The Effects of Zhan Zhuang Qigong on Mental Health: A Narrative Review

<p>Mental health is a fundamental component of overall well-being, influencing quality of life (QOL), productivity, and stress adaptation and not only the absence of mental illness. The World Health Organization argues that transforming mental health means strengthening its promotion and prevention at all stages of life and harnessing new, innovative and cost-effective tools (healthy choices, diet, breathing, exercise, arts and craft) to be adopted by the governments’ health agendas and disseminated among the key environments, such homes, communities, schools and workplaces.<br>The effect of Traditional Chinese Exercises (TCEs) such as Tai Chi and Qigong has been widely studied for its physical and mental benefits. Zhan Zhuang, a Qigong practice based on maintaining static postures, has been receiving attention for promoting well-being, but its impact on mental health remains unexplored. This narrative review examines existing evidence on the effects of Zhan Zhuang in promoting psychological well-being. <br>The methodology of this review included a literature search in scientific databases such as Pub-Med, ScienceDirect, ResearchGate.net and Scholar.Google.pt, covering clinical studies, me-ta-analyses, and historical texts from Traditional Chinese Medicine. Preliminary findings sug-gest that Zhan Zhuang may reduce stress, alleviate symptoms of anxiety and depression, and en-hance emotional resilience. However, methodological limitations in existing studies highlight the need for more rigorous research, including randomised clinical trials. This review under-scores the potential of Zhan Zhuang as a complementary approach to mental health and empha-sises the importance of further studies to clarify its effectiveness, mechanisms of action, and op-timal practice parameters</p>