If you’re looking to expand your massage practice and help prevent illness in your clients, qigong massage is an option to consider. Known as an ancient Chinese healing technique, qigong massage is generally used to improve health, slow the aging process and treat many types of illness. The use of this technique has also been shown to help with children diagnosed with autism, which helped their classroom social and language skills.
An Internet revealed numerous home-study courses that are available for any massage therapist to take to fulfill his or her continuing education requirements.
Some of the courses offered for qigong massage cover such topics as basic fundamentals, what is qigong, theory and meditation, qigong way of healing, qigong lifestyles, Chinese model of body energy, external qi healing, components of An-Mo Gong, benefits and dangers of massage and the details of a qigong workout.
By learning the benefits and techniques of qigong massage techniques in the privacy of your home or office through home-study courses, massage therapists can easily implement these tools into their practice.
The benefits of qigong massage are numerous and include stress reduction, pain relief, increased energy, clearing of toxins from the body, healing of chronic illness, lowering blood pressure, strengthening of the immune system, lowering of cholesterol, preventing injuries, calming the body and increased circulation.
In recent studies, qigong massage was found to be beneficial to autistic children. In the study, researchers found a link between qigong massage and the reduction in the severity of autism in children 6 years old and younger.
The study, “Qigong Massage Treatment for Sensory and Self-Regulation Problems in Young Children With Autism: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” measured 46 autistic children between 3 and 6 years old. The children, 37 boys and nine girls, were divided into two groups: a qigong sensory training group and a waitlist control group. The children in the test group received 20 sessions of qigong sensory training during a five-month period.
Compared to the control group, the children who received the sensory training showed a significant improvement in classroom social and language skills. They also showed a reduction in autistic behavior.
Make sure to check with your national and state licensing bodies to make sure the courses you select are acceptable for continuing education credits.