hello there new question from a new participant .are there differences between different types of yoga and chi gung as although chi gung is focused on energy and yoga is uniting mind and body dont the both items achieve the same objective in the end if there are difference (apart from the obvious that ones from china and the other india!)prana and chi are they not the same
i lack knowledge in the details of the background and general philosophy although i use them both in my training
all sensible viewws would be welcome
Essentially the same
Yes, Yoga and Qigong are essentially the same IMO. I’ve been practicing Hatha Yoga for over 8 years, and have experienced Qigong through my Taiji and Daoist study. I’ve found both to ultimately have the same goals and functions. Yoga, depending on what type you study, strengthens, developes, and nourishes the Body, Mind, and/or Spirit. Qigong, depending on what type you study, does the same thing. Advanced Yogis perform seeming miracles with their command over their bodies and prana. Qigong masters perform seeming miracles with their command over their bodies and chi.
Is Chi & Prana the same? Yes.
Without going outside, you may know the whole world.
Without looking through the window, you may see the ways of heaven.
The farther you go, the less you know.
–Lao Tsu
Yikes!
Please don’t tell me prana and prajna are the same thing! Is prana just the Hindu yoga word for chi/internal energy? And is prajna just the Pali (or Sanskrit?) word for the knowledge acquired through meditation? Is pranna (notice the two n’s)the same as prajna?
Yes there is differences between qigong, yoga, meditation. Qigong more or less is supposed to develop certain stuff as to all the other things, where, yoga, mediatation more or less mostly harmonize the body’s energy.
Prana and Qi
They are ultimately the same. The difference in trainings will allow a few certain differences along the way but the ultimate realisations are the same, englightenment.
Prana are also translated as “Transcendental Wisdom”. This is because the realisation of Prana in Yoga must be accompanied with equanimity and pinpoint realisations and hence wisdom. Qi in chinese is basically “Air”
Breathe till there is no breath…
yoga as qigong?
Does yoga have the same or similar effects (aside from flexability) as qigong practice, since it involves specific breath work? What are the (empirically tested?) differences? What exactly is qigong really supposed to be doing anyway?
Well to the Yoga practicioners, Chi is called Prana. They don’t necessarily focus as much on the meridians, focusing more on the Chakras which are nerve centers. The 7 Chakras have a correspondance to Qigong points in the body, such as the lower, middle, and upper Dan Tien. A lot of similarities, a few differences. One should help you with the other.
-FJ
Yes Yoga and Chi Kung are similar. Yoga is better suited for you health. Speculation is that many of the Chi Kung exercises come from different forms of Yoga. Kudanlini is know for boosting energy, mental awareness, and in some cases unlocking the feral nature of man.
It has become my impression that chi kung is yoga practiced for hundreds of years with no instruction manual.
The effects are supposedly similar. There are some exercise that are called “Taoist Yoga” that fall in between what we know as qigong and Yoga. To me, they are more similar to yoga as far as the postures go, but many tend to focus a lot on breathing or sounds made, which really smacks of qigong. But I suppose it is all technically qigong, just different preferences.
Anyway, I prefer qigong over yoga. I get more out of qigong than I did out of asana when I practiced it.
Pranayama (The breathing excercises of yoga) and Qigong are the same thing. Excercises to regulate and channel prana (Qi) trough your body.
my sifu taught us the sun salutation. i never do it though. i feel i get more out of qigong as well. though i have done my breathing exercises hundreds of times vs 4 or 5 i have done the yoga.
I agree with all of you but would just like to add that not all qigong is practiced for health or for that matter self cultivation. There are many qigong practices that focus on medcical or scholar that have nothing to do with learning or excersiseing ones self.
These could not be considered or compared to yoga for they are practiced outside the mind set of the body thus not related to moving, stretching, cultivating, sitting meditation.
Also most qigong have roots in india since india is the original most all qigong practices or stlyes came from mother land india.
ED,
What do you mean “scholar” qigong? Are you using that as another name for “medical” qigong? I was of the understanding that there are only 3 basic kinds of qigong; self-healing, martial, and medical.
Chi-Gung is a yoga. Yoga means to “yolk”.
Does yoga have the same or similar effects (aside from flexability) as qigong practice, since it involves specific breath work?
Yoga that deals with positions and stretches are usually classified as “hatha Yoga”, though I do not know the exact translation of “hatha”. Hatha yoga does involve breath work, it depends on the practitioner. Some may decide to only utilise the stretching and strength building part of it, others may decide to incorporate breathing into the technique.
They don’t necessarily focus as much on the meridians, focusing more on the Chakras which are nerve centers.
Hindu’s place much epmphasis in the chakra’s more so than the Buddhists do. But Buddhists also place lots of influence on the chakras, but more so with the central psychic nerve and the signs of dissolution.
The many yogas branch from the course body (flesh and bones) to to the Nirmanakaya (meridian body) the subtlest bodies Dharmakaya, usually associated with the central psychic nerve whereby life force is twisted (at the heart for humans).
