Using Qigong to help Deal with Grief

You can use the tools of Qigong to help you process and deal with grief.  Using Qigong to help you deal with this powerful emotion, can help you gain the strength to process this emotion and better allow the Qi to flow so you can heal.

Here are some things you can do to help you deal with unresolved grief:

​1. Develop New Thought Pathways in Your Brain 
If you have unresolved and long-term grief, this emotion has become the dominant factor in your mind.  You need to help restore balance between your mind and your emotions, so to do this, you can consciously create new thoughts to help limit those "ticker tape thoughts" of griefs from continually filling your mind.

• When your thoughts of sadness and grief come consciously to your mind, start consciously taking control of those thoughts.  For example, say to yourself, “Self, STOP these sad thoughts right now! Think of this instead……”  
• Consciously start to take control and redirect your thoughts to focus on something else. Essentially you are letting your emotional self know you are present and are restoring order and balance.

2. Set "Sad Thought" Limits.

• When you are ready, start to limit the number of times you think about what is making you feel sad.  For example, if your sadness is caused by the loss of someone you love, then you set up limits to how long or how frequently you will allow that emotion to stay.  For example, “I will allow myself to think about this person just once a day and no more.”  Or, “I will allow myself to feel sad for just 10 minutes this morning and no more.”
• When you are ready, reduce the time allowance (from 10 minutes to 5 minutes for example) or the frequency (from once a day to once a week) you are still allowing yourself to grieve, but you are placing boundaries of how much grief you will allow.  This process is still allowing you the emotion, but it is limiting the frequency or the length of time you will allow it to be part of your life.  You are no longer allowing the emotion of grief to consume your life.

3. Use Sound Vibration to Move Your Lung Qi

• The emotion of grief stagnate Qi in the lungs.  If you have long-term grief, you most likely have had colds, or bronchitis, pneumonia, or other lung ailments.  If you have had unresolved grief for a long time you probably also have skin problems, such as dry skin, poor skin turgor, eczema, or other skin conditions.  
• Do Qigong sound exercises to help get the Qi flowing and moving in your lungs.  The sound of “Shhhhh” or the “Ssssss” sound is for the lungs and the vibration from this sound can help the Qi flow.  When Qi starts to flow, you will also start to feel better and will even start to deal with your grief better.  
• Here is how you can do a sound meditation.

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4.  Do Qigong Standing Meditations 
The Qigong standing meditation where you hold your hands out in front of your chest as if you are holding a ball, helps strengthen the arms and the lungs.  Doing this meditation, and visualizing a white energy of light filling your chest will help nourish the Qi energy in your lungs.

5. Do Qigong Exercises   
Qigong lung exercises help revitalize the lung Qi and help your breathing.  This exercise also helps you process and deal with sadness or grief.

• Exercise overview
  
• Arms and elbows up.  Elbows should be almost as high as your shoulders, if you can.
  
• Have your pointer fingers touching each thumb, like a circle “O”
  
• Place your tongue between teeth. 
  
• Move your arms back, almost as if you are a conductor leading an orchestra. 
  
• As your arms move back, breathe in.  Push out your belly as you breathe in.
  
• Move your arms back across the chest and as you do so, exhale.  Your belly comes in.
  
• Move your arms back out and inhale, pushing out your belly, almost as if it is a billows bring air in.
  
• Slowly move your arms back and exhale.
  
• Energy Visualization 
  
• Visualize vibrant energy coming into your lungs with each breath.
  
• As you exhale, visualize turbid energy moving out of your lungs. 
  
• Emotion Visualization
  
• As you exhale, visualize any sadness, despair, guilt, or sorrow leaving your lungs with each exhale.  As you inhale, visualize the energy of integrity and dignity filling your lungs.
  
• Healing Color Visualization
  
• As you breathe in, visualize a bright white vibrant energy filling your lungs.  This color of white is the color your lungs are use as a healing color.  This color helps nourish and energize your lungs.  
• See the color being used to help your lungs heal and become strong as they take in this vibrant energy and color.  Breathe in the white vibrant energy. 
• See and feel the vibrant energy filling your lungs.
  

You can watch this video on "Nourishing Your Organs" to see how the lung exercise is done.  If you can, do all the exercises so you can help nourish all of your vital organs.  

6.  Eat Foods That are Good for the Lungs

• Eat foods that are good for the lungs, such as broccoli, citrus, pears, pork, coffee, applies, peppermint, ginger.  
  
• Limit alcohol.  Alcohol can stagnate the Qi even more.
• Don't eat sugar; change to eating natural honey. 

7.  Qigong Medical Treatment

• If grief persists, and you are experiencing health problems, get additional help.  You don't want to develop long term or chronic health problems from your Qi being stuck and stagnant for a long time.  Acupuncture &/or Qigong medical treatments can help you process long-term grief and get your Qi moving again. 
  
• Here is a story of a client who had long-term grief and how a Qigong Medical Treatment helped her process grief.
  

Conclusion
If you are dealing with long-term grief, use some of the Qigong tools to help you deal with this emotion. Keep your Qi moving and your organs healthy as best you can.  Keeping your Qi moving and your organs healthy will help you process and also deal with your grief much faster.     

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