When you go to the gym and hit the weights or take laps at the community park the exercise that you get does a great deal of good for your body. The problem with exercise programs like this is that they are entirely focused on external development. The muscles are developed, excess fat is shed and joints are strengthened, but at a cost. These high impact exercises put stress on the joints that will eventually develop into injury and the increased circulation will wane soon after the session is complete.

The art of neigong however is focused on internal development instead of external development. This is not to say that western exercise routines are not effective. The point is that these routines only touch the surface of development and are out of balance. Until both the external and internal systems are working in harmony, in balance with each other, you will be missing the best part of the exercise. When you practice neigong, either solo or in conjunction with western routines, you can derive the following benefits:

• Improved Flexibility. Low impact movement arts have been shown to help in the treatment of joint injuries and Parkinson's disease.
• Practicing neigong not only improves circulation it unblocks the body's natural energy, which keeps the circulation flowing unblocked.
• In the 21^st century anxiety and depression are all too common. Several of the movement arts, such as tai chi, qigong and neigong are now commonly used in the United States and Europe, as well as China, to treat these disorders.
• Loss of coordination is common among senior citizen, which is the prime calls of falls and even death, and these exercise programs have been shown to drastically improve coordination.
• When your body, breathing and mind are in harmony your focus is sharpened dramatically, which improves your reaction time as well.

These health benefits alone make it worth the effort. But the importance of bringing both the interior and exterior into harmony cannot be stressed enough. When moving through neigong sets the body is exercised, stretched, but without impact and when the breathing and mind's attention are harmonized and the body's natural energies are released we get the full benefit for our efforts. It certainly pays to put Google to work for you and read the research studies about the health benefits of this exercise paradigm.