The Theoretical Side of Guo Lin’s Anti-Cancer Walk: How and Why It Works

By John Voigt

This entry is a continuation of The Anti-Cancer Walk …Guo Lin New Qigong Therapy which appeared in Chinese Medicine Living, May 30, 2019.

[Walking] Qigong readjusts the mind, the body, and the breathing. The peace of mind, the strong motive and faith to get well, combined with all the benefits from this holistic exercise, promote the body's neuroendocrine systems to adapt to the new mental and physical changes, which in turn triggers the immune system to function at higher and more competent levels. The end result is increased resistance to fight off diseases.
Source.  http://www.orientalhealing.net/archive/03282000-2.html

Guolin Qigong can also transport our internal qi, dredge the meridians, harmonize the blood, improve the circulation, and adjust the balance of yin and yang in our body. Therefore, through practice, we can achieve self-regulation and self-repair in the body. This will improve the body's resistance. Our immune function is improved, it can cure cancer, but also prevent cancer.
Source.  http://www.guolinqigong.net/site/index.php?cat=18&page=16

Disclaimer. This article is not offered as a cure for cancer or any other illness. It is meant only for educational purposes. If you are sick, you must seek proper medical care. However, in the author’s opinion additionally to any standard western health providers, it is suggested that a person have a qualified licensed and skilled Traditional Chinese Medicine professional on their health team. Western Medicine can cure; Traditional Chinese Medicine can heal. Use them both, and then judge accordingly by the results, and not by the hearsay or propaganda. Contraindications: “Guo Lin Qigong is not suitable for the treatment of acute diseases, infectious diseases, trauma, mental illness and so on.” From: Guo Lin Qigong Training and Guidance 100 Questions.
Source.  http://www.maisondelamedecinechinoise.com/%E9%83%AD%E6%9E%97%E6%B

We will now briefly examine the following theoretical foundations of healing in Guo Lin New Qigong:

1. Oxygen enrichment Breathing.
2. Relaxation and Peaceful Thinking.
3. Bioelectricity and healing energetics.
4. Social gatherings as healing modalities.
5. Acupressure Points and Meridians.
6. Meaning.

Additionally, contact information for worldwide Guo Lin Associations, and more about Guo Lin’s life and powerful creative personality will be offered at the article’s end..

1. Oxygen Enrichment Breathing.

Guo Lin taught: An important cause of cancer is when the body, or a region of the body, is deprived of adequate oxygen supply at the tissue level. This condition is known as hypoxia. That is why I created my “wind breathing method” [i.e., inhale-inhale-exhale, repeat] where a large amount of oxygen is inhaled during the practice of my Walking Qigong. This encourages immune cells to destroy cancer cells. This is best practiced during all four seasons of the year, outdoors in clean air. It is important that the breathing be done without any exertion and that body movements are loose and natural; and that the mind is silenced. The length and intensity of the practice are dictated by the physical condition of the person. It is also necessary to study the theory of my new qigong therapy with a verified master. [Taken in part from “Why Does Guo Lin Qigong Fight Cancer?”
  http://www.360doc.com/content/18/0124/11/2901197_724675042.shtml . And from “[Guo Lin Qigong] Guo Linxin Qigong Therapy for the Scientific Mechanism of Cancer Treatment, Zhou Guangqing, Ph.D., editor.”
 http://www.51-kf.com/plus/view.php?aid=806

2. The Mental Aspect: Relaxation, and Peaceful Positive Thinking.

Guo Lin repeatedly taught that the most important aspect of her qigong was relaxation: “The whole emphasis in this practice is relaxing.” …. “Relaxation is the core of all qigong, and [my] Guo Lin Qigong in no exception.” Guolin New Qigong: An Introduction; 2.1.2, p. 14.  http://www.cllam.com/contents/contenthtml/SSW-Doc/0804kuolin.pdf

Guo Lin also often emphasized that patients should constantly practice having a still peaceful mind where they exclude all distracting thoughts. She wrote:

For our healing work this is so important because the impact of negative emotions is another cause of the disease. Emotional depression can lead to a decline in the immune function and accelerate the death of cancer patients. I repeatedly stress to my counselors the need to listen and understand the thinking and emotions, as well as the pains and sufferings, of their patients; then to make a supreme effort to resolve such negative thinking by guiding them in increasing their mental confidence in an increased belief in the success of their fight against the disease.

