QiGong Date published: 1999 Other: Word Count: 285 This ancient exercise draws upon your inner energy to tone muscles, boost circulation, and lift spirits. WHAT IT IS Qi gong (pronounced chee gong)--or 'energy work'--uses simple movement exercises, breath and sensory awareness, and relaxation techniques to build qi, the life energy that circulates within all living things. HOW IT WORKS Qi gong exercises help develop 'The Three Regulations': xing (posture), yi (consciousness), and qi (vital energy). The Chinese believe that a balance between these three elements brings physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. In Western terms the physiological results of qi gong are regulated immune, circulatory, lymph, and nervous systems. THE VARIETIES There are four styles of qi gong: mental qi gong helps boost brain activity; medical qi gong is used for healing; martial qi gong builds muscle strength and endurance; and spiritual qi gong helps shape shen, or spirit. BENEFITS Qi gong increases circulation, improves coordination, and tones and stretches muscles. It also enhances your shen. A healthy shen, which includes heightened awareness, enables you to live life with more enthusiasm. Qi gong is most effective in treating chronic pain and disorders of the digestive, respirators cardiovascular, and nervous systems. According to Charles T. McGee, M.D., author of Miracle Healing from China: Qi gong (Medipress, 1994), it complements Western medicine, because patients who practice qi gong recover faster, suffer fewer side effects, and need less medication than other patients. EVIDENCE Hundreds of studies published in Chinese medical journals have found qi gong an effective treatment for chronic conditions like hypertension. In one study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine, researchers found that qi gong reduced the pain and swelling associated with reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a disabling neurological disease.