Qigong for Stress and Anxiety

Before we go any further, let's answer the question: What is Qigong?

Qigong is surprisingly difficult to define, so in this lecture we go explore the underlying meaning of the words Qi and Gong in order to better understand what Qigong is in terms of Stress and Anxiety. Ultimately, we are the question, how can I be more skilful with our qi?

A simple introduction to Qigong, exploring basic concepts of posture and ways to enhance the flow of qi through the body. As well as focussing on the importance of balancing the rising and sinking aspects in the body, we also touch on opening the front and back of the body in order to enhance our posture.

The framework of Qi, Space and Information is particularly relevant when we consider Stress and Anxiety. It helps us to gain helpful perspective on the way in which we hold things as important on a conscious, and subconscious level and have the option to change the things that no longer serve us.

Taking the ideas from the Qi, Space and Information lecture and making them more practical by introducing concepts of rising and sinking alongside the use of La Qi to expand awareness and return to stillness.

(The noises in the background are the flapping of the tent in the wind).

A little bit of a deep dive into the origins of 'Stress' in modern western society. From Walter Bradford Cannon and Hans Selye, this short introduction helps us to recognise both negative and positive aspects of stress.

An animation that introduces the basics of this section.

Our primal responses don't necessarily serve us well in the modern world, but it is possible to reprogram our basic, learned responses using practices such as Qigong.

Looking at our tendency to hold onto problems from the perspective of Qi, Space and Information and asking how the emotions fit into this model.

Going a little more deeply into the idea of returning to centre using the next level of the rising and falling movements.

An animation that introduces the basics of this section.

A bit of a deeper dive into the scientific understanding of stress to help us recognise why different people respond well in different situations while others may struggle.

There are two main points of reference in this section. We spend time discussing McGonigal, but we should also consider the work of Sapolsky as his work, while more technical, really helps us to gain a better understanding of how stress works (links for both are included below).

Finally, we introduce the idea of our internal medicine factories and how we can support them in producing the right chemicals to support our overall health.

An introduction to the practice of 'L' breathing as an technique in order to allow ourselves to be more able to release restriction and allow qi to flow. This is helpful both in dealing with difficult situations, but also in letting go of the stress response when it no longer serves us.

At the end of the practice there is also a link into the section of the Power of Stories, that I hope will prove useful when you engage with that section of the programme.

An animation that introduces the basics of this section.

Understanding what coping strategies are, when to use them, and when to not use them.

Kidney breathing as a technique to transform stress.

An animation that introduces the basics of this section.

Understanding how our narrative guides our sense of reality and then finding ways to not hold onto our narratives as strongly.

The qigong technique known as La Qi, that was introduced at the beginning of the course, is explored here as a method to let go of the narratives and return to stillness.

When we change our body language, we change our narrative with the world around us. Here we explore the use of Qigong in order to change our body language in order to change our interactions in an authentic and transformative way.

Using the opening of the front and back of the body in order to change our posture and thereby changing our body language.

We develop our eye's open practice with the help of eye's closed practice. In other words, we need to take time to develop our underlying skill with qi in order to be able to apply it more effectively.

In this section we will explore Zhineng Qigong's use of a mantra known as 8 phrases.

A full practice with an explanation of the ideas and movements that you can use as a guide for your personal practice.