A stroke occurs when a blood vessel, which is carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain, bursts or is blocked by a clot. This causes an interruption of the blood supply to part of the brain. This can damage or destroy brain cells which will affect body functions. For example, if a stroke damages the part of your brain that controls limb movement, your ability to move an arm or leg may be affected. A stroke can also affect mental processes such as how people feel, think, communicate, or learn. In the video on this page you’ll learn some methods of Qigong for stroke recovery. These exercises can speed up the recovery process, regardless of how long ago the stroke occurred.
Please head over to YouTube to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to enhance your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
5 Reasons Why – Qigong For Stroke Recovery?
As I explained above, if you have a stroke, your brain is affected. Qigong helps you to form new connections in your brain as the movements involved are ones which your body isn’t used to carrying out. These new movements promote new brain connections.
Qigong involves repetitive movements which help you to reinforce the new neurological connections in your brain. Repetition is the key here. The more repetition, the more stable these new connections become.
Qigong is free and easily accessible. Unlike attending the gym, physiotherapist or swimming to help with recovery from stroke, Qigong methods, once you have learned them, can be performed in the comfort of your home for no cost. Other methods to help recovery may incur a cost or visit to a special facility which is not always practical. You can also practice Qigong from a standing, sitting or lying down position. Because of this you can easily adapt Qigong methods to suit your individual range of movement following a stroke.
Qigong exercises can easily be integrated into your daily activities. This makes the repetition aspect easy to carry out as you can practice Qigong when you are standing in a queue, walking, driving, standing, reaching for things, etc.
Qigong helps balance the whole body. Working from a whole body perspective is very important subsequent to a stroke as this means that the parts of your body which may have been weakened by the stroke can be assisted by the stronger parts.
Where Can I Learn Qigong for Stroke Recovery?
If you would like to learn some Qigong for stroke recovery then there are a number of things you can do:
Head over to my Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up for a free 3 part video series of Qigong lessons. Next you’ll have the opportunity to join my Space To Relax online membership programme of Qigong video lessons. This will allow you to take your practice to a whole new level where you will learn many exercises to eliminate health issues before they become a major problem. I’ll guide you step by step through many more effective Qigong methods, all which can be adapted for stroke recovery.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” and share with me in the comments box what you learned from this video.
Join my free Facebook group, “Space To Relax Free Qigong Group” and leave any comments or questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Also, by joining this group, you will receive regular posts of Qigong articles and videos with tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health.
In our busy world we might often find it difficult to find the time to eat. However, statistics show that people in the Western world are increasingly getting bigger. Obesity is on the rise. In Ireland, where I live, the percentage of people who were classified as overweight or obese in 2015 was 60%. This has risen to 62% in 2017 (Central Statistics Office – “The Wellbeing of the Nation 2017“). We all know that the healthiest way to shed pounds is to combine healthy eating with exercise. Fad diets rarely work and the weight often piles back on again afterwards. In the video on this page I’ll be showing you how you can use Qigong for weight loss. I’ll give you a few tips to get you started and let you know how you can progress and take things further if you really want to explore how you can use Qigong for weight loss that lasts!
Please head over to YouTube to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to enhance your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
Qigong for Weight Loss
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers an alternative method to help those who are trying to slim down. Qigong, as a branch of TCM focuses on bringing back balance to the body and treating the root cause of a problem by promoting the smooth flow of Qi (energy) throughout the body. Combining Qigong with other exercise and healthy eating can have tremendous results in your effort to lose weight.
Below are some of my recommendations of methods of Qigong for weight loss. There are lots more in the Space To Relax Online Programme but what is important is that you practice regularly, exercise regularly and eat healthily. CONSISTENCY is the key!
1. Develop a Morning Routine
This is the best way, I find, to be consistent. Set yourself up for the day with 5-10 minutes of Qigong. If you don’t have time, get up 10 minutes earlier! :-). Following along with my Qigong Morning Routine here.
2. Get Rid Of Toxic Build Up In Your Body
Often we put on weight because toxins accumulate in our bodies which make us feel sluggish and less likely to exercise. Before we know it our weight has increased. Also, excess weight can be a result of excess fluid accumulating in the body if the lymphatic system is not draining and moving fluids around in a healthy way. Below are two previous videos for you to watch if you want to use Qigong for weight loss:
To cleanse or detox your body use this Qigong cleansing method daily (click here to watch). It only takes 2 minutes to practice once you have memorised the movements.
