Here is a great Qigong exercise for hypertension. This Qigong blood pressure exercise prescription was developed by Dr. Suzanne B Friedman and can be used along with other health management tools, like changes in diet, exercise, meditation, herbs, and/or medications.

This exercise can be performed either lying on your back or sitting in a chair.  The sound “Jang” targets the blood and blood vessels directly. 

1. Lie supine with a pillow under your head, or you may sit upright in a chair.
2. Imagine you are floating in warm water.
3. Inhale deeply and then exhale, making the “Jang” sound.
4. As you exhale, feel or imagine the “Jang” sound vibrating all of your body’s tissues, from the top of the head downward, through the chest and abdomen, and then down your legs, and finally out your feet, on the balls of your feet.
5. Repeat
6. End with a focus on the bottom balls of your feet or rub the bottom balls of your feet (this is an acupoint that is good for hypertension).

If you are interested in more Qigong exercises, you may be interested in purchasing Dr. Friedmans' book, "Heal Yourself with Qigong".

In Chinese Medicine, the heart is considered the emperor of the body.  The emperor needs peace and order in its kingdom and so governs the bodily functions with routine, like a clock, providing consistent order to its kingdom. The heart is what houses the Five Spirits, known as the Shen.  The emotion of peace, order, and love is bestowed and shared from the heart to every cell and organ in its kingdom.

The heart has direct communication with the brain. There is a hormonal link between the mind and the heart, helping to support mental and emotional clarity. This process and connection with the brain helps to organize mental concepts and the capacity to judge.  Our bodies crave order and our minds crave peace.

There is a connection between the body’s internal organs and the emotions.  For example, when a person is in emotional energetic balance, a person is usually open-minded, peaceful, and trustful.  But when a person is out of emotional balance, a person can exhibit signs of being confused, doubtful, and greedy.  It is those emotions which can affect and interfere with the hearts Qi and its flow.  

If you are experiencing palpitations, arrhythmias, high blood pressure, and insomnia or sleep disturbances, there are some Qigong Heart exercises which can help improve your heart and circulation.

Qigong Heart Exercises
With all Qigong exercises, you will need to place your emphasis on the connection of your mind, breath, and imagination.  
Start with a

1. warm up and get the energy moving (such as a Pulling Down Heaven), then
   
2. do an exercise to purge (clean out the turbid energy), and then
   
3. do an exercise to tonify (add in clean and vibrant new energy).

Here is a heart exercise to help you move and purge stagnant Qi in the heart and blood vessels:

Purging  Exercise for the Heart - Using the Healing Sound of “HA”
(From the book "Medical Qigong Exercise Prescriptions" by Dr. Suzanne Friedman)
This gentle Qigong exercise uses sound to relieve anxiety from the heart, to expel heat from the body, and to improve circulation.  You should not do this exercise if you have any of the following:

• Broken or fractured bones
• Acute stage of illness
• Pregnancy

This Qigong sound exercise prescription was developed by Dr. Suzanne B Friedman who recommends using a rising tone if you need the Qi to ascend. You should use a descending tone if you need the Qi to descend. But if you don’t know, then use a straight monotone with this purging exercise for the heart.

1. Begin with Pulling Down Heavens (see Exercise Video)
2. Raise arms above head with elbows slightly bent.
3. Palms face forward and tilt slightly toward the sky
4. Inhale and connect your intention to your heart.
5. Visualize Qi in the form of white light entering your heart as you inhale.
6. Exhale and make the “Ha” sound, visualizing dark turbid Qi, heat, and anxiety exiting via your mouth and palms of your hands.
7. Slowly move your hands and arms down while exhaling, continuing to make the “Ha” sound.
8. Imagine your palms are like magnets, pulling the heat or anxiety out of your chest.
9. When you are ready, inhale while you raise your arms high above your head with palms again facing forward.
10. Exhale, making the “Ha” sound while you slowly move your hands down the front and side of your body until you have exhaled all your breath out with the “Ha” sound.
11. Repeat 6-12 times
12. End with Pulling Down Heavens.

Place your emphasis on the connection of your mind, breath, imagination, and sound in this exercise. Feel enveloped in the sound, vibration and energy.

Tonifying Exercise for the Heart
(From the book "Medical Qigong Exercise Prescriptions" by Dr. Suzanne Friedman)
This exercise massages the hearts tissues and nerves, strengthening the heart Qi.  This exercise also can help to regulate the flow of Qi and blood to and from the heart.  In addition, it can strengthen the circulatory system.  You can do this exercise lying down, sitting up, or standing.

