Qigong involves meditations and movements that can improve mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

1. Qigong
for Mental Health
APA Annual Meeting
May 19, 2015
Colleen Loehr, M.D.
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry
University of Missouri
School of Medicine
Columbia, Missouri
Colleen.Loehr@dmh.mo.gov
1

2. What is Qigong?
Qi (chee) means Energy or
Breath
Pictograph for Qi
depicts a
steaming pot of rice
2

3. Qi means energy
Gong (gung as in lung)
means skill, work, or
cultivation
Qigong means
Energy Cultivation or
Breath Work
3

4. Mayo Clinic Definition of Qigong:
"Qigong (“chee-gung”), or "energy-skill",
is an ancient Chinese meditation
practice, which combines visualization,
breath and posture to restore and
maintain a natural state of mind-body
vibrancy and balance, regardless of age
or health condition.” (continued)
mayoclinichealthsystem.org
4

5. Mayo Clinic Definition of Qigong:
"The practice entails coordinating slow
movements with breathing to cultivate
the flow of energy, or Qi (chee), in a sort
of graceful, fluid dance. It is a form of
exercise, but is much less a muscle-
based workout and more of a mindful
energetic-based practice.”
mayoclinichealthsystem.org
5

6. “Practitioners say that Qigong increases
energy and deepens their breathing. It
can create a very peaceful feeling.
Qigong practice teaches us to go into
stillness, which in turn improves
concentration and memory. Qigong also
facilitates core strength, balances blood
pressure and helps the body remove
toxins.”
mayoclinichealthsystem.org
6

7. Qigong and Tai Chi
“Tai Chi is related to qigong in
the same way that Kleenex is
related to tissue: All Kleenex is
tissue, but not all tissue is
Kleenex. Similarly, all tai chi is
qigong, an energy exercise,
although not all qigong is tai chi.”
David Dorian Ross, Essentials of Tai Chi
and Qigong, The Great Courses, p. 35
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8. Key Components Common to All Qigong Practices
❖ Mindfulness- cultivating full presence and
awareness in the moment is a vital part of all
qigong practices.
❖ Positive intention- cultivating a felt sense of
harmony with life is a foundation of all qigong
practices.
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9. ❖ Greater Body Awareness
is a key component of all
qigong practices.
“There is more wisdom in
your body than in your
deepest philosophy.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
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10. 10
Research on Qigong

11. Scientific Evidence:
“Claims of Tai Chi’s health
benefits are increasingly
evidence-based, with more than
700 peer-reviewed, scientific
publications in print and more
than 180 randomized trials
conducted, to date.”
Peter M. Wayne, Ph.D, The Harvard
Medical School Guide to Tai Chi, 2013.
11

12. “Tai Chi and Qigong for the Treatment and Prevention of
Mental Disorders”
Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2013 Mar; 36(1): 109–119.
Ryan Abbott, MD, JD, MTOMa and Helen Lavretsky, MD.
Summary of RCTs of Tai Chi and Qigong for mental disorders:
Depression: 13 studies with significant positive findings.
1 study did not find an effect on depressive symptoms.
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13. RCTs of Tai Chi and Qigong:
Stress: 4 studies with significant positive findings.
1 study did not find effect on subjective stress measures.
Anxiety: 8 studies with significant positive effects.
1 study had negative findings on anxiety.
Ryan Abbott, MD, JD, and Helen Lavretsky, MD.,Tai Chi and Qigong for the Treatment and
Prevention of Mental Disorders, Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2013 Mar; 36(1): 109–119.
13

14. RCTs of Tai Chi and Qigong:
Mood and psychological well-being: 7 studies with significant
positive effects. 1 study did not find positive effect on mood.
Sleep disturbance: 3 studies with significant positive effects.
Negative findings: None reported
Substance abuse: 1 study with significant positive effects.
Negative findings: None reported.
Ryan Abbott, MD, JD, and Helen Lavretsky, MD.,Tai Chi and Qigong for the Treatment and
Prevention of Mental Disorders, Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2013 Mar; 36(1): 109–119.
14

15. “Tai Chi and Qigong are evidence-based
approaches to improve health-related quality of life.
Evidence from randomized controlled trials
suggests that Tai Chi and Qigong may be effective
in reducing depressive symptoms, stress, anxiety,
and mood disturbances.”
Ryan Abbott, MD, JD, and Helen Lavretsky, MD.,Tai Chi and Qigong
for the Treatment and Prevention of Mental Disorders, Psychiatr Clin
North Am. 2013 Mar; 36(1): 109–119.
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16. 16
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Qigong Exercise on
Fatigue Symptoms, Functioning, and Telomerase
Activity in Persons with Chronic Fatigue or Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome T. H. Ho, Ph.D. et al
Annals of Behavioral Medicine
October 2012, Volume 44, Issue 2, pp 160-170
64 participants were randomly assigned to either a
4 month qigong intervention group or waitlist control
group

17. 17
Telomerase activity:
Qigong group: 0.102 (start) to 0.178 (end) arbitrary
units (p<0.05).
Control group: 0.089 (start) to 0.104 (end).
The change was statistically significant when
compared to the control group (p<0.05).
Ho T. H. , Ph.D. et al

