| Practitioners who make qigong a part of their | | | | 1. Find a chair or bench to sit on that is the right height |
| everyday routine seldom get backpain if at all, because | | | | for your legs. For a chair to be the right height for you, |
| qigong and back problems are a contradiction in terms! | | | | you should be able to sit comfortably with your feet |
| If you suffer back spasms or other back problems, | | | | planted flat on the ground and your knees bent 90 |
| just one month of daily qigong practice will alleviate | | | | degrees. |
| most of the pain. Six months of practice will eliminate | | | | If the chair is not ergonomically correct, incorrect |
| most if not all of the problem, and 20 minutes of daily | | | | posture, inadequate support and resulting back |
| practice will keep backpain away. | | | | problems will continue to give you varying degrees of |
| Qigong, (a.k.a. chi kung) is a 5000-year-old Chinese | | | | backpain. |
| meditative yoga that incorporates both still and moving | | | | 2. Sit on the edge of your seat, so that only your |
| forms. Integral to all qigong exercise are breathing | | | | buttocks, not your thighs, touch the seat. Your back |
| techniques to help cultivate the vital chi energy, an | | | | should be straight, not slouching forward or leaning |
| intrinsic lifeforce that we believe is responsible for all | | | | back on the support of the chair. Though your spine is |
| life and health. | | | | straight, it should not be ramrod rigid, but relaxed. |
| When we practice qigong, we generate healing chi | | | | 3. This far into the exercise you should already begin |
| energy that circulates through all parts of the body, | | | | to feel your backpain easing. Plant your feet flat on the |
| realigning posture, healing wounds and injuries, | | | | ground about shoulder-width from each other, toes |
| detoxifying the body and gradually alleviating pain | | | | pointing forward, knees bent 90 degrees. |
| stemming from imbalances, injury and poor health. | | | | 4. If you are sitting properly, you can pat and feel the |
| Qigong also teaches correct posture in all positions, | | | | back of your thighs wobble like jelly. |
| standing up, sitting down, and even in recumbent poses. | | | | If you are currently experiencing backpain and you try |
| Back problems may be due to all kinds of injury to the | | | | this qigong sitting position, your pain should ease almost |
| back, but the main reason why anyone would continue | | | | immediately. If you have been suffering frequent bouts |
| to suffer back spasms long after the injury is healed is | | | | of back spasms or a recent back injury, it may be |
| poor posture and a weak back. | | | | painful for you to sit up for long periods. Practice for |
| Poor posture creates little support in the back and puts | | | | brief periods, until your back grows stronger, then |
| all the weight in the wrong places, creating pressure on | | | | gradually extend your sitting time. |
| the spinal column. Misalignment makes the chi flow | | | | In fact, if your back is healthy, you can sit for hours in |
| sluggishly, which further aggravates the situation. | | | | this position and not get backpain or feel fatigued, |
| On the other hand, when you practice qigong, you | | | | because your back is getting proper support, there is |
| become sensitive to the generation and circulation of | | | | no undue pressure on the spine, and you are relaxed |
| chi energy. When the chi energy becomes stuck and | | | | and aligned properly, so that the chi energy is able to |
| unable to flow properly due to blockages created from | | | | flow uninhibited. |
| misalignment, pain results. In qigong, you automatically | | | | You can assume this position any time when you are |
| correct your posture, knowing that when the energy | | | | working at your desk, eating or even watching |
| moves the pain disappears at the same time. | | | | television - in fact, any time you need to sit down. With |
| Even if you have never experienced back problems, | | | | practice, this position should become automatic every |
| practicing qigong will maintain a healthy strong back. If | | | | time you are sitting. |
| you ever look at some of the old qigong masters, | | | | Try it for yourself and see what wonders it can do for |
| even at eighty or ninety years of age, they have | | | | your backpain. If you get used to sitting like this every |
| strong healthy backs that are not bent over with age! | | | | day, you'll find much of your backpain will ease |
| There are several qigong positions you can assume to | | | | significantly within a week, even when you are not |
| remedy back spasms and other back problems. The | | | | doing this exercise. By then, you should be ready for |
| first position is a sitting position. Here are the steps: | | | | the next qigong lesson: providing support for your back |
| | | | in a standing position. |