As the leader of the wellness coach team here at Find It Health, I’m going to highlight some common disadvantages of Qigong, their causes, and how to avoid them.

The Wellness Coach Team here at Find It Health conducted extensive research and confirmed that Qigong, just like other traditional Chinese Therapies, has its benefits and some disadvantages.

Before using Qigong for different health conditions, it’s important to remember that different bodies react differently, so you should always consult your doctor first!

Disadvantages of Qigong

Qigong means cultivating vital energy. It is a common conventional medicine used to improve the quality of life and boost immune function. Despite the many known benefits of Qigong exercises, the practice also has several disadvantages.

Here are some of the disadvantages of Qigong:

Energy Deviation From its Normal Course

Statistical analysis shows that energy flows in a particular path within our bodies. When you practice Qigong without a proper understanding of this pathway, the energy flow can take the incorrect route and cause some adverse effects like muscle pains and more.

Energy Stagnation and Blockage

This occurs when you focus so much on a particular area within the human body that immoderate energy flows to that area.

This energy eventually piles up and remains stagnated in that area. It negatively affects your quality of life and health.

This mainly happens if you don’t have appropriate information on how to do Qidong safely.

A lot of Energy Leakage and Loss

It’s important to learn how to control your energy during Qigong practice. Listen to your energy flow and modify it according to your demands.

Failure to regulate the energy flow can lead to excessive energy leakage and loss, resulting in adverse effects.

Sometimes Negative Energy gets Into the Body

When practicing Qigong, your body goes through a purging process where you let go of old negative energy and let in positive energy. However, sometimes negative energy can get into the body instead of positive energy. Hence, it’s good to know the difference between the two forms of energy to ensure you only draw in positive energy.

Psychosis or Derangement

As you practice Qigong, you become conscious of the energy flow in your body. Some of the natural energy flows through the brain to reduce anxiety levels and improve your quality of life. Qigong is a well-established conventional medicine for anxiety according to Chinese philosophy.

Acupuncture is another reliable conventional medicine for treating anxiety symptoms. However, as energy flows through the brain, it can trigger the onset of a preexisting mental condition. Mainly, this happens if the energy flow encounters a blockage or takes a wrong pathway.

Though cases of Qigong-Psychosis are scarce, future studies and statistical analysis may help gather more information on how it develops.

Advanced Practices Without Proper Guidance and Preparation

While most Qigong practices are safe according to Chinese Philosophy and do not require much training or oversight, the advanced ones do. Advanced exercises involve the powerful movement of strong forms of energy and have high risks of causing damage.

Both newbies and experienced practitioners should have proper preparation and guidance before indulging in such practices. The elderly people should be extra careful with these practices.

Some advanced Qigong practices include:

Sexual Practices

Usually, this is the form of energy that creates life – the more reason why it’s considered a powerful form of energy. When this energy gets in the wrong way, it can cause harmful effects.

Martial Qigong

Martial Qigong focuses on boosting your stress management ability and your physical prowess. It enables the practitioner to defy the natural laws of science.

For example, a practitioner can bend a steel rod with his physical body or slide a sharp object on delicate skin and not break the skin.

To get to this point, you need to have proper practice. Let your practice be a gradual increment of energy rather than an abrupt outburst of energy.

Spontaneous Qigong

Unlike in routine practices, where you use the mind to direct the movement of energy, in this type of Qigong, the practitioner lets the energy flow freely and determines the movement.

Statistical analysis shows that spontaneous Qigong is a conventional medicine for managing stress. However, it could be a potential danger. If there is an existing wrong pathway or blockage, the energy flow to such areas can cause some adverse effects.

Guidance

Proper guidance when practicing Qigong is paramount. This guidance comes from your tutor. The number one tip for a successful outcome in Qigong is to get a professional trainer and to follow your lessons very keenly.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

Avoiding the Disadvantages of Qigong

Are there ways you can avoid encountering the harmful effects of Qigong? Yes. Here is a list of things you can do to have a safe practice.