18. 18
SAMSHA recommends qigong.
“Yoga, tai chi, and
qigong produce beneficial
emotional, psychological, and
biological effects in controlling
mood and anxiety, and in
improving overall quality of life.”
www.samhsa.gov

19. 19
U.S. Dept of Health and
Human Services
National Institute
of Health
National Center for
Complementary and
Integrative Health
(NCCIH)
recommends qigong.
https://nccih.nih.gov

20. 20
Center for Disease Control and
Prevention recommends Tai Chi
“Exercise programs such as Tai Chi
can increase strength and improve
balance, making falls much less
likely.”
CDC website
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/OlderA
mericans/
Image from CDC website

21. First Lady Michelle Obama practicing qigong in China in May 2014
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22. Qigong instruction is included at:
❖ The Menninger Clinic
❖ Sheppard Pratt Health Center
❖ The Cleveland Clinic
❖ Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
❖ Stanford School of Medicine
❖ University of Maryland School of Medicine
❖ Many other psychiatric and medical centers
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23. 23
Tai Chi is
recommended
on NAMI website.
www.nami.org

24. 24
American College of Sports
Medicine recommends qigong.
“Multifaceted physical activities
such as tai ji (tai chi), qigong,
and yoga involve varying
combinations of neuromotor
exercise, resistance exercise,
and flexibility exercise.”
www.acsm.org

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The British Medical Association
endorsed Qigong in 2014.
"Health benefits of regular
practice of Qigong include
reduced stress and improved
stamina and balance."
http://bma.org.uk/

26. 26

27. How do we
bring qigong
practices into
our lives and
into the lives
of our
patients?
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28. 28
An example of a psychiatrist teaching qigong to patients:
Over a 1-year period, 4 refugee survivors of torture being
treated at a Boston area torture treatment center participated
in simplified qigong and t'ai chi sessions 10–15 minutes prior
to and after 1-hour psychotherapy sessions with a psychiatrist
trained in qigong. All reported benefits.
Treating Survivors of Torture and Refugee Trauma: A
Preliminary Case Series Using Qigong and T'ai Chi, Michael
A. Grodin, M.D., et al, J Altern Complement Med. 2008 Sep;
14(7): 801–806.

29. 29
What We Can Tell Our Patients About the
Benefits of Qigong:
❖ Safe
❖ Low cost
❖ Evidence-based efficacy

30. Qigong Practices:
❖ Physical movements such as the Eight Silk
Brocade
❖ Meditations such as the Microcosmic Orbit and the
Inner Smile
❖ Breathing exercises
❖ Relaxation and effortless action- Wei Wu
❖ Visualization and imagery practices
(continued)
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31. Qigong Practices:
❖ Sound Healing- such as Six Healing Sounds
❖ Massage- Tui Na
❖ Tapping and Acupressure
❖ Shaking
❖ Positive Intention- such as Gratitude Practices
❖ Tai Chi
❖ Cultivating sense of oneness with nature
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“Qigong is more than a set
of exercises, it is an
attitude that works to
restructure one’s
perspective in life, leading
to balance and harmony
with the world around
us.”
G. Garripoli, Qigong: Essence of
the Healing Dance

33. Key Qigong Principle:
Blockage Imbalance Illness
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34. “Freud regarded human psychological states as
an energy system in which blockages in the flow
of thought (repression or suppression, for
example) would result in disease or illness,
expressed as mental or emotional loss of
balance.”
Source: Encyclopedia of mental disorders
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35. 35
“Essentially all neurodegenerative diseases are
associated with the accumulation of cellular waste
products.” Glymphatic system discovered in 2012 is a
vast system of tubules in the brain for waste removal.
Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., D.M.Sc., co-director of the
University of Rochester Medical Center, Center for
Translational Neuromedicine

36. Qigong Principle:
Cultivate the Capacity
to Consciously Direct
the Flow of Attention
Yi = Attention + Intention
“Qi follows Yi”
Energy flows where
attention goes.
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37. “If we bring our awareness to something, we
connect to it.” Elisha Goldstein
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38. Key Qigong Principle:
Universal Connection
To see a World in a Grain of Sand,
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.
William Blake
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“I think that what we're seeking is an
experience of being alive...so that we actually
feel the rapture of being alive.”
Joseph Campbell

40. 40
Wei Wu
“No matter how
hard the surfer
is working, the
ocean is doing
most of the
work.”
C. Thomas

41. Gratitude to my mentors:
Patricia Gerbarg M.D. and Richard Brown
M.D. http://www.breath-body-
mind.com/index.php
Robert Peng, http://www.robertpeng.com/
Dr. Effie Chow, http://eastwestqi.com/
Kim Eng,
https://www.eckharttolle.com/about/kim/
Chunyi Lin,
http://www.springforestqigong.com/
Mingtong Gu,
http://www.chicenter.com/Chi/Home/index.cfm
James Gordon M.D., http://cmbm.org/ 41

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DVD qigong exercises used by permission from Sounds True:
DVD “Qi Gong for Self Healing” by Lee Holden, produced by
Sounds True
DVD “Qigong Ecstasy” by Robert Peng, produced by Sounds True
DVDs available at: www.soundstrue.com
Images from Public Domain