Chi Kung is an ancient Chinese healthcare system that integrates physical postures, breathing techniques, and focused attention. These three attributes make it an excellent complementary practice for anyone recovering from addiction and its physical, mental, and spiritual manifestations. As a form of gentle exercise, Chi Kung is composed of movements that are typically repeated, strengthening and stretching the body, increasing fluid movement (blood, synovial, and lymph), enhancing balance and proprioception (sense of body position), and building awareness of how the body moves through space. Practitioners range from athletes to the physically challenged. Because it is low-impact and can be done lying, sitting, or standing, Chi Kung is accessible for disabled persons, seniors, and people recovering from injuries. As a healing art, Chi Kung practitioners focus on prevention and self-healing, traditionally viewed as balancing the body’s “energy meridians” and enhancing the intrinsic capacity of the body to heal. Chi Kung has been used extensively in China as part of traditional Chinese medicine, and is included in the curriculum of Chinese Universities. Chi Kung is now recognized as a form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Chi Kung is practiced for meditation and self-cultivation as part of various philosophical and spiritual traditions. As meditation, Chi Kung is a means to still the mind and enter a state of consciousness that brings serenity, clarity, and bliss. Many practitioners find Chi Kung, with its gentle focused movement, to be more accessible than seated meditation. Chi Kung creates awareness and facilitates healing in ways that traditional exercise programs do not. Most other exercises do not involve the meridian system (used in acupuncture), nor do they emphasize the importance of adding mind intent and breathing techniques to physical movements. When these dimensions are added, the benefits of exercise increase exponentially.
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