Medical Qigong

Qigong is also used as a total healing method. That is, the 'doctor' of Qigong is able to use the Qigong stances to not only heal but also to diagnose any problems. Firstly on a large scale whereby he/she places the disease into one large area of the body and whether it is a 'yin deficient' disease or a yang deficient' disease.

The way that this is established is, (and his is on a very basic level), the doctor takes note of the position of the palms after some minutes of the patient practising his/her own Qigong stance. (The position of all of the limbs is also taken into account but for this article I will only deal with the simpler palm positions). If for instance the right palm has fallen to a lower level than the left palm then this indicates that there is a yang deficiency in the right side of the body.

One has also to take into account the position of the other limbs to establish if upper of lower body is effected. To further pin point the problem, the patient is placed into a series of other postures including some of the T’ai chi postures to find out which ones cause pain or are extremely more difficult than any of the others. If for instance the posture of 'brush knee twist step' causes some pain around the chest area and is grossly difficult (more so than normal for a beginner) to perform then this would indicate a heart problem of the yang deficient variety.

Further diagnosis including tongue, face and kin condition would further confirm the problem. The Qigong doctor has then to decide how to heal the ailment. He may decide to use acupuncture to heal the immediate effect of the pain and then use some Qigong postures to put some yang energy into the heart. He may also practice his own Qigong for either twenty minutes for a minor ailment or for ten days and fast on only fruit for that time for a more serious disease. He will then place his palms around the affected area or over the relevant acupuncture points and put his own yang energy into these points to further help the cure.

There is a point on the palm called 'laogung' point, which is a pericardium 8 point; this point is said to be the point where the Qi is sent from one body into another. If you close your fist and see where the longest finger points to, then this is the point to which I am referring.