Health Benefits of Tai Chi Chuan
Attention: Click here to view a mobile-friendly version. Tai Chi is often described as “ meditation in motion ,” but it might well be called “ medication in motion .” As you move, you breathe deeply and naturally, focusing your attention — as in some kinds of meditation — on your bodily sensations. Tai Chi on Balancing Tai chi moves, which involve gradual shifts of weight from one foot to another combined with rotating the trunk and extending the limbs, offer a series of challenges to improve your balance. In 136 patients who’d had a stroke at least six months earlier, 12 weeks of Tai Chi improved standing balance more than a general exercise program that entailed breathing, stretching, and mobilizing muscles and joints involved in sitting and walking. [1,2] Tai chi training appears to reduce balance impairments in patients with mild-to-moderate Parkinson's disease , with additional benefits of improved functional capacity and re...