The Yijing Medical Qigong System [Hardcover]

Suzanne Friedman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 2006

Yijing (I-Ching) theory is the foundation of Daoism and Chinese medicine, and this book explores the deep roots that they both share. Daoism and Chinese medicine both view the human body as a microcosm of the universe around us; what is happening outside affects us inside. Medical qigong is based on the premise that we can energetically affect something outside based on our intention inside. Much of medical qigong, one of the main branches of Chinese medicine, originates from the practices of Daoist shamanic healers. This book introduces a Chinese medicine healing system based on the principles of the Yijing that serve as the foundation of medical qigong and Daoist spiritual practices. The Yijing Medical Qigong System is a compilation of self-healing exercises and qi emission therapeutic treatment techniques based on Daoist medical qigong and Yijing theories. This system's approach is unique in that it focuses on the meanings of the trigrams rather than the hexagrams of the Yijing. The eight trigrams are used in innovative ways for healing the body, mind, and spirit. The Yijing Medical Qigong System is based on the premise that the Yijing theory that infuses Chinese medicine and Daoism is just as relevant today for healing and spiritual guidance it was three thousand years ago.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Suzanne Friedman is a licensed acupuncturist, certified herbalist, and a doctor of medical qigong therapy. She is the Chair of the Medical Qigong Science Department at the Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley, California. Dr. Friedm --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation (May 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1425710956
• ISBN-13: 978-1425710958
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,219,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Are you a Healer?, stop searching, buy this book and practice it's principles., July 20, 2006

By 

calvin fahey - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Yijing Medical Qigong System (Hardcover)

Yijing Medical Qigong System: I have read literally hundreds of qigong books, and this is the first that delves deeply into the shared roots of Chinese medicine & Daoism, which is the I-Ching (Yijing). Few authors are willing to approach this difficult subject, but Dr. Friedman is able to discuss and present it in an accessible, easy-to-understand way. The book has a theory section, a practice section (which contains practical qigong exercises and meditations), and an external qi therapy treatment section. Dr. Friedman presents a unified system of healing for the self and others that is both impressive and clinically effective.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Small book, vast resource, June 17, 2008

By 

Andrew Sherman (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Yijing Medical Qigong System: A Daoist Medical I-Ching Approach to Healing (Paperback)

I've read this book several times. It's my mainstay, go-to book for Chinese Medicine in general and medical qigong specifically. For anyone already well-versed in the subject, this book will appear to be deceptively thin. What you should understand is that its a compendium of Chinese Medical theory and diagnosis, a comprehensive filtering of the most useful information you'll find in a hundred other Chinese Medical textbooks. I know this, because I've read others. The great tomes out there are wonderful if you want to know absolutely everything that can be known, but if you want to use the information on our most common problems in daily life, all you need is what's in Dr. Freidman's book. Dr. Friedman's encyclopedic understanding of the subject, compounded by her extensive clinical experience, makes this a worthwhile read. This book was designed to serve as a textbook for Dr. Freidman's ongoing classes, and thus focuses on utility and practice. This book is the one that teaches how to conceptualize health from a Chinese Medicine perspective and how to translate that into diagnosis of medical conditions. It then makes recommendations of several exercises it outlines and also of medical qigong procedures that would be used on others with this issue. Another of her books, Medical Qigong Exercise Prescriptions: A Self-healing Guide for Patient's and Practitioners, gives a bunch more qigong exercises and meditations allowing you to react to a diagnosis with greater flexibility and variety of action. In her classes, she adds a third book, The Dao of Health Eating by Bob Flaws, which allows you to use a diagnosis (if you have one) to determine what foods will be most healthful for you. Together, these three books allow you to take a stab at figuring out what's wrong with your health on your own, or to work superbly with a qualified Acupuncturist's diagnosis and take effective action in your own life. Dr. Friedman is the first Non-Chinese to be inducted into Grandmaster Bin Fang YeYoung's lineage as a YeYoung Qigong and Neidan (Inner Alchemy) master. As a Westerner, she has a sufficient command of the English language and Western mindsets to craft the material for our way of thinking, breaking through the language and culture barrier that often makes Eastern Medicine texts so difficult to comprehend and use. THE ONLY WARNING that may be suitable here is that medical qigong is promulgated on the assumption of a substance called qi that can be sensed by the body and that responds to conscious intercession, but that has not been scientifically established to exist (there are studies that have established a basis for measuring qi but they are not yet widely accepted by the scientific community). Thus, the book honestly covers what is considered by many Chinese practitioners to be perfectly useful ways of developing diagnoses, including various methods of "energy scanning," and casting a yijing hexagram reading. This doesn't bother me in the slightest, but these subjects bother some people, and as a reviewer, I feel I should warn you so you can make an informed decision. If you're curious about how to make Eastern concepts applicable to your health, read this book. If you're a medical or health practitioner interested in integrative medicine, start out with this book. If you're a qigong, taiji or other martial arts practitioner, looking to enhance the effect your art has on your body, read this book! At the very least, consider how affordable and short this text is, compared to so many that attempt to cover the subject. You won't be sorry.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple, Effective, Get this book!, October 25, 2010

By 

Lejla Sestic "Cal" (Monterey, California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Yijing Medical Qigong System: A Daoist Medical I-Ching Approach to Healing (Paperback)

This book covers all the basics of a complete system. A protocol that once internalized through practice will help any healer become more effective. Read it, practice, re-visit. Good luck.