Tai Chi Student Shares Insights....

VJ Mohan
June 14, 2011

Health Benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong

I signed-up for our Tai Chi class in Fall 2010 out of curiosity about this Chinese art form. Since then I have come to personally experience the health and wellness benefits of practicing these exercises. After our class sessions, my body and mind feel at ease, free of stress; and I feel more confident about myself, even after having struggled to learn the forms. I think that the feeling of confidence arises from the elegant warrior-like postures. Further the movements are aesthetically appealing both to perform oneself and to watch others perform.

Ronnie Robinson, a tai chi teacher in UK, lists a number of health benefits of tai chi:[1]
It leads to a healthy body by facilitating the free flow of chi, our vital energy, through our bodies and by balancing the yin and yang energies in our bodies. It helps our internal organs function effectively and strengthens our immune system. Tai chi improves our posture by making us more aware of our body and of how it moves. It relieves stress by training us to breathe deliberately and consciously. It emphasizes letting go physically, psychologically, and emotionally as we focus on our movements. We feel more confident about ourselves as we learn to stand upright and move in a purposeful but relaxed manner. Because tai chi does not require extraordinary strength or skills to do these exercises, it is suitable for all ages including very old people. Tai chi is often called “moving meditation” and, as such, it bestows the benefits of meditation practice on its practitioners; benefits, such as, increased focus and a sense of detachment from our unceasing mental activity.

The claims above sound reasonable when examined intuitively. They also have anecdotal support. However I wanted to see if there was any objective evidence to support the claims of health benefits. I was surprised to find an article in a Harvard health newsletter[2] that lists a number of specific health benefits supported by objective scientific studies conducted in prestigious universities, such as, Stanford University, Harvard University, and Tufts University. These studies suggest that tai chi improves “muscle strength, flexibility, balance, and, to a lesser degree, aerobic conditioning.” They also show that tai chi was helpful in the following medical conditions:

1. Arthritis
2. Low bone density
3. Breast cancer
4. Heart disease
5. Heart failure
6. Hypertension
7. Parkinson’s disease
8. Sleep problems
9. Stroke.

That is an impressive list, especially for such an easy-going and beautiful exercise practice, isn’t it?

In addition, the website of the prestigious Mayo Clinic says, “preliminary evidence suggests that tai chi may offer numerous benefits beyond stress reduction, including:

o Reducing anxiety and depression
o Improving balance, flexibility and muscle strength
o Reducing falls in older adults
o Improving sleep quality
o Lowering blood pressure
o Improving cardiovascular fitness in older adult
o Relieving chronic pain
o Increasing energy, endurance and agility
o Improving overall feelings of well-being.”[3]

All this evidence should make everyone sign-up for the tai chi class right away.



[1] Ronnie Robinson, Total Tai Chi (London: Duncan Baird, 2009) 28-29.

[2] “The health benefits of tai chi,” Harvard Women's Health Watch, May 2009, http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Womens_Health_Watch/2009/May/The-health-benefits-of-tai-chi, accessed June 13, 2011.

[3] “Tai chi: Discover the many possible health benefits,” Mayo Clinic, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/tai-chi/SA00087, accessed June 13, 2011.

[Posted by Douglas Young with permission of the author.]