From Yoga to Qigong: The Enduring Power of Ancient Practices
July 17, 2026
I remember being a child in the 1950s and 1960s and watching my mother follow a wonderful yoga program on television in the afternoons. I thought it was pretty fascinating, and my mother loved the practice.
At that time, very few people I knew had heard much about yoga. Occasionally, someone might make a joke about it, but it certainly was not mainstream. There were no yoga studios on every corner, online classes, or shelves filled with yoga clothing and equipment. Unless you found a particular teacher or read books written by yogis, there were very few opportunities to learn about it.
Yoga gradually gained recognition, and I would emphasize gradually. It was not until this millennium that yoga truly became a household word and a practice available almost everywhere.
It is interesting to consider how yoga has continued to grow while so many other health and fitness practices have appeared, become fashionable for a brief time, and then disappeared. There is something to be said for the staying power of an ancient practice that has supported human health and spiritual development for thousands of years.
The same can be said for Qigong.
Discovering Qigong
It was many years ago, in the late 1980s, when I first encountered Qigong. It was new to me, but several dear friends were deeply involved in the practice, so I decided to discover what it was all about.
Qigong soon became much more than a form of exercise. It became a true life path for me.
The word Qigong is made up of two Chinese words. Qi means energy or life force, while gong refers to skill, study, or dedicated practice. Qigong, therefore, is the study and practice of working with energy.
This is an enormous field because, in the broadest sense, everything is energy. Qigong teaches us how to become more aware of that energy and how to cultivate, strengthen, balance, and direct it to support our health and well-being.
A Gentle and Adaptable Practice
Qigong offers many of the physical, emotional, and meditative benefits associated with yoga, while generally placing less strain on the body. Because the movements are gentle and flowing, there is less temptation to overstretch, force the body, or struggle to make a particular posture look perfect.
This makes Qigong especially valuable for older adults and for people recovering from illness, injury, or periods of inactivity. The movements can be adapted to nearly every level of mobility, and many exercises can even be practiced while sitting in a chair.
Gentle, however, does not mean ineffective. Qigong can improve balance, coordination, flexibility, strength, breathing, circulation, relaxation, and awareness of the body. It can also help calm the mind, release emotional tension, and create a greater sense of inner harmony.
Qigong and Chinese Medicine
Qigong goes hand in hand with Chinese medicine. The movements can be selected to support particular organs, energy pathways, physical conditions, or emotional patterns.
The practice can be especially powerful when guided by a knowledgeable practitioner who understands which movements and breathing practices may be most beneficial for an individual’s needs. Rather than following a single routine for everyone, Qigong can be personalized to support a person’s unique constitution and health concerns.
Going Deeper at Empty Mountain
At Empty Mountain Institute, students have the opportunity to explore Qigong as both a personal healing practice and a professional path. They learn how to practice and teach Qigong, developing the confidence and skill to guide others through movements that support greater balance, vitality, relaxation, and energetic awareness.
Students also train in Medical Qigong Therapy, a powerful healing modality that arises from the same ancient roots. Medical Qigong practitioners learn to work directly with the body’s energetic system, using movement, breath, meditation, energetic assessment, and therapeutic techniques to support healing on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels.
This training offers much more than a collection of exercises. It is an opportunity to deepen your relationship with your own energy, cultivate greater sensitivity and intuition, and learn how to support the healing and transformation of others.
Both yoga and Qigong are profound ancient traditions with much to offer. For those seeking a gentle, adaptable, and deeply effective way to care for the body, calm the mind, and cultivate life-force energy, Qigong may be especially worth exploring.
Whether you are drawn to Qigong for your own health and spiritual development or feel called to share its benefits with others, Empty Mountain offers a path for learning, growth, and professional training.
Take a closer look, and perhaps give Qigong a try.