Source.  ftpguolinxqg.cl543.4everdns.com

3. Bioelectricity and Healing Energetics.

Guo Lin taught that the potential of the bioelectric voltage of tumors is always lower than that of normal cells; and that people who practice qigong can produce a kind of magnetic static electricity. It has been reported in the medical literature that if treated with this positive potential magnetism, a cancerous tumor may disappear. The secret of this cancer treatment is that it mobilizes human bioelectricity through scientific practice methods [of breath, movement, and meditation], and uses this bioelectricity to transform puerile cancer cells into mature normal cells, and cancerous tumors disappear without a trace. Cancer patients recover rapidly, spontaneously, unconsciously and without pain.
Source.  http://www.51-kf.com/plus/view.php?aid=806

4. Social Gatherings - Oncology.

(“Oncology” means the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Humans interacting with other humans in ways to promote recovery from cancer is known as “Social Oncology.”) Guo Lin was instrumental in introducing the practice of social oncology to many hundreds of thousands of people in China. [For further information about Guo Lin and social oncology see Dr. Jerry Alan Johnson. “Medical Qigong Therapy and Clinical Oncology.”
  https://www.daoistmagic.com/articles/2017/12/15/medical-qigong-therapy-and-clinical-oncology and Roger Jahnke. The Healer Within, pp.168-170.

It is not going too far afield to say that if Guo Lin did not invent social oncology, at least she, and those who followed after her, developed its techniques so that hundreds of thousands of people began practicing it: They have Walking Qigong gatherings and yearly reunions in many Chinese cities, where ex-cancer patients come to sing, dance and talk about their experiences.

The atmosphere is always very alive, optimistic and at times dramatic when they describe what they have been through before discovering Walking Qigong. John Dolic. Qi Gong Chinese Health.
 http://www.qigongchinesehealth.com/walking_qigong

Group Singing as a healing modality. Throughout Asia, Guo Lin Anti-Cancer groups perform singing social oncology in a variety of ways. For example, here is the “Song of Cancer” performed by the Malaysian Guolin Qigong Research Association.
 http://www.guolinqigong.net/site/index.php?cat=48 .

Here are the words of the song translated into English:

You don’t have to be sad when you find out you have cancer.
You should not delay the surgical operation when it is needed.
Radiotherapy and chemotherapy have to be carried out timing.
Drink Chinese herbs as it helps strengthen the immunity system.
Don’t go for any improper treatment. Practice Guo Lin Qigong unceasingly.
Your recovery will bring great happiness to the entire family.

Guo Lin Qigong Dance.

Here the formal movements of qigong become transformed into a seemingly ritualistic dance performed by members of the Malaysian Guolin Qigong Research Association for their 20th anniversary and 3rd Cancer Warrior Celebration during 2013 in Xiandu, Kuala Lumpur. 郭林气功舞蹈 – [Guo Lin Qigong Dance]. YouTube.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc5dcisj0w4

Note: For more examples in pictures and text of such colorful musical and dancing social oncology go to Jinan Anti-cancer Club 2013 Spring Festival Gala  http://www.jncajlb.xinwen365.com/710.htm

5. Acupressure Points and Meridians.

The Guo Lin Walking Qigong opens important acupuncture points in the palms of the hands and in the Gall Bladder channel (meridian) near the hip joints. The lifting of the toes opens the Kidney- 1 points. Lifting and stepping down on the heels opens the Yang Heel vessel, called the Yang Qiao Mai.
 https://tcmwiki.com/wiki/yang-qiao-mai.

This extra-ordinary meridian tones and regulates the flow of Qi that connects to many other important life-energy channels. [More at “Guolin Qigong.”  http://albanycomplementaryhealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Guolin-Qigong.pdf]

Yang Heel Vessel. Source: https://tcmwiki.com/wiki/yang-qiao-mai .