1. Begin by breathing deeply. Relax the mind and visualize your body melting into the ground when you exhale.
2. Place one palm on top of the other hand and hold both hands over the heart
3. Massage in 12 circular rotations clockwise (to the left).  Your hands do not need to touch your body as they circle.
4. Focus the minds intention on the heart, visualizing the energy of the heart circulating and flowing along the movement of your hands.
5. Massage in 12 circular rotation counterclockwise (to the right) around the heart area. Your hands do not need to touch your body as they circle.
6. Focus the minds intention on the heart, visualizing the energy of the heart circulating and flowing along the movement of your hands.
7. Keep your hands on top of the other and keep your hands held above your heart.
8. Concentrate the mind and focus your intention on the heart area and heart organ.
9. Inhale, and as you inhale, visualize how you are breathing energy into your heart.
10. Exhale and imagine healing light radiating out of your heart.
11. Inhale again, and visualize light energy feeding and nourishing your heart with each breath you take in.
12. Exhale, and visualize the energy of light flowing out of your heart and filling up your abdomen, your extremities, flowing like water and nourishing your entire body.
13. Repeat for 12 inhalations and exhalations.
14. End with a Pulling Down Heaven (if you are standing or sitting).

You can perform this exercise up to three times a day.

The flow of Qi (chee) in the body can be impacted by diet, exercise, sleep, meditation, pathogens, AND emotions.  In both Chinese and Western medicine, there is a connection between the body’s internal organs and the emotions we have.  In this 5,000 year old study of Medicine that has come from the Chinese, many of our different emotions has been mapped to different organs, tissues, and senses.  It is rather amazing.

These are the negative emotions that typically impact different organs, tissues, and senses (or orifices):

When a person is filled with positive emotions, we consider this person emotionally balanced.  When a person is out of emotional balance, the person will usually exhibit some negative emotions, such as anger, or they are fearful, or are depressed, or have unresolved grief, or they worry a lot.  If a person has any of these negative emotions, this negative emotion will impact the flow of Qi in their body and eventually will impact their health.  It will first affect that associated organ, tissue, and/or orifice.

Let me give you an example.  Let’s say you have a lot of sadness in your life.  This emotion, if left unresolved, over time, will start to cause the Qi to not flow correctly.  It may stagnate in your lungs. Or flow in the wrong direction.  Or it may scatter. New and vibrant Qi then is not allowed to come into your lungs.  You start to cough.  Or you become susceptible to a virus and get a cold.  You continue to have problems with your lungs and now notice your skin is having some weird bumps. You go to the doctor and are now diagnosed with eczema and psoriasis.  Then while you are brushing your teeth, you notice a crack in your tongue and even a sore on your tongue.  All of these problems may have been prevented or even reduced by focusing your attention on your emotional state to deal with your sadness.  You could have done some Qigong exercises, Qigong meditations, and even ate more foods that are known to help move the Qi or help nourish the Qi within your lungs. 

We all know our emotional well being affects our physical well being.  But in Chinese Medicine, they have mapped the different negative emotions that tend to lead to problems in different organs, tissues, and orifice within our body.  

If you want to have more control over your physical health and well being, then take more control over your emotional well being.  If you can't resolve your negative emotions, then at least, take on the responsibility of working on keeping the Qi in that organ moving.  Make choices exercise choices to help move the Qi in that affected organ.  Or do a meditation to nourish that organ.  Or eat foods known to keep the Qi moving in that organ.  If any of this fails, or if you need assistance, make an appointment for a Medical Qigong treatment and I can help get your Qi flowing to help keep you healthy.

You really do have more control in your overall health and wellness than you probably realize.  You are powerful.  You have a lot of power within.      

This exercise comes from the Qigong Master, Dr. Suzanne Friedman's “Medical Qigong Exercise Prescriptions” 

1. Begin in the Wuji posture with eyes slightly open.
   
2. Breathe using your abdominal breathing.  Inhale and exhale through your nose.
   
3. Inhale and raise arms out to the sides with palms facing downward.
   
4. Absorb the energy from the earth into your body through the palms of your hands.
   
5. At shoulder height, turn the palms up and absorb Qi from the heavens (universal energy) into the body as your hands continue to rise overhead.
   
