T'ai Chi Proven to Give Better Health

The Guardian writes:

Traditional Chinese exercises such as tai chi can offer wide-ranging benefits for people with musculoskeletal disorders, improving physical function, pain, mental health, sleep quality and bone mineral density, according to the largest review of its kind.

More than 1.7bn people have musculoskeletal conditions worldwide. While prevalence varies by age and diagnosis, people of all ages in every country and every continent are affected.

Musculoskeletal conditions significantly limit mobility and dexterity, leading to early retirement from work, lower levels of wellbeing and reduced ability to participate in society. They are also the leading contributor to disability worldwide, with low back pain being the single leading cause of disability in 160 countries.

My first time doing tai chi: ‘It feels like my brain is solving a Rubik’s Cube’

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There was already evidence indicating traditional Chinese exercises were associated with beneficial health outcomes in people with musculoskeletal disorders, but much of it was fragmented and contained inconsistencies.

The overarching review of pooled data analyses of systematic reviews by researchers at hospitals and universities in China, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, drew on 92 data syntheses from 1,744 randomised controlled clinical trials.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/aug/24/largest-review-of-its-kind-confirms-benefits-of-tai-chi-and-other-chinese-exercises?CMP=share_btn_url

Edith Davis Memorial Acupuncture Access Bill Passes Minnesota Legislature

The Equal Access To Acupuncture Act and as a Memorial to Edith R. Davis, Minnesota’s pioneer acupuncturist passes and has been signed by Governor Pawlenty! This act requires health insurers who cover acupuncture delivered by doctors and chiropractors to also reimburse for acupuncture by licensed acupuncturists. The importance of this bill was in allowing the consumer fair access to the practitioners who are most highly trained in the field, the professional licensed acupuncturists. This bill was supported by the acupuncture association, acupuncture schools and the Minnesota Chiropractic Association.

Edith Davis, mother of Great River T'ai Chi director Barbara Davis, was one of Minnesota's pioneer acupuncturists, a founder of the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Association of Minnesota, founder and President of the Minnesota College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, on numerous national acupuncture commissions, founder of the Healing Point Traditional Acupuncture Clinic, and most recently served on the legislative committee of the acupuncture association.

The association wrote, "This bill is dedicated to honor the memory of Edith R. Davis, a pioneering acupuncturist in Minnesota who for the safety of the public, the benefit of the profession and her love of people deemed it necessary that education, certification and licensing of acupuncturists be a fundamental requirement for practice. Edith labored tirelessly until her death at the age of 87, in May 2008. We are forever grateful for her inspiration, her support and her life."