In its simplest form, the Chinese character for qi, in qigong, can mean air, breath, or “life force”. Gong means work, so qigong is therefore the practice of “working” with ones “life force”. The term was not widely known until the 1970s during a period some call the “Qigong Wave” where groups of 10,000-40,000 people regularly gathered inside Chinese stadiums to practice qigong together. Some in the Chinese government became concerned that one quasi religious/political group (see Falun Dafa or Falun Gong)who practiced a Qigong form of their own, might turn into a political weapon, and in 1999, banned all large qigong gatherings. Currently there is a movement underway in China, the United States, and Europe to preserve the valuable aspects of these traditional Chinese practices and to have them studied using Western scientific methods.

Attitudes toward a scientific basis for qigong vary markedly. Most Western medical practitioners and many practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, as well as the Chinese government, view qigong as a set of breathing and movement exercises, with possible benefits to health through stress reduction and exercise. Other practitioners view qigong in more metaphysical terms, claiming that qi can be felt as a vibration or electrical current and physically circulated through channels called meridians. Many testify to a reduction or elimination of pain through the use of qigong.

Scientific Studies of Qigong

This document presents summaries and excerpts from various studies of Qigong.

The commentaries excerpted are impressions and conclusions of the authors of the referenced articles and are provided for your information and your study of the practice of Qigong.

Major Depression effectively treated with Spring Forest Qigong practice

Forest Qigong to Depression as an Alternative and Complementary Treatment,” By Frances V. Gaik Ph.D., Adler School of Professional Psychology, Chicago, IL.

Dr. Gaik found that “all subjects improved over the treatment period” and “a very significant level of improvement in the majority of the subjects who were measured at serious levels of depression.”

Medical Applications of Qigong

An original paper by Kenneth M. Sancier, Ph.D, “Medical Applications of Qigong,” was published by “Alternative Therapies” in January 1996.

“This article focuses on internal Qi, because almost everyone can learn Qigong exercises for maintaining health and self-healing,” writes Dr. Sancier. (“Internal” Qi involves self-practice, whereas “external” Qi involves, for example, a Qigong Master emitting Qi to someone.)

Dr. Sancier writes, in the practice of Chinese therapies such as Qigong, “the flow of Qi is regulated, and blockage of the flow of Qi is removed. Energy blocks or excess or deficient Qi may result from disease, injury, or stress.”

Stroke and Mortality Rates decreased with Qigong practice

Dr. Sancier reviewed a 30-year follow-up study on hypertensive patients who were divided into a Qigong group and a control group. All patients had been given drug therapy to control blood pressure. The experimental group also practiced Qigong. The mortality rate in the Qigong group was nearly half of the group who did not practice Qigong. The incidence of stroke as well as death due to stroke was half for those who practiced Qigong. In other words, people who did not practice Qigong suffered a stroke or died from stroke at a rate twice that of those who practiced Qigong.

“Researchers also reported that over the 20-year period, blood pressure of the Qigong group stabilized, whereas that of the control group increased. Remarkably, during this period the drug dosage for the Qigong group could be decreased and for 30% of the patients, could be eliminated. However, the drug dosage for the control group had to be increased.”

(Citations for this study as well as other other studies noted in this section can be found in the above-mentioned article.)

Sex Hormone Levels improved with Qigong

Dr. Sancier cited three studies that indicate the trend of estrogen increasing in males and decreasing in females with age “can be reversed by Qigong exercise.”

In an auxiliary study, “changes were accompanied by improvements in symptoms such as soreness, dizziness, insomnia, hair loss, impotence, and incontinence associated with Kidney deficiency hypertension (a TCM diagnosis.)”

Bone Density increased with Qigong

Dr. Sancier reviewed a study related to aging that found, “bone density was found to increase in male subjects who practiced Qigong for one year.”

He conjectured, “That Qigong therapy also would help restore the bone density of women, especially menopausal women, seems likely.”

Cancer and Drug Treatment improved with Qigong practice

Dr. Sancier referenced a study of patients with “medically diagnosed malignant cancer.” They were divided into two groups, and all received drugs. One group, however, practiced Qigong. “Both groups improved, but the [Qigong] group showed improvement in strength, appetite, freedom from diarrhea, and weight gain four to nine times greater than the control group.” Additionally, a measure of the immune function improved for the Qigong group and decreased for the control group.

Senility symptoms improved with Qigong practice

Dr. Sancier reported, “To study the mechanism of keeping fit by Qigong, a controlled study was made of 100 subjects classified either as pre-senile or with cerebral function impaired by senility.”

The control group, which did not practice Qigong, exercised by walking, walking fast, or running slowly. “Criteria for judging outcome were based on measuring clinical signs and symptoms including cerebral function, sexual function, serum lipid levels, and function of endocrine glands.”

The results: “After six months, eight of the 14 main clinical signs and symptoms in the Qigong group had improved more than 80%, whereas none of the symptoms in the control group had improved more than 45%.”

Mind-Body Regulation

Dr. Sancier wrote, ” A tenet of Qigong is that the mind leads the Qi, and the Qi leads the blood. This somewhat mysterious statement can be interpreted to mean that intention (the mind) can direct the Qi within the body.”

Alpa Brain Waves increase with Qigong practice

Dr. Sancier referenced two studies that show alpha brain waves dominate beta waves and spread to the frontal areas of the brain during Qigong practice.

One study found differences between the practice of Zen and and the practice of Qigong. Dr. Sancier writes, “According to Kawano and Wang, these differences in brain function suggest that internal Qigong is a semiconscious process that involves some awareness and activity, whereas Zen meditation is a neutral process that releases the meditator from all concerns. Perhaps because of this difference, Qigong is considered a healing art, whereas Zen is generally not.”

