If you've never done tai chi before, you're likely mystified by the slow, calculated movements and what they can do for your body. But physiological tai chi research, along with many other studies, has repeatedly revealed the many ways in which this practice can benefit your mind and body. No matter what your fitness goals are, how old you are or what your level of physical conditioning is, incorporating tai chi into your health plan can help you in these ways:
Tai Chi Benefits
- Increase Muscle Strength and Flexibility. Similar to yoga and Pilates, tai chi helps tone and strengthen your muscles, giving them a long, lean look. Likewise, the movements increase flexibility, allowing for improved range of movement.
- Reduce Depression and Anxiety. If you suffer from depression or anxiety, you know how much both of these mental health issues can detract from your life. Tai chi stimulates the neurotransmitters of the brain to send feelings of relaxation and pleasure to the body, which enhance your mood and ease anxiety and depression.
- Decrease Stress. As you move your body and relax your mind, stress naturally dissipates. This is due to the reduction of cortisol, a stress hormone, in your body. Physiological tai chi research shows that tai chi is very effective for stress reduction.
- Enjoy Health Improvements. Practicing tai chi can relieve chronic pain and improve your blood pressure. With consistent practice, you'll feel more energetic, sleep better and experience improvements in overall well-being. Older adults can also achieve cardiovascular benefits by practicing tai chi regularly.
Leading Tai Chi Researchers
Researchers are exploring the benefits of Tai Chi from several different perspectives. I have been fortunate to work with three of the leading academic researchers in the field, who all have slightly different specialties.
Dr. Fuzhong Li, of the Oregon Research Institute has published extensively on Tai Chi for falls prevention, balance, and most recently Parkinson's Disease. In October, 2010, he visited Brookline Tai Chi to train our instructors.
Dr. Peter Wayne of Harvard Medical School has developed a Tai Chi protocol that has proven results for a variety of health conditions. He is the author of an upcoming book about the "active ingredients" in Tai Chi. He says,
This book summarizes what the medical research community knows about the clinical health benefits of Tai Chi, for example, Tai Chi's impact on heart disease, balance, psychological well being, and overall quality of life. But it also tries to go a little further, exploring the biological mechanisms that may underlie why Tai Chi is effective for so many conditions. To do this, I've organized the book around what I call "the eight active ingredients of Tai Chi." The grouping of these ingredients reflect both what I've learned is essential in Tai Chi from my many Tai Chi and qigong teachers, and also what I've learned from our Tai Chi research.
You can read more about how Peter lives between the lab and classroom here.
Dr. Cathy Kerr of Brown University is approaching the Tai Chi research problem from a neuroscience point of view. Cathy is fascinated by the ability of the brain to adapt and change and she has long been convinced that the methods and techniques in Tai Chi are designed to access these brain mechanisms directly.