6. Exhale and begin descending the palms down the front of the body with right and left hand fingertips pointing at each other. Palms face down and direct the Qi flow down the entire front of the body and deep into the earth. 
   
7. Inhale and begin sequence again.  The second time through, the energy is directed down the back of the body from the back of the head down into the earth.
   
8. The third time through, the energy penetrates the crown point at the top of the head and passes through the entire inside of the body and deep into the earth.
   
9. As a stand alone exercise, practice 36 sets. 
   
10. Visualize the gathering of Qi on the inhale and the lowering of Qi on the exhale.
    
11. When sending the energy down the front and back of the body, feel each muscle relaxing as the energy passes it.
    
12. When pulling energy through the center of the body, imagine it coating, cleansing, and soothing all internal organs.
    
13. To end the exercise, relax the whole body and return to the Wuji posture.
    
14. Imagine a thick healing mist within and around the body. 

This information comes from Dr. Suzanne Friedman's book, Medical Qigong Exercise Prescriptions.

1. Stand with the feet flat
   
2. Bend the knees
3. Relax the hips
4. Close the anal sphincter
5. Relax the waist
6. Tuck in the chest and relax the upper limbs
7. Suspend the head and tuck in the chin
8. Close the eyes if you desire inner vision
9. Touch the tongue to the upper palate.

Here is a video on YouTube showing you the Wuji stance.

One thing that happens, especially if you have been chronically ill for awhile, is you start to see yourself as that person who is shackled and trapped in the illness.  You start to cloak yourself with this image and your ticker tape of mental thought starts to reinforce and build a mantra of who you now are; you are ill.   

When this happens, it as if you have become that image and it is now part of your very being.

To change that mantra and that imbedded image, you have to create a new substitution image of who you are.  Sure, at first it may not seem real, but over time it will.  This is one of the recommended procedures to place yourself on that path of wellness.  You need to visualize, feel, see, breathe, smell, and taste a different and revitalized image of who you really are.

When you set up regular Qigong treatments with a Qigong therapist, he/she can help you create that image of a healthy you and show you ways to visualize this image and take you to that place so it becomes you new automatic ticker tape of who you really are.

The path to health and wellness is often a multi-step process.  It can include Qigong treatments, exercises, dietary changes, meditation, and visualization.  The goal is to help a person get to, and continue to be at their desired state of feeling well.

In Chinese Medicine, skin problems are associated with the lungs.  If there are problems associated with the lungs, you can have  problems show up in your skin.  Also, the emotion of grief, if left unchecked, can affect the health and wellness of your skin.  

According to Paul Pritchard’s “Healing with Whole Foods,” many skin diseases are also a result of faulty fat metabolism, so foods rich in omega-3 can help remedy many skin problems.  He recommends using sesame oil when a person has problems with urticaria, acne, eczema, or psoriasis.

Food Recommendations
(from “Healing with Whole Foods” pg 442)

• Carrots
• Winter squash
• Pumpkin
• Leafy greens
• Beet greens
• Spinach
• Kale
• Chard 
• Watercress
• Sea weeds
• Mung beans 
• Aduki beans
• Cucumber
  

Avoid These Foods
Mr. Pritchard also recommends to NOT several different types of food if you have skin conditions:   

• avoid spicy food
  
• avoid fatty food
  
• avoid greasy food 
• avoid all sweets
• avoid citrus
• avoid oysters, herring, and shrimp. 
  

Natural Remedies
If you are interested in trying some natural remedies for skin problems, here are some home remedies Mr. Pritchard recommends:

Urticaria
Rub with sliced cucumber, dab with vinegar several times a day.  Avoid soap and shampoo.  Wash with plain water.

Acne
Apply lemon juice. Wash with castile or other pure soaps that contain no detergents. Apply a paste of bentonite, green or any other clays, moistened with apple cider vinegar as the only fluid. Leave on at least one half-hour, then was off with water.

Eczema
Apply raw hone or teas of golden seal or poke root.  Rub with slices of fresh papaya.  Apply a poultice of grated, crushed daikon radish or raw potato.  The juice of the radish or potato can also be applied as a wash.

Psoriasis
Wash the area with sarsaparilla tea or seawater. Apply garlic oil or walnut oil.  Bathe in seawater or mineral water. Add several cups of unrefined sea salt to the bath water. Avoid excessive exposure to the sun. 

