Animal Qigong

I spoke with my acupuncturist about qigong (my expert consult) this week and mentioned how hard I was finding the concentration necessary to do qigong.  She mentioned to me that this concentration-focused qigong was only one form of qigong and that this was not the major form of qigong practiced in China.  She went on to describe a more active form of qigong, sometimes know as "Animal poses," so I've been looking into that this week.

It's a little silly, but a lot of fun.

The idea is this: there are five animal poses, and each pose is supposed to help with a particular part of the body where qi circulates:

The tiger pose helps with ailments of the lung

The bear pose helps with ailments of the kidney

The deer pose helps with ailments of the liver

The crane pose helps ailments of the heart, having to do with blood circulation

The monkey pose helps with ailments of the stomach



The idea is that during the posing, you become the personality of the animal you take on.  In fact, one site I've read warns that you should only try out these activities in the presence of a trained qigong teacher as, in rare instances, a person who assumes these personalities might not be able to return to their own personality.  So, if you find me acting like a monkey in class on day, you'll know what happened.

Here's the tiger--pretty...weird:

Science Speaks

As I've mentioned, there are some serious questions about the validity of ACM (ancient Chinese medicine).  While I've not yet found information regarding the scientific testing of qigong, I am finding lots of testing of acupuncture.  For instance, a recent professional study reports,

   "The study also supported the effects of three different forms of acupuncture: manual acupuncture needling alone and with the addition of high-frequency and low-frequency electrical stimulation. All treatments were performed by an experienced acupuncturist, applied to acupuncture points commonly used in pain management.
   The results provide a scientific background for the ancient practice of acupuncture, according to Dr. Dominik Irnich, Head of the Multidisciplinary Pain Centre, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Munich, and the study's leading author. Additionally, Dr. Irnich notes, "Our results show that contralateral stimulation leads to a remarkable pain relief. This suggests that acupuncturists should needle contralaterally if the affected side is too painful or not accessible—for example, if the skin is injured or there is a dressing in place."
   Dr. Steven L. Shafer, Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesia & Analgesia and Professor of Anesthesiology at Columbia University, views the results as an important preliminary finding. "Reproducible findings are the cornerstone of scientific inquiry," Dr. Shafer comments. "The authors have clearly described their methodology, and their findings. If other laboratories can reproduce these results in properly controlled studies, then this provides further support for the scientific basis of acupuncture. Additionally, the ability of quantitative sensory testing to identify specific types of nerves involved in pain transmission may help direct research into the mechanism of acupuncture analgesia."

Again, as I mentioned above, acupuncture is not qigong, and qigong's dependence on a more theoretical understanding of qi--while MD's can more easily accept acupuncture because of the fact that visible, physical manipulation of SOMETHING (qi or otherwise) is clearly going on--probably makes it easier for science to accept acupuncture than it will qigong.  I'll keep digging

What some are saying

I'd be remiss to write about Qi Gong and not mention the fact that some in the world of science have grave doubts about the real powers of Qigong.  When I did a recent SIRS search, I came across several articles that mentioned Qigong only in the context of "faith healing" and "placebo effect"--that is, these articles claim that Qigong works (and they do admit that it works) only because those who are using it believe that it will work, so that the curative powers reside in the believe him or herself, not in the actual Qigong activities. 

It's worth noting that many of these articles--the skeptical ones--come from science reporters, not scientific researches.  I need to do some more searching to see what the scientific literature (rather than popular science) says about this, to see if any real tests have been done.

But on another level, since Qigong is very much about controlling the mind (and, by controlling the mind, controlling the flow of Qi which, in turn, improves the body's health), then "faith" is, to some extent, what's being described.  Can a skeptic get the benefits from qigong exercises that a non-skeptic gets? I doubt it. 

The root problem here is that qi is not observable or measurable.  It's not like blood or cholesterol or something that can be seen in a microscope.  Health, of course, CAN be measured.  We can tell is someone is better or not better.  Can we be sure that a person gets better because the flow of qi is improved? I'm not sure; I need to search the literature about this.  I suspect that this can't be proven in the same way that we can prove that germs cause illnesses.

But what do we make of the fact that the Chinese have been using these theories as the basis for their medicine for many, many centuries?

This is where it gets complicated. 

I'll see what I can find about scientific tests involving Qi.

Something a little easier

While I'm trying to figure out how to concentrate enough to stimulate the flow of Qi into my navel--I'm not having much luck so far--I thought I might also try something that seems a little easier, too.  This exercise is closer to what I've been doing in acupuncture and doesn't seem to involve a lot of visualization and concentration, activities that I'm finding pretty hard to do.

Acupuncture (as I've described) is all about poking key points on the meridians so as to increase the flow of Qi.  This exercise is designed to do something similar, but (of course) without the needles. 

This activity is sort of a form of self-massage, but, weirdly, it doesn't involve touching.  The idea is to move the palm of your hand over the meridians (again, without touching them) in a specific way so that the proximity of the palm to the meridian will stimulate and smooth out the flow of Qi.

Here's the pattern:

1. Start by sitting on a chair and concentrating on your palm.  
2. Move your palm from your torso down the inside of your arm to your hand.
3. Then, move the palm from the finger tips up the outside of the arm to your head
4. Next, from the head move the palm across the body and down the outside and back of your leg to your foot.  When you reach the tips of your toes, cross over to the inside of the leg and move up to your torso.
5. You can complete this pattern as many times as you like, making sure you balance yourself for both sides of the body.  When you feel you are done, move your hands, now locked, over your navel to seal the energy.

As I keep writing, a lot of this seems weird to me, and I'm trying to suspend my skepticism.  I'll try this stuff and see what I can see.  It runs so counter to most of what I believe about exercise and the body, but, well, I told myself I'd give this a try so I'll give it a try.  The connection between mind and body that is the basis for this stuff makes sense to me, I suppose, but, again, it's pretty foreign to most of what I've always believed about energy and muscles and exercise.  

Quiet Qi Gong--getting the energy flowing

In the last post, I mentioned how the simple act of walking can stimulate the flow of Qi through the body.  That's pretty simple stuff.  Here's another simple way to get things rolling, from what I've read: sitting quietly.

Well, it's not exactly all that easy, but it's not much more complicated than that.

The steps for this are simple:

1.  Sit on the edge of a chair with your knees about shoulder-width apart with your feet flat on the floor

2.  Put your left hand on your lap facing upwards and your right hand on top of it facing downward, with the center of your palms opposite each other.  Let your clasped hands rest on your lap.  This seals in the qi. 

The goal here is to focus your qi on a single spot in your body: your navel.  In a sense, you're bringing your energy to the center of your body.

3.  Close your eyes, quiet your mind, think calm thoughts, breathe deeply, count your breathing in and out, and simply allow yourself to slow down.  Place your attention on your navel and this should draw your energy there.

Then, mentally visualize three concentric circles that radiate from your navel.  This is called the "ba gua."  (Actually, it supposed to be concentric octagons, but do what you can.)  Imagine that you are taking a pen and tracing around these circles/octagons, one at a time.

Finally, "seal" the energy by placing the center of one palm over your navel with the other palm resting atop it--left hand first for men, right hand first for women.  Concentrate on this area and breathe into it.

If all goes well, this exercise should help you feel calm, grounded and relaxed.

I'm going to try this for the week and see how it goes.  I'm trying really, really hard not to be skeptical!  It all sounds a little hokey, but what do I have to lose?