Don’t Force the Energy Flow

Let your energy flow freely first, then slowly learn how to direct it. Forcing it to flow in a direction you presume to be the best can cause energy blockage or Qi deviation. It will not improve your quality of life which is your ultimate goal.

Be Gradual in your Exercising

Let your practice be a step-by-step journey.

This way, your physical body will adapt and become strong and more flexible with every exercise.

Your energy will also be building up slowly, and you’ll eventually obtain energy balance. If you take small steps at a time, you’ll be able to notice any wrong move you make and rectify it sooner.

Find a Knowledgeable and Experienced Trainer

A good trainer will give you a thorough understanding of the practices and guide you through.

Inform your teacher of any alarming symptoms you encounter during your practice. He will be able to pinpoint the source of the problem and help you boost your immune function to recover.

Maximize the Training Sessions you get

To improve your quality of life with Qigong, be keen during your training sessions and adopt a teachable attitude. Consider all advice equally important. It will help you avoid common mistakes.

Manage Your Expectations

Be conscious of your level of practice and appreciate the milestones you achieve at the right time. Avoid expecting too many therapeutic benefits at the beginning. Take your time to train and build up to higher capacities.

Avoid doing Advanced exercises Without Suitable Practice

As the name suggests, advanced exercises require higher training and are more risky than simple ones. Getting proper practice before attempting advanced exercises prevents such risks and helps you reap the full therapeutic benefit.

FindItHealth.com – Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Negative/Harmful Effects of Qigong exercise?

The adverse effects of Qigong mainly result from different forms of Qi deviation and physical damage.

These harmful effects include:

• Dizziness
• Heaviness and headaches
• Insomnia,
• Twitches and tremors,
• Difficulty breathing,
• Distention,
• Fatigue,
• Mild or sharp localized pain,
• memory loss,
• Episodes of extreme cold or heat waves,
• Soreness
• Delusion

What Happens to Your Body When You Do Qigong?

When you do any Qigong practice, you harmonize and balance your body and mind to enhance your quality of life.

Like most traditional Chinese therapies, Qigong has so many advantages that medical practitioners highly recommend it to patients as part of effective conventional medicine.

Some of these therapeutic benefits include:

• Lowering blood pressure,
• Lowering stress levels
• Lowering the heart rate
• Lowering anxiety levels,
• Boosting immune function,
• Accelerating recovery from chronic diseases like cancer.

Why do I feel so Tired After Qigong?

There are two main reasons why you may feel tired after Qigong.

1. When you practice strenuous Qigong

The physically strenuous workouts help move energy strongly or discard large volumes of negative energy. This process has incredible health benefits like blockage elimination and enhancing energy balance in the body. After such an exercise, your physical body will inevitably get tired.

1. When you do a simple workout that you are not used to

Simple Qigong may not necessarily involve physical body movement to obtain therapeutic benefits, but a lot of effort is exerted in the long run. Simple exercises use your mind, body, and breath to direct energy flow within the body. As energy flows, several body functions are triggered, and some are accelerated. This means some real work is happening inside your body. These may leave you very tired after a simple and gentle practice, especially if the exercise is new to you.

What is Qigong Psychosis?

Qigong Psychosis means Qigong-induced Psychosis. Psychosis is a mental disorder that makes someone lose contact with reality and experience hallucinations and delusions. When you practice Qigong with the wrong intention or with a preexisting mental condition like schizophreniform or anxiety symptoms, you can be at risk of developing Qigong psychosis.

Conclusion

The health benefits of Qigong are undebatable. However, Research done by our Wellness coach team here at Find It Health reveals that the effectiveness of Qigong exercises depends on how well one follows the standard procedures.

Most disadvantages arise from energy deviation and poor energy balances. To improve your quality of life using Qigong, you must understand each practice properly and be moderate while practicing.

To get the best results from Qidong, always ensure you get services from trained experts. Also, consult with your doctor before attempting this practice to avoid the negative side effects.