On today's episode of Vital Metabolic, hosts James Wheeler and John Parker speak with Natalia, known as the Qigong Lady. Hear about the benefits of a qigong practice, both on its own and as a complementary practice to other forms of fitness. Learn about how Natalia discovered qigong, why the practice isn't for everyone, and how you can get started.
Episode Highlights:
- 1:49 - Natalia is originally from Russia and now lives in Abu Dhabi after traveling around quite a lot.
- 2:40 - Natalia began her qigong practice when she was living in Thailand.
- 3:06 - She was curious about tai-chi, energy practices, and spirituality, but she had trouble finding tai-chi classes and found qigong instead.
- 4:59 - With healing practices like qigong, it's really about drawing energy into the body and controlling it, unlike strength and conditioning which is about the output of energy.
- 5:30 - Qigong is deeply spiritual and you aren't going to build on your practice if you only focus on your body.
- 7:10 - Qigong is a broad practice that means working with energy, and there are different forms or branches that exist underneath it. Some can be considered martial arts, others healing practice, and more.
- 8:16 - Natalia practices medical qigong, in which the forms are very dynamic and are integrated into your body's movements.
- 10:50 - Natalia uses qigong as her main fitness practice, but sometimes adds things like yoga practice; qigong complements every form.
- 13:00 - In group classes, Natalia teaches the form she studied the most, but if a private client comes to her with a specific issue, Natalia chooses the qigong forms that would be most beneficial.
- 15:16 - John has seen people doing qigong in the five minute breaks people take between weightlifting sets to balance their energy.
- 16:09 - Qigong allows you to choose what will work best for you each day.
- 17:46 - Each form of qigong uses a different style of breathing.
- 20:05 - Natalia combines individual and group classes, as well as workshops.
- 20:54 - She started with qigong somewhat later in life, as an adult, but she believes it came to her at exactly the right moment.
- 22:28 - She sees common injuries or conditions from people who come in for general qigong practice, including postural misalignments and other internal blockages.
- 23:01 - Everything in the body is connected, so an injury may not have originated in the spot where the pain is, but in a connected joint that isn't as mobile as it should be.
- 24:00 - An injury means a blockage in energy or a break in the flow of your chi.
- 26:35 - Qigong has been growing because people are realizing they need to find alternative ways of finding flow and healing.
- 27:25 - People often have perceptions of tai-chi or qigong as being done by old people in a park, but having Natalia be a representative for it makes it more accessible.
- 28:00 - The pandemic has actually helped Natalia's business because people suddenly had the time to dedicate to trainings and helped people realize they needed to focus more on their health.
- 30:53 - Natalia is a perfectionist and wanted to go as deep into qigong as she could as fast as she could, but she had to learn to be patient and listen to her body.
- 31:48 - It's important not to practice to the point of fatigue every day or else you won't have anything left for the next day.
- 33:15 - Natalia thinks the industry is doing well and wants it to reach more people, but qigong isn't for everyone because it requires patience and dedication over a longer period of time.
- 34:00 - It's about increasing the awareness about it and making it accessible to those who want to learn.
- 35:15 - Natalia's practice looks different every day depending on how she feels, but the typical length of practice is 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- 36:26 - She ran online classes back in December but is running another series this month.
- 37:20 - She also offers a lot of free classes on the White Tiger Qigong Youtube channel.
3 Key Points:
- Qigong integrates a physical practice with a mental and spiritual practice.
- It is a broad term with many types of qigong practice, meaning it can complement any other fitness practice and can be adjusted to fit any person's needs.
- Natalia hopes to make qigong practice more accessible and to spread awareness.
Tweetable Quotes:
- "Everything happens because of the intention. Because of that deep, spiritual aspect of qigong. If you just do the form and you call it qigong but you focus only on the body, you won't be building much of qi." –Natalia
- "Qigong is very diverse. You are taught different things in different forms and different meditations. And on a daily basis you choose what works best for you." –Natalia
- "In our culture, we think that more is better. Especially with exercise, people run themselves into the ground until they're no longer physically able to do that... I tell my clients that we always leave the session with a half a tank of gas left." –John Parker
Resources Mentioned:
