The ancient skill of meditation in movement for energy and vitality - QiGong
Did you know that there are certain movements that are specifically designed to improve your health and prevent disease?
Daoist Medical QiGong is one of the fundamental healing practices that Traditional Chinese Medicine applies to disease prevention and treatment. It is about 5,000 years old and combines movements, postures, breath, and self-massage techniques to improve blood and energy circulation in the body and spirit.
The foundation of medical QiGong is summed up in the following sentence, which comes from a book devoted to traditional Chinese medicine: "When there is no free flow, there is pain, and when there is free flow, there is no pain." Emotional and physical stagnation leads to pain and disease. Medical QiGong expels toxins from the organs with dedicated movements, supplying them with fresh blood and thus improving the organs' functional activity.
Qi means energy and Gong means refined skill. QiGong generally means cultivating, retaining, and moving energy through your body. In traditional Chinese medicine, meridians are channels that form a network in the body. Qi (vital energy) flows through the meridians. Qi can stagnate and be blocked due to poor nutrition, lack of movement, lack of proper movement (excessive sports activities can affect your body), toxins, and excess emotions (stress, worry, anxiety, frustration, fear, but also excess joy and desire). Qi circulation is restored by massages, acupuncture, or medical QiGong by activating certain points along the meridians. Medical QiGong combines movements, postures, breathing, and massage techniques only.
Advantages of the regular medical practice of QiGong:
- strengthens core muscles;
- increases energy level;
- accelerates metabolism and controls weight;
- improves posture;
- strengthens the immune system;
- treats all types of pain in the spine - neck pain, low back pain;
- relives chronic pain;
- successfully treats insomnia and migraines;
- calms the nervous system;
- expel toxins
- reduces anxiety, stress, and symptoms of depression
- improves the overall quality of life
WHITE TIGER QIGONG
Ralitsa Taton founded Shen Medical Qigong in Zagreb three years ago to help women find physical relief and emotional balance. Her practice is based on improving core strength, blood circulation, spinal health, flexibility, functional organ activity, and concentration. After a demanding corporate career as a digital marketing director and motivated by her own healing for health problems based on emotional imbalance, Ralitsa decided to bring this practice closer to others. White Tiger QiGong helped her completely overcome her problems and return to the path of balance, health, and happiness, which inspired her to become a certified White Tiger QiGong teacher.
White Tiger QiGong aims to create the so-called "bamboo body" - strong but flexible, supple, and elastic. Like a bamboo tree, which moves with the wind, yet remains rooted and firm. This practice teaches and combines ancient Taoist practice with modern sports science and explains each movement performed and its meaning for the body, breath, and spirit. All this makes medical QiGong accessible to everyone, regardless of previous experience in yoga, or the lack thereof.
QIGONG IN PRACTICE
You can practice QiGong anytime and anywhere. You don't need any special equipment other than comfortable clothes and shoes. Once you've found a nice, quiet spot inside or outside, you're ready for your QiGong. Practice usually begins withstanding meditation and breathing exercises to calm your body and slow your mind. Then you can move on to the dynamic part with some dedicated exercises, targeting your internal organs and spine. When you work out with Ralitsa, you would do it for 1 hour, but you can only do the sequences for 15 minutes if you don't have time at home. Over time, you will become your own healer and you will understand, depending on the condition of your body, what form of QiGong it needs now. You would learn QiGong exercises for gastrointestinal complaints, migraines, neck pain, back pain, and lower back pain. You would also become more aware of your emotions and how to release them without holding negativity in your body. Special exercises for each emotion correspond to a particular internal organ.
