Qigong Exercises for Breast Cancer Treatment and Prevention

The most powerful tool traditional Chinese medicine has to offer for breast cancer treatment and prevention is qigong (pronounced chee-kung), an ancient system of exercises that increases Qi (vital energy), bolsters the immune system, and unlocks the body's innate healing ability.

In this section of the Web site, we'll teach you a series of seven qigong exercises from a tradition known as Wu Ming. Each movement unblocks stagnant energy in the meridians, or energy pathways, that run through the breast area. (For information how stagnant energy can lead to breast cancer, please see our introduction to TCM.)

Practicing Qigong

• Practice the entire series of movements in the order listed at least once a day. If you have breast cancer or are undergoing chemotherapy or radiation, practice twice daily. Wu Ming Meridian Therapy can lessen the side effects of these treatments by helping your body expel toxins.
• Do not practice for at least half an hour after eating a meal or engaging in sexual intercourse.
• Do not practice when you are menstruating.
• Try to practice at the same time each day. The hours of 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. are the best times to build Qi.
• In addition to practicing the movements as a set, do each movement individually whenever you can, especially if you are in the later stages of breast cancer. Almost all of the movements can be done rather inconspicuously, so take advantage of every moment you can: waiting for the train, watching television, or even talking on the phone.
• Adapt the exercises to your own ability. If it is difficult for you to stand, for example, do the movements while seated. Similarly, movements that use both arms can be done with only one arm if the other is immobilized. Skip any movement that is impossible for you to do.

Preparing for Practice

Before you begin practicing, take a few deep breaths. Close your eyes and clear your mind -- let go of everything that is bothering you; just leave it all behind.

As you practice the movements, breathe naturally. These exercises require no special breathing and no visualizations. (The principle of Wu Ming Meridian Therapy is that no technique is the best technique.) Concentrate on each movement as you do it. If your mind starts to wander, imagine that you are drawing energy from the sun, the moon, and the stars. Imagine that this energy from the universe is filling your body and destroying all cancer and illness. Do not focus on a particular organ or body part; see your whole body becoming healthier. Most importantly, take great joy in the knowledge that you have the ability to heal yourself. The Qi you are building should be gentle, joyful, peaceful, and calm.

After you learn the mechanics of each exercise, slow each movement down. Remember that Wu Ming Meridian Therapy is not aerobic, nor is it designed to build muscle (although you will have more physical strength with regular practice). These are slow, gentle movements that stimulate the smooth flow of Qi through your body.

Cleansing With Light Shower (use when taking a normal shower)

Exercise Two
Cleansing With Light Shower (use when taking a normal shower)

We need to clean our inner body as frequently as we clean our outer body! Inner cleansing is for both prevention and healing. Our Qigong self-healing classes focus on improving our health by providing the cleansing tools for each of us. Here is the Light Shower Method which you can use when you are in a water shower:

1) Adjust the water to a comfortable temperature and step under it. Take a deep breath and relax.
2) Empty your mind, close your eyes and let the water run down over you. Feel the water.
3) Try sensing your body at the cell level. Sense your whole body as a collection of cells with empty spaces between and inside each cell.
4) Imagine the water is penetrating your surface, rinsing all your cells.
5) Keep imagining the water running over both the inside and outside of your body.
6) Imagine streams of bright light washing over and through you with the water.
7) Imagine the light streams becoming brighter and brighter.
8) The bright light makes your body’s physical structure become less and less clear to you. Your body feels empty. There is little or no difference between your inside and outside. All you feel is the water and light coming down, rinsing off all the dirt.
9) Keep showering in the above state until you are done.
10) Take a deep breath and focus on your belly button for ten seconds.

Even if this exercise does not make sense to you, try it anyway without analyzing it. The less your mind gets in the way, the more effective this exercise will be and the more health benefit you will receive.

Relaxation For Stress Release

SIMPLE QIGONG EXERCISES WHICH WORK
Are You Ready For A First Hand Qigong Experience?
Remember, be open-minded for your own benefit. This means that when you read the instructions below, follow the instruction with no doubt, no analysis, no wondering. Let your mind question and wander about before or after, but not during your practice. Follow the instructions step by step. Within these few minutes, try to keep your mind peaceful and to not think, ONLY TO FEEL.
Exercise One
Relaxation For Stress Release


1) Sit on a flat surface, a chair, a stool, or something else.
2) Take a deep breath and relax, make yourself comfortable.
3) Close your eyes and have your eyes looking down towards your belly.
4) Take a moment to feel your heart and feel your lungs.
5) Imagine there is a small ball one inch above your head.
6) Imagine your head is reaching up toward the small ball.
7) Imagine your head keeps reaching up and has touched the ball.
8) Imagine something is coming down from the ceiling and pulling your hair up gently, keeping your head touching the ball.
9) Feel your spine being stretched, feel yourself getting taller.
10) Be sure your shoulders are dropped down at the same time your head
is being pulled up.
11) Imagine your blood is running down toward your feet. 12) Feel your body weight settle down and imagine your blood running
Down.
13) Take another deep breath.
14) Continue to imagine your blood running down, feel your lower body getting heavier and feel your head being pulled up.
15) You are not thinking about anything, you are feeling your body.
16) Focus on the top of your head and imagine there is an opening in the center of the top of your head.
17) Inhale deeply. Imagine there is a bright light like sunshine coming into your body through the opening on the top of your head.
18) Exhale slowly.
Imagine your body is full of sunshine.
Nothing inside your body is solid.
Everything inside your body is in the light and mixed with the light. Feel the inside of your body is all light.
19) Repeat steps 17 and 18 five times each.
20) Slowly open your eyes, wake up and end the exercise.

