Ten Proven Benefits of Qi Gong – Six

Regular Practice Improves Your Metabolism and Mood

Your Muscles are AMAZING!

Regular Qi Gong practice improves the strength and stamina of almost every muscle in your body. This means that the mitochondrial function and health in every cell of your body is increasing, which means every cell in your body has a better metabolic rate.

This will improve many aspects of your daily life, including:

• Increased energy levels
• Improved exercise potential
• Improved exercise recovery
• Better mental clarity
• Faster learning
• Metabolic upregulation and fat loss
• Better circulation
• Better mood
• Deeper sleep

Consider this for a moment.

Your muscles are made of cells and cells are like engines.

All of your skeletal muscles and smooth muscle cells, or little engines are very efficient. If you do not use a muscle often, the ‘little engines’ reduce their ability to produce effort.

Why have cells built like race cars sit in the garage all day?

When a muscle is not being used to their potential, they reduce their available mitochondria – which are like little spark plugs or pistons in your cells. An underactive cell will be like a small car with 4 cylinders. A stronger muscle that can adapt quickly to new challenges has cells that are like a big 8 cylinder truck.

As you increase your activity level or engage in more challenging levels of Qi Gong practice, you are creating more actual mitochondria in trillions of muscle cells.

Now your cells have 8 cylinders to burn calories – all day, every day.

Give your body the best fuel possible and keep challenging your body and your metabolism. With regular and progressive practice your muscle cells will be healthier and more available to help the rest of your body by:

• regulating blood sugar and insulin levels
• regulating stress hormones and reproductive hormones
• supporting gradual healthy fat loss
• increasing Human Growth Hormone (HGH)
• Activating Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)
• Increasing the release of Nitic Oxide (especially with breathwork)

All of these metabolic changes reduce stress, inflammation, anxiety, depression, insomnia, cravings,  and can profoundly affect your mood.

Your hormones and neurotransmitters are a good example of Qi flow.

I often translate Qi as circulation, communication, or collaboration. To say Liver Qi is to say liver circulation, communication, and/or collaboration. If we look at Qi expressed as substances like hormones and neurotransmitters, they need a ride to the right receptor at the right time

they need to be able to activate the receptor

and they need to maintain balance with each other.

most clinicians agree that optimal availability and balance of all hormones and neurotransmitters should generate an optimal mental and emotional state – in a low-stress environment and individual.

If you have a healthy lifestyle and give your body what it needs, keep an active metabolism, challenge your mitochondria, and reduce the stress in your life, you will have a strong metabolism and a positive mood for most of your life.