Heal Depression With Qigong

When our energy is physically low, it can make us more prone to depressive thoughts. Similarly, having depressive thoughts can stagnate the physical energy and create fatigue. The art of qi gong or chi kung movement allows us to address both the physical and mental aspects of depression in a healthy way.

The gentle motions are ideal to perform when one is tired as they do not overtax the energy of the muscles but instead gently create a subtle circulation that infuses the body and brain with energy. Therefore, chi kung can be a wonderful tool to awaken the motivation to exercise and embrace other healthy habits such as proper diet and meditation, tools for healing depression. Often times, people do not realize they have fallen into depressive patterns until they start performing qi gong and realize the change and shift that comes when they engage in qi gong regularly.

Depressive patterns may include:

• Low appetite or fixations on certain types of foods (e.g. self medicating with sweets or other comfort foods).
• Low energy.
• Aches and pains.
• Irregularities with the bowels.
• Weakness.
• Negative and/or irrational thought patterns.
• Generalizing statements. Instead of saying, "I am having a challenging moment," the perception becomes generalized: "My whole day is awful."
• Sad thoughts that are pervasive.
• Suicidal thoughts.
• Belief that some things are hopeless.
• Limiting thoughts--believing that things are destined to be a certain negative way.

Qi gong, with its emphasis on deep breath work and mindfulness allows one to create new patterns of thoughts by redirecting the mind from negative thought patterns. It gives the mind something to work on other than spinning on negative perceptions.

Also, chi kung movements activate special energy pathways in the body that increase circulation to the small intestine, the organ where serotonin is produced. We know that having adequate levels of serotonin is important to mental health and prevents depression. Chi kung must performed consistently and regularly to impact depression, just as pharmaceutical drugs must be taken regularly to impact depression. So, think of it like medicine--a loving and gentle natural medicine that you perform each day to balance brain chemistry.

The beauty of qi gong is that it can be performed even by those who are weak or sluggish as movements can be modified to meet each person's unique energy level, unlike traditional yoga which requires a certain level of physical strength and range of motion to successfully perform postures. Thus, qi gong can be a very important tool for increasing energy to help improve mental outlook and combat fatigue.