What to Expect During a Medical Qigong Treatment
Medical Qigong is one of the four branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which are: acupuncture, herbs and diet, massage therapy and medical qigong. It is a powerful energetic healthcare protocol for releasing stress and emotional buildup, restoring energy flow, establishing healing mind-body connections, and rebuilding organ strength. It works with the body’s internal energy centers and pathways and with the surrounding bio-field. Medical Qigong assists the body to activate its innate self-healing capability by correcting the root cause of illness, which is always an internal imbalance. It treats the overall imbalance instead of the specific medical condition or symptom, such as a headache or poor digestion. Treatment of the imbalance nearly always results in diminishing or eliminating the symptoms.
Medical Qigong involves knowledge of the different energetic characteristics of the internal organs and organ systems, the nervous and immune systems, and the various tissues of the body. It is a holistic modality that addresses the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of one’s life and health.
Anyone can receive Medical Qigong. It is beneficial as a treatment for acute and chronic illness, as well as a powerful preventative or maintenance treatment. It can also be an excellent adjunct therapy to Western medicine for specific diseases of all types. It is used today alongside western medicine in hospitals across China and has garnered respect in the U.S. and around the world in recent decades.
Specifically, Medical Qigong can address many common ailments or health concerns, including physical, mental or emotional stressors. These can include:
• physical pain (including joint pain)
• high blood pressure
• digestive issues
• headaches
• anxiety or depression
• organ weakness and disease (kidney, bladder, reproductive, heart, lung, small-and-large-intestine, liver, gallbladder, spleen, pancreas and stomach)
• mental fog
• general overall body weakness, sluggish/slow energy, lower back pain/stiffness/weakness, chronic fatigue, and more.
The Medical Qigong treatment is done on a massage table in a safe, relaxing setting. Clothing remains on, except for shoes, belts, certain jewelry, and eyeglasses. Medical Qigong involves a combination of light touch, acupressure and sweeping movements along energy meridians of the body. When working to clear the bio-field surrounding the body, there is no touch. One specific Medical Qigong technique, called Chi Nei Tsang (which translates to “energy of inner organs”), also involves massage of internal organs within the torso and abdomen. This helps the patient release emotions held deep within the organs and tissues of the body, which can cause energy blocks and ultimately, dis-ease.
The initial Medical Qigong session will take about two hours; follow-up sessions are about 1.5 hours. Part of that time is spent teaching certain guiding principles of Chinese medicine, and Qigong self-care practices, but most of the time is the Medical Qigong treatment. The session will end with written prescriptions for the patient—not for medicines or herbs, but for specific Medical Qigong practices to be done at home to support the healing process between sessions and to improve self-care. In this regard, Medical Qigong is a real partnership between the practitioner and patient toward resolving the patient’s healthcare concerns.
Call Joy Black at 804-971-7135 to make a Qigong appointment or check our calendar find out when her next Qigong class will be.