ABSTRACT
Over the preceding decade, Western medical researchers have increasingly turned their gaze on traditional medical systems. Much of the interest and funding for such research has come on the heels of David Eisenberg’s 1993 report that vast numbers of Americans were turning to a range of alternative health practices1. The phenomenon appears to be increasing, as shown by a replication in 1997 of a national survey carried out in 19902. There is a growing acceptance of the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the Western world3,4. Anyone studying TCM will be introduced to the ancient Chinese notions of harmony and well-being that have been a sustaining theme of Chinese culture. These ancient notions not only survive until today but also remain viable approaches to both personal health care and medical intervention. Qigong, a key component of Chinese medical practice, contains a balance between body, mind, and spirit and works well with other healing modalities, complementing them. Qigong, like Western biofeedback therapy, is a systematic training in psychophysiologic self-regulation and helps develop skills that can have very broad applications. The central idea of Qigong is working with the life force or universal energy. This force, although invisible, has measurable effects, as the science of quantum physics is beginning to discover. Science and the venerable tradition of Qigong are joining hands, and helping usher in a new era of energy medicine5,6.
