Tai Chi Tuesday: 'Medication in Motion,' According to Harvard

Just how good is tai chi?

Harvard Women's Health Watch heralds it as "medication in motion" and calls it an exercise that can be done by anyone with any fitness and health level. Here's an excerpt from "The Health Benefits of Tai Chi," originally published in May 2009:

Tai chi is often described as "meditation in motion," but it might well be called "medication in motion." There is growing evidence that this mind-body practice, which originated in China as a martial art, has value in treating or preventing many health problems. And you can get started even if you aren't in top shape or the best of health.

Don't be intimidated by some of the language or culture that might be very different than what you may have been exposed to, the article continues.

Tai chi helps provide muscle strength, flexibility, balance and aerobic conditioning.

Also, consider tai chi if you have (or have a family history of) any of these diseases:

• Arthritis
• Low bone density
• Breast cancer
• Heart disease
• Heart failure
• Hypertension
• Parkinson's disease
• Sleep problems
• Stroke

Find a tai chi class near you and start on the path to health and wellness today.

Tai Chi Tuesday: Therapeutic Benefits of Tai Chi

You know tai chi is good for you. Now you can list the reasons to encourage your friends and cohorts to join you at your Tai Chi class. Kansas City's Golden Guide offers a handy list of how tai chi benefits your health.

I've already highlighted a few of the benefits, including:

• Heart health. In a National Institutes of Health study, Dr. Gloria Yu concluded, "Preliminary evidence suggests that meditative exercise may have benefits for patients with chronic systolic heart failure." 
• Improving bone