Meditations to Help Skin
Deep Breathing Meditation

1. Sit in a chair, or on a cushion with folded knees.
   
2. Hollow your armpits for Qi circulation.
   
3. Curl your fingers to absorb and release Qi.
   
4. You don’t need to vocalize, just exhale while blowing out your mouth.
   
5. Inhale and breathe in deeply while abdomen expands out.
   
6. Exhale through your mouth.
   
7. Repeat.
   
8. Have your mind focus on the movement of the air in, and then out, of your lungs.
   
9. Notice how the air is helping to nourish and help your lungs, skin, and body.
   
10. Do this deep breathing daily. 
    
11. You may begin with a couple of minutes, but increase the amount of time until you can spend 12 minutes doing deep breathing.
    

“Shhh” Sound Meditation to Help the Lungs and Skin
From “Medical Qigong Exercise Prescriptions” by Suzanne B Friedman

1. The “Shhh” sound opens the lungs, relives phlegm, and dispels grief.
   
2. Stand in the Wuji Position.
   
3. Begin with a Pulling Down Heaven (see exercise section for video presentation).
   
4. Raise arms above head with elbows slightly bent.
   
5. Bend elbows until hands are on either side of the head, with palms facing forward and tilting slightly towards the sky.
   
6. Inhale Qi in the form of white light to the lungs and skin.
   
7. Exhale the “sh” sound while visualizing turbid Qi and grief leaving via the mouth and palms.
   
8. Repeat 6-24 times.
   
9. End with Pulling Down Heavens.
   

The health and wellness of your skin is often a reflection of your overall health and wellness. There are different foods, natural treatments, and meditations, which may help improve your skin.

Most of the time, when I give a Qigong treatment, the client is laying on their back on a massage table with their eyes closed.  She/he is totally relaxed while I move from spot to spot in their body, directing and moving subtle energy at different organs or acupuncture points.  Some of my clients have reported how they feel as if I have multiple hands because they can feel different locations of their body becoming engaged while I am not even in close proximity to that spot in their body.  

Well, the other day while I was receiving a Qigong treatment from a colleague, and I experienced the same thing.  My colleague was holding my head but I could feel someone at my feet directing energy through an acupoint there, and then at another point in the other leg, and a point in my hand. It made me smile because I was now experiencing what many of my clients experience; having the sensation the Practitioner has at least four different hands directing energy on totally different spots of the body, all at the same time. 

I still find Qigong experiences totally amazing and filled with wonder.

You can take more control over your health and wellness.  If you have a family history of arthritis, for example, you may want to step up prevention techniques to keep this disease at bay. Or if you are already experiencing joint pain or have been diagnosed with arthritis, there are some things you can do to help get your body back into balance and help reduce that pain.

How?
You can make some changes in your diet.  There are exercises you can do. There are even herbs which may help.  And for the pain, acupuncture is a fantastic resource to help you relieve that pain.

Changes in Diet
If you have gout, arthritis, bursitis, neuritis, and sciatica, the dietary changes you can make are to avoid calcium inhibitors.  This means you should restrict, avoid, or limit the following:

• Excess meats or proteins from another source
  
• Intoxicants (alcohol, tobacco, coffee, marijuana)
  
• Refined sugar and too many sweets
  
• Excess salt
  
• Foods high in oxalic acid such as spinach, beet greens, chard, plum, cranberry, rhubarb
  
• Nightshade foods, such as tomatoes, eggplant, bell pepper, potato (because these plants contain solanine, a calcium inhibitor)
  
• Dairy products (especially those high in fat) So what can you eat? 
  

Foods that can help heal these damaged tissues are

• Vegetables, such as beets, cabbage, lettuce, sprouts, radishes garlic celery, parsley, legumes, mushrooms, onions, asparagus, kale, turnip, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts
• Wheat and barley grass
• Fruits
• Grains 
• Goats milk

(source, "Healing with Whole Foods" by Paul Pitchford)

Diane Joswick, a license acupuncture and author of "Arthritis and Acupuncture," recommends the following foods be added to  your diet to help your arthritis: 

• Ginger - A natural anti-inflammatory, available as powdered extracts in capsules as well as alcohol-based extracts. Follow the dosing directions on the label. Or make tea by combining one-half teaspoon of grated ginger root with eight ounces of boiling water. Cover and steep for 10 to 15 minutes, then strain and add honey to taste.

• Fresh pineapple - Bromelain, an enzyme in pineapple, reduces inflammation. Be sure the pineapple is fresh, not canned or frozen.

