We’re healers. We all have a similar story. We turned to Chinese Traditional Medicine for healing and it changed our lives. Through it, we realized the profound possibilities for helping others and decided to become a practitioner.
Acupuncture has become part of the mainstream, and it’s benefitted millions of people in the west. As a practitioner, you know how transformative it can be for your patients.
The growing interest in TCM can be used as a gateway to expand the healing of your patients and can enable you to heal them in more ways than acupuncture. After all, your patients’ success is your success.
This article will explore how Qi Gong can compliment your acupuncture practice, and help increase the healing of your patients. You will also gain access to a free, on-demand masterclass to help you learn how Qi Gong can compliment your acupuncture practice (click here to check it out).
Proactivity: Making the patient part of the process
We all know that millions of patients are turning to acupuncture for treatment for a wide range of ailments, but surprisingly, many acupuncturists are failing to fully integrate one of the most important branches of Chinese Medicine — Qi Gong. At its core, Chinese Medicine and acupuncture are intended to cultivate and improve the circulation of qi, but somewhere along the line, many seem to have forgotten that this is not merely a passive experience for the patient. Rather, healing is as much of a proactive effort as it is a receptive experience.
Acupuncture is an invaluable tool to help activate the body’s innate healing power from the outside in, but Qi Gong can be equally effective for enhancing the healing process from the inside out. With the proper training and technique, an effective acupuncturist can guide a patient on their own internal journey with simple yet effective Qi Gong practices. Through merging acupuncture and Qi Gong, acupuncturists and patients can work together as a unified team for a patient’s highest expression of health.
Research: The benefits of combining Qi Gong and Acupuncture
The importance of Qi Gong as a compliment to Acupuncture and other treatments has been widely studied and the evidence is clear — Qi Gong is an effective tool for health and healing. In one research study at the Kuaungan Men Hospital in Beijing, China, researchers found that cancer patients who practiced Qi Gong as part of their treatment plan experienced dramatically increased recovery rates in a variety of areas including increased liver function, improved strength, improved appetite, and increased phagocytosis rate compared to non-practitioners.
Another study at the Shanghai Institute of Hypertension found that over the course of thirty years, Qi Gong practitioners were roughly half as likely to experience a stroke as non-practitioners, indicating that Qi Gong is an excellent tool for preventative care as well as for treatment. Numerous other studies have shown that Qi Gong is remarkably effective for improving heart health, reducing hypertension, improving circulation, digestion, memory, and overall mental and emotional health.
Qi Gong is especially important for those receiving acupuncture treatment since acupuncture relies on the body’s existing resources of qi. Through Qi Gong, practitioners who are also patients can cultivate their own inner resources, providing more qi for an acupuncturist to work with to remove blockages and increase the flow of qi throughout the body.
“Want to incorporate Qi Gong into your acupuncture practice? Sign up for our free on-demand course to learn how to incorporate these practices into your healing.”
Empowerment: realizing our ability to impact our own lives
Equally important are the emotional, mental, and spiritual qualities a patient will experience as he or she becomes part of the healing process. We all like to feel empowered and realize our ability to positively impact our own lives, and with Qi Gong a patient truly can have that power. Qi Gong allows a patient to not only be a contributing member of their own “healing team” alongside their acupuncturist, but to cultivate greater awareness of their own bodies and minds — an awareness that can last a lifetime. Patients who practice Qi Gong as a complementary healing modality experience greater confidence, a better understanding of what is taking place within their bodies, and increased enthusiasm throughout the recovery process and moving forward.
Growth: Holden Qi Gong Teacher Training
Many acupuncturists are now choosing to go through teacher training in order to pass along valuable Qi Gong healing practices to their patients (not to mention for the personal benefit of practicing Qi Gong and significant opportunities for attracting more patients — we’ll discuss these topics in later blog posts). With the proper teacher training, acupuncturists can effectively empower patients to take control of their own health and recovery, and create a strong healing partnership between patient and acupuncturist. Western medicine is flawed in its singular emphasis on “Yang” modalities of healing, and acupuncture without Qi Gong risks the same narrow-mindedness if practitioners neglect the “Yin” approach to healing. An acupuncturist’s needles can go a long way to facilitate healing from the outside in (Yang), but a well-informed patient can be equally effective by practicing Qi Gong from the inside out (Yin).
Lee Holden is a Qi Gong teacher and acupuncturist practicing in Santa Cruz, California, and he couldn’t imagine treating patients without the integration of a strong Qi Gong practice. By teaching his patients simple yet powerful Qi Gong routines, he’s able to dramatically improve the outcomes of his treatments and empower patients to continue cultivating their own health and vitality long after they leave his office. Noticing the need for Qi Gong in acupuncture practices, Lee has been running a “Teacher Training” program to help acupuncturists develop the necessary skills to provide patients with additional support throughout the healing journey. After all, most people don’t have the time or money to receive an acupuncture treatment every day, but with a little guidance from a knowledgeable acupuncturist and Qi Gong teacher, empowered patients can make their own living room a healing sanctuary.
To find out more about Lee’s Teacher Training and learn about how Qi Gong can help acupuncturists enhance and grow their practices, visit: https://pages.holdenqigong.com/five-elements-qi-gong-workshop