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Heal Yourself with Qigong: Gentle Practices to Increase Energy, Restore Health, and Relax the Mind
Qigong (pronounced chee-gung) is an ancient Chinese practice consisting of physical movements, meditation, creative visualization, and breathing exercises to help revitalize the body and heal the spirit. Similar to tai chi, qigong cultivates vital life-force energy in the body for better health, heightened energy, and longevity. Its powerful benefits have been known in China for thousands of years. This unique book presents over 100 easy, five-minute qigong exercises designed to target specific health issues, from strengthening an aching back and reducing stress to improving sexual function and boosting energy. You can use this book to quickly find the best qigong exercises to target your particular physical and mental health needs. Heal Yourself with Qigong allows you to customize routines, making it ideal for both experienced practitioners and those new to qigong. Choose and combine from these four
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 10, 2012
This book offers a really good basic introduction to Qigong aimed at the average Qigong novice or even people that have various limitations due to illness. For anyone not sure what Qigong is, it could maybe very loosely be described as super-gentle and simple Tai Chi combined with some breathing exercises, visualisations and sometimes some simple meditation techniques.
It makes sense to me that improving circulation, and so Qi (or Chi), can be helpful when you are treating disease. If there is no blood flow to an area, it can't heal. Qigong can also improve respiratory and digestive function, and give you a calmer and less cluttered mind. Keeping your body out of 'adrenaline mode' as much as possible also facilitates healing, as healing can occur only after the ANS shifts from Sympathetic to Parasympathetic dominance (rest, relax and repair mode).
I have a disease with some similarities to M.S. (Myalgic Encepahalomyelitis, or M.E.) I'm housebound and 98% bedbound. Being very inactive and bedbound means you really need to improve your circulation if at all possible, as anyone bedbound will know! Using up up to 5 minutes of my 30 - 60 or so minutes a day I can be upright on Qigong seems a reasonable idea to me. This is right on the cusp of what I am able to do, so I am not sure if I can do it yet but I am going to give it a try very soon and am looking forward to it.
My disease is very slowly improving and even these simple exercises would have been impossible a year ago or even 6 months ago. Despite what some people say, Qigong is not something even in a very simplified version that everyone that is ill will be able to do. It is demanding to do if you are very ill (as is meditation) and should not be done until you feel you can cope with it without causing yourself any type of relapse.
I'm not a fan of Qigong or similar as the only or primary treatment for serious disease though - as if you have nutrient deficiencies and toxin overload which has lead to your disease then you need to correct those things and no amount of Qigoing is going to do that. If you are low in vitamin B6 or magnesium then you need those things and nothing else will do! But Qigong may well have an important role to play in improving circulation, lowering the body's stress levels and promoting a relaxed and healing central nervous system state as part of a larger program encompassing a nutrient dense diet, intelligent supplementation and various detoxification protocols - if you are well enough to do it.
Combing meditation and/or Qigong with great books that talk about genuine healing and treating the causes of disease such as Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life, Detoxify or Die, and Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins can only help your health improve, depending on how much damage done is permanent.
I got 4 very well reviewed books on Qigong out from my local library and read them all over a two week period:
1. Qigong illustrated
2. Heal yourself with qigong : gentle practices to increase energy, restore health, and relax the mind
3. Qigong for multiple sclerosis : finding your feet again
4. Dragon and tiger medical qigong : health and energy in seven simple movements
The MS book was the one that was the most simple and non-demanding and the most suited for an ill person - even though it didn't really have any lying down exercises as I had hoped. The fourth book was completely inappropriate for me and featured exercises way too advanced and difficult for anyone that is seriously or even moderately ill in my opinion. The first two books were very good and had lots of simple standing exercises. I liked them both so much that I ended up buying my own copies to work from.
Qigong illustrated wasn't quite as good as Heal yourself with qigong, so if I had to choose just one of the two books I'd definitely go with the latter. The introductory text was of a far higher quality and very well done, I preferred the illustrations being in line drawing format rather than photos (which can be less clear), and there was a greater variety of exercises given that didn't look very difficult. It contains exercises on breathing, sending chi to your heart, or liver, or kidneys plus exercises to help undo the shoulder issues of being on a computer for too long and lots more.
Even if you are ill, or not that fit, or not that co-ordinated or good with balance or meditation, this book offers a really good non-overwhelming starting point, and is very well done. I recommend it. If you are ill I also recommend seeing if your library has any of these three books before buying them to check that they suit your abilities, if you can.
This author also has a Qigong website and videos available.
Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for M.E. (HFME)
It makes sense to me that improving circulation, and so Qi (or Chi), can be helpful when you are treating disease. If there is no blood flow to an area, it can't heal. Qigong can also improve respiratory and digestive function, and give you a calmer and less cluttered mind. Keeping your body out of 'adrenaline mode' as much as possible also facilitates healing, as healing can occur only after the ANS shifts from Sympathetic to Parasympathetic dominance (rest, relax and repair mode).
I have a disease with some similarities to M.S. (Myalgic Encepahalomyelitis, or M.E.) I'm housebound and 98% bedbound. Being very inactive and bedbound means you really need to improve your circulation if at all possible, as anyone bedbound will know! Using up up to 5 minutes of my 30 - 60 or so minutes a day I can be upright on Qigong seems a reasonable idea to me. This is right on the cusp of what I am able to do, so I am not sure if I can do it yet but I am going to give it a try very soon and am looking forward to it.
My disease is very slowly improving and even these simple exercises would have been impossible a year ago or even 6 months ago. Despite what some people say, Qigong is not something even in a very simplified version that everyone that is ill will be able to do. It is demanding to do if you are very ill (as is meditation) and should not be done until you feel you can cope with it without causing yourself any type of relapse.
I'm not a fan of Qigong or similar as the only or primary treatment for serious disease though - as if you have nutrient deficiencies and toxin overload which has lead to your disease then you need to correct those things and no amount of Qigoing is going to do that. If you are low in vitamin B6 or magnesium then you need those things and nothing else will do! But Qigong may well have an important role to play in improving circulation, lowering the body's stress levels and promoting a relaxed and healing central nervous system state as part of a larger program encompassing a nutrient dense diet, intelligent supplementation and various detoxification protocols - if you are well enough to do it.
Combing meditation and/or Qigong with great books that talk about genuine healing and treating the causes of disease such as Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life, Detoxify or Die, and Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins can only help your health improve, depending on how much damage done is permanent.
I got 4 very well reviewed books on Qigong out from my local library and read them all over a two week period:
1. Qigong illustrated
2. Heal yourself with qigong : gentle practices to increase energy, restore health, and relax the mind
3. Qigong for multiple sclerosis : finding your feet again
4. Dragon and tiger medical qigong : health and energy in seven simple movements
The MS book was the one that was the most simple and non-demanding and the most suited for an ill person - even though it didn't really have any lying down exercises as I had hoped. The fourth book was completely inappropriate for me and featured exercises way too advanced and difficult for anyone that is seriously or even moderately ill in my opinion. The first two books were very good and had lots of simple standing exercises. I liked them both so much that I ended up buying my own copies to work from.
Qigong illustrated wasn't quite as good as Heal yourself with qigong, so if I had to choose just one of the two books I'd definitely go with the latter. The introductory text was of a far higher quality and very well done, I preferred the illustrations being in line drawing format rather than photos (which can be less clear), and there was a greater variety of exercises given that didn't look very difficult. It contains exercises on breathing, sending chi to your heart, or liver, or kidneys plus exercises to help undo the shoulder issues of being on a computer for too long and lots more.
Even if you are ill, or not that fit, or not that co-ordinated or good with balance or meditation, this book offers a really good non-overwhelming starting point, and is very well done. I recommend it. If you are ill I also recommend seeing if your library has any of these three books before buying them to check that they suit your abilities, if you can.
This author also has a Qigong website and videos available.
Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for M.E. (HFME)
November 30, 2011
My acupuncturist loaned me one of the author's Qigong videos, which was not bad. Ordered this for reference. I think you need both video and book--the book to understand what is happening that you don't see, that you should be doing, and the video for helping you practice the timing and the flow of the movements. Oh, I forgot to add, to each his own. I know there are super technical and theoretical qigong books and DVDs out there, which is not for me at the time. She gives what you need to know and do with out making it seem like a huge practice or lifestyle endeavor.
September 7, 2019
This book wasn't as filled with explanation or scientific evidence as I was hoping. It is a bit better than some other books I've come across. Mostly, this is a book which provides very specific movements for specific conditions. The movements are fairly well described, but the illustrations are sorely lacking. If you are looking to work specifically on self-healing, this is the best qi gong book I've come across, so I do recommend a glance at it.
November 10, 2010
Read it but need to read it again. Very practical book with useful diagrams throughout. Good explanation of what qigong is and how it benefits. Just didn't have time to actually do it yet.
January 5, 2015
Detailed descriptions on how to perform several Qigong exercises to help with many different health issues.
April 28, 2015
Excellent introduction to QiGong for the beginner. Also a great resource to have about acupressure points used to relieve pain in certain areas of the body.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews