What is Qigong and how can it help you improve your health?
The treatment of pain is composed of several actions that can help us improve our quality of life. From pharmacological treatment to psychological support, proper nutrition and physical activity, treatment requires a multidisciplinary approach to address all aspects of the disease.
Focusing on physical activity, there are many types of exercises that we can perform to improve our health and alleviate the symptoms of this pathology. Today we would like to talk about a technique that would fulfill a double function, because we work our body and also our mind: Qigong or Chi Kung.
What is Qigong?
The Chinese character qi (chi) refers to the vital flow of energy, and the word Qigong means “vital energy work”. Qigong, also known as Chi Kung, is a Chinese medicinal therapy whose origin dates back to the 6th century B.C., when the healing properties of this set of techniques were already being emphasized.
As in many other disciplines of traditional Chinese medicine, Qigong consists of a series of techniques in which we combine three vital aspects: movement, breathing and concentration.
The objective of Qigong is to increase and circulate our chi or vital force. To do this, we perform a series of static postures and slow, fluid movements, which we combine with slow, deep breathing.
The benefits of Qigong
As we said, the practice of Qigong brings both physical and psychological benefits. At the body level, Qigong helps us to improve our flexibility and balance through the different postures we perform. Also, and this is especially interesting for people with pain, it helps to reduce its intensity and relieves muscle tension.
Because it is not a type of aerobic exercise that can cause wear and tear on joints or muscles, as running can be, the risk of injury is very low. This is not to say that running is bad for people with pain, but for more demanding exercises, the supervision and planning of a medical professional is necessary.
On a psychological level, the slow performance and the combination with relaxation techniques through breathing and concentration, helps us to reduce stress levels and improve our mood. It is known that pathologies related to chronic pain, such as fibromyalgia, are associated with depression and other psychological problems due to their symptoms, so it is important to perform activities that minimize this negative impact.
At the Aliaga Institute we know that staying active is important to improve the quality of life of people with pain, and that is why we provide our patients with a complete multidisciplinary team to help and guide them throughout the process.