Medical Qigong is an ancient form of Chinese energetic medicine, and is one of the four main branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), along with acupuncture, herbal medicine, and medical massage. As with the other "Branches" of TCM, healing occurs through balancing qi or electromagnetic energy which surrounds and pervades all living creatures.

Disruptions in the electromagnetic energy of the body occur throughout our lifetime as a result of poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, injuries, surgery, suppression of emotions, and aging.

The goal of qigong is to correct these bio-energetic imbalances and blockages. This enables the body to strengthen and regulate the internal organs, the nervous system and the immune system, relieve pain, regulate hormones, and strengthen and release deep-seated emotions and stress.

Medical qigong therapy consists of treatment by a practitioner to regulate the client's qi. After the treatment the client will be given qigong prescriptions to assist in their ongoing healing. Tailored specifically to the client medical qigong exercises use physical movement, breathing methods and mental intention to correct and restore the function in the body.
 
Medical qigong is a complete system of health care that recognizes the root causes of symptoms or disease, and treats the client as a whole. Practiced as an excellent adjunct to Western medicine, Chinese medicine may successfully treat people with conditions which Western medicine finds resistant or ambiguous.
 
In China and more recently in the United States, doctors have applied qigong in hospitals and clinics to treat individuals suffering from a variety of ailments. Medical qigong therapy and prescriptions can be used to treat people with cancer and help reduce or eliminate side effects from radiation and chemotherapy. It is especially useful in treating any kind of chronic pain, and chronic disorders of the digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular and nervous systems.

Benefits of Qigong
Qigong’s great appeal is that anyone can enrich their lives by adding qigong to their daily routine, regardless of ability, age, belief system, or life circumstances. Qigong exercises enable people to feel and perform better and have higher levels of energy and stamina.
 
People practice qigong to maintain health, heal their bodies, calm their minds, and reconnect with their spirit.
 
Qigong exercises properly practiced can:

Improve physical strength and energy
Help to relieve pain, illness, and physical problems
Maintain and improve your state of physical fitness and mental well being
Provide a feeling of calm, comfort, balance, and rejuvenation
Aid in increasing longevity and overall good health

Types of Qigong
In qigong, the use of breath work with individual physical movements, creative visualization, and perceptual intention are combined to focus on a specific purpose. This purpose or goal determines the specific type of exercises you choose to practice.
 
Regardless what type of qigong you practice, martial, medical, or spiritual, you'll find that type of qigong will have other benefits. Practicing martial qigong will benefit your health and enhance your spirituality; medical qigong may include the practice of discharging or emitting qi (for healing rather than martial purposes); spiritual qigong practice can enhance both martial skills and health.
 
Martial or Sports Qigong
Qigong practice can improve performance in the martial arts or any other sport. Chinese martial artists designed or helped to improve many qigong techniques as they looked for ways to increase speed, stamina, and power, improve balance, flexibility, and coordination, and condition the body against injury. Qigong exercises can improve performance in any sport, improving the golf drive, tackling ability in football, accuracy in tennis, and stamina in swimming.

Medical Qigong
Medical qigong therapy and prescriptions combine the use of breath work with individual physical movements, and mental intention. The goal of qigong is to correct the electromagnetic imbalances enabling the body to strengthen and regulate the internal organs, the nervous system, and the immune system relieve pain, regulate hormones, strengthen and purge deep-seated emotions and stress. Medical qigong therapy offers clients a safe and effective way to help rid themselves of many years of electromagnetic disruptions in this body caused by injuries, surgery, chemical and environmental influences, emotional changes and aging

Medical qigong can be divided into two methods of application internal qigong or self treatment and external qigong or qi emission.

Rolling the Ball Internal Qigong or Self Treatment: Internal qigong is a major part of qigong therapy. This form of qigong is practiced by oneself to achieve a specific purpose. A form of psycho-physiological self-regulation, internal qigong regulates the qi of the body for the purposes of harmonizing our internal energy systems for health enhancement and disease prevention. Typically, these are simple breathing and movement exercises or seated meditations.

Guiding the Qi using Bellows Palm External Qigong or Qi Emission: External qigong refers to the process by which qigong practitioners direct or emit their qi to others to purge and release toxic emotions from within the body's tissues, eliminate energetic stagnations, as well as tonify, and regulate the internal organs, immune system, and energetic fields. The practitioner may touch areas on the other person's body or simply pass his hands over the body.

When patients are ill and their own level of qi is very low or stagnant, receiving qi from a qigong practitioner can prove to be a powerful stimulant toward recovery. Generally, however, people who receive external qigong from a qigong practitioner, simultaneously do their own internal practice.

Spiritual Qigong
This practice takes the form of meditation, including moving meditation as well as stillness. As a spiritual discipline, qigong leads to self-awareness, tranquility, and harmony with nature. The spiritual aspect of qigong evolved from Taoism and Buddhism.
(courtesy of the International Institute of Medical Qigong)