Can Qigong Be a Tool to Assist Students in Handling COVID-19’s Resulting Academic Stress?

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has increased students’ stress as they may feel under increased pressure to have a good performance and compensate for the disruption to their education. Improving attention levels and learning capacity may assist in ameliorating academic performance. Qigong is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that appears to have positive effects on the management of mental health and may provide tools for coping with stressful situations. This paper explores data obtained while conducting a previous study and includes an excess of data from a total of 44 participants who were previously divided into an experimental Qigong group and a sham Qigong control group. The improvements in specific auditory processing and reaction times may indicate benefits in attention and learning capacity. These improvements were more pronounced in the experimental Qigong group compared to the sham Qigong group. Qigong may be able to assist in improving students’ academic performance and can be easily integrated into physical education classes. It could also assist students to cope with the increased academic pressure resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic context.

Evaluating qigong as integrative support for COVID-19 and Long-COVID-19 rehabilitation: a systematic review

“…Following an initial screening, 115 duplicates were eliminated, and subsequently, 155 records were excluded based on title and abstract. Fifteen studies underwent full-text analysis, of which six were excluded either due to the absence of patients with COVID-19 or Long-COVID-19 symptoms (Li et al, 2022 ; Yang et al, 2022 ; Gonçalves et al, 2023 ; Seiça et al, 2023 ) or because they were not original research articles but rather narrative literature reviews (Feng et al, 2020 ; Mendo et al, 2022 ). Ultimately, nine studies met the criteria for inclusion in this review.…”

“…Particularly in professions like healthcare, where workers are often exposed to high levels of stress and emotional strain, integrating qigong into daily routines can offer a valuable means of self-care and support mental wellbeing (Gutierrez et al, 2023 ; Seiça et al, 2023 ). Similarly, students facing academic pressure and uncertainty can benefit from incorporating qigong practices into their study breaks or daily routines to alleviate stress and improve focus (Li et al, 2022 ; Gonçalves et al, 2023 ). In fact, research shows that physical activity (along with socio-economic status) significantly influenced psychological wellbeing and sleep quality in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic (Rassolnia and Nobari, 2024 ).…”

Aproximación a las categorías: Espiritualidad, Salud y Bienestar. Una mirada hacia las técnicas que las propician

“…En el contexto de pandemia por la COVID-19, se realizaron algunas investigaciones, las cuales revelaron que la práctica de Qigong por parte de la población de adultos mayores mejoró el estado psicoemocional, la cognición y el aprendizaje motor (NIH, 2023); mientras que su realización en la población estudiantil -puede incorporarse en las clases de educación física-, les ayuda en el mejoramiento de los niveles de atención, así como la capacidad de aprendizaje, y por lo tanto contribuye a elevar el rendimiento académico, además de representar una estrategia que podría ayudar a los estudiantes para afrontar la presión académica experimentada en el mencionado contexto (Gonçalves, et al, 2023).…”