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Five Reasons to Try Qigong

Carrying Mountains one of the 18 Luohan Hands Movement is medicine! Did you know that the single most important thing you can do for your health is move more everyday! I believe that movement is medicine, taken daily you can ward off most ailments including aging. I love to move, and want to share one of my favourite movement medicines Qigong to all who are interested. Easy to do and restores health: Half of the population in Canada is not active enough for health. People claim they don’t have time. Qigong can be practiced anywhere, anytime, for any length of time - inside or out, and no props are required…just YOU! For best results aim for 30 minutes a day. Endorsed by research! The Harvard School of Medicine has endorsed Qigong. In a recent review, Harvard researchers cited the following improvements from practicing Tai Chi and Qigong. Some of my students have seen improvements, like less pain, lower blood pressure, increased sex drive, and no more heart burn, in as little as 2 weeks. Manage stress: Qigong is a form of dynamic meditation where you calm the mind, breathe into the poses and follow the flow of energy through your body. When you practice Qigong, your internal chemistry, and energy function optimally. Qigong builds mental and emotional strength while teaching the body to react in a positive way to stress. Treat, manage or prevent disease! Qigong is a branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Qigong movements are a form of medicine each movement encourages the flow of Qi, the circulating life force (or energy) that circulates via meridians throughout your body. According to Chinese medicine when the meridians are blocked or if the energy is [...]

By Monica Marquis|March 16th, 2017|Categories: Blog, Qi Gong|Tags: 18 Luohan hands, exercise, fitness, health, meditation, Qigong, Yoga|0 Comments

5 Reasons to Learn Qigong from Monica Marquis

I practice daily! This is a feat in of itself. Half of the population in Canada is not active enough for health. In addition to my Qigong practice I swim, walk, hike, inline skate, and cycle. I am passionate about movement and believe movement is medicine, taken daily you can ward off most ailments including aging. I am a fitness and physical activity specialist with 20+ years of experience. I have many certifications including: aquafitness (instructor, trainer, therapist), Bone fit certified, Watsu 1,11,111, Ahi chi, Tai chi, Yoga, Medical Qigong & Qigong teacher training. I am a health promotion specialist who worked in public health promoting physical activity and chronic disease prevention. I also coordinated the Mississauga Halton Fall Prevention Initiative and promoted best practices in fall prevention to everyone who works with older adults. I ended my career in the healthcare sector after spending 18 months with Osteoporosis Canada. Where I encouraged health care professionals to implement best practices in Osteoporosis diagnosis and treatment. So, I know chronic illness, if I don’t know, I am good at finding out causes, treatment and best practices. In addition, I am very good at finding best practice research and summarizing it for the general public. I have delved into many alternative therapies and find many of them very useful. I am a health professional gone ROGUE! Why rogue? Because I believe in alternative medicine. I believe movement is medicine. I am sick of how long it takes to get anything done in health care. I cannot be a change agent in that environment anymore. I am content sharing my love of movement and promoting one of my favourite movement medicines – Qigong to all who are [...]

By Monica Marquis|March 13th, 2017|Categories: Blog, Qi Gong|0 Comments

How many Qigong movements are there?

There are a lot of different types of Qigong and a lot of movements. Remember, Qigong is energy cultivation. This is a broad term. You could argue that Yoga, Tai Chi, and dance are all a form of Qigong. But usually, qigong refers to a branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine, it involves movement, meditations and visualization. Qigong is medicine, medicine you take to heal/cure something, or medicine you take to enhance your health. The Qigong that I teach is from my Medical Qigong training, and from my training with Anthony Korahais of Flowing Zen. I teach the 5 Yin Organ routine and the 18 Luohan Hands. The 5 Organ routine is quite prescriptive. There are a few movements before you begin, designed to purge stagnant energy, next the 5 movements are preformed in order and there is a closing movement. The 18 Luohans are learned in order but can be practiced in any order. I teach them along with Anthony’s 5 step routine, in a 3 or 6 part series. When you come to a class you will notice that I also teach a static posture called Yiquan, and some sitting meditation practices I learned in my medical qigong training. The 18 Luohan hands and the 5 Organ routine are effective and easy to learn.

By Monica Marquis|March 9th, 2017|Categories: Uncategorized|0 Comments

What is Qigong?

Dancing Crane # 10 of the 18 Luohan Hands Qigong (pronounced chee kung) is an ancient Chinese mind body practice that restores wellness, builds mental and emotional strength, reduces stress and increases vitality. Qigong is a branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and the grandfather of Tai Chi which was developed later for combat. Qi (Pronounced Chee) is the circulating life force (or energy) whose existence and properties are the basis of much Chinese philosophy. Qi flows through our bodies and everything in nature. Gong is cultivation. Therefore, Qigong is energy cultivation. Qigong is a very powerful practice that works on the physical, emotional, and spiritual levels.

By Monica Marquis|March 9th, 2017|Categories: Blog, Qi Gong|0 Comments