body in doing this.
The exercises of qi gong are designed to promote and restore the flow of life energy or vital energy, also called ?chi,? throughout the body. If the flow of chi is restored to the optimum state, then the body can naturally fight and eliminate any illnesses or injuries. Qi gong can be used not only to cure illness and improve immune system function, but also to improve energy levels and vitality, make the practitioner feel younger and live longer, help to reduce stress and generate an overall sense of wellbeing. Different forms of qi gong are designed to perform different functions, so studying with a teacher is important in order to learn the correct sequences of exercises to create the optimum effect on your health.
To understand the theory behind the beliefs surrounding qi gong, it is important to first recognize some of the fundamental differences that exist between Western and Eastern medicines. Western medicine accepts that certain illnesses and dysfunctions are incurable. However, Traditional Chinese Medicine disagrees. In this tradition, there is no such thing as an incurable disease, although a patient may reach a stage in a disease where, if they have been untreated, the damage is too severe to repair. So the key to using qi gong is to incorporate it as a daily practice in order to prevent any kind of illness or disease from reaching this stage.
The belief that no disease is incurable comes from the idea that man is born in perfect condition, with the ability to remain in perfect operating order. However, as our bodies, our vehicles, move us through life, they experience certain kinds of damage that our lifestyles can generate. Poor diet, high levels of stress, general loss of awareness of our bodies and other lifestyle choices result in a dysfunction in the body?s natural ability to heal itself. Illness only results when one of our body?s complex physiological or psychological systems fails to work properly. These failures occur when the flow of chi energy is in some way impeded or blocked.
Qi gong exercises work to free up these blockages so that the chi can flow naturally and freely to the needed locations. The energy restores and repairs damaged tissues, carries away toxins that the body?s cells and processes produce and keep the body generally vital and healthy. The focus of qi gong is on enhancing health and preventing illness, although many practitioners claim to have cured diseases such as cancer, asthma or diabetes that were previously thought to be incurable.
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