Food Therapy And The Healing Art Of Qigong

An “energy strengthening art” that includes slow body movement and powerful breathing techniques, Qigong is a 5000 year old practice that was ranked as one of the top natural therapy exercises, curing or preventing cancer. In a 2007 TV show, Dr. Oz extolled the benefits of Qigong when he said, “Practice Qigong if you want to live up to a hundred years old! There are so many different forms of Qigong, and popular therapies like Feng Shui, Acupuncture and Tai Chi all emanated from Qigong principles. The Qi in qigong means life force or vital energy and Gong means “skill”, which makes Qigong the skill of working with your own vital energy.

Around the world, there are about 200 million people practicing Qigong and this number is increasing by the day. This technique’s health benefits have been a matter of research for many years. Some of its potent health-enhancing aspects include: better appetite, increased blood microcirculation and circulation in the forehead, improved digestion and sexual function, sharper mental focus and acuity, faster metabolism, and enhanced energy. Several studies have been published showing the remedying ability of Qigong for illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer and arthritis to name a few.

What makes Qigong work, and why is it so different from other exercises?

While standing perfectly still doing your Qigong exercise, the circulation of your blood increases in such a way that it compares to jogging for two miles. Standard exercises such as jogging, results in the release of the stress hormone Cortisol which tightens up the blood vessels. Your body is completely relaxed when you’re practicing Qigong, yet your blood is activated to flow properly. Some people may experience a strong pulsation of blood in their hands while performing the slow movements. Since the body doesn’t get stressed, the blood can penetrate areas that may have been blocked off for years. This is the reason Qigong is quite effective in relieving bodily pain. Qigong greatly improves microcirculation to the forehead and substantially boosts digestion. There is no exercise that provides people this level of blood flow to the glands and organs.

One important aspect of both our health and Qigong is breath. The most powerful forms of Qigong utilize the breath, specifically synchronizing it with the movements. Qigong’s deep, stomach breath imbibes more oxygen while reducing cortisol levels that help relax the mind. Higher forms of breathing exercises like the Nine Breath technique that integrates methods from Tibet, boosts the oxygenation of blood, and are scientifically proven to enhance the quality of blood as gleaned by analysis of live blood cells under a microscope. Many think the effect feels like a soft humming inside the stomach or a full-body vibration. Many psychologists and counselors have had success in assisting drug addicts in substituting their addiction for a “natural high” caused by such breathing methods.

Aside from movement and breath, the holistic therapy of true Qigong also entails the prudent use of herbs and foods. This is even more essential to our modern way of living.

To reverse certain illnesses, using certain foods is a time-honored practice. Foods such as kiwi, for instance, have been known to cure asthma. Something that the kiwi fruit contains called phytochemicals, can drastically improve breathing as proven by hundreds of patients who were able to reverse their asthma. This is a big deal in Qigong therapy not only in breathing, but also in the type of food you eat.

Our present environment is more dangerous than ever before. Mind-boggling levels of toxins and heavy metals are released into the atmosphere constantly, eventually polluting our water air, and soil, while dangerous amounts of toxins can be found in our food and in the household products we use every day causing health problems like Autism, Attention Deficit Disorder, Alzheimer’s and Cancer to rise at an alarming rate.

Phytochemicals found in medicinal mushrooms, tonic herbs, vegetables, and fruits can simulate the endocrine system of our body and act as catalysts to jumpstart our immune system. Unfortunately, most of us are not getting adequate amounts of the phytochemicals. They are mostly found in the food parts that are not usually eaten: in the stems, seeds, rinds and skins of veggies and fruits. A lot of people are good at selecting the right foods to eat, but unfortunately, they discard the parts that contain all the “healthy stuff.” For instance, we put all the avocado parts in the blender but we throw away the seed, which doesn’t have a taste. The avocado seed is filled with high soluble fiber that can scrape the plaque off your arteries.

The phytochemicals needs to be broken out of the cellulose fibers of the vegetables and fruits in order to access their nutrients. Therefore, blending the entire food is much better than “juicing” veggies since you get all the nutrients out of the food. This is the reason smoothies mixed in a blender have been so successful in reversing cancer and other diseases and have increased people’s overall health.

We can prove that that most health problems can be cured by eating the right food. But, eating healthy is just part of the solution. Actually, it is the knowing of utilizing “certain foods for certain diseases” that most people need to learn. For instance, bitter melon and other vegetables of its kind contain a phytochemical that’s similar in structure to insulin and may be helpful in reversing Diabetes by helping naturally balance the blood sugar of the body. Obviously, the course of treatment is more involved, but the thing is we’re not exploiting all the natural medicines that nature has endowed us with. Another food that can help reverse cancer is grapefruit, but again it’s the white pith, the substance that’s often discarded in the grapefruit that has the greatest concentration of D-Glucarate, instead of the juice which people love to eat. The real therapeutic values lie in the parts of the food that brings out the greatest nutrients. Believe it or not, this is also the wisdom of Qigong.

When we develop a healthy body, we not only enhance our Qi but we also create a stronger vessel wherein it resides. A real holistic strategy to healing balances the spirit, mind and body. The age old healing method of Qigong encompasses all three by giving us the power to manage our health and by enlarging our vibrational energy.

Emily Farish is a licensed acupuncturist in Spokane, WA with advanced training in modern acupuncture techniques and traditional Asian therapies.