Becoming the Best Version of Yourself through Qigong Coaching

I am somewhat unique among coaches in using Qigong to help people, grow, change, and prosper—personally and professionally. Many of my coaching clients practice Qigong to become more attuned to their bodies, minds, and emotions. I’ve found it to be an incomparable somatic system for helping people develop relaxation, equanimity, balance, and awareness.

What is Qigong?

Qi is the Chinese word for “life energy,” “life force,” or “spirit breath.” It’s the power that flows through all things, living and inanimate. Gong means “work” or “practice.” Therefore, Qigong literally means “to work with life energy to develop inner power.”

Qigong is at least 6,000 years old, predating the major Taoist and Buddhist influences that affected it some 2,500 years ago. Because this art and science has had so long to grow, Qigong is a vast tree with many branches. There are three main ones, however:

• Medical Qigong—aims to prevent disease, cure illness, and slow aging.
• Martial Qigong—aims to enhance self-defense and self-development.
• Spiritual Qigong—aims to cultivate wisdom, compassion, and psychological maturity.

All three branches share the common goal of promoting greater harmony and balance in body and mind, and then extending these into everyday life. Basically, the goal is really to promote the opposite of stress—equilibrium—so life works better in all ways. Some practitioners have called Qigong “prescriptive gymnastics.” Indeed, Chinese physicians often prescribe specific Qigong movements to help people recover from psychological and physical maladies. Such recovery is needed when too much Qi has been used up, allowed to leak out, or permitted to stagnate. When any of these happens, we get sick. To heal we must get the Qi flowing again and conserve it.

The Many Practices for Vitalizing Qi

There are hundreds of schools and systems of Qigong and each has a different approach to Qigong forms—and even different names for the same forms. I’ve also found that as Qigong has migrated from China to other Asian countries, such as Korea or Japan, the receiving country’s culture imparts a unique flavor to the forms. Qigong uses many different practice modalities to achieve its essential practices, which are to conserve our substantive essence (Jing), balance our vital energy (Qi), and raise our spirit power (Shen).

1. Breath-based meditation, which includes breath control and regulation, is central to Qigong practice. The focus is on maximizing oxygen uptake with minimal effort through slow, easy, and deep abdominal (dan tien) breathing. Our breath is also the metronome that guides the pace and flow of all our movements.



2. Massage, self-massage, and acupressure often are used to increase and guide Qi flow for use in elevating mood, alleviating pain, and triggering pleasure-inducing neurochemicals in the brain.
3. Nerve and muscle relaxation techniques are vital for freeing up Qi, activating the relaxation response, and reducing stress.
4. Countless forms of meditation are used in Qigong, whether seated, supine, standing, or walking. Qigong masters have been practicing mindfulness for thousands of years by building awareness and presence and concentrating on one thing at a time. Using mental imagery (visualization) to move and channel Qi is also a core Qigong practice, in keeping with the saying:

“Where the mind goes, the Qi follows.”



5. Innumerable movement systems (forms) comprise the Qigong repertoire, all aiming to energize the body, calm the mind, and awaken spirit light. These include dynamic or flowing movement patterns, some performed hard and fast, others slow and soft. Many movements are geared to test and improve balance, coordination, and flow—and to release tension and free up energy. Static postures and meditation positions also are used to gather, circulate, and project Qi. The Iron Shirt Qigong school, for example, relies heavily on static postures to expand one’s Qi field (peng) and ward off negative energy.
6. Martial arts—all Chinese martial arts (wushu) are Qigong, but not all Qigong is wushu. Qigong includes internal (soft) martial arts such as tai chi chuan, xing-yi chuan, and bagua zhang and external (hard) systems such as Shaolin kung fu, wing chun chuan, choy lai fut, bajiqua, praying mantis, nan chuan, and chang chuan. Tai chi chuan, with its many families and styles, is a lush branch on the Qigong tree. Many tai chi movements and postures can be performed as standalone Qigong movements called tai chi cao, or easy tai chi.



