What is the Art of Tai Chi?
As people from all walks of life are discovering, Tai Chi is a highly enjoyable way to be relaxed and healthy. Tai Chi brings you inner peace, joy and vitality.
It appears to be a slow, graceful dance, but behind the deceptively simple movements is a wealth of philosophy, medicine and science.
Originally developed as a martial art, Tai Chi is based on fluid movements which relax and stimulate every part of your body.
Tai Chi is about balance and harmony, but most of all it is about human happiness.
What Will Tai Chi Do For You?
With regular practice, you can expect the following benefits:
- stress relief
- greater strength, flexibility and true freedom of movement better balance
- improved posture and relief of back pain
- better circulation
- more energy and stamina
- smooth and deep breathing
- improved concentration and clearer thinking
- heightened general awareness
- a more youthful appearance
- relaxation, inner peace and joy
Why is Tai Chi Practised Slowly?
Slow and smooth movements are safe and beneficial for everyone. They allow people of different ages, capabilities and strength to exercise, each to their own limit, and to become stronger and healthier. It is easy to injure your body if you train fast and hard. Practising slow movements enables you to be more aware of your body and to avoid injury. For example, if you have a back problem or knee condition, with awareness you learn to adjust your body alignment. This allows your body weight to travel through to the ground, instead of being trapped in the lower back or knee, where problems may develop.
Moving slowly improves coordination and balance.
Moving slowly induces relaxation which in turn promotes awareness. Increased sensitivity allows you to feel different parts of your body more acutely and thereby improve coordination and balance.
Coordination at first may just involve the limbs. Then it extends to the waist, the spine, the breath and ultimately, the circulation of chi [internal energy] through the body’s meridian pathways.
Tai Chi is designed to train the body thoroughly and evenly. Slow, smooth and continuous movements relieve muscle tension and train the weak areas of the body, especially the joints, tendons and ligaments.
In Tai Chi, slowness, relaxation and correct alignment enable you to relieve the tension in your muscles, thus allowing the joints to be exercised thoroughly and strengthened gradually. Slow, circular and continuous exercise loosens any stiffness in the joints, resulting in greater freedom of movement. Circulation to the joints will also improve, and so hasten recovery in existing injuries.
In order to experience a deeper level of relaxation, it is necessary for you to build a strong basis. The legs are the first and most important aspect in building this foundation. Many sports people are prone to knee and ankle injuries, in spite of their physical fitness. This training, when it is performed properly and under expert instruction, will greatly strengthen the knee, the most vulnerable joint in the body. Stronger legs will lead to a stronger lower back which will improve your overall posture.
Slow and continuous movements stimulate circulation, which is essential in maintaining your health and vitality.
Slow, relaxed movements calm the mind. For centuries, the Chinese have realised the benefits of slow, natural movements. Practising this way has a calming effect on your mind and nervous system. As your breathing and heart rate slow down, your mind and body feel relaxed, refreshed and energised. This is quite different from hard and fast training which tends to result in tiredness and lack of energy.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, keeping the heart rate low during exercise is more beneficial than accelerating the heart rate. Warming the body while the heart rate remains low is the result of deep mental and physical relaxation.
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