Book Review… An Ancient Healing System for Modern Times

Feb 09, 2020 Book Review…, News

Book: 10-Minute Primer – Qigong (With Instructional Video)
Author: Zhou Qingjie
Critic: Glenville Ashby

Practitioners of allopathic medicine are welcoming the role of complementary therapies in treating patients. In a classic example of east meets west, qigong (pronounced “Chee-gong,” and written as Ch’i Kung), which is one of four pillars of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is utilized at leading health facilities in the United States and Europe. Case in point: New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering, a leading institute for the treatment of cancer has included qigong in programs offered at its Integrative Medicine Center.
While welcoming the embrace of alternative and complimentary healing, experts caution consumers to consult with their physician before embarking on any new health-related activity. In addition, consumers must ensure that qigong instructors are certified and experienced.
Notably, there are hundreds of qigong forms, each promoting a particular specialty. For example, cancer patients and survivors primarily practice Guo Lin qigong. It follows that beginners must sift the wheat from the chaff and determine the type of qigong best suited for their condition.
It is against this haze of boundless literature on qigong that Zhou Qingjie’s 10-Minute Primer stands out. It offers the fundamentals of this ancient art in an easy to follow template that stripes bare the art from all its complexities.
Qingjie, an Associate Professor of Physical Education Teaching and Research at Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, traces this 4,000 year-old art to man’s natural efforts to enhance his heath. He writes, “Qigong originated from primitive man’s efforts to protect health. When we feel tired, we yawn, stretch or sit with our eyes closed. After a few moments, we are relaxed and more energized. Exactly such conscious and unconscious behaviors led to the formation of qigong as a means of fitness. This was the origin of qigong.”
Throughout, Qingjie emphasizes the preventative quality of the practice, citing the Chinese aphorism: “A good doctor prevents a disease rather than merely curing it.”
According to the author, the mental rewards of the practiced cannot be overemphasized. He pens, “The slow, fluid qigong movements will create a feeling of calm and relaxation [with the] ability to concentrate more fully and a heightened ability to ignore distraction.”
Of the benefits of qigong to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, Qingjie is exhaustive. “Qigong has special requirements for breathing. The breathing cycle is longer, the rhythm is slow, the scope is deep, and the breaths are even and soft. Improvement of the function of the respiratory system will have a corresponding impact on the nervous system; this in turn affects the cardiovascular system so that the contraction and expansion of the heart and blood vessels will be improved. The most direct effect is that the lowered heart rate will also lower blood pressure.”
Expectedly, Qingjie views the body as an interconnected organism. Thus, the physical rewards of qigong are related to one’s respiratory health. “Good posture,” he states, “is the first step in practicing qigong.” He elaborates, “A natural and relaxed posture is the prerequisite for doing qigong breathing properly and inducing a calm state of mind. Different postures – standing, sitting and lying postures – have different physiological characteristics.”
Breathing, he asserts, “is one of the basic elements in the cultivation of qi,” and “proper breathing is an important link in falling into the meditative state.”
He adds, “Through the training of breathing, the practitioner can regulate the tension of the sympathetic nerve and the parasympathetic nerve in the nervous system, expand the vital capacity of the lungs, promote normal breathing and improve blood circulation, massage the internal organs, aid digestion and absorption, keep in good health and prevent and cure disease.”
Qingjie offers a simple berating technique to induce the illusive state of deep meditation. He explains, “One breath equals one cycle of breathing in and out. When you do the exercise, silently count the number of breaths, from 1 to 10, from 10 to 100, until you hear nothing, see nothing, and think of nothing.
He also counsels to repeat words silently, almost hypnotically – simple words (such as, ‘relax and be quiet) that prevent the perturbation of distractive thoughts.
Later, Qingjie introduces Baduajin (also called Eight Brocades of Silk), a classical form of the art that dates back some 800 years
Baduajin is renowned for increasing physical strength and strengthening the tendons and bones, in addition to treating diseases and symptoms affecting the internal organs. Its benefits are all encompassing. “The exercises,” the author notes, “consists of stretching, bending forward and backward and rocking movements, impacting the regions above the diaphragm, above the navel and below the nave which include the heart, lungs, spleen, stomach, kidney and other organs.”
For the sedentary folk, the athlete and the disabled, qigong is an advantageous resource. Health professionals in the west have come around, finally. Qigong does work, and we need not take Qingjie’s word for it.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper)

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Book: 10-Minute Primer – Qigong (With Instructional Video)
©2019 Zhou Qingjie
Publisher: Singing Dragon, London and Philadelphia
ISBN 978 1 84819 212 6
Available at Amazon
Ratings: Recommended