Beauty, Salon and Spa Blog

For thousands of years, Qigong has been called the secret of youth and longevity, and in his latest book, ‘Instant Health: The Shaolin Qigong Workout For Longevity”, Shifu Yan Lei reveals how these ancient Eastern movements can slow the ageing process down and promote youthful skin from the inside out.”Botox and anti-ageing creams target the external effects of ageing,” says Shifu Yan Lei, world-renowned instructor and author of Instant Health: The Shaolin Qigong Workout For Longevity. “But the reason the skin is ageing is because of what is happening internally. Qigong targets the internal, slowing the ageing process down and promoting youthful skin from the inside out.”

And Chinese scientists back up Yan Lei’s claim. In a recent study they found that these ancient Eastern movements can boost levels of one of the most important ‘anti-ageing’ enzymes in the body.

Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) is an enzyme which protects the cells against damage from superoxide, a highly toxic free radical. Superoxide is a reactive variety of oxygen that can cause ageing of the body’s tissues, including wrinkling and changes in skin pigmentation, in the same way that exposure to air causes food to rot or go stale. SOD is found naturally in the body but as people age, SOD declines.

Scientists divided 200 people into two groups, the Qigong Workout group and the control group. The group who practiced Qigong were shown to have not only significantly increased the level of SOD but also decreased the level of superoxide.

The Qigong Workout takes just twenty minutes every other day can and can be slotted into a regular workout or simply done before taking a shower.

Students usually notice a difference within six weeks of practice. ‘They get their glow back,’ says Yan Lei. ‘They tell me their friends and family can’t stop commenting on how young they look.”

Instant Health: The Shaolin Qigong Workout For Longevity is available from all major book retailers in the USA, Canada, and UK. Also available at qigongworkout.com.

$24.95 £19.95. 232 pages. Paperback.

Shifu (Master) Shi Yan Lei began training at the Shaolin Temple in Henan Province, China, at the age of fourteen. He is among the most respected and renowned teachers of authentic Shaolin. His body, described by Men’s Fitness, as “a physique that has been cut from solid jade” is testament to the power of Shaolin as the ultimate mind-body workout.