Why Qigong (Taoist Yoga) Is The Missing Link In Contemporary Yoga

Qigong – also known as Taoist Yoga – is emerging as the essential complement to yoga in today’s overwhelmed, overstimulated world.

By regulating the nervous system, restoring energy, and supporting both teachers and students, qigong fills the gaps that traditional yoga alone cannot address.

What Is Qigong (Taoist Yoga)?

Many yoga teachers have heard of Qigong but wonder, What is Qigong? Is Qigong difficult to learn? And is it really for everybody?

• Qigong - sometimes spelled qi gong, chi kung, or even chi gong - simply means:
  • 'Qi' - life force, vitality
  • 'Gong' - skill cultivated through consistent practice

Qigong is a system of deep breathing, gentle movement, stretching, and mindful intention designed to regulate the nervous system and restore balanced energy.

It originated in ancient China and is considered one of the oldest somatic practices on Earth.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) research confirms Qigong supports:

• Lower stress and cortisol
• Improved mood and anxiety reduction
• Better immune function
• Enhanced resilience and emotional regulation

Qigong is accessible, adaptable, and safe for most people. And yes, you can learn Qigong online, while the deeper embodiment comes from guided instruction.

Qigong vs Yoga: What’s The Difference?

Yoga teachers often ask: What’s the difference between Qigong and Yoga? Which is better? And how does Qigong fit into a yoga class?

Here’s the simplest distinction:

Yoga works through structure, stillness, and sustained positions. You build energy.

Qigong works through flow, release, and rhythmic movement. You circulate energy.

Yoga is the simmer. Qigong is the wok-fire. One builds. One frees.

Neither is better - but together they create a more complete energetic experience.

And for yoga students living with tight muscles, hormonal shifts, stress, or dysregulation, Qigong is often the quickest entry point into embodied presence.

Why Qigong Is The Missing Link For Yoga Teachers Today

Qigong Regulates The Nervous System Faster Than Almost Any Modern Practice 

We live in a Vata-imbalanced society: overstimulated, under-rested, highly reactive.

Yoga works best when the student is already regulated. Qigong creates that regulation.

• It grounds frenetic energy
• It softens hypervigilance
• It lowers cortisol
• It brings the student back into their body so yoga can land more deeply

Qigong is the Most Efficient Warm-Up for the Teacher of a Contemporary Yoga Class

Yoga teachers often arrive 10-20 minutes before a class starts. In that short window, your Qigong practice can:

• Free tension
• Warm fascia
• Open joints
• Awaken flow
• Prepares your voice, breath, and presence

It’s efficient, gentle, and immediately effective.

Your students feel the difference in the teacher AND the space the moment class begins.

Qigong is an Effortless Moving Meditation for Students Who Struggle with Stillness

Many students cannot drop into meditation while cold, anxious, or disconnected from their bodies.

Qigong bridges that gap. It gives students a felt experience of effortless meditation while moving.

Qigong Supports the Midlife Student & Teacher Through Hormonal and Energetic Transitions

For students aged 35-65, Qigong supports:

• Hormone balance
• Stress recovery
• Autoimmune stability
• Connective tissue resilience
• Emotional regulation

Yoga teachers often struggle with fatigue, overuse injuries, and burnout. Qigong restores the teacher so they can hold space sustainably.

What Benefits Can Yoga Teachers Expect From Qigong?

Yoga teachers consistently report that Qigong gives them:

• Grounded energy before teaching
• Faster recovery from fatigue
• Steadier voice and presence
• Improved emotional regulation
• Greater clarity and confidence

Daily Qigong practice of just 15-20 minutes supports:

• Smoother breath
• Calmer mind
• Deeper intuitive connection
• Improved sleep
• Consistent energy levels

The results are cumulative but begin quickly - often within weeks.

Why Students Love Qigong In Their Yoga Classes

Because it feels different. It feels accessible. It feels relieving, even fun.

Students describe:

• “My shoulders finally dropped.”
• “I can breathe again.”
• “This is the first time meditation felt possible.”
• “My anxiety melted.”
• “I’ve never felt this grounded.”

Qigong helps yoga students transition from the outer world into the inner one. Many of our graduates use Qigong as a warm-up to the yoga class and don’t even call it Qigong! It’s just a ‘warmup’. 

The students love it - ‘wow that was different!’

Why Qigong (Taoist Yoga) Belongs In Every Yoga Teacher’s Toolkit

Yoga teachers want students to feel:

• Open
• Present
• Regulated
• Attuned
• Connected
• Alive

Qigong helps create those conditions swiftly and reliably. Simply put, it elevates the overall class experience while supporting the teacher. And it brings the nervous system into the state where yoga becomes transformative rather than mechanical.

Qigong Is Easier To Teach Online Than Most Yoga

Can we just say ‘no downward-facing dog’....

We started teaching more Qigong and Taoist Yoga when we switched to online teaching. If you’ve ever tried to host a live Zoom session or record video by yourself, you know that one fixed camera angle doesn’t do justice to the intricacies of many yoga poses.

However, with Qigong as we teach it, most of the poses are standing, seated, or lying down, without a lot of back and forth between them.

The practices are generally simpler, so they are easier to cue online

With an emphasis on energy flow rather than postural alignment, you can be ‘hands off’ with your students and teach quite effectively in online formats.

How To Learn Qigong (Taoist Yoga) As A Yoga Teacher

Teachers often ask: Can I learn Qigong online? Do I need an in-person Qigong teacher? How long until I feel results?

Yes, you can learn Qigong online. And results are noticeable within days. But to teach Qigong safely and skillfully, guidance matters. That’s why so many yoga professionals are learning how to blend yoga and Qigong together in certification programs such as the Great Energy Qigong Certification.

The Great Energy Healing Qigong Certification (Taoist Yoga + Qigong)

(for yoga teachers, coaches, healers, and wellness practitioners)

This certification exists because yoga teachers asked for a modern, trauma-aware, somatically grounded approach to Qigong that fits the pace and pressures of contemporary life.

They teach Qigong exactly the way yoga teachers need it:

• Efficient
• Accessible
• Immediately usable in classes
• Rooted in nervous-system regulation
• Grounded in ancient Taoist principles
• Infused with modern physiology and psychology

This is where modern Taoist Yoga and traditional Qigong merge.

Six professional paths this certification empowers:

• Yoga teachers
• Life coaches & health coaches
• Acupuncturists, TCM practitioners
• Reiki practitioners & intuitive healers
• Massage therapists & somatic practitioners
• Meditation teachers & mindfulness guides

Are you ready for your yoga training and your intuitive skill set to level up into a new dimension of embodied teaching?

Why This Fusion Matters Now

Because your students are overwhelmed. Because your nervous system deserves replenishment. Because yoga, as it's taught in the West, cannot hold everything modern life brings. Because Qigong is the missing link between movement and meditation

And because the world needs grounded teachers who radiate the qualities they teach. Qigong helps you become THAT teacher.

If You’re A Yoga Teacher Curious About Qigong

• Start where you are 

• Move gently
• Breathe deeply
• Let energy circulate
• Let your nervous system settle
• Feel what happens next

And when you’re ready to go deeper:

Explore the Great Energy Online Qigong Certification & Taoist Yoga Teacher Training

A contemporary pathway for personal repair and professional evolution.

Additional Sources: 

• NIH NCCIH 2024; PMC10501278 (Remote Qigong for Stress & Resilience); Chan et al., Complement Ther Med, 2017.