“Qi” is a term denoting the vital energy that fills the human body, flowing through the joints, spine, and internal organs. Physical and psychological health, as well as emotional state, depend on its quantity and quality. Lack of “Qi” energy causes the development of various pathological processes in the body. Health problems arise, health deteriorates, even a mild cold does not go away for a long time. In such cases, Chinese medicine specialists practice Qigong - restoring the previous vital energy, filling all the cells and tissues of the body with it.
Qigong gymnastics for joints includes 18 therapeutic and health-improving exercises. Their daily implementation allows you to eliminate morning stiffness, pain and swelling. During training, the muscle corset of the joints affected by the inflammatory or degenerative process is gradually strengthened. Movements performed with a small amplitude do not load the joints, but contribute to the proper functioning of ligaments, muscles, and tendons.
Qigong complex “Xing shen zhuan”
The set of qigong exercises “Xing shen zhuan” is aimed at healing the spine and all joints, improving blood supply to internal organs and the brain, increasing vitality, reducing stress and fatigue.
“The advantage of this complex is that it is entry-level. That is, it does not require special physical training and is suitable for absolutely everyone,” says Li Min, a master of qigong, taijiquan and wushu at the Hedao Center for Chinese Culture.
This gymnastics is especially recommended for scoliosis, osteochondrosis , curvature of posture, as well as high blood pressure, migraines and many other problems. It is good for relaxation and allows you to balance the mind and emotions.
“When doing an exercise on a specific part of the spine or specific joints, direct all your thoughts and energy there. This way you will work out a separate zone as much as possible,” advises Li Min. The master recommends performing movements slowly and smoothly, without jerking, and breathing evenly. It feels like the phase of tension in the body should be replaced by a phase of relaxation.
Joint pain.
Sooner or later, every person experiences joint pain. As a rule, this comes as a complete surprise to him and is perceived as a sign of approaching old age. Joint pain makes life very difficult because it severely limits a person’s movements. And not only. Joint pain indicates that dangerous inflammatory and destructive processes are taking place in the body. At first, this pain only hinders movement. But if proper treatment is not started in time, these pathological processes will lead to irreversible deformities and disability. Perhaps the biggest trouble for us is pain in the joints of the legs and spine. And the leader in joint diseases and injuries, of course, are the knees.
Modern pharmacology offers many different creams and ointments that help relieve pain, but relief will not remove the pain forever. Sooner or later, she will return and make herself known again. Again, you will need to undergo courses of drug treatment, massage, and physiotherapy, but from time to time the pain will return again and again. So is there a way out of this situation? Eat. This is confidently stated by doctors from both the West and the East. This way out is movement. But the movement is competent and feasible. And this movement is called physical therapy. To get the greatest effect, you need to do it regularly. Systematic exercises will strengthen and stretch the ligaments and muscles. And strong and healthy muscles, ligaments, tendons will become a reliable corset for all joints: legs, arms, spine.
Qigong: exercises for the neck
Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, hands on your waist. Stretch up with the top of your head, try to stretch and lengthen your spine. Gently lower your chin toward your chest, then move the back of your head back. The first few times, do this movement with a small amplitude to relax the neck muscles. Then increase the amplitude, using the shoulder spine as well. Repeat the movement 9 times.
Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, hands on your waist. Reach up with the top of your head, stretch, lengthen your spine. Gently lower your chin toward your chest, as if you were trying to dive, then, stretching your neck, reach behind the top of your head. You should feel like you are drawing a circle with your chin. Repeat 9 times.
From the same starting position, stretch the back of your head as high as possible and slowly draw a figure eight with it, working through all seven vertebrae of the cervical spine. Draw 9 such figure eights.
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Practical recommendations
You should start training only in a good mood, having previously tuned in to a positive result. When performing movements, it is necessary to avoid increased stress on the joints. They should be smooth and slow. You should listen to the sensations that arise and focus on those movements that have a beneficial effect on sore joints. Doctors recommend repeating them several times a day. What will help increase the therapeutic effectiveness of Qigong:
- conducting outdoor training;
- classes in loose clothing made of breathable materials;
- eating a few hours before exercise.
It is best to start training in the first half of the day, when the body is sufficiently rested. At this time, the absorption of vital energy generated during movements increases.
