Health Benefits Of Tai Chi

Health Benefits Of Tai Chi

There are many benefits of tai chi. Because tai chi has many facets, different people use tai chi in different ways. Some practice tai chi as a sport. Some do tai chi just for its beauty. And many people (especially in China) practice tai chi as a martial art, using it for self-defense. But in the West, tai chi is best known for its health benefits.

Many of the health benefits of tai chi come simply because tai chi is a form of exercise. Exercise, in general, has been found to have the following benefits:

· weight loss · stress reduction · increase strength · better ability to fight off both short-term and long-term diseases · increased overall health · longer life

So when you do tai chi exercises, you can probably assume that you'll enjoy these benefits.

All exercise can be good for you. Whether or not tai chi exercises are better for you than other types of exercise, however, hasn't been rigorously scientifically tested, but we can make some good guesses about it by looking at how they are different from other exercises.

One way that tai chi exercises may be better for you than other forms of exercise is that they're easier on your body. Tai chi exercises are slow and gentle as most Westerners practice them. ("Fast" tai chi is mostly used in competitions or during use of tai chi as a martial art.) That gives 2 big health benefits of tai chi exercises:

1. They're low-impact, making them especially easy on your joints and internal organs and relatively safe for older people to use.

2. They don't require you to exert yourself (work yourself hard), so even people with heart problems can usually do them (but check with your doctor first). And since tai chi exercises don't raise your heart rate much, that's give you another benefit. Most Western doctors would encourage you to exercise by raising your heart rate because they believe it would help you keep your cardiovascular system healthy. But doctors that practice traditional Chinese medicine have a different opinion. They believe that the human heart can only beat a certain number of times before it wears out. Raising your heart rate makes your heart beat faster. So it logically follows that this will make your heart wear out faster. So to them, it's important to slow down your normal resting heart rate. And you can do that by practicing meditation. Thus the emphasis in Chinese culture on meditation is backed up by Chinese medicine.

I'm not going to debate which side is right here (Western allopathic medicine vs. Chinese medicine). But I believe that all of the other health benefits of tai chi are enough to justify using tai chi. And many other people apparently believe that, too, because tai chi exercises are starting to get really popular in the West.

Tai chi isn't just about exercise. It's about meditation, too. In fact, some people call it "moving meditation." And meditation has many health benefits all by itself. That makes tai chi even better for you in certain ways than regular exercise alone, because it's exercise and meditation all rolled up into one. So if you like to exercise AND meditate, tai chi can save you time by allowing you to do both at once.

Meditation offers you:

· stress reduction · clear thinking · better memory · increased overall health · longer life

Some of the health benefits reported from tai chi (some tested, some not) are:

· reduced stress and anxiety-- probably because exercise causes a natural high, and also because meditation both causes a natural high and decreases stress hormones · increased circulation-- which circulates oxygen and hormones throughout the body so they can be used where they're needed · reduced pain-- probably due both to the increased blood flow and the reduced stress · weight loss-- probably because tai chi is excellent exercise that intensely burns calories; but also because it reduces stress, and stress reduction can cause you to lose weight all by itself · reduced symptoms of ADHD and diabetes-- probably because of the general all-over increase in health due to both exercise and meditation · better mood-- probably due to reduced stress and pain and an overall increase in health · stronger muscles-- from exercise · better balance, reflexes and coordination-- from practicing using these skills during tai chi · better posture-- because proper tai chi practice requires you keep your back straight, which you later do full-time out of habit; and also because tai chi increases your muscle strength in your back and abs, making it easier to keep good posture.

Since tai chi is both a form of exercise and a form of meditation, it's no wonder that people who practice it report so many positive health changes. The health benefits of tai chi are impressive.