Qigong classes helping heart patients physically and mentally

The ancient Chinese healing practice of qigong is helping cardiac patients to fight coronary heart disease and improve their mental and physical health, they say.

Cardiac patients at United Christian Hospital who are recovering from heart surgery are taking qigong classes - known as ba duan jin or eight excellent movements - under the supervision of occupational therapists to get back into shape.

They had regained a more stable pulse and lower blood pressure since starting the classes, occupational therapist Athina Poon said. More than 5,000 years old, qigong is a traditional therapeutic exercise which combines breathing and mental co-ordination as the body moves.

One patient, Choi Mei-sin, who has been practising qigong for more than a year, said she had gained more 'qi' - life force or energy cultivated through regulated breathing and postures to achieve a state of balance.

'I didn't feel very good emotionally and had many kinds of illnesses,' said Ms Choi, 70, whose husband died of lung cancer.

After practising qigong every day, her emotions became a lot more stable and she was more physically fit, she said.

'I live in Yau Tong, and I can still walk up to the cemetery there,' she said, taking the chance to exercise on the way to pay respects to her late husband.