Tai Chi: It May Be Good for What Ails You
The practice of tai chi originated in China thousands of years ago as a series of slow, gentle, contemplative bodily exercises geared largely toward improving one’s emotional self-control and the demanding physical skills required by practitioners of the martial arts. Today, an abundance of scientific research supports the widely held opinion that tai chi—now practiced by millions of Americans—is a valuable mind-body regimen that, if practiced routinely, can be of significant help in alleviating a wide variety of physical and mental disorders for elderly as well as younger men and women.
“I would describe tai chi as mindful exercise whose components include meditation, physical movement, balance, and awareness of body position and breathing,” says Helen Lavretsky, MD, professor-in-residence and director of the Late-life Mood, Stress and Wellness program at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. “The physical exercises involve low-impact, moderate-intensity movements that are suitable for a diverse patient population with regard to age, gender, and health status. When you practice tai chi, you maintain your awareness of body position and breathing. You learn to be in charge of your attention and to exclude any distracting worries.”
Potential benefits
During a tai chi session, which can last anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour or more, the practitioner fully engages his or her mind and body in a series of graceful postures and slow-motion exercises. Each of these exercises carries an enticingly descriptive name, such as “strum the harp,” “grasp the sparrow’s tail,” “cloud hands,” “white crane spreads its wings,” and “step back to repulse monkey.” While the pattern of movements differs in each exercise, all of them focus on what Dr. Lavretsky refers to as “the body muscle core”—the pelvis, hips, and torso. “If you strengthen these muscles,” she says, “your balance becomes more secure and you become more aware of how your body works and how it moves.”
In addition to improving agility, tai chi is effective in relieving pain. “Very frequently,” Dr. Lavretsky notes, “physical pain results from inactivity, and non-use of a specific muscle group will cause even more pain over time. So the key is to increase the flexibility of your muscles and joints. In addition, tai chi teaches you to draw your attention away from your pain, which may result in decreased intensity of that pain. Your focus is entirely on your breath and movement, which can be very relaxing and can reduce anxiety and stress reactions.”
Tai chi’s benefits extend beyond the improvement of agility and the relief of physical pain. “While practicing the sequence of poses,” says Dr. Lavretsky, “you are no longer ruminating about circumstances that are making you unhappy. These exercises relieve stress by teaching you to control your mind and your worries. Tai chi gives you tools for stress reduction to be used at home at any time of the day.”
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