"6 Benefits of Tai Chi for Your Health"

 


A great article on the benefits of tai chi:

"My senior year of college, a friend and I signed up for a tai chi class offered on campus. We thought it would be an entertaining hour or two every week, and it gave us a few extra course credits. But a week or two in, I realized that the classes were actually something I really loved and valued as a part of my week. I looked forward to the few hours each week where I got to calm my mind and move my body at the same time." Read the whole article at Mother Earth News.

Explore the Many Benefits of Tai Chi

A recent article in the Marlborough, New Zealand newspaper gives a great look at why tai chi practice is good for you.
"Seventy-year-old Lynda Neame said she started modified tai chi classes in 2008 after suffering from concussion, which caused vertigo and dizziness. "I thought I would learn how to stand up straight, walk in a straight line and get control of myself." The benefits proved more extensive.
Mrs Neame also suffered from osteoarthritis and had resigned herself to gradual loss of mobility because of the pain in her shoulders, legs and hips.
"I spent an hour recovering after half an hour in the garden and thought `this will be my life'."
But with the tai chi, she can now also enjoy pilates, bike riding, swimming and her beloved gardening."

How can tai chi benefit you? Find out at classes this fall at Great River Tai Chi. Our beginners' classes will be held Sundays, starting September 18th, at 6 pm, 1940 Hennepin Av. S. 2F. Tuition is $150 for ten weeks of class.

Great River Tai Chi Featured on KARE-11

Great River T'ai Chi was featured in a KARE-11 story about the use of t'ai chi to help fend off the flu.
"A small study out of the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, published in the American Journal of Chinese Medicine says that for older adults, five months of moderate T'ai Chi practice helped improve the efficacy and duration of the flu vaccine.
That doesn't surprise Barbara Davis, director of Great River T'ai Chi in Minneapolis. 'Not at all. Because I felt that in myself, when I began T'ai Chi, before I did T'ai Chi, I was usually getting five colds a year. And as soon as I began studying, it went down to maybe one a year. So I felt the benefits in myself and I see it in my students as well.'
T'ai Chi has also been shown in other studies to reduce fall prevention in older adults." Read the story here or view the video. See story on research report below.

October Tai Chi Practice Notes

Fighting off the flu and colds is made easy by practicing t'ai chi. Concentrate on loosening the shoulders and upper back to let the ch'i move through more easily. Let the breathing come from the belly (the dantian area specifically). Good alignment will enhance this. A few minutes each morning and evening is all it takes.