Tai Chi & Qi Gong - The Perfect Exercise?

[Guest guest]

Daily Health Headlines.

 

Tai Chi & Qigong have exploded across the media landscape recently.

Time Magazine in an article on Tai Chi benefits called Tai Chi the

perfect exercise. While The Wall Street Journal recently did a front

page lifestyle story entitled [Qigong] The Next Yoga: A Sweat Free

Workout Tiger Woods Secret Weapon?

 

So, why all the buzz on Tai Chi & Qigong? Partly because todays high

stressed fast moving population is seeking, not only health &

fitness, but serenity. Serenity may sound superficial in todays busy

world, but that aspect of Tai Chi, may be why it is increasingly

utilized in healthcare, corporate wellness, education, and even in

prison and drug rehabilitation programs.

 

The current hubbub about Tai Chi & Qigong may be that we are only

now seeing the breaking of a tsunami wave of growing evidence

unearthed by western medical research that has been quietly building

for the last decade. Qigong is a Traditional Chinese medical/health

practice that directly translated means breathing exercise, or

energy exercise. Tai Chi is a sophisticated form of moving qigong,

which involves a series of choreographed movements done in a relaxed

and flowing way. Both have gained increasing attention by western

medical researchers in the last decade that has been gaining steam,

and resulted in more research dollars going toward discovering their

benefits. The National Institute of Mental Health has increased

funding to further research these ancient, yet modern, health

techniques.

 

A couple of such studys findings, one a ten year study through

Harvard, Yale, and Emory Universities, stunned researchers when they

discovered that the gentle, slow, relaxing, low impact Tai Chi

improved the balance of practitioners profoundly, reducing their

risk of falling by 47.5%. Another found that Tai Chi offered

significant cardiovascular benefits, roughly the same benefits as

moderate impact aerobics. Yet, another study sited in the Hawaii

Medical Journal asserted that Tai Chi increased breathing capacity

and relieved back and neck aches in practitioners.

 

The pain relief and low impact aspects of Tai Chi was good news for

everyone, but offered even more hope for those suffering from

rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Tai Chi being a weight bearing exercise

offered the potential advantages of stimulating bone growth and

strengthening connective tissue. The only concern was if they (RA

sufferers) could handle a weight bearing exercise without

exacerbation of joint symptoms. The American Journal of Physical

Medicine and Rehabilitation reported on a study that found RA

sufferers practicing a specially tailored form of Tai Chi suffered

no significant exacerbation of joint symptoms. This was great news,

not just for RA sufferers but for all maturing baby boomers looking

for a health regimen that is kind to the joints.

 

Surprisingly, given its gentle nature, Tai Chi burns a significant

amount of calories as well, 280 per hour. To understand how

significant this is, realize that down-hill skiing burns about 350

per hour. Yet, Tai Chi is gentle enough to be done in business

clothes in the office without even breaking a sweat. Which is one

reason Tai Chi and Qigong are increasingly being used in corporate

wellness programs. However, there are perhaps even more important

reasons Tai Chi is being used, not only in corporate wellness, but

health care, education, and even prisons and drug rehabilitation

institutions.

 

Tai Chi provides a grouping of benefits that helps: reduce

productivity losses in employees; may reduce health care costs

preemptively; enable students to focus; and also empower those

rehabilitating from drug abuse, etc;. to evolve more healthy

productive lifestyles. This is the result of mood homeostasis Tai

Chi practice fosters. The Journal of Psychosomatic Research reports

a Tai Chi studys findings, [Test Subjects] reported less tension,

depression, anger, fatigue, confusion and state-anxiety; they felt

more vigorous, and in general they had less total mood disturbance.

 

Given that 70 to 85% of illness sending patients to the doctor are

rooted in unmanaged stress, and that U.S. business is estimated to

be losing upwards of $300 billion annually due to unmanaged stress,

Tai Chis potential mood-stabilizing benefits are gaining increasing

attention. Also in education, the rise in ADD and ADHD symptoms in

our nations youth, has peaked interest in Tai Chi by some education

professionals. This may be partly due to a recent study from the

University of Miami School of Medicine finding that Tai Chi provided

substantial symptom reduction in students suffering from Attention

Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)..

 

In light of the multi-dimensional benefits these ancient health

practices offer, which are now being validated by modern health

research, Time Magazines description of Tai Chi as the perfect

exercise, may be a very accurate description for this ancient

mind/body health technique.

 

Bill Douglas is the Tai Chi Expert at www.DrWeil.com, and is Founder

of World Tai Chi & Qigong Day www.worldtaichiday.org (celebrated

annually in 60 nations, and recognized by the United Nations World

Health Organization.) He is the author of the internationally best

selling Tai Chi book, The Complete Idiots Guide to Tai Chi & Qigong,

and presenter in the DVD/video series, Tai Chi & Qigong: The

Prescription for the Future.

 

Attilio