Qigong can involve very simple, easy breathing, or unusual breathing styles adapted for specific goals. Qigong is usually synonymous with deep relaxation and the art of letting go, but it also teaches how to master tension for physical strength. Qigong can be a brief, daily form of preventive self-hygiene, it can be used for alleviating serious disease, for healing others, for spiritual enlightenment, for martial prowess or for all the above. Central to any qigong practice, though, is the notion of balance. Trying to pin down balance is like trying to rope the wind, or step in the same river twice.
Balance is essentially a state of consciousness and a perspective on how the world is.
To enter qigong is to appreciate the world as an ever-shifting flow of energy currents. Balance is occurring when we are very present to this shifting, interactive, energetic dance. When we are out of balance, we are essentially stuck in some way, so habitually tense and contracted that we can t release our stagnations and clingings. Qigong helps us specifically work with balance by redirecting our attention. Our culture, in particular, has put us up in our heads and ignored our two other main intelligences located in the heart and stomach areas.