He Chi Kung It is, together with yoga, the only practice to seek to train and balance the body, mind, emotional well -being and mood. As explained by the psychologist and expert in Mindfulness, Alejandra Vallejo-Nágera, the name Chi Kung (also called Qi Gong) could be translated as «body energy»,«Energy in motion” either “body meditation»Although, seen from the outside, it seems rather a kind of poetry in motion or a way of making art with the body.
This ancestral practice, which has been carried out for thousands of years in China and in other places of the East East is suitable for people of any age and physical condition since, as Vallejo-Nágera describes, Search beautiful and harmonic movements, that are respectful of the body, that do not produce injuries and favor good oxygenation of the body, as it combines breathing and meditation techniques. “Practicing Chi Kung daily, she gets sick less, so it is called the exercise of eternal youth or eternal health,” he says.
It could be said, therefore, that Chi Kung offers Meditate on motionso it is an activity especially adequate for those who have difficulties of concentration, since through this practice they will improve their attentionhis memory and his health general.
It also helps Prevent symptoms and diseases of all kinds, according to the psychologist, who ensures that it allows reduce joint pain, make muscles more flexible and at the same time, exercise the internal organs, from the alveoli of the lungs to the viscera. While it is true that, for this to be possible, the expert explains that each movement must be accompanied by a Deep, complete and slow breathing that allows to pacify the heart and oxygenate the mind. «In the opening movements it is inspired, the closing is exhaled. The mind will be fully focused on what you do with the body, so you will be meditating in motion, ”he says.
On its evidence as a protective activity of health, it should be noted that the scientific world took a long time to carry out exhaustive research on practice and that this was due, according to Vallejo-Nágera, that communist China, for different political and social reasons, did not facilitate the research and study of the Chi Kung, neither at the general level nor from the field of health. This is what the expert points out, that the Yoga benefits than the benefits of this oriental practice.
The current scientific evidence comes from the field of the Neurosciencespecifically of the studies carried out by the Dr. Yi-Yuan TangProfessor of Neuroscience and Professor of the Department of Psychological Sciences and Internal Medicine of the Texas Technological University (USA). In fact, as Vallejo-Nágera reveals, it is a discipline that is already being incorporated into the protocols of the United States preventive and longevity medicine.
One of the capacities described by neuroscience is that the Chi Kung allows to increase body awareness and activate both the Interoception like the Propioception. “We think we have five senses, but we really have seven,” says the psychologist. Interoception is the ability to understand issues such as at what speed the heart is moving, to what extent the lungs are widening or contracting or how the intestines work. «We have this stunted sense and when it is not developed, it increases the difficulty in preventing or understanding when we are getting sick. Often what happens is that we attend to the body when he warns us with great pain or with severe discomfort, ”argues Vallejo-Nágera. And the other sense that has to do with body consciousness is proprioception, which is the perception of our movement. A sense that, according to the psychologist, has also stunted due to our lifestyle, marked by the sedentary lifestyle. On this matter, the expert stands out especially that this sense occupies an extensive part of the brain and that the fact of spending all day sitting makes this sense more and more atrophy, with the consequent risk of balance losses, falls or injuries.
According to Vallejo-Nágera alerta Body posture It conditions the way in which life tends to see and that is why it is so important to become aware of it. “A posture in which you look all the time down, or all the time sitting, or a posture in which the lungs are not opened or that does not face the world with the position will make that person face life from a narrow, limited mentality and with little growth capacity,” he argues.
He also states that emotions are expressed through the body and that if we live behind their signals, we are likely to be aware of the somatizations that we live as a result of stress, anxiety and hyperconnection.
Practice keys
It can be practiced daily (and is advisable), better in the early hour (because it provides a quiet and centered energy), preferably outdoors (or in ventilated interior sites and with air circulation), with comfortable clothes and without specific accessories or materials. The movements that are carried out are elegant and content, but not controlled. As for the dynamics that it raises, during the sequence or table of Chi Kung, which is a kind of dance or poetry in motion, invites the body to resume contact with the elements of nature (earth, air, water, fire), which are also inside us and whose link we have lost in our way of life in advanced society that in turn. Every Chi Kung movement is practiced by performing cardiac coherence through breathing, that is, with 5 seconds of inhalation and 5 seconds of exhalation. This allows us to become aware of how lungs are compressed and widened and that full, but slow breathing helps to calm anxiety. The sequence lasts more or less time depending on the time you have (although it should not be less than 15 minutes) and also depending on the physical capacity of that person. Let’s see each of them.
There are movements of land. The feet, throughout the practice, remain firmly rooted to Earth. «From a mental health point of view, when you take off the feet of the earth, your mind is lost and divagates into fantasies. In the human body, the earth corresponds to the bones, muscles and joints. That is to say what holds you standing, which allows you to be connected to reality, to here and now and thus advance in your path, ”describes Vallejo-Nágera.
There are also movements of air that are represented by imitating the flight of a butterfly, a condor, of a heron … and also through other air elements such as clouds or the sun, for example. While the feet are rooted on the ground, the head is closer to heaven in all movements. Inspirational ideas, creativity, spirituality, contact with something great and infinite. “Air exercises improve the amplitude and flexibility of the lungs, allow oxygenating the blood well and, therefore, the brain and also the ideas,” he clarifies.
The exercises of water They carry names of marine elements such as “the algae”, “the jellyfish”, “the sea star”, the “blanket”, etc. Our body is composed of 70% water, so water movements are also important. In fact, according to Vallejo-Nágera, they are physically the most demanding, which raises a duality, since that representation of “being floating” and becoming aware of the life in the water, both inside and outside us, coexists with that greater physical demand in the movements.
Finally there would be the movements that represent the firethat in our body is energy, motivation and desire. These are intense exercises because although practically one does not move when performing them, the heart and pulsations accelerate as if it were a very demanding physical activity.
The sequence of movements, as described by the psychologist, is very studied because it goes from the earth elements to those of fire and water, although it clarifies that the objective is not physical. «Chi Kung is a spiritual, not physical practice. You use the body to approach God. While your feet are glued to Earth, your head is looking to approach the sky, ”he clarifies. That is why the expert explains that at the end there are equilibrium movements that are those that allow you to be calm mentally and open to “listen to the whisper of God” or “the divine message” to transfer it to the person who needs it at that time.
And in the end there are some equilibrium movements because if that person is not balanced, his body will also accuse him. In these exercises a leg rises, the arm moves in a certain way and if you are not calm mental, you will not be prepared to receive the whisper of God, which is what you receive in the end. When you have balanced, you can calm down and open to listen to the whisper of God that are the last three movements that are made. The last is the stillness where you listen to the divine message to transfer it to the person who needs it at that time.
The Chi Kung, in short, provides a “enormous non-precipitous energy” and gives “strength and flexibility” that, according to Vallejo-Nagera, are two of the fundamental values in today’s society that is marked by “not wanting to miss anything” but at the same time “not being able to commit to anything.” Thinking, as he points out, requires time, observation, pause and attention. And at this time there is precisely a great deficit of attention, observation, time, interest and commitment. That is why the expert believes that this practice can contribute to protect us from the amount of mental health problems that are currently lived. “It is hygiene and physical, mental, mood and spiritual cleaning with which the four aspects of human behavior are worked: emotional strength, mental connection, mental cleaning and transcendence,” he concludes.
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