As many of you may know emotions can play a significant role in weight gain because we can resort to “emotional eating” in response to stresses from family and work. The stress hormone cortisol can upset the body’s metabolism too, causing an increase in weight or failure to lose weight even when you are not overeating. Refer to my previous videos if you feel that emotional factors contribute to your situation.
Acupuncture helps a person lose body fat by reducing appetite and thus reducing the calorie consumption by the body. On the other hand, it increases the metabolic rate of the body and aids in burning more calories. Acupuncture also stimulates the release of endorphins that help to reduce the body fat and insulin levels. Seek out a practitioner in your area if you need some help and don’t want to tackle losing weight on your own.
Consult a Health Coach. If you want to find someone to help keep you motivated and on track the you may want to consider seeking out a health coach who can help you with dietary and exercise advice. They know all the pitfalls on your journey to slimming down and getting healthier so can help you to overcome them, should they arise. Take a look here for a good example from Dr Ailis Brosnan, who works here in Ireland and runs online programmes available to people worldwide.
Where Can I Learn More?
If you would like to learn even more methods of Qigong for weight loss then:
Head over to my Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up for a free 3 part video series of Qigong lessons. Once you’ve completed the free series you’ll have the opportunity to join my Space To Relax online membership programme of Qigong video lessons. This will allow you to take your practice to a whole new level where you will learn many exercises to eliminate health issues before they become a major problem. I’ll guide you step by step through many more effective Qigong methods, all which can be used for helping with weight loss.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” and share with me in the comments box what you learned from this video.
Join my free Facebook group, “Space To Relax Free Group” and leave any comments or questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Also, by joining this group, you will receive regular posts of Qigong articles and videos with really useful tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health.
Knee pain is a relatively common condition which I see in my Chinese medicine and acupuncture clinic. Whether caused by arthritis, wear and tear of cartilage or an injury of some kind, I’ll show you in this video how to use Qigong for knee pain so that you can relieve the pain and improve flexibility in your knees.
Please head over to YouTube to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to enhance your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
The Consequences of Living With Knee Pain
Any of you who have ever suffered with pain in your knees will know that it can be miserable. Not only does the physical pain itself cause you to suffer, but it also stops you from doing the things you love which can negatively impact upon your emotional state of health. For example, you may not be able to go for your daily walk with friends, play with your children or grandchildren or carry out your job (if it is one of a physical nature).
Knee pain may also prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep because you can’t find a comfortable position in bed. You then wake up exhausted.
The fact that you can’t go about your daily business as usual or sleep properly can leave you feeling low, depressed and irritable. You may also feel fearful or anxious about how long you are going to have to endure this situation.
1. Bend your knees. Place your hands on your knees above the kneecaps with fingers facing inwards.
2. Rotate knees right. Rotate knees left.
3. Open and close knees back to front. Open and close knees front to back.
4. Bend knees and squat down (keep heels on ground)
5. Come up to standing by pushing the feet firmly into the ground.
Cautions:
Don’t let the knees fall in towards each other.
Only move the knees as far as is comfortable for you.
Keep movements slow and deliberate. It is sudden movement that can cause injury.
Qigong Stance
A previous video which I made on how to stand correctly for Qigong practice is in itself a perfect method of Qigong for knee pain relief. Once you adopt the correct posture this takes any pressure or strain away from your knees. The Qigong stance also promotes the free flow of blood, fluid and Qi through the knee joint so that it is nourished and energised. Click here to watch the video.
Where Can I Learn More?
If you would like to learn even more benefits of Qigong for knee pain then:
1. Head over to my Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up for a free 3 part video series of Qigong lessons and then have the opportunity to join my Space To Relax online membership programme of Qigong video lessons. This will allow you to take your practice to a whole new level where you will learn many exercises to eliminate health issues before they become a major problem. I’ll guide you step by step through many more effective Qigong methods, all which can be adapted and used for the condition of knee pain, regardless of where in the knee you feel it.
2. Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” and share with me in the comments box what you learned from this video.
3. Join my free Facebook group, “Space To Relax Free Qigong Group” and leave any comments or questions for me there where I’ll be happy to answer them. You’ll also receive regular posts of Qigong articles and videos with useful tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health in this group.
Hip pain can take many forms. You may feel it in the front of the hip, the back (in the buttocks), on the side (femoral head) of the hip, travelling into the groin, close to the skin surface of deep within the joint. Wherever it is, and whatever the cause, it is generally a good idea to keep the area mobile in order to promote circulation to the area and speed healing (unless your pain restricts your movement completely). In this article you’ll learn some Qigong for hip pain and how to promote the flow of Qi through the hip area so that the pain is reduced.
