How Tai Chi & Qi Gong Alleviates Stress

Many people across the world practice Tai chi and Qi gong everyday because of its proven health and fitness benefits.  They work at a cellular level, unlocking deep trauma in your body slowly.  Realigning your spine and balancing out your left and right side – something fundamental to our healing and awakening.

Perhaps you’ve tried to learn yourself or you want to but know there are so many ways in you haven’t been sure which direction to take, especially since it can look quite traditional , complex and a long long journey before you can call yourself a Tai chi practitioner.  If you’ve tried Tai chi before you will remember how at first it feels so overwhelming remembering all the various moves and the transitions between them.

Tai chi and Qi gong are similar but different systems.  Tai chi is more complex and intricate – it takes time to learn the sequence of movements.  Qi gong is a simpler set of movements which clears your energy and meridian lines.  It is also the foundation of Tai chi. There are thousands of different forms of Qi gong.

With both art forms, we are working to bring in flow, balance and centring to our physical body and our physical movement.  We are encouraging a grace within the body, a grounding of our energy into our lower dantien (3 finger widths below the naval), and ultimately an opening of the heart, so it can be a bridge between the upper and lower chakras. As the saying goes “your legs become like mountains and your arms like clouds. Essentially, we are learning to connect heaven and earth, the masculine and feminine, within us. To unite heaven and earth.

Tai chi helps you gain a true appreciation of yin and yang, and the Taoist philosophy, that life is a process, ever flowing between these two moving states.  As we dance gracefully and perfect the moves, we are bringing into the body the universal principle of life always in a process of transition, even if it doesn’t appear that way. Life is just a series of many moments, even when we feel stuck and stagnant.

Tai chi and Qi gong will teach you how to deeply relax your body, invaluable when there is a lot of stress in your life, and with the lifestyles many of us have, stress is unavoidable unless we are working on bringing in the valuable yin energy, so missing in our western lives.  It does this through teaching you how to unwind all the tendons and muscles, freeing up your vital energy to flow to your organs, decluttering your mind. As you learn and move through the Tai chi form (and there are various different forms) you’re internally massaging the five vital organs which between them control all the functions of your body and mind. This means your joints become more supple and your muscles more resilient.

Tai Chi improves your cardiovascular, respiratory and lymphatic functions. The soft flowing movements gently benefit all your internal systems. With time, your balance and coordination improve and as you slowly detoxify and cleanse your body, you get less ill and stop getting the colds that everyone else around you pick up.  You become more immune and able to shake off illness and you’re better able to alleviate pain and illness quickly.

The outcome is rejuvenation of the mind and body, letting the spirit feel liberated and feeling more impervious to the stress and pressure of everyday life. You might have seen how Tai chi is popular with the older generation – perhaps this is because as we age a certain openness can enter into our lives. Tai chi is great for keeping us feeling and looking young.

If you want to learn a Qi gong set to support the health of your mind, body and spirit, then consider joining The Abundant Goddess Programme & Retreat, where I teach an invaluable set of Qi gong.