6. Meaning and Importance.

A basic factor that triggers healing is the meaning and importance that a person consciously or subconsciously gives to
the medical procedures that they are undergoing. Traditional Chinese scholars might explain this by saying that life energy is led and guided by what the mind is thinking—(as in vital qi follows mental intention). This is about the power of the mind, the power of imagination, and the power of the will. The power to heal is something that we ourselves have; it is not something only possessed by a doctor, druggist, or surgeon. (This relates to the power of belief and faith, and not to the negative filled connotations of such words “placebo.”)

Each of the components of Guo Lin New Qigong carry at least one positive meaning. Doing the walking exercises in a public park, early in the morning, with like-minded people, often dressed in a semi-official Guo Lin uniforms, moving qi in the body and ridding the body of pernicious qi, all create a meaningful sense of doing something worthwhile that will aid in the
conquering of a vicious disease. Add to this, working [usually] under a charismatic hard working and able leader to create even more belief in that its practitioners will once again become healthy. And even more so, all this directly connects to doing a qigong created by Guo Lin who brought herself back from certain death by doing the same qigong that you and those around you are now doing. Guo Lin, a woman who put her life in danger in adverse political situations, and brought her no-cost health treatment, largely independent from any governmental or medical industry control, to people throughout China.
It is no surprise that participating in such a grand communal ritual of striving together to gain personal health creates an overflowing sense of personal meaning which dramatically increases the potential of any healing effect.

And even if death is inevitable, the calming and relaxing exercises of Guo Lin Qigong done with other people in similar situations, in a natural setting, with a meaningful possibility and hope that life itself can be somewhat extended, can
create a sense of pleasurable wellbeing even as a person’s life draws to a close. Worldwide Guo Lin Associations. Given the legal difficulties, especially in the United States, in practicing any cancer healing modality that is outside accredited hospitals or governmental approved practices, it is difficult to find trained Guo Lin Qigong instructors and healers. However, the International Guolin Qigong Culture Research Association based in Hong Kong has a web site in English that does list worldwide organizations.
 http://www.guolinqigonghk.com/contactus_en.html

More About Guo Lin:

During the dangerous time of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) with its continual personal criticism and life-threatening harassment, Guo Lin applied for and was granted a visa to come to the United States to live with her daughter. But she changed her mind; later she wrote why: I suddenly thought that Qigong was one of the treasures of the motherland's medicine. I saw many patients suffering from pain, and determined to bear the burden of humiliation. I resolutely withdrew my application abroad and became more active in qigong cancer treatment [and] practice. New Qigong therapy has been repeatedly validated in many cancer and chronically ill patients, saying that it has a unique therapeutic effect and that Guo Lin has explored a new path for Qigong to strengthen the body.
Source.  http://qigong.blog125.fc2.com/blog-date-201404.html

More information is at "Recall Guo Lin" written by her husband, Lin Xiao.  www.kangaiweb.com

Source: Today in History  http://history.04007.cn/en.php/HisMain/11443.html

Guo Lin with her husband Lin Xiao. They married in Macau when she was a teacher and he a student on December 8, 1941—one day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Source: https://wemp.app/posts/cfa28107-cdec-4b7b-a86d-f81e1cee09b0?utm_source=latest-posts

David A. Palmer. Qigong Fever. Columbia University, offers extensive information about Guo Lin, her work, and the China in which she found herself
 https://books.google.co.cr/books?id=RXeuibmD2dsC&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=guo%20lin&f=false

Guo Lin was also a famous landscape painter and art educator. Here is a picture of her at work:

 Source: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_55da355b0102wvr8.html

Here is one of them:

More of her paintings may be seen at www.dealshaker.com

Concluding Comments

This entry is no more than a short introduction of Guo Lin’s anti-cancer walking qigong to an English-speaking audience. In actuality her complete “New Qigong” Therapy is composed of much more than the one set of coordinated steps, arm swings and breathing as presented in this article—(although that regime is what is most commonly found in books and on YouTube. However, the reality is that are at least twenty-six kinds of her qigong that are applied to help heal different diseases. For example there is Stick Rolling Exercises;
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRBwHi7EtWI and the vocal techniques of “Guo Lin Qigong Expelling Sounds”
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9X7P8gBNRY&t=681s .

Space limitations and the author’s limited abilities prevented any exposition here of that important information. And as always, consult your physician—trained in western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, or preferably both—before commencing this or any other exercise program.

by Emma