Please head over to YouTube to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to enhance your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
Use a horse stance, standing with feet about 3 feet apart, knees flexed and pushed outwards over the toes (do not let the knees drop inwards). Place palms on knees. Incline trunk of body to left (men) or the right (women) with head slightly lowered and look at the foot. Raise body up, twisting into hips. Lower body back down and sweep whole of trunk across to the other side (think of top of head as a lighthouse beacon). Look at foot then raise body up, twisting into hips. Lower body back down and sweep across to the other side once more. Weight changes from one side to the other and hips are relaxed, following the movement. Knees are bent all the time – do not lock the knee. Maintain strength in legs but be relaxed in waist and trunk.
Finish the exercise by stepping together as palms turn to face the ground then placing one hand (right for women, left for men) flat over Dan Tian with the other hand on top. Circle a few times in one direction and then the other to seal in the Qi. Allow the hands to drop down by the sides of the body and observe any sensations or changes.
Take care if you suffer with high blood pressure or dizziness not to lower the head below waist level.
Exhale as you look at foot. Inhale as body is raised slightly. Exhale as you look at foot again. Inhale as body sweeps across to the other side.
2. Using the Breath to Release Negative Emotions
Use Abdominal Breathing to exhale the pain out through your nostrils. Visualise it as a balloon that you are letting go and see it floating up and away into the sky. You can learn this method from a previous video I made. It is a very useful method of Qigong for hip pain or any other type of pain. Click here to watch it.
Where Can I Learn More?
If you would like to learn even more benefits of Qigong for hip pain then:
Head over to my Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up for a free 3 part video series of Qigong lessons. Once you’ve completed the free series you’ll have the opportunity to join my Space To Relax online membership programme of Qigong video lessons. This will allow you to take your practice to a whole new level where you will learn many exercises to eliminate health issues before they become a major problem. I’ll guide you step by step through many more effective Qigong methods. You can adapt all of these methods for the condition of hip pain, regardless of where you feel it.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” and share with me in the comments box what you thought of the exercise in the video.
Join my free Facebook group, “Space To Relax Free Qigong Group” and leave any comments or questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. Also, by joining this group, you will receive regular posts of Qigong articles and videos with really useful tips about how to use Qigong to improve your state of health.
Nerve pain is a condition which I have observed many times in my Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine clinic. For those of you who have ever suffered with this you may have experienced it as a “shooting”, “burning” or even “electric” sensation. None of these feelings are pleasant, to say the least. The good news is that Qigong can be a helpful tool for helping you to manage any kind of nerve pain and that’s what you will be learning about in this post; how to use Qigong for nerve pain.
Please go to YouTube to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. These videos will help you to enhance your health and prevent illness from arising in the first place. Also please give this video a “Like” if you found it informative.
The Benefit of Qigong for Nerve Pain
1. The Physical Benefit
Qigong can help you to calm unwanted nerve impulses by reducing inflammation and improving the circulation to nerves in a way that does not cause them to be aggravated.
Because nerve pain may affect your range of movement you may be unable to adopt the conventional standing posture of Western exercise. Qigong can accommodate you if you have restricted movement because of nerve pain. This is because you can practise Qigong exercises lying down or sitting. There is no need to push through pain by adopting a posture which will aggravate your condition. Qigong methods can always be adapted to suit your individual range of comfortable movement and you can still reap the benefits.
2. The Emotional Benefit
If you are in pain then you will no doubt be emotionally affected by this. You may feel angry, frustrated, anxious or fearful about your pain. You may feel depressed because you can’t enjoy the things you could always do with ease.
Qigong is a method of combining the mind, breath and simple movement in such a way as to help you release the emotions which can be associated with nerve pain.
If you would like to learn even more benefits of Qigong for nerve pain then:
1. Head over to my Space To Relax homepage. There you can sign up for a free 3 part video series of Qigong lessons. Once you’ve completed the free series you’ll have the opportunity to join my Space To Relax online membership programme of Qigong video lessons. This will allow you to take your practice to a whole new level. You will learn many exercises to eliminate health issues before they become a major problem. I’ll guide you step by step through many more effective Qigong methods which you can adapt if you are managing nerve pain.
2. Subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button over on YouTube. That way you won’t miss my regular videos which are full of useful health enhancing tips. Also please give this video a “Like” and share with me in the comments box what you thought of the video.
3. Join my free Facebook group, “Space To Relax Free Group” and leave any comments or questions for me there. I’ll be happy to answer them. You’ll also receive regular posts about Qigong with useful tips about how to improve your state of health.
