Qigong and the Ageless Woman

Qigong can be practiced anywhere by anyone and is especially helpful to women who desire to be ageless. In ancient China prior to 500 b.c. and the dynasties led by kings, it is believed that it was the mature women shamans who created the art of Qi cultivation through their magical powers. The ideogram for women, wu, is even thought to originally mean "to heal." As modern women, we, too, can benefit from the healing power of Qi to keep ourselves healthy, vibrant, and beautiful for as long as we live.

According to Chinese medicine, good health occurs when there is a balance maintained between the two opposing, yet intimately related and attracting energies of yin and yang. Each person is made up of a predominance of either yin or yang energy; however, women tend to be more yin, whereas men tend to be more yang. This is because women tend to be more cold, soft, deep, wet, internal, and contracting, which are yin qualities, whereas men tend to be more hot, hard, superficial, dry, external, and expanding, which are yang qualities. Qigong practice creates a healing process, where the goal is to move more toward the center of the yin-yang continuum so that there is no longer a preponderance of yin or yang creating imbalance within the system. Click to learn how Chinese medicine treats Psoriasis.

True health exists when the body is adjusted according to the principles of yin and yang as well as synchronized with the yin and yang of nature, namely heaven and earth. An imbalance in the forces of heaven leads to tornados, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. An imbalance within the earth causes earthquakes and rivers to change directions. So, too, an imbalance in the forces of yin and yang energies within the human body causes illness to take hold.

The relative balance between these yin and yang energies also waxes and wanes, depending on various factors such as the energetics of foods eaten, weather conditions, temperature and dampness of one’s dwelling, emotional states, and hereditary factors. For example, ingesting cold, wet food creates more yin, whereas hot, dry foods create more yang energy.

Women can enhance themselves and become ageless through the practice of Qigong as it creates body warmth without too much heat and adequate blood flow to counteract the tendency toward dryness. In practical terms, this explains how Qigong practice maintains healthy skin, nails, and hair. Qigong practice also reduces hot flashes, insomnia, depression, pain, anxiety, and diminishing vital fluids that so often accompany a woman’s life changes.

Qigong helps women to cope emotionally through nourishing the spirit as it promotes feeling up and provides the energy necessary to be creative, achieve goals, and manifest dreams and aspirations. Practice of these empowering exercises helps women speak their minds freely and express themselves in a loving, gentle way that others can accept and honor.

The ultimate goal in Chinese medicine is to return to one’s true self—to nourish one’s destiny. This is done through searching for your true self in life through virtuous deeds. An initial step toward this goal is to be quiet with yourself on a daily basis by practicing these simple and gentle exercises. This will bring us back to the basic, true nature of peacefulness and oneness within ourselves.