Qi Gong Health

QIGONG PRACTICE ADVANTAGES

Compared with the conventional ways we handle our health, Qigong practice offers the following advantages.

Convenience
Qigong practice does not require any equipment. Qigong is not limited by time, space, a person’s age, strength or fitness. You can use a sitting or standing posture. You can even practice lying down. Qigong can be practiced by anybody who has a functioning mind. Qigong is very fair - everyone who practices will benefit.

Comprehensive Healing Effect
If we have one health problem, we probably have others. For example, heart disease patients tend to have high blood pressure and arthritis. Some also have stomach or liver problems. Even though we may only acknowledge one symptom at a time, a comprehensive healing is needed because our body system is a whole. It’s all connected. Unlike prescription drugs which are usually designed and tested for treating one symptom, Qigong practice regulates the whole body Qi system, and cleans up Qi blockages wherever they are in the system. Qi blockages in different places can appear to be different symptoms. If you are serious about Qigong practice and self healing, persistent practice will reward you with multiple healing results.

Economical
Ask yourself, how much are you and your employer paying for your medical insurance? How much do you pay for pills and doctor’s visits? How much time do you have to spend doing all that? Even a greater impact will be felt if you let your bad health slip too far and become hospitalized. The money, time and suffering you may go through can be lessened. Qigong can save you much of this resource expenditure. Only a modest financial investment is needed to learn Qigong. Practice is free. There are also free resources available, like this e-book, if you look around a bit. Once you learn Qigong, practice regularly and experience significant health improvement, you will see that whatever you may spend learning Qigong will be a small fraction of what you normally spend for your conventional health care.

No Impairing Side Effects
Physically impairing side effects are a big issue with prescription drug medicine. For Qigong practice, all you get is the good stuff! There are no negative side effects. You may experience some temporary and uncomfortable sensations as you cleanse your body, but these do no damage. The more you practice, the better results you get.

More Unexpected ‘Side’ Benefits
Qigong practice often brings you nice surprises of unexpected benefits besides better health. A happier state of mind, a stronger ability to handle stressful situations while remaining calm, increased confidence, improved self esteem, better relationships, more positive attitude, more energy through the day…the list is long! You may find yourself becoming more loving, compassionate, understanding, tolerant and giving. You will feel great about yourself. You may also find that you are a fresh new person. No kidding!


KEYS TO HAVING SUCCESSFUL QIGONG HEALING RESULTS

Open Mind
The first key to experiencing success in Qigong healing is to have an open mind. I can not emphasize this enough. Because of the nature of the Qigong practice, an unfocused mind will not be able to award you with a beneficial experience.

In the late seventies and early eighties, when Qigong was once again made available to the general public in China, it was initially criticized by scholars and the medical world as superstition. Among Qigong practitioners, those who could easily accept and follow instructions experienced much quicker and better results than those who did not take instructions easily. Generally, practitioners with quicker and better results were blue collar workers. Practitioners in the slower group typically were those with higher education or social status.

The explanation of this phenomenon is that people with relatively lower social status and less education are more apt to be open to the guidance and instructions given in Qigong practice. These people tend to have less ego involvement, and their minds are more open. People with a higher social status and more education, tend to have more egos, and are more likely to analyze rather than experience. By occupying their minds analyzing what they are doing instead of just doing it, these people missed out on a great opportunity. Of course this is a general trend for these respective groups of people in China during this time period. Individuals can vary a lot.

Qigong is not about information or knowledge - it is about experience. Sometimes our mind can not make sense of it, but our experience will show us the way.

If you want to experience a real Qigong practice, you just need to keep your mind open. You are welcome to be the most skeptical person in the world. This e-book may not make much sense to you, but if you want to try the next step, to experience feeling good after a Qigong practice, then keep your mind open.

Good Teacher & Good Method
The second key to experiencing success in Qigong healing is a good teacher who shows you a good method. It is recommended that you learn from somebody who has a substantial body of personal practice experience. Qigong is not math which you can learn from books and can then, in turn, teach others. Qigong is all about experiencing, and knowing through experiencing.

In a general sense Qigong practice can be very simple. However, it also has many details which need to be addressed and directed along the way. So
finding the right teacher who knows what he or she is talking about from experience is very important.

Discipline and Persistence
The last but not the least key to being successful in Qigong self-healing is your discipline and persistence. Though feeling better right away is a common experience when learning Qigong, Qigong is not an ‘instant cure’. Our bodies have taken time to develop our imbalances. A focused effort over time is needed to thoroughly heal ourselves.

So healing can be experienced at the first practice, but a lasting healing result normally does not happen overnight. You need to be sincere and work on it persistently in order to reap a bountiful harvest. Success does not come without sincere effort.

QI GONG TYPES

Qigong originated in China and has now spread all over the world. Some practices tend to retain their original guidance. Others have been combined with local cultures and practices, and have evolved into new forms. This is why there are many different forms of Qigong in the world today. New forms of Qigong-like practice are being announced quite often.

All Qigong forms are based on one or some combination of five main roots: Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Martial Art, and Chinese Medicine. No matter what a Qigong practice is called, it is grounded in the guiding principles of the five main roots. Although practices can be widely different, the highest principle is always the same - ‘Be Natural’.

In the Qigong field, there are two kind of practices: Qigong treatment by Qigong masters and healers, and Qigong self-healing.

To be a Qigong master or healer, one should be a Qigong practitioner with a vast accumulation of experience and increased Gong level. Most Qigong practitioners of this level will have some ability to help others to heal by performing Qigong treatments.

This blog focuses on learning to self-heal. To me, the most reliable way to have and keep good health is to be in control of yourself, instead of relying on treatment by others. If you are interested in treating others, you have to help yourself first in order to be able to help others.