Qigong practice--mainly standing post meditation--helped me immensely in my successful battles with four bouts of supposedly terminal bone lymphoma cancer in the early nineties. I practiced it as an adjunct to chemotherapy, which is how it should always be used.
Qigong kept me strong in many ways: it calmed my mind--taking me out of the fight-or-flight syndrome, which pumps adrenal hormones into the system that could interfere with healing. It energized my body at a time when I couldn't do Western exercise such as weight-lifting or jogging--the chemo was too fatiguing. And it empowered my will and reinforced it every day with regular practice. In other words, I contributed to the healing process, instead of just depending solely on the chemo and the doctors. Clear 14 years and still practicing!
I learned qigong from Ramel Rones, disciple of Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming. It's very important to learn qigong from a highly-qualified teacher who has learned from a bona fide master with a lineage originating to China. Beware--many self-proclaimed "masters" teach untested qigong!
However, standing post is a difficult sell as it's initially difficult to hold the postures--lactic acid build-up in the shoulders and legs. I stood for an hour a day specifically in the Embrace the Tree/Hold the Ball posture. It's far easier for beginners to use a variety of postures, holding them for five minutes each. A good health set for beginners is outlined in Master Lam's "The Way of Energy." It's the first set in I Chuan.
Bob Ellal
Author, 'By These Things Live: Chronicles of a Four-Time Cancer Survivor'