If your meds aren’t working and the pain seems to just get worse, try Qi Gong. It’s a type of movement and breathing practice designed to alleviate all kinds of issues with a set of low-impact exercises 80-year-olds can do. And it’s free – no drugs, no doctor’s visits, and no meds with all the side effects. The exercises are designed to bring more oxygen into the body, increase circulation and promote mental health.
What it is: Qi Gong (pronounced “chi-gung”) is like Tai Chi – an ancient Chinese system of movements and breathing designed to increase blood flow and oxygen levels in the body.
It helps with all sorts of issues including arthritis, chronic depression, lower back pain, and loss of leg strength.
How to approach starting: Depending on what videos people see, the stuff can seem kind of new-age-y and unapproachable. So you can skip all the “talk to the universe,” stuff and just start doing two 10-15 minute sessions a day.
What to expect: While it’s different for everyone, most people respond very quickly and experience a major change in mobility and energy levels very quickly. As you feel better and stronger, you can add new movements and do more of them.
How to start: There’s a ton of QiGong YouTube tutorials out there. We mostly follow Brother Insight. Just find a video that isn’t too challenging physically and play it while copying the movements until you are familiar with them. Then you can do them outside or on a walk or wherever. Try and stick with it even if it seems lame and weird for a week or two to see if you can feel a difference If it hurts or is creating new pain – stop doing it. This is not “no pain, no gain” western ‘work-out’ stuff. More like meditation while doing slow repetitive movements and trying to breath deep from the abdomen.
Qi (pronounced ”Chi”) is what makes the stuff work at the highest level but even if you can’t find it or feel it the exercises will still work to improve circulation/oxygenation. The best guy to watch to understand the concept of Chi is Master Chunyi Lin who does basically 10 minute Ted talks about Qi Gong. The coolest thing about the it is there’s no “good class” or “best book” or apps. The stuff is 10,000 years old and it works. Master Chunyi Lin says “If you believe in it (qi-gong) it works. If you don’t believe in it but do it anyway – it still works.”
Here’s a short video explaining the physiological stuff which helped me visualize what’s happening with the progress – The Physiology of Tai Chi and Qi Gong – YouTube.