Tai-Chi dr bart rademaker my local wellness

15 minutes a day of Tai Chi is a passport to better health, fitness, peace of mind. As an alternative to passive meditation, this is a practice of a series of graceful movements performed in a slow, focused manner, complemented by deep breathing. It is a self-paced practice involving a gentle physical exercise and stretching as each posture flows into the next without pause, ensuring that your body is in constant motion.

Tai chi means great energy a Chinese technique from the 12th century and it cultivates your life force through movement creating enhanced vitality with peace, tranquility, order and control. T’ai Chi promotes psychic balance, diminishes anxiety, increases focus and concentration, and generally supports an overall sense of psychological wellness. It promotes serenity through gentle, flowing movements with low impact and minimal stress on muscles and joints, making it generally safe for all ages and fitness levels.

Benefits:

Moving and breathing

Graceful

Reduces stress

Muscle strengthen

Improved balance, flexibility and agility

Focus

Increased aerobic capacity

Increased energy and stamina

Enhance quality of sleep

Enhance the immune system

Lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure

Improve joint pain

Improve symptoms of congestive heart failure

Improve overall well-being in older adults

Reduce risk of falls in older adults

 

How to get started with tai chi

The physical techniques of t’ai chi ch’uan are described in the “T’ai chi classics”, a set of writings by traditional masters, as being characterized by the use of leverage through the joints based on coordination and relaxation, rather than muscular tension, in order to neutralize, yield, or initiate attacks. The slow, repetitive work involved in the process of learning how that leverage is generated gently and measurably increases, opens the internal circulation (breath, body heat, blood, lymph, peristalsis, etc.).

tai chi dr bart rademaker my local wellness 2

Selected resources

Tai Chi Health www.taichihealth.com

Tai Chi Productions www.taichiforhealth.com

Tree of Life Tai Chi Center www.treeoflifetaichi.com

Books from Amazon:

The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi: 12 Weeks to a Healthy Body, Strong Heart, and Sharp Mind (Harvard Health Publications

BodyWisdom Media: Tai Chi for Beginners

Tai Chi Illustrated

Step-By-Step Tai Chi

 

Medical conditions that can benefit from Tai Chi:

Arthritis.

Low bone density.

Breast cancer.

Heart disease

Heart failure.

Hypertension.

Parkinson’s disease.

Sleep problems

Stroke

Peer Reviewed Articles on Tai Chi:

Arthritis. December 2008 in Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Tai chi twice a week for 12 weeks reduced pain and improved mood and physical functioning more than standard stretching exercises in people with severe knee osteoarthritis

Another study showed significantly improved flexibility and slowed the disease process in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, a painful and debilitating inflammatory form of arthritis that affects the spine.

Low bone density. Osher Research Center and Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

tai chi may be a safe and effective way to maintain bone density in postmenopausal women.

Breast cancer. Medicine and Sport Science 2008

Tai chi has shown potential for improving quality of life and functional capacity (the physical ability to carry out normal daily activities, such as work or exercise) in women suffering from breast cancer or the side effects of breast cancer treatment.

Heart disease. September 2008 Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

tai chi significantly boosted exercise capacity, lowered blood pressure, and improved levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and C-reactive protein in people at high risk for heart disease.

Heart failure. Harvard Medical School,

12 weeks of tai chi improved participants’ ability to walk and quality of life. It also reduced blood levels of B-type natriuretic protein, an indicator of heart failure.

Hypertension. Preventive Cardiology 2008

tai chi lowered blood pressure — with improvements ranging from 3 to 32 mm Hg in systolic pressure and from 2 to 18 mm Hg in diastolic pressure.

Parkinson’s disease. University School of Medicine in St. Louis, published in Gait and Posture (October 2008),

people with mild to moderately severe Parkinson’s disease showed improved balance, walking ability, and overall well-being after 20 tai chi sessions.

Sleep problems. July 2008 issue of the journal Sleep.

112 healthy older adults with moderate sleep complaints, experienced improved the quality and duration of sleep.

Stroke study: January 2009 issue of Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair.

136 stroke experienced improved standing balance compared to other traditional techniques