The essence of qigong can be understood by comparing the body to a battery: stress and bad health habits act to dissipate the battery's charge, its "qi, " while self-care and self-awareness help to maintain and improve qi. Qigong is a gentle yet rigorous program for working with our life energy through breathing and relaxation exercises, massage, visualization, meditation, and other natural methods. Using qigong, each one of us can learn to improve health and enhance vitality by cleansing, gathering, releasing, and circulating qi so that it reaches all the body's cells. It's rather like acupuncture without needles--it's pleasurable to do, it costs nothing, and it's wonderfully life-enhancing.
This accessible, beautifully written book provides a step-by-step program detailing how we can all integrate qigong into our busy lives. Ken Cohen explores every aspect of this Chinese healing art and science. The benefits of qigong are obvious in those who practice it correctly--these exuberant individuals sleep more soundly, their skin glows with vitality, they feel increased strength andheightened sexuality, and their minds and bodies achieve the harmony of true health. These benefits have been analyzed and calibrated by contemporary medical researchers who confirm resoundingly that qigong really does work. As a result, leading medical schools around the country are now incorporating qigong into "complementary medicine" programs that combine the wisdom of alternative medical modalities with the technological expertise of modern medicine. Now with The Way of Qigong, the power and clarity of qigong is finally available to all of us. This is truly a volume that will enlighten, instruct, enliven, and delight
all who use it.
"A TREASURE . . . Those eager to explore the methods of self-healing will learn how in The Way of Qigong. By peering through this modern window into ancient practices, the readers will discover how to gather the breath, move with grace and power, and cultivate the mind."
--Harriet Beinfeld
Coauthor of Between Heaven and Earth
"THIS DEFINITIVE VOLUME . . . IS THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE RECENTLY ISSUED BOOK ON THE CHINESE HEALING ART, QIGONG."
--Booklist