7. Healing energy applications—many forms and families of Qigong are designed to improve Qi quality and flow by targeting the spine, vital organs, and energy gateways in the body called Jing Luo (meridians). Cultivating Qi flow through these channels is the crux of Chinese medicine and the path to physical and emotional healing alike. When yin and yang are balanced, our Qi flows freely, and we enjoy vibrant health.
8. Moving meditation—since Qigong forms are rhythmical and breath-based, they can be done in silence or to music. I lead meditation-in-motion sessions rooted in Qigong forms and postures that also draw from dance, martial arts, and yoga. The focus is always on following the breath, maintaining balance and alignment, and being fully present and centered. People appreciate the free-flowing quality of these moving meditation sessions, which restore mental, emotional, and physical balance and harmony in a spirit of playfulness.

Awakening the Healing Tao

Qigong is often prescribed to improve internal organ health and functioning, especially for the lungs, liver, heart, kidneys, gallbladder, spleen, lower intestines, and reproductive organs. Each organ is associated with different positive and negative emotions and specific virtues and vices, and so a person’s psychological and emotional state reflects their internal energy status and yin-yang balance.

There have been many historical cases of people recovering from life-threatening diseases by doing Qigong, whether to beat the Bubonic plague, tuberculosis, smallpox, leprosy, tumors and cancers of all kinds, diabetes, or heart disease. In numerous clinical studies, Qigong and tai chi chuan have proven especially effective at increasing cellular regeneration rates and immune system response, both essential to pain reduction and disease recovery.

How I Integrate Qigong in Wellness Coaching

Some coaching clients hire me primarily to learn and practice Qigong. In my view, it is truly the most comprehensive, time-tested, and integrative wellbeing coaching system going. I co-create the curriculum with each client based on their unique needs, interests, life challenges, and yearning for self-discovery. Never once have I seen Qigong fail to refine a person’s core energy, poise, life balance, and equanimity. The coaching is geared to the client’s level, always building upon strong fundamentals.

Beginning students focus on core theories and principles of Qigong and Chinese medicine; seated meditation essentials; energizing range-of-motion routines; movement fundamentals; building-block forms; basic footwork and stances; easy tai chi; and gathering and storing Qi.

Intermediate students explore tai chi chuan short forms; balance and agility routines; standing meditation; push hands (tui shou); Qi-centered endurance and strength training; principles of flow (lian guan); walking meditation systems; and concentrating, redirecting, and projecting Qi.

Advanced students venture deeper and wider into seated, standing, and walking Qigong meditation systems; learn a variety of healing energy techniques; and explore more complex movements and routines, drawing especially from the many Qigong and wushu forms based on animal motifs. At some point, depending on how esoteric the healing energy work or martial arts applications are that someone wishes to explore, I might refer a student to another teacher who specializes in that specific Qigong or wushu system.

I also integrate Qigong as part of an eclectic approach to fitness training. It pairs well with alternative training modalities such as plyometrics, circuit training, functional training, sprint and agility drills, dynamic stretching, range of motion work, yoga, and Pilates. There are few hard lines between these modalities and clients enjoy their integration. Similarly, I use Qigong liberally in training athletes because it’s unparalleled for developing agility, balance, coordination, and core strength. Qigong training also has a way of strengthening concentration, will, adaptability, and resilience—all psychological qualities athletes need to take their games to a higher level.

Ways I Coach and Teach Qigong

I deliver Qigong coaching to clients one-on-one and in small groups of up to six. We often meet in parks, trails, forests, beaches, or athletic fields when the weather permits, as nature is an essential element in Qigong training. I also teach online using live video apps such as Zoom or GoToMeeting. Online Qigong coaching works well for individuals or small groups of up to four. All that’s required is a laptop or tablet and about 8’ x 8’ of open floor space.

Request a Complimentary 30-Minute Qigong Coaching Session

I provide a free coaching “chemistry” session for first-time clients who want to to explore how Qigong coaching can support you in becoming the best version of yourself—personally and professionally. Please feel free to text, email, or call me or just fill out and submit the form below, and I’ll contact you to set up an online appointment (Zoom).