Qigong: exercise for hands and fingers
Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, arms out to the sides. Raise your fingers up, creating tension in your palms. Without relaxing your palms, squeeze your shoulder blades together and return to the starting position. Repeat 3 times. Keeping tension in your palms, spread your fingers and collect them. Then bring your fingers together, pointing them down. Bend your little finger, ring finger, middle finger and index finger and connect them to your thumb. Open your palms while maintaining tension. Relax your arms in a wave-like motion, as in the previous exercise.
Execution Rules
The achievement of results after using the exercises is noticeable in the first days. But, like other workouts, qigong is important to do correctly.
Basic rules of Chinese gymnastics:
- Do the exercises regularly - otherwise no effectiveness will be achieved. It is worth repeating the complex at least 3 times a week. After a month, the pain will leave the lumbar region, spasms will no longer affect the legs, and the sensation in the knees will go away.
- The exercises are performed in full - no selections can be made. By doing gymnastics only for the back, you can lose sight of the knee joints.
- The main thing is consistency! From simple to complex exercises.
Exercises will not bring the desired effect without proper breathing. Studying breathing exercises comes first. With exhalation, negative energy leaves, and with inhalation, a person is filled with positive force.
“Physical training must be combined with breathing techniques!”
Breathing technique allows you to provide the body with oxygen while performing exercises. Qigong will become ordinary aerobics if you do not use breathing exercises. Only one third of the lung capacity is used, which does not allow sufficient saturation of the body. As a result of physical exercise, a person begins to breathe heavily, almost suffocating. This causes fatigue rather than achieving a relaxed state.
Qigong: exercises for the thoracic spine
Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, place your palms on your ribs. Twist your chest relative to your pelvis to the left as far as possible, return to the starting position and repeat the movement to the right. Repeat 3 times.
Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, raise your arms in front of you at shoulder level, they should form a circle. While stretching your spine, move your chest to the left and up. When you realize that you have reached the highest possible point, direct your chest to the right and up. You should feel like you are drawing a figure eight with your chest. Repeat 3 times.
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Indications for the use of qigong
Eastern practices are used for the development of various diseases in the body. It has a gentle effect on all systems, gradually restoring their normal functioning. But qigong gymnastics for the spine is most often prescribed in the following cases:
Five Paul Bragg exercises to restore the spine
- Sedentary lifestyle, sedentary work, lack of sufficient physical activity.
- Age-related changes in the ridge, causing deformation of individual segments or limiting their mobility.
- The period after injury or surgery to restore normal movement of the limbs and spine.
- Poor posture of any severity (scoliosis, kyphosis, habitual stoop).
- Inflammatory diseases, degenerative changes in cartilage or bone tissue (intervertebral hernia, arthritis, protrusion, osteochondrosis).
Qigong is also prescribed for the cervical region in other cases when it is necessary to achieve recovery after illness or prolonged absence of normal physical activity. If you have any doubts about the advisability of training, you should consult your doctor.
Qigong: an exercise for the entire spine
Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, raise your arms up. Gradually, vertebra by vertebra, lower yourself down until your hands touch the floor. In this exercise, it is important that the arms always reach forward tangentially so that the spine is stretched in a circle. It feels as if your arms and body are hugging a large ball. Remaining in this position, twist your body relative to your pelvis to the left and right.
Then, placing your palms on the floor, try to bring your chest and forehead towards your knees as much as possible and, on the contrary, bend, lifting the top of your head up. After this, rise up smoothly, working each vertebra. At the end of the exercise, make a wave-like movement with your whole body. Repeat 3 times .
Features of the technique
An eastern practice called qigong stands for the correct circulation of vital energy “qi”. Therefore, the technique aims to restore a person’s vitality and physical health. Its distinctive feature is the need to constantly expose your body to controlled physical activity and learn to relax muscles in certain places. The main advantages of the technique when choosing such exercises for the back are:
- Suitable for people with any level of physical fitness, so the complex is often prescribed to elderly patients.
- Gentle restoration of joint mobility and motor activity after illnesses, slowing down degenerative processes in chronic pathology.
- The minimum number of contraindications is allowed for use even by people with heart pathologies.
- Easy to perform and remember the technique.
- Positive effect on the entire body as a whole (increased visual acuity, normalized weight, improved blood flow and lung function, normalized appetite).
