Research Article

Effects of Qigong Training on Health-Related Quality of Life, Functioning, and Cancer-Related Symptoms in Survivors of Nasopharyngeal Cancer: A Pilot Study

Table 1

Qigong exercise protocol.

Exercise typeDuration

Warm-up: jogging 5 minutes
18 Forms Tai Chi Internal Qigong [5]40 minutes
(1) Raising the arms and pressing down
(2) Opening the chest
(3) Painting a rainbow from side to side
(4) Separating the clouds with two arms
(5) Rolling the arms in a horse-riding stance
(6) Rowing the boat
(7) Carrying a ball in front of the shoulders
(8) Turning around to look at the moon
(9) Twisting the waist and pushing the palms
(10) Cloud hands in a horse-riding stance
(11) Scooping the sea and searching the sky
(12) Pushing waves in walking stance
(13) Flying dove spreads its wings
(14) Punching in horse stance
(15) Flying like wild geese
(16) Rotating a flying wheel
(17) Stepping whilst bouncing a ball
(18) Pressing down to balance the chi
Additional NPC-targeted exercises40 minutes
(1) Arms cross in front and curl up the body
(2) Place hands behind the neck
(3) Olfactory stimulation (e.g., breathe in slowly
  and deeply, imagine smelling a flower)
(4) Inner ear stimulation (e.g., different head and neck
  movements)
(5) Oral and swallowing exercise (e.g., use the tip of the
  tongue to massage the maxilla and swallow
  saliva bit by bit)
(6) Mouth-opening exercise and make sounds with
  the throat
Cooldown: gentle whole-body stretching 5 minutes