The Wellness Center I recently joined offers Qigong (pronounced chee-gong) in addition to many other mind and body disciplines. Fay McGrew is the instructor and this is how she describes Qigong:

The practice of Qigong is used for stress reduction, to enhance the body’s natural healing abilities and to increase vitality and awareness of internal energy that furthers the mind and body. We do breathing techniques and very gentle movements to relieve the energetic and physical stress on the body. You don’t need full mobility to benefit from Qigong. You need the mind’s intention.

The movements are all very gentle, and she constantly reminded the class not to push ourselves, and that at the first sign of discomfort we should release the position. I was able to follow her every move although I was not nearly as smooth and could not hold some poses as long. I did not feel graceful, but I felt good. I could actually feel the tension leaving my upper back, shoulders and neck.

The breathing we did was controlled and meditative. I was so incredibly relaxed at certain points in the hour that I found myself doing the movements with my eyes closed. A few times, for very brief moments I felt weightless.

At the end of the session the top of my head and the bottoms of my feet were tingling. I did not know if this was good or bad, but when Fay came up and check with me to see how I liked Qigong and I told her about the tingling, she clapped her hands and jumped up and down like a school girl. I guess I had really tapped into my Qi! We were both pleased.

I will certainly be taking her class again. I mentioned how relaxing it was, and that I felt a discernible release of tension in my upper body, but I also felt energized and clearheaded after the hour. It was a great experience and I highly recommend it.

Last week the Chronicle Herald published an article about the results of a recent Qigong trial done on people living with chronic pain.  According to the researcher, Dr. Mary Lynch at Quenn Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, “their quality of life and their level of pain got better. And this is just through a simple series of gentle, dance-like moves.”

What is Qigong?  

From the Qigong Institute:

Qigong (chee-gong) is “Energy techniques” or “Energy Skills,” the ancient Chinese internal arts used for over 5000 years to promote health, emotional happiness and spiritual development.  These methods combine movement or postures, breath or mantra, and mind intention to balance and enhance one’s vital, life-energy.  It has been popularly referred to as Chinese Yoga and moving meditation.  These methods formed the early root of Chinese medicine and are still considered an integral part of modern Chinese medicine, along with acupuncture, acupressure, and herbal medicine.  Today millions of people practice Qigong in China and around the world to successfully treat a myriad of diseases, to improve general health, support longevity, and to promote psycho-spiritual growth and happiness.  Most notably, Qigong practice can provide profound relief to stress and strongly enhance the immune function.

The patients in the study performed by Dr. Lynch practiced several simple Qigong movements for 45 minutes a day.  Positive results were found in all patients who practiced the movement for six months.

After “Googling” Qigong and Fibromyalgia together, I found other studies that confirmed Qigong is effective for treating the pain and the multiplicity of symptoms associate with Fibromyalgia.  Some patients showed improvements after only 5-7 sessions over a three-week period.

Before reading the article in the Chronicle Herald I was unfamiliar with Qigong, but after researching and learning of the positive outcomes for people who suffer from chronic pain, I looked for Qigong practices where I live.  I am always in search of natural and holistic means of managing and improving my Fibromyalgia, and Qigong appeals to me greatly.

I found two local practitioners and have already signed up with one.  I emailed her and asked her to tell me more about Qigong and if she had any information on its benefits for people with FM.  Here is her response:

I can firstly say, yes if I were you I would give it a go! Like anything consistent practice will be the way to tell if it is helping your situation because at first like anything it maybe challenging. Your feet remain in one position for the hour practice while your arms move in conjunction with your breath. I guide the entire hour so you always know what to do, as well as help you follow your breath to be with your internal energy. The idea is to cultivate energy, for healing- so there you go- Qigong brings healing energy into your core and circulates it throughout the body to remove stagnation and create lymph flow and detoxification. As a massage therapist I know fibromyaliga influences people’s energy differently but usually they are in need of more of it. This will help! The practice helps build your arm muscles that may fatigue at first but because you tune into Source energy you will feel supported through it by the energy field around you.

Her email was very energetic and encouraging and I am really looking forward to my first session with her – Wednesday night at 5:45.  I am excited but I am also expecting that I will have to take several breaks throughout the hour and I am also anticipating an increase in my pain level and quite possibly a flare-up.  But I am going because I do believe that, however painful, movement and flexibility is important and these are two areas I need to improve greatly if I ever hope to improve my Fibromyalgia.

Wish me luck!  And look for my follow-up post on Thursday.

NOTE:

In a continuing effort to live well with Fibromyalgia, I am going to be researching and trying new and different things to help maintain my health.  I will report on my research and my own personal experiences, but I am not a doctor and therefore will not be telling anyone to try what I do. If you think you may benefit from my experiences, please check with your doctor to see if it is right for you.