Practicing qigong on your own is primarily beneficial for the spine. Regular training improves joint mobility, forms correct posture, relaxes muscles, thereby eliminating pinched nerve endings and eliminating spasms. Gradually, the body learns to correctly redistribute the load on the musculoskeletal system and the overall health of the body is achieved.
Qigong: exercises for ankle joints
Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, hands on your waist. Bend your left knee and lift it until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Stretch the toe, then the heel, repeat 3 times. Then make a circular movement with your foot 3 times to the right and left and repeat everything for the right leg.
Do the same with your leg extended forward.
Perform a set of qigong exercises “Xing Shen Juan” every morning and evening, and your spine will become strong and flexible, your posture will be beautiful, and your joints will be healthy!
Joint gymnastics set of exercises
Gymnastics “qigong” is a technique developed 6-7 thousand years ago. A set of simple exercises helps keep the body in good shape. The training method is similar to physical therapy. But the set of exercises is aimed at collecting qi - internal energy, and rest. Physical fatigue and muscle fatigue are relieved, and the body relaxes.
The multi-level methodology includes 4 areas:
- medicinal - used to improve the health of the body;
- meditative - training is necessary to relieve tension and relax the body;
- preventive – prevents the development of serious diseases of the spine and joints;
- combat - the technique is applicable to the study of martial arts, it is responsible for breathing while practicing techniques.
The treatment direction is designed for a complex effect:
- restores blood circulation;
- normalizes blood pressure;
- cleanses blood vessels;
- relieves muscle tension;
- has a beneficial effect on the immune system and the central nervous system;
- helps with headaches.
Qigong looks like regular exercise with smooth movements, and includes proper breathing techniques. Chinese gymnastics is primarily effective for the spine; the exercises are aimed at relieving tension in the muscles.
“Muscle spasms interfere with healthy body functions: it is important to do exercises to relax the body.”
Only the first three areas of exercise are common. The combat part of qigong is combined with martial arts practices.
Health Qigong: what is the essence?
“Qigong is the oldest eastern system for maintaining physical and spiritual health, based on methods of working with energy (Qi),” says Ksenia Vivat, instructor of qigong, hatha yoga, qigong for pregnant women , founder of the ProPraktiki .
By regularly performing qigong exercises , after a couple of months you can notice the first results. “Such activities strengthen the immune and nervous systems, help get rid of fatigue, lose weight and even get rid of chronic diseases,” adds Ksenia Vivat.
There are no age or weight restrictions for practicing qigong. It is also suitable for older people . “Qigong is accessible to absolutely everyone. My students' ages range from 6 to 80. The level of training also does not play a special role. You don’t need to twist yourself into a pretzel and stand on your head, so the risk of physical injury tends to zero,” says Ksenia Vivat. “But you need to understand that qigong is, first of all, an energy practice, so I never tire of repeating in classes to beginners: “We work with the neck - attention in the neck, with the hand - in the hand.” I ask you to monitor your condition very carefully, especially during your first classes. And if the body resists some movements, skip them.”
Qigong gymnastics does not involve any sudden movements - twisting, squats, jumping, etc. On the contrary, its goal is to move as smoothly as possible. “From the outside it seems that we are doing very simple exercises, but in fact we are accelerating the circulation of energy in the body, increasing the flow,” adds Ksenia Vivat. “People get so used to their illnesses over the course of a lifetime that they sometimes stop noticing them. And then an avalanche of new energy washes away all the blocks, and what you have been hiding for years appears. The main thing here is not to be afraid. This is an exacerbation before cure. Calmly continue to exercise, carefully and with love for your body. And after a few lessons you will feel reborn.”
Breathing exercises occupy a special place in qigong , which helps to improve the functioning of the lungs, improve well-being, and makes it possible to independently improve your condition - to cheer up or relax.
How to do joint training correctly
Before you start training, please read these important guidelines:
- Despite the “gentle” load, you can start the chosen complex only after consulting a doctor: there are contraindications.
- Any exercise begins with a warm-up.
- The structure of classes is built “from top to bottom”: first they warm up the neck, then the rest of the body.
- They “arrive” at the required load gradually.
- It is forbidden to make sudden movements.
- Training should be regular.
- Exercise only in a good mood and feeling great. During periods of exacerbation, activities should be abandoned.
- Each exercise is repeated 10-15 times.