Qigong is the natural doctor for your brain
Ever heard of neuroplasticity? This popular quality of the brain, heavily researched by neuroscientists all over the world, simply expresses the ability of the human brain to forge new neural connections and reorganise its physical structure, for example, through mental training. Apparently, Qigong is the mental training we are going to talk about here.
Fresh-Sharp-Vibrant
That's how you feel after doing some Qigong!
An experiment was done in Harvard Medical School, where two groups of volunteers' brains were studied after they had two seemingly different, but essentially similar forms of piano practice. One group was made to practise on the piano itself, regularly, keeping to the beats of the metronome as much as possible. The other group was just made to think of practising in the their heads, thinking of how they would move their fingers on the piano- without putting the thoughts to practice. A transcranial-magnetic-stimulation (TMS) test on the first group revealed that the amount of motor cortex in the brain dedicated to the finger movements enveloped a considerable area in the brain. Surprisingly, the results were not too different from the group that simply thought of practising in their brains! This proves that the mere act of thinking can restructure our brain!
An experiment was done in Harvard Medical School, where two groups of volunteers' brains were studied after they had two seemingly different, but essentially similar forms of piano practice. One group was made to practise on the piano itself, regularly, keeping to the beats of the metronome as much as possible. The other group was just made to think of practising in the their heads, thinking of how they would move their fingers on the piano- without putting the thoughts to practice. A transcranial-magnetic-stimulation (TMS) test on the first group revealed that the amount of motor cortex in the brain dedicated to the finger movements enveloped a considerable area in the brain. Surprisingly, the results were not too different from the group that simply thought of practising in their brains! This proves that the mere act of thinking can restructure our brain!
Qigong honours this concept by fusing fluid body movements with gentle, peaceful thoughts in the head, thereby allowing qi to flow through the body and rewiring the circuitry of the brain. Qigong acts as a form of healthy stimulus for the brain. When our neural circuits respond to this stimulus, their cells produce new proteins and ultimately, maintaining the brain's ability to keep learning new abilities and keeping invigorated. What's more- neuroplasticity exists in people of all ages. Basically, you can rely on Qigong for life!
Brain wave vibration
Be introduced to an interesting form of Qigong- Brain wave vibration. This short, easy mind-healing method stimulates the flow of qi in our body to bring our excessively hectic, fast-paced brains back to balance. By combining age-old techniques with Korean Qigong and modern brain science, the activity of the cerebral cortex, the central nervous system, and the cardio-vascular system are brought back to normal after an intense/stressful experience.
According to Wendy Oden, the Qigong practitioner who was one of the many who discovered this technique, here are the steps:
1. Close your eyes and shake your head back and forth, slowly.
2. Do not control your body's movements; move along with the rhythm of your body.
3. Breathe in through your nose, and exhale through your mouth.
4. Focus on the movement of your head and neck. This is to help you let go of any deep-seated thoughts/emotions.
5. Continue for a few minutes for as long as you feel comfortable, and come to a stop gradually.
You ought to have heard of some forms of Qigong that place a large emphasis on sitting down and staying still to concentrate on your positive emotions. Obviously, this is harder for us, students. We should try out this form of "moving" Qigong as it helps keep our young minds occupied on the body's natural rhythm. If you need assistance, you can always rely on some type of soothing, rhythmic music to keep your movements as constant and regular as possible, and also still you mind.
According to Wendy Oden, the Qigong practitioner who was one of the many who discovered this technique, here are the steps:
1. Close your eyes and shake your head back and forth, slowly.
2. Do not control your body's movements; move along with the rhythm of your body.
3. Breathe in through your nose, and exhale through your mouth.
4. Focus on the movement of your head and neck. This is to help you let go of any deep-seated thoughts/emotions.
5. Continue for a few minutes for as long as you feel comfortable, and come to a stop gradually.
You ought to have heard of some forms of Qigong that place a large emphasis on sitting down and staying still to concentrate on your positive emotions. Obviously, this is harder for us, students. We should try out this form of "moving" Qigong as it helps keep our young minds occupied on the body's natural rhythm. If you need assistance, you can always rely on some type of soothing, rhythmic music to keep your movements as constant and regular as possible, and also still you mind.
The science...
The neocortex of the brain is where we perform high-level thinking and complex tasks. The limbic system of the brain controls our innate human emotions. The cerebellum regulates our vital life functions such as respiration. The brain itself emits 5 kinds of brain waves: gamma, beta, alpha, theta and delta. The neocortex generates high-frequency gamma and beta brain waves, which are commonly associated with stress disorders. |
Accessing the lower frequency brain waves (alpha and theta) associated with our subconscious mind, achieved in this case by Brain Wave vibration, allows us to alleviate stress and positively impact our brain. The negative views generated by the neocortex are changed into positive ones as we discover that the way we react to things is the one that affects our mentality, not the thing itself. Setbacks and failures are common in Hwa Chong life, and we usually get very upset with them. However, with Brain Wave Vibration, we learn to recover quickly and straighten out our thoughts.