Also most qigong have roots in india since india is the original most all qigong practices or stlyes came from mother land india.
So true. Bodhidharma practised yoga. What he taught was yoga, Stilling the mind is yoga. When he brought the teachings to Shao Lin. He also taught simple steps of yoga, and methods of strengthening the body and mind.
? I was of the understanding that there are only 3 basic kinds of qigong; self-healing, martial, and medical.
plus more - spirituality, enlightenment, extending life or attaining the rainbow body, helping the deceased, choosing rebirth, sorcery and black magic, surviving hardship such as starvation or extreme cold etc., so many more.
I hope this alleviates the differences between the word yoga and what you guys practise “Qi-Gong”. It is saying “Chia” in Fujien and saying “swallow” in English, they are both similar just different names, in different places. To eat is to swallow, to swallow is not neccesirily to eat.
Here is another question, why do you guys call “GING”, “jing” ? Because I think Jing is a Chinese word for Kundalini. Ging is a force released from tendons. Correct me if I am wrong ?
Another is the word Chi-Kung (I have noticed) has been confused with body mechanics, because of the word Ging…
Hopefully I havent created too much problems with this post.
On yoga and chi gung
In the “transmission of the lamp” of Buddhism to China from India
among other things some postures(asanas), mudras and breath discipline
were transmitted. As happens in cultural adaptation different versions developed- some good some not so good .Same in Indian yoga too… lots of health club yoga teachers have a superficial understanding of yoga— specially the role of the breath and different kinds of breathing. Hatha is only one kind of yoga—there are several kinds. And even variations in teaching hatha. Hatha is the joining (yoke) of ha and tha two complementary forms of energy…sun-moon, yin/yang etc.Yoga pre dates Buddhism in india but
the hindu Patnjali attempted to systematize yoga approx. in the second century BC. he did not “invent” it. Taoism and Buddhism sometimes have had a cooperative relationship and sometimes rivalry. But the breath principles are parallel. If you check good books including Yang Jwing-Mings on the subject in one final circulation around the stomach Buddhists and Taoists just differ on anti clock versus clockwise- the latter difference is not really
significant. Yoga like chi gung can be heath specific and martial specific. Not all yoga is static- astanga yoga isnt.
The chi in chi gong parallels prana. But chi as a word is used in many other contexts and should not be confused.
Some good martial arts sytems have chi gung built into it.
Like many good things- best to get an expert teacher.
yuanfen/joy
The breath discipline and the realted yoga
I believe Hatha Yoga translates to Body Disipline.
WOW I would just like to say outstanding posts prana & yuanfen. Very knowledgeable my hat goes off to you both.
prana, jing ging, just a different way of spelling like taji tai chi, chi kung qigong ba gua, pakua same meaning but its hard to spell sounds.
Sam wiley,
there are actually many different kinds of qigong i.e martial , medical , religous and scholar to put it simply… it was developed by scholars for manintaing health. Their main focus was promoting an emotionally neutral mind and smooth chi cirrculation. They also focused on this cirrculation to lead the chi to the brain which they belived made them more intelligent. many excersises were created to aid in the nourishing of the brain and increasing its mass and function…
Just wanted to point out YaunFen is right, Yoga means yoke not yolk. Prana you better learn to spell. 
-FJ
Hmm
I can remember going to a friends Yoga class recently by invitation. I was very curious too, as to the relationship and possible similarities between what I would learn and Qi Gong. I have to say (and yes I do know that there are a variety of Yoga’s out there) that I will probably never really be an advocatee as Yoga (or at least the style I practiced in the class) as it being a close cousin to Qi Gong. My experience was insightful but made me realise that it went against a number of Qi Gong principles, and made it impossible to circulate Qi through my meridians. The tension that was involved in the class alone made it impossible, and certain postures just plain and simply cut of the flow from a number of arm meridians. The main aspect I didn’t like (obviously becasue I’m biased to wards Qi Gong) was the locking of the knee joints which because of the habit of unlocking them over the years made it feel quite strange and uncomfortable too. Some people came out afterwards saying they felt refreshed, me and a Kung fu pal of mine came out and felt unimpressed with it. I know that it was a) just one lesson; b) something new; c) something which wasn’t what we have been training in for many years; etc. but I have to say that this specific style of Yoga did not make me feel in any way like the way I feel after doing Qi gong, in fact just the opposite. I came at afterwards with a headache and felt drained of energy to be honest. I quite clearly felt Qi blockage during some of the postures even when I was corrected by the instructor and re-aligned, in fact at one correction she said “there you go how does that feel now?”, to which I honesty had to say “worse!”.
This is all just one experience and will not try to insult Yoga, but it aims are probably the same as Qi Gong in many ways but I do not share the general idea on this thread that there are both so closely related, I feel there are some siginificant differences.