The Power of the Breath: Healing the Mind with T'ai Chi and Qigong

Post Date:June 30, 2010

  T’ai Chi and Qigong have been used for thousands of years to heal the diseases of both body and mind.  According to the tenets of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the body is an interrelated and interconnected system, and good health is the result of the harmony of the whole.  Any imbalance within one part of the body manifests as pain, discomfort, or disease.  Within such a system, the mind, too, plays a vital role in the health of the individual.  T’ai Chi and Qigong are founded upon the medical principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine and are designed to catalyze the balance and, consequently, health of the practitioner by focusing upon both body and mind. 
    The relationship between the health of the body and that of the mind is readily apparent in how emotions, stress, and anxiety impact physical health.  The immune system, for example, is compromised and weakened by grief; stress and anger elevate blood pressure; and anxiety creates digestive problems.  Moreover, any disease or pain creates mental anguish and stress as well, further compounding the problem in an ongoing loop of body/mind illness.  Given this understanding, Traditional Chinese Medicine has used the healing properties of T’ai Chi and Qigong to recover the harmony of body and mind and restore complete health through specifically designed exercises, breathing techniques, and guided visualizations that realign the body and mind. 
    The use of T’ai Chi and Qigong for diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, and the like is well-documented, but the mental health benefits of these practices are often overlooked.  Yet, countless people for thousands of years have turned to T’ai Chi and Qigong to successfully treat mental diseases such as anxiety, depression, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, autism, and other mental disorders.  More importantly, T’ai Chi is an extremely effective strategy for bolstering mental health and for correcting the physical symptoms and side-effects that so frequently accompany mental issues as well as from prescribed pharmaceuticals.
   The secret to the effectiveness of T’ai Chi and Qigong is the emphasis upon the breath, which restores the balance between the mind, emotions, and the physical body.  Traditional Chinese Medical theory regards each person as having two minds:  Yi (the logical mind, or what is known in the west as the Brain) and Xin (the emotional mind, which is located in the heart).  These two organs are separated from each other physically, but are bridged by the breath.  When a person breathes softly and slowly, Xin (the heart) relaxes and generates serotonin (a neurotransmitter that enhances mood), which generates a sense of calm in the Yi (Brain).   Such focused breathing establishes the connection between the emotional mind and the logical mind, thereby seeking a harmonization where the mind stops “racing,” the emotions are brought under control, and the physical body relaxes.    The immediate benefits are profound, but these techniques also reprogram the neurological response system over an extended period, which grants the practitioner the ability to better control ones mental state.    Under proper guidance, the breath can be harnessed to facilitate the healing of body and mind, and T’ai Chi and Chi Kung offers a valuable approach to such “breath healing.” 
    One such famous technique is called “Lama Breathing”—a reference to its use in Buddhist Monasteries in Northern China by monks and their teachers, called “Lamas.”  To perform this exercise, assume a comfortable seated position.  Cover the right nostril with the thumb of the right hand and inhale through the left nostril.  Next, cover the left nostril with the middle finger of the right hand and exhale through the right nostril.  Then inhale through the right nostril, close the right nostril, and exhale through the left nostril.  Repeat the exercise through at least ten breath cycles, and with the mind focusing upon the physical qualities of the breaths themselves, which should be natural, soft, deep, and slow.
    The technique of Lama Breathing bridges the two “minds”—the heart and the brain—and centers the practitioner.  This same technique is the mainstay of T’ai Chi and Qigong, and it is the “secret” of regaining the balance of body and mind and achieving what the ancient Taoist referred to as the sacred state of “calm stability”—or what we know as being healthy, grounded, and feeling well.  To learn these techniques is to harness the power of the breath in order to cure diseases as well as to preserve and maintain health. 

Comments