What is Medical QiGong?

By Cynthia McMullen
Originally posted Date

What is Medical QiGong?Medical QiGong is updated terminology for a centuries old healing modality that has finally found popularity in the U.S. Also known as Chi Kung, QiGong is often recognized as something that is vaguely similar to yoga, where slow movement is combined with breathwork. There are three types of QiGong:

Spiritual QiGong – breathing and meditation

Martial Art QiGong – Taiji Chuan for self-defense

Healing QiGong – Qi energy used for healing the self or others

The Chinese word “QiGong” basically translates into English as “Qi” – life force energy, and “Gong” – to cultivate and exercise. Thus, QiGong means to cultivate and exercise our life force energy. Medical QiGong goes one step further in using this cultivated energy for the purpose of healing ourselves or someone else. It is a wonderful way to heal naturally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.

Medical QiGong has its foundation in Classical Chinese Medicine. In some ways, it has many similarities to acupuncture, though in other ways it is drastically different. In China, Medical QiGong is a mainstream form of treatment available in hospitals. It is often used to treat disharmonies ranging from simple headaches or appetite problems to cancerous tumors and Multiple Sclerosis. Of course, the treatments for each problem would be quite different, and treatments may also include additions

such as Chinese Herbs and special meditations.

What happens in a Medical QiGong session?

In order to understand the subtleties of what happens in a Medical QiGong session, here is an example of a basic treatment:

The patient (John) goes to the Medical QiGong Doctor (MQD) and complains of

being under stress and working too hard. John has been having problems sleeping and is tired most of the day. Other than that, however, he seems healthy.

John lies down on a table, fully clothed. He relaxes as the MQD prepares herself with a special meditation that will put her in the proper state to enter John’s energy field in a safe and open manner. The MQD energetically cleanses John’s meridians, opening them so that she can then begin to harmonize them with pure Qi channeled from Heaven and Earth. The MQD starts at John’s feet and slowly

works her way up his body, joint to joint, first filling an area with Qi and then circulating it through the correct meridian pathways. Along the way she will further cleanse and harmonize any energy stagnations or deficiencies she finds, and press different acupressure points as needed, sending Qi directly into them without using needles. At the end, John will be cleared of his old toxic Qi that wasn’t flowing correctly, and filled with new pure Qi, balanced and harmonized. The MQD will disconnect herself from his energy field and allow him to take a few minutes to settle into this healing state.

Before John leaves, the MQD will probably give him some special QiGong exercises specific to his condition, to be done each morning for the next three weeks. John will go home and sleep like a baby, wake up the next morning and do his QiGong, then go to work feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.

What does it take to be a Medical QiGong (MQG) Practitioner?

To embark upon the path of becoming a MQG practitioner is to take a journey unlike any other you’ll ever go on. I can’t say that it’s not a lot of hard work, but from my experience, it is worth every ounce of effort.

The student will go through about two years of intense self-cultivation. This includes lots of meditation for personal insights, emotional purging, and spiritual growth. During this time, the student practices various forms of QiGong and Taiji exercises to build and harmonize their physical and emotional strength and to bring about their own healing experiences. There are also many fascinating studies into the theories and philosophies of Classical Chinese Medicine, including meridians, points, herbs, and more.

Once the proper foundation is attained, the student continues by beginning two or more years of clinical work, gaining hands-on experience with actual patients. A background or license in Massage Therapy is very useful at this point (but not required). There is a national exam in the works that will need to be passed to qualify as a Doctor of Medical QiGong, recognized by the Chinese government and the U.S.