Tai Chi

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Tai Chi - Burn Calories, Dump Stress, Boost Immune Function - Without

Sweating

Category: Obesity/Overweight/Fitness News

Article 31 Oct 2005

 

 

 

 

 

According to a twenty-year study by Kaiser Permanente, between

seventy and eighty-five percent of illness is caused by stress,

meaning that in the U.S. alone stress is costing us about one-

trillion dollars per year in healthcare costs. Since most absenteeism

is due to stress, US business is losing upwards of $300 billion per

year.

 

On a more personal level, it is disturbing to realize that aging is

accelerated by stress, and stress is a growing issue with all of us.

Studies show that change is stressful, even " good " change. So as we

computer jockeys settle into the saddle of a new age of rapidly

changing information, we need an edge that can help us stay healthy,

sane, " younger " and more vibrant, even as we are often at the very

center of the hurricane of modern change, such as keeping up with new

hardware and software.

 

Ironically an ancient mind/body tool provides the perfect balm for

our generation's modern problems -- it is called " Tai Chi "

(pronounced tie-chee). T'ai Chi is a gentle series of relaxing

motions that cleanse the body's tissue of accumulated stress and, by

doing so, boosts all aspects of our health systems. According to

emerging research boosting the immune system's strength dramatically,

while reducing the incidence of depression, anxiety, and even

reducing chronic pain conditions, are just a few of T'ai Chi's myriad

benefits.

 

What makes ancient T'ai Chi the perfect modern balm is that it

doesn't require special facilities or clothing, and doesn't even make

you break a sweat, meaning you can do it in office attire in an empty

boardroom just by kicking off your heels. Yet, it provides the same

euphoria of a long run, the cardiovascular benefit of moderate impact

aerobics, and burns nearly as many calories as downhill skiing.

 

Our time is filled with paradox. A problem in this modern age stems

from the great promise of the information age -- a tidal wave of data

being created by and offered to our " left brain " ; that part of our

minds that is analytical, calculating, and categorizing the world. Of

course, this is a powerful and important part of who we are. This is

the part of the mind that gets things done, pays the rent, builds the

houses, and makes the cars. Our " right brain, " however, is getting

left behind in our rapidly changing techno-world, and this imbalance

of thought processes is at the heart of modern stress.

 

Our right brain is the feeling, smelling, sensing . . . enjoying part

of the mind. This is the part of the mind that smells the flowers,

not to analyze the smell, but to be filled with its beauty -- and

this is the part that has been left behind in the digital world. When

we go to the cyber mall, for example, our right brain doesn't get to

play. The cyber mall is a wonderful thing that saves us time, money,

and gas for our cars (and thereby saves the environment), but there

are no Auntie Anne's Pretzels to smell in cyberspace, or warm

sunlight streaming in through the big skylights.

 

So what do we do? We get the best of both worlds. T'ai Chi is a

series of exercises to balance the mind. T'ai Chi teaches us to

experience life for sheer pleasure, thereby creating balance in our

busy " get things done yesterday " world. If you learn T'ai Chi and

practice in the morning before you sit down at your computer, your

right brain (the sensing and enjoying brain) will be turned on more.

You will feel the texture of your computer keys. You will remember to

take the time to get a nice cup of green tea or herbal cinnamon spice

tea, and you'll interrupt your staccato keyboard occasionally to

smell the tea's rich aroma, feel the warmth in your hands, and

breathe the breath of life deeply into your lungs.

 

Although you are at the cutting edge of the information age

revolution, you are also in the garden of life. This will give you an

edge in the long run. Why? Because chronic stress diminishes our

cognitive skills and therefore, our creativity.

 

Einstein said, " Creativity is more important than knowledge. " Even if

we have the world's knowledge at our fingertips, if we are too

stressed out to use the knowledge " creatively, " we are much less

effective. Plus, we're not as much fun!

 

The bottom line is T'ai Chi is a set of exercises to practice

enjoying life. It's not enough just to say, " I'm going to enjoy life

more. " We actually have to practice mind/body tools that can

positively affect our brain wave activity, in an integrative way, as

T'ai Chi is proven to do.

 

T'ai Chi is an extremely sophisticated mind/body science that evolved

over millennia, and is now being made available to all of us after

centuries of being closely guarded secrets in China. Even though the

practices are ancient, they are in many ways just as cutting edge as

the multi-gigabyte computer.

 

Don't just be " cutting edge " with your left-brain. Go all the way and

stretch the envelope with your right brain, too, by weaving T'ai Chi

into your life. You will be forever glad you did, as you discover

balance and calm in the eye of the modern world's ever accelerating

storm of changes rushing at us.

 

Copyright 2005 - by Bill Douglas, Founder of World Tai Chi & Qigong

Day

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bill Douglas is the Tai Chi Expert at DrWeil.com, Founder of World

T'ai Chi & Qigong Day (held in 50 nations each year), and has

authored and co-authored several books including a #1 best selling

Tai Chi book The Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi & Qigong. Bill's

been a Tai Chi source for The Wall Street Journal, New York Times,

etc. You can learn more about Tai Chi & Qigong, search a worldwide

teachers directory, and also contact Bill Douglas at

http://www.worldtaichiday.org