Restoring Harmony Through Qigong

Some background

I run classes in Tai Chi and Qigong and I also offer one to one support for people who are keen to tackle a particular aspect of their health, whether this be physical, spiritual or emotional/mental. Qigong is a marvelous adjunct to Traditional Chinese Medicine that can promote harmony and healing. I include my knowledge of Five Element Theory and meridian pathways in both my classes and my individual sessions.

Barbara

In order to give you a flavor of how these disciplines can be applied practically and effectively I intend to describe a case study of one of my clients. Let’s call her Barbara. She is 68 years old, in fairly good shape physically and was always one of the most cheerful members of our weekly classes. Her outlook was generally positive and she was a long standing member of the group. Everything changed for Barbara when she experienced two very traumatic events in quick succession. Firstly, her husband of 41 years was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer; secondly, her son tragically took his own life, seemingly for no reason.

Barbara came to me after class a few weeks later and asked if I could help her.  Her GP had prescribed various medications that were not helping. As a regular member of class she already knew about the importance of “belly breathing” but I suggested we start at the beginning again. Depression and anxiety were beginning to overwhelm Barbara at this time as I felt that she had stopped focusing on the actual movement of breath in her body, and the subsequent flow of healthy chi through her meridian pathways.

Over the course of six weeks, we had 12 sessions together and we met in class in addition to these private meetings. We began with some dynamic tension exercises that allowed her to let go of rage, frustration, worry and grief. This was done through an explosive series of movements that combine physical action with exaggerated out breaths. On the exhalation we made sounds as loud as we needed to. The movements were part of the “Five Animal Frolics” series, concentrating on the aggressive movements of the Bear and Tiger.

Applying Qigong techniques

After clearing the space with these, I taught Barbara a simple, yet effective movement which is excellent for anxiety. Different Qigong practitioners name the movements in different ways, making it difficult to “google” the exact movement you may learned in class. I know this exercise by its name of “Opening and Closing Gong” (also called “Lion’s Tail”).

Stand with feet hip width apart, tailbone tucked in, shoulders relaxed and wrists, fingers, elbows and knees all open, not locked.

• On a steady in-breath make a scooping motion with your hands as if drawing up the air and bring the hands level with the heart.
• This is known in TCM as a “non-breath”.
• Turn the palms over, fingertips touching.
• Release the breath as you take the hands past your face and above your head.
• Breathe in, palms still facing downwards and bring them down to the heart.
• Pause
• Turn the palms over. Pause.
• Release the breath, taking the hands down towards the lower Dan Tien (the area just above your pubic bone and below the navel).
• Breathe in and scoop air again, up to waist height.
• On the out breath turn the head to the left, use the elbows to offer out to the left. Seep the hands high above the head and turn the palms down, facing your crown.
• Breathe in. bring the hands down to the heart.
• Turn the palms over. Pause
• Breathe out. Hands drift down to lower dantien.
• Repeat the first movement up and down your center channel breathing regularly and consciously and using the “non-breath” at the heart.
• Repeat the second sequence, turning the head to the right this time, and offering to the right.
• Complete the movement by bringing the hands, in harmony with the breath down the center.
• An outbreath, during which you turn your palms outward at the bottom of the movement (level with the thighs) completes the sequence.

This Qigong movement can be done almost anywhere and it is helpful in bringing back harmony. It works even in confined spaces, making it a useful tool to have in your anti-anxiety toolkit.

Restoring balance

Barbara found these two contrasting Qigong practices really helped her to get her emotions under control and restore overall harmony. She realized the importance of letting out her rage and frustration, and of encouraging the healthy, free flow of Life Force Energy (Chi) within her body to help support her physical and mental well-being.

We also worked on element imbalances, meridian blockages using Shiatsu techniques and meditation to help her through these difficult times.

Caroline Salvin

Tai Chi and Qigong Instructor