The first health ‘problem’ I ever wanted to overcome with Qigong/Chi Kung was asthma. I had been labeled as having it at the age of 12. I was given an inhaler to prevent it, and another inhaler to relieve it. Over the years these came in all manor of different shapes and sizes.
But, I’ve found it difficult taking regular medication and at about age 16 (can’t remember when exactly) I remember waking up one morning and thinking, “why have I woken up?”. I suddenly realised that I couldn’t breathe. Panic kicked in pretty quickly as you can probably guess. Flailing around on the landing at home, my dad came out to see what all the fuss was. Thinking I was choking on something he smacked me hard on the back between my shoulder blades.
Well, whether it was the shock of being ‘attacked’ by my dad or what, I don’t know, but it did the trick and long story short, after the ambulance arrived I was given some pretty strong steroids for my asthma.
Amazingly, my practice of qigong exercises did not go to work on my asthma for quite some time. I think the first improvement noticed from qigong was that I was far nicer to be with, less volatile and not so quick to temper. Then I noticed that I felt happier, naturally. And seemed to get far fewer coughs, colds and sneezes than ever before.
I can’t tell you that my asthma is completely healed, on the rare occasions I get ‘man flu’ as my wife calls it, I still get a little wheezy. But compared to where I was the improvement is incredible.
Of the 18 qigong exercises of the 18 Lohan Hands, the one I made the focus of my practice for 6 months was Green Dragon Separating Water. This exercise works on the heart and the lung meridians and is brilliant for overcoming problems with the lungs.
Occasionally when I got bored with practicing just one qigong exercise, I would substitute Green Dragon with Shoot Arrows Left Right. This is another pattern that benefits the heart and the lung systems and helps to improve all respiratory problems.
As always – these patterns only work when practiced as Qigong and not just qigong form – but then I’m sure you know that by now =)
Kindest regards,
Marcus James Santer