Qigong for Stress

All of us have been through stressful situations and experienced the stress response within our bodies. Stress in small dosages and when needed is okay. If we are hiking in the forest and we see a bear coming after us, then we are going to need the (fight or flight) stress hormone to give us that extra “turbo juice” to run away. However, if we are at the office and the boss just gave us an impossible deadline to hand in something, we have the exact same stress hormone activated. This causes our heart to pump faster as the brain perceives the threat whether it’s an actual threat or not is irrelevant. The heart feels your fear and anxiety and the brain translates that to danger, so it increases the stress hormones of cortisol and adrenaline. When these stress hormones are released it sends your energy outward to the extremities (hands and feet to get ready to run) in anticipation of the threat, so you can move quickly. In the forest that is useful. In the office it is not. Chronic Stress is the number one cause of some of today’s autoimmune diseases like Insomnia, fatigue, low libido, type I Diabetes, MS and the list goes on.Studies from Yale university have shown a change in brain wave patterns leads to changes in the physiology of the body. When we meditate, we slow down the breath bringing us to low Beta/Alpha brain waves. In Alpha the body begins to bring the body back to homeostasis as the parasympathetic nervous system has been re-activated.  That is why having a daily practice of Qigong is fundamental in cultivating self-regulation within the nervous system and throughout the whole body. Qigong is a mind, body, spirit practice that utilizes breath to reach elevated states.Qigong is the practice of moving Qi (pronounced “chee”) or energy in the body to dispel disease. In Chinese medicine the principals of Yin and Yang are reflected as the balance and union of opposites. Hot and cold, water and fire, deficient vs. excess, dynamic vs. static exercises. In Chinese medicine there is no such thing as disease. There is only Qi that is deficient or in excess. In relation to stress, there is a deficiency in energy   so prescriptive qigong for this would be to do Static or Yin Qigong. A gentle 14 Meridian Warm up to open the organs meridian systems and then to practice Dragon from the 5 Element White Tiger Qigong series. Dragon gently opens-up the meridian pathway to the kidney in which qi and blood circulate and flow freely. The kidney is associated with the element of water. Water puts out the heart fire and brings the body back into balance. We end with Zhan Zhuang which is a standing meditation. After you have done the exercise slow and gentle, it is important to do Zhan Zhuang to integrate the stretches into the neuromusculoskeletal system (muscle memory). We completely relax after the movement into this static meditation where we store the qi we’ve built up into our lower Dan Tien power center (two finger widths below the navel and 3 finger widths behind the navel). We focus on our Lower Dan Tien and using our breath we feel/visualize a pink pearl expanding on the inhale and contracting on the exhale. We count 3 breaths in and 6 breaths out. The exhale should be longer to elicit deeper relaxation and slows the heartbeat (usually when people have anxiety the heart is beating too fast and they have shortness of breath). When we relax and our breath is slow and deep, we activate the parasympathetic nervous system which brings the body back into equilibrium.  Clinical tests show that Qigong can successfully decrease these stress hormones as stated by the Qigong Institute’s Qigong and Energy Medicine Database. Scientific research on Qigong, Tai Chi and Energy Medicine has been collected since 1984. Qigong is a practice that has the capacity to heal you physically, emotionally and spiritually by maintaining and elevating your brain wave patterns for longevity.