Qi Gong for Side Effects/Fatigue/Emotional Distress

@Zillsnot4me, I'm no expert and others on this thread may have better explanations, so I encourage anyone else to add to this! But I'll explain it from my perspective: qigong is a kind of "moving meditation". It involves deep breathing from the abdomen while moving in slow, deliberate steps. It's really beautiful to look at (there are some good videos on youtube if you want to check out what it looks like), but it's hard to see from the outside what's going on inside.

I feel like it brings in supercharged oxygen. (There's a translation of the word "qi" - which technically in Chinese I gather means something like "vital air" - that basically amounts to "oxygen". I tend to be a bit scientifically-minded so I prefer that explanation to anything more woo, although some prefer to use the term "energy".)

The type of qigong I'm learning to practice is a combination of "shaking" (kind of like jumping up and down on an invisible trampoline, which incidentally is recommended for women with BC to help with lymphedema etc.) and "five animal play". The five animals are Bear, Monkey, Crane, Deer and Tiger. Each one moves in a specific way, going from walking, running, leaping or flying/landing, to fleeing, to fighting. Except for the trickster Monkey, who offers a peach to the Buddha and then throws it at him, then runs away. It all sounds a bit like a kid's game, but it is seriously helpful. I'm also just starting to learn the "five elements" which is more directly medicinal in nature. But all of it is very, very healthy.

If you can find anyone in your area teaching medical qigong, take advantage of it! The classes shouldn't be expensive, because as I understand it, it's considered rather unethical to make a lot of money from teaching qigong. So really anyone can benefit from it.

I hope you can find a teacher. Take care and let me know how it goes for you!