Qigong at Work: Where East Meets West

Abstract

State of the Art Qigong is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TMC) and aims to balance body and mind. The roots of Qigong lie in China, where Confucian and Daoist scholars (500-400 B.C.) noted that one must learn to balance and relax one’s thoughts and emotions to avoid illness (Yang, 1997). In the Western world, Qigong is best known for its slow and coordinated movements. According to TCM, these movements will help regulate one’s ‘qi’, or life energy, through the body to improve the health and harmony of mind and body. During the practice of Qigong, one’s breathing, attention and movement are aligned. As such, Qigong is sometimes considered Mindfulness in movement (although there are many important differences). New perspectives / contributionsQigong has many positive outcomes on health and wellness. In both patient groups and healthy individuals, Qigong has been shown to improve psychological well-being, quality of life, immune function, balance and related risk-factors, and bone density (Jahnke et al., 2010). As such, Qigong offers a validated way to reduce the physical and mental activation that results from a person's work. While recent research has demonstrated how important it is to take short breaks at work, there is still little attention for Qigong exercises as a means to recover at work.Practical Implications In this presentation, we will explain and practice several Qigong exercises. These movements can be used at work (and at home) to recover from (hormonal) activation, ‘empty’ one’s head, and restore the body-mind balance. <br/