However, its true origin is China where it was developed in the early 1980s by Professor Dr Pang Ming, a highly respected Chinese Qigong Grand Master trained in both Western and Eastern medicine. In 1988 he founded the Huaxia Zhineng Qigong Training & Recovery Centre close to Beijing, also known in the West as the “Medicine-less Hospital”.  In this centre people gathered from all parts of China and later also from the West, to learn from Dr Pang Ming and his team the art of self-healing in a natural way. Many of these people suffered from diverse chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer or heart disease. They were not referred to as ‘patients’ but rather ‘students’. Many of these new students had very serious symptoms. Thanks to the intensive Zhineng Qigong practice, many either healed themselves completely or achieved significant improvements in their health.

Practising Zhineng Qigong will activate Qi in your whole body. Qi as a life force, information and a form of energy runs through our body channels (called meridians). According to traditional Chinese medicine, these meridians, a system of energy channels, exist parallel to our blood, nervous and lymphatic systems. Qi runs through the meridians and the flow of Qi can be blocked by stress or illnesses. Practising Zhineng Qigong supports the removal of these blockages, allowing Qi to flow freely again and provide you with relief and new energy.

You can imagine it’s similar to a river’s path being obstructed by a large fallen trunk of a tree. Once that tree trunk is removed, the water flows smoothly. Likewise, imagine your blood and Qi are like that river, needing to go to all parts of your body but being obstructed, perhaps by stress, perhaps by anxiety. Zhineng Qigong is what enables obstructions like fears and anxieties to be removed, thereby allowing your Qi and blood to flow freely again. It’s no wonder Zhineng Qigong is the world’s most widely practised form of Qigong with over 20 million global practitioners.

What is rather incredible is that, despite any disease, a person still has the opportunity to learn how to activate their self-healing capabilities. While lying down, sitting, or standing, focusing your intention, meditating and doing simple hand movements, you have the possibility to choose what to practise and for how long, and are able to cure illness or maintain good health. You can also choose to practise Zhineng Qigong as a preventative measure to avoid becoming ill.

• Zhineng Qigong is for everybody and can be practised anywhere at any time.
• Where the mind goes, the Qi follows. With an open heart and mind you can create and manifest new realities.
• Qi is a life force that runs through our body channels. We all have our own Qi fields and its health is influenced by how we feel, what we believe, and our interactions with those around us.
• By practising Zhineng Qigong, you have the opportunity to feel a new harmony and balance from inside.
• With this new inner clarity you soon begin to feel stronger.
• There are many testimonials of people diagnosed with a variety of ailments recovering through the practice of Zhineng Qigong.

In Zhineng Qigong you can practise at different levels. On the journey to health and balance, every student starts with Level 1, learning these powerful basic exercises:

• Lift Qi Up Pour Qi Down Method
• Wall Squats
• Three Centres Merge Method
• La Qi Method

The Level 1 exercises are easy to learn and you can practise them for years while continuously experiencing new learning, excitement, healing and intensity. Your self-healing energy will be activated and the healing Qi will flow through the parts of your body in need of care. Healing will be possible on a mental, emotional, physical and spiritual level.

Level 2, the Body & Mind Method consists of 10 different sequences, which can also be practised individually. These movements focus more on the activation of internal Qi. The Qi is being activated deep inside your body, such as in the joints, bone marrow and connective tissues. Thus it is distributed and penetrates deeply into all structural levels within the body, including skin, muscles, tendons, blood system and bones.

Level 3, the Five Elements Method concentrates on the five organs – heart, kidneys, liver, lungs and pancreas. Traditional Chinese medicine suggests that these five organs are linked to specific emotions and mental activities. Practising the Five Elements Method will harmonize your emotional, spiritual and mental system, promoting balance and inner strength.

These different levels are not meant to be hierarchical. The advanced Zhineng Qigong student would practice all levels regularly; however, it is recommended to practise one level for a while before proceeding to the next level. Many Zhineng Qigong practitioners benefit tremendously only practising Level 1 exercises on a regular basis.