How Qigong Found Me (and Helped Me Find Myself Again)

People say that we don’t change until we hit rock bottom. 

For me, rock bottom arrived in the middle of COVID. 

I had been living with lupus (SLE) for years, but during that season of uncertainty and stress, my body started to send louder signals — the kind you can’t ignore. My autoimmune condition began attacking not only my joints and blood, but my kidneys too. What followed was a sequence of events that felt both surreal and terrifying: a kidney biopsy, complications, emergency surgery, and the kind of physical pain that brings you to the edge. 

And then came the next blow: chemotherapy. 

That made me not just immunocompromised, but extremely immunosuppressed — during a pandemic, at a time when vaccines were still just a promise. 

And even after six rounds, the results still weren’t good. The treatment wasn’t working the way we needed it to, and the possibility of kidney failure (and even a transplant) started to feel very real. 

That’s when the fear really set in. That was the moment I realized I couldn’t keep relying on “pushing through” as my strategy for survival. 

Stress was always the trigger… but I didn’t know how to slow down 

I’ve always known stress was a trigger for my lupus. I was diagnosed after a few years of practicing law in Hong Kong, and I was told to “relax” and reduce stress (as if it were that easy). 

Luckily, I had already started my Masters in Counselling in my third year of practice. After my diagnosis, I left law and eventually began working at a counselling centre in 2015. Counselling was a breath of fresh air — it felt meaningful, human, and aligned. 

But then COVID happened. 

We had just moved to a new country one month before the first case in the world was reported. My husband had started a new job in the travel industry. I was trying to build my own counselling practice. We were also trying to start a family. 

It was a lot. 

And I was doing what so many of us do… pushing through, overthinking, holding it all together. 

The unexpected turning point: meditation… and then qigong 

In the middle of all of this, one of my dear friends reached out and offered free meditation coaching as part of her certification program. 

I jumped at the chance — but I also warned her: 
“I’ve tried meditation before. It doesn’t work for me. I can’t sit still, and I can’t find that elusive stillness everyone talks about.” 

But at that point, what did I have to lose? 

So I said yes. And slowly — truly slowly — something began to shift. 

Not only did I build a meditation practice, but I found myself exploring other healing modalities too: qigong, sound healing, Reiki, crystal healing, and a deeper relationship with nature itself.  

And that was the beginning of my return. 

What Qigong really is (and why it helps so many people) 

Qigong (氣功) is an ancient practice from Traditional Chinese Medicine that works with breath, movement, intention, and awareness to cultivate and regulate qi — our life-force energy. 

In simple terms, qigong helps you reconnect with your body and restore flow where you’ve been holding tension, stress, stagnation, or depletion. 

It’s not about pushing your body harder. 

It’s about learning how to listen — and respond with care. 

Over time, qigong can support: 

• nervous system regulation 

• grounding and emotional steadiness 

• circulation and mobility 

• energy cultivation, vitality and resilience 

• feeling more connected to yourself (and your life) 

For me, it became one of the most reliable ways to come back to myself — especially after everything my body had been through. 

It felt like a moving meditation — instead of a sitting one — and it was perfect for an over-thinker like me. It helped me get out of my head and back into my body in a grounded, gentle way and connect to nature and the universe around me.  

Kidneys, fear, and what I was holding onto 

Around that time, I also learned something in Traditional Chinese Medicine that stayed with me: the kidneys are connected to fear. 

And it hit home. 

I realised I had been living with so much fear in my body for so long — holding it, powering through, trying to stay “strong.” Qigong gave me a way to start moving that energy, releasing what I didn’t need to carry anymore, and coming back into steadiness. It also sparked my interest in learning about the other organ and meridian systems and how I may be contributing to my own dis-ease.  

Qigong helped me take back some sense of control 

I want to be clear: I worked with doctors, I followed my medical treatment plan, and I’m deeply grateful for modern medicine. 

But in my own healing journey, qigong (alongside sound healing) became one of the biggest supports for me after chemo. 

What I loved most was that it helped me take back a sense of control in a time when so much felt uncertain. 

It reminded me that healing isn’t something that only happens to us — it’s also something we can participate in. Through breath, movement, and awareness, I felt like I was supporting (or re-igniting?) my body’s own self-healing intelligence — something every person has, but many of us forget. 

Especially in today’s world, it’s so easy to feel disconnected from ourselves — always busy, overstimulated, and relying on external solutions to “fix” what we’re feeling. Qigong became a simple, consistent way for me to come home to myself again and remember that I’m not powerless in my own health and healing. It helped me shift my mindset from fear and scarcity into surrender and trust.  

And even now, I notice it: in the months where I practice less — when I was tired, busy, overwhelmed, or “too in my head” — I don’t feel as good. My husband will sometimes point it out before I even do — 
“Ah… you’ve been slacking on the qigong this month.” 

And he’s usually right. 

Why I teach Qigong now 

I teach Qigong because I know what it feels like to run on empty — and to feel disconnected from your body. To feel powerless in your life.  

And I also know what it feels like when something begins to shift: 
when you start feeling grounded again, softer again, steadier again. 

Qigong has been a path back to myself — and it’s the practice I return to again and again for vitality, clarity, and balance. 

A gentle invitation 

If you’ve been curious about Qigong — or if you’ve been coming to class and thinking, 
“I love this… but I want to understand it more deeply,” 
then I’m so excited to share that I’ll be guiding a 4-hour Qigong Immersion: Fundamentals & Qi by Numbers at The Yoga House. 

This immersion is designed to help you learn the foundations, understand the why behind what we do in class, and (most importantly) give you plenty of opportunity to actually feel your qi through guided practice. And of course, it will be followed with a sound journey to help you integrate the new information and Qi into your mind and body.  

You can find the details here: https://www.theyogahouse.sg/qigong-immersion-fundamentals-and-qi-by-numbers 

I’d love to practice with you.  

With love, Jeanette