Today most Westerners still accept it. Chinese medicine strongly emphasizes relationships between people and nature. They can be and often are used separately, and may be used together. In the philosophy of qigong, a primary aim is to maintain or restore balance and harmony of mind-body. Through qigong, one can build up qi and move it to where a disturbance or blockage occurs.
Practitioners gain more than improved health.
They learn another way of looking at and experiencing the dynamic unity of life, one far removed from the disenchanted and alienated thoughtways common in Western civilization. Students of qigong learn to fulfil their potential to self-actualize as highly successful members of our species. Practising qigong lowers blood pressure, pulse rates, metabolic rates, lactate production, and oxygen demand. It raises the endocrine system's capabilities. It also has a regulating effect on the substances cyclic adenosine monophosphate and cyclic guanosine monophosphate.