Qigong

Qigong (pronounced "chi gong") belongs to traditional Chinese medicine and has its origins in China thousands of years ago. It is a system of exercises that work with the mind, the breath, and the body's movement and posture, intended to make the best use of energy within body, mind and spirit and so to improve and maintain health and wellbeing.

Description

The practice

According to the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), most forms of qigong share three features:

• breath that is slow, long and deep, sometimes moving from abdominal breathing to breathing combined with spoken sounds
• movements that are usually gentle and smooth, aimed at relaxation
• regulation of the mind, through focused attention and visualisation.

Dynamic (active) qigong concentrates on movement, especially of the whole body or the arms and legs. Meditative (passive) qigong can be done in any posture that can be held comfortably for some time, and uses breath and mental exercises with almost no movement.

Forms of qigong

There are hundreds of forms of qigong exercise, so two classes called "qigong" may look quite different. They include Baduanjin, Liuzijue, Hu Yue Xian, Yijin Jing and medical qigong. Tai chi began as a martial art, but when it is practised for health it is regarded as one form of qigong. This overlap is worth knowing, because Australian government reviews have assessed tai chi but not qigong (see Qigong in Australia).

What the evidence says

Research on qigong for pain has given conflicting results. Reviews have found some positive effects for older adults, including better quality of life in older people with chronic disease, and a 2019 survey of reviews found enough evidence to support qigong for balance training and preventing falls. For other conditions, such as knee osteoarthritis, the evidence is weak or limited, and reviewers have repeatedly called for more high-quality trials.

Scope

What it includes

• Movement-based (dynamic) exercises
• Meditative exercises of breath and mind, with little or no movement

What it is not

• Qigong is not a substitute for medical care: it should not be used to put off seeing a health care provider about a medical problem.
• It is not one single method, but a family of hundreds of exercise forms.

Traditions and lineage

Qigong developed in China thousands of years ago within traditional Chinese medicine.

Qigong's more recent history has been turbulent. In his history Qigong Fever, David A. Palmer describes qigong, a regimen of exercises for body, breath and mind, as one of the most widespread cultural and religious movements in the cities of late twentieth-century China. Senior Communist Party leaders promoted it as a uniquely Chinese healing tradition and as the forerunner of a scientific revolution. After 1995 its scientific basis was attacked, its leaders were denounced, and networks of followers, including Falun Gong, were suppressed as "evil cults".

Context

Within Spiritualism

Spiritfold has found no published source linking qigong with Spiritualism.

In Australian Spiritualism

Spiritfold has found no published source linking qigong with Spiritualism in Australia.

A Spiritualist perspective

Qigong speaks of energy in body, mind and spirit, and that language can sound close to the way some Spiritualists talk about healing and development. A Spiritualist teacher would gently point out that the likeness is in the words more than the meaning. Qigong comes from traditional Chinese medicine and has its own understanding of qi. Spiritualist healing is understood as mediumship, with healing coming from the spirit world through the healer.

There is room for respect on both sides. The meditative forms, with slow breathing and focused attention, may suit a Spiritualist who wants a calm practice to support meditation, and the gentle movement forms are pleasant exercise. Keep the two traditions distinct, learn from a trained teacher, and remember the page's own caution: qigong should never be used to put off seeing a doctor.

Qigong in Australia

Qigong has had less official attention in Australia than tai chi. The Australian Government's Natural Therapies Review 2024 assessed tai chi, among other therapies, but not qigong as such. The tai chi evidence evaluation prepared for the National Health and Medical Research Council notes that qigong was not eligible for inclusion in that review. The review's Chair recommended that tai chi again become eligible for private health insurance benefits.

Safety and good practice

Qigong appears to be a safe form of activity, and many studies, including studies of older people and people with chronic diseases, have reported no harmful side effects. In a review of adults with neck pain, side effects such as muscle pain, soreness and headache occurred in fewer than one in ten people, at a similar rate in qigong and other exercise groups.

No research has examined whether qigong is safe in pregnancy, so NCCIH advises pregnant women to talk with their health care provider before starting, as some movements may need to be avoided or changed. It also suggests asking about a qigong instructor's training and experience.

Related modalities

• Tai chi
• Meditation
• Acupuncture
• Yoga

Further reading

• HTANALYSTS. Tai chi for preventing and treating health conditions: evidence evaluation report. Australian Government Department of Health, 2025.
• National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. "Qigong: What You Need To Know". US National Institutes of Health, 2022.
• Palmer, David A. Qigong Fever: Body, Science, and Utopia in China. Columbia University Press, 2007.