• Cherries - Recent research has shown that tart cherries are an excellent source of nutrients that may help to reduce joint pain and inflammation related to arthritis.

• Fish - Cold-water fish such as salmon and mackerel contain omega-3 fatty acids, which help keep joints healthy as well as reduce pain and swelling. If you don't care for fish, consider supplementing your diet with fish oil capsules.
• Turmeric - Another natural anti-inflammatory. Look for an extract of whole turmeric, in health-food stores; follow the dosage directions on the label.            
  

Exercises
Qigong exercises are another great treatment to help your arthritic conditions because these exercises are gentle.  They also focus on building strength and keeping your joints lubricated and moving.  The Quist Qigong Warm-up Exercises are EXCELLENT for your joints.

There are also other exercises that are good for arthritis because they are gentle on joints, like swimming, stationary bicycling, elliptical machines, or water aerobics.

Herbs
To reduce swelling and inflammation, some have found these herbs to beneficial:

• Black cohosh - for rheumatism (you can read more about this herb at NIH Fact sheet) 

• Devil’s claw - for decreasing osteoarthritis pain and lower back pain.  (According to the National Institute of Health, taking devil’s claw alone or along with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) seems to help decrease osteoarthritis-related pain. Some evidence suggests that devil’s claw works about as well as diacerhein (a slow-acting drug for osteoarthritis that is not available in the U.S.) for improving osteoarthritis pain in the hip and knee after 16 weeks of treatment. Some people taking devil’s claw seem to be able to lower the dose of NSAIDs they need for pain relief.  You can read more at the NIH)

If you are looking for Chinese Herbs, these are the ones that are often recommended, according to Acufinder:

• Decoction (juan bi tang)- For joint pain that increases with cold and is possibly accompanied by heaviness and numbness in the limbs.
• Cinnamon Twig, Peony, and Anamerrhena Decoction (gui zhi shoa you zhi mu tang)- For swollen and painful joints that are warm to the touch and worse at night.
• Angelica Pubescens and Sangjisheng Decoction (du huo ji sheng tang)- For heavy and painful sensations at fixed locations in the lower back and lower extremities accompanied by weakness and stiffness.

Acupuncture
Probably one of the most helpful things you can do, especially if you are in pain, is to have an acupuncture treatment.  There are acupuncturists in every state.  If you don't know one, you can find one through Acupuncture schools or other the Acufinder.  

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine have been found to be extremely effective at treating the pain and inflammation associated with all types of arthritis.  A licensed acupuncturist can determine which points will provide the most help to relieve your particular arthritic pain.  It really does work.

In Eastern medicine, hair is said to be an extension of your blood and so is an indicator of your blood quality.  In Chinese Medicine, it is the health of the spleen, pancreas, and kidneys which relates to your blood, and therefore, your hairs quality.

Healthy hair is lustrous and thick.  Hair loss and premature gray can be treated by improving the blood quality and strengthening the pancreas and kidneys. You can strengthen the pancreas and kidneys with diet, exercise, meditation, and/or Qigong medical treatments.

Foods
The foods which are good to help prevent gray hair, and even help prevent hair from falling out, are

• Hiijiki seaweed
  
• Blackstrap molasses
  
• Nettles
  
• Wheat Grass
  

The foods you should reduce or restrict to improve your blood and hair quality are:

• High fat, high protein
  
• Meat and dairy
  
• Sweets and sugar laced foods
  
• Excess salt
  

Source “Healing With Whole Foods” by Paul Pitchford

Exercise
You can do the 15 minute daily basic Qigong Warm-Up exercise along with the Nourish Your Organ exercise.  Pay particular attention to the spleen and kidneys in this exercise.  This exercise will keep your Qi moving as well as increase the energy for your vital organs.

Meditation
One of the meditations to help you keep your inner body and organs nourished is the Microcosmic Orbit Meditation.

Qigong Medical Treatments
You can go online and make an appointment for a medical Qigong treatment. These treatments can help nourish your organs and keep the subtle energy in your organs moving and nourishing your entire body.

Summary
There are things you can do to help improve the health and wellness of your hair.  You do this by improving the wellness of your blood.  You can modify your diet.  You can do Qigong exercises.  You can do Qigong meditations.  You can also have regular Qigong Medical Treatments.  Some, or even all of these changes, can help you to improve your blood and hair quality.