“A Qigong master can emit Qi to heal a patient. The interaction between Qigong masters and subjects has been followed in double-blind tests in which masters and subjects were simultaneously assessed by EEG, polygraph tests, biochemical blood tests, and psychological tests. The EEG studies showed that a type of brain waves and their location were synchronized in the brains of masters and subject. Such synchronism may be required for healing by emitted Qi.”

Bloodflow to the brain increased; Memory improved while dizziness, insomnia, numbness, and vertigo headaches decreased

Dr. Sancier reviews two studies where Qigong exercise has been shown to increase bloodflow to the brain. For subjects “with cerebral arteriosclerosis who practice Qigong for one to six months, improvements were noted in symptoms such as memory, dizziness, insomnia, tinnitus, numbness of limbs, and vertigo headache. During these studies, a decrease in plasma cholesterol was also noted.”

Combination of Qigong and drugs is superior to that of drug therapy alone

Dr. Sancier referenced six studies saying, “There is ample evidence in the literature that therapy by a combination of self-applied Qigong and drugs is superior to that of drug therapy alone.”

“The mechanism of this apparent synergism is not known but undoubtedly relates to the fundamental mechanism of Qigong. Qigong is believed to relax the body, promote the flow or Qi (energy), blood, oxygen, and nutrients to all cells of the body, and promote the removal of waste products from cells. The increases in flow of Qi and microcirculation nourished diseased or stressed tissue. We may assume that Qigong also promotes drug uptake by tissue and cells by means of increased microcirculation.”

Conclusion: “Qigong enables the body to heal itself”

In the conclusion of the paper, Dr. Sancier writes, “This review encompasses only a small number of studies from a large collection of research using medical applications of Qigong, mainly in China. The main conclusion from many studies is that Qigong enables the body to heal itself.”

The effects of the Qi of Qigong

This next section excerpts abstracts of scientific research that studied the affect of “external”, or emitted, Qi on various substances. The subject was Qigong Master, Dr. Yan Xin of China. Specific citations are available on request. The abstracts were published by Springer-Verlag in Berlin on April 22, 1999.

Qi caused a structure change in tap water, saline, glucose, and medemycine solutions

The purpose of these experiments was to investigate whether external Qi could cause measurable changes in the property of tap water and some aqueous solutions.

Laser Raman spectroscopy is a well-known technique in the study of molecular structure. Each sample has a characteristic spectrum at a given state. A change in the spectrum is an indicates a change in the molecular structure.

“All the results showed some structural changes of the test solutions treated by external Qi, as indicated by their Raman spectra.”

Qi significantly affected the processes of nucleotide polymerization, protein crystallization, and enzyme activity

“These data indicate that Qi emission is detectable using biochemical techniques and that the effects are not necessarily uniform. This suggest that the nature of Qi is more akin to particles or information than a homogenous energy field.”

Qi increased the ultraviolet absorption of nucleic acids

“The UV absorption spectra of calf thymus DNA sample placed in closed lead bottle with a change of 12%.”

“The observed hyperchromic effect could only be caused by the external Qi, which has provided certain basis of the objectivity of Qigong healing.”

Qi caused the bromination in solution of n-hexane and bromine

“It is well known that chemical reactions play a significant role in life processes. The study of the influence of external Qi on certain organic chemical systems will provide useful information about the mechanisms of Qigong healing since the nature of Qigong and Qigong healing is highly related to life processes.”

“The preliminary results revealed that the external Qi of Qigong not only caused a bromination in a n-hexane/bromine mixture, but also this effect was produced from remote distances.”

Chunyi Lin

Many Qigong masters have studied Qigong meditation, but few have lived it as has Chunyi Lin.

Master Lin studied with a Shao-Lin Temple Buddhist, Master Yao, Master Yian in China’s Guangdong Province, the famed Master Zhang in Xichuan Province, and a few other respected masters who do not want their names revealed.

As part of his training, Master Lin meditated and practiced various austerities in caves on Mount Qing Cheng and Mount Dinghu. In Chinese culture, cave meditation is recognized as the most powerful way to develop intuition, perseverance, patience, and tranquility.

Master Lin has gone so deeply into the meditative, tranquil core of Qigong that he can present complex techniques in simple, easy-to-understand terms. It takes a high level of scientific understanding to make science sound easy. Master Lin has accomplished this with Qigong.

Master Lin has had access to a very rare diversity of Qigong Master instructors in China because of his high character and his constant search for ways to improve his own knowledge. Master Lin is also fluent in five Chinese languages, some as different from each other as French is from German. His linguistic expertise allowed him to learn from Qigong practitioners living in remote regions.

Master Lin established the fundamentals of Spring Forest Qigong in 1994 before arriving in the United States in 1995. Since then over 100,000 people have explored the healing practice of Spring Forest Qigong.

Spring Forest Qigong

This ancient Chinese “practice” can take away stress, pain, and sickness from your body at speeds that will amaze anyone…leaving you with more energy

You have seen people on television who could heal others with their touch. Or people who could pass healing energy to other people.

Introducing the Spring Forest Qigong personal learning course.

Finally, you can learn to make use of this healing energy that many say results in modern-day miracles.

100 days of Qigong

Benefit comes from the practice of Spring Forest Qigong whether you do it 20 minute three times a week, five minutes a day, or two hours a day. Chunyi Lin says that when you practice Spring Forest Qigong for 100 days in a row, you receive tremendous healing benefits and your practice becomes habit. After 100 days of practicing at the same time every day, your channels automatically open during that time even when you miss a day. Use the 100 Days of Qigong chart to mark off each day that you practice. Chunyi Lin recommends taking a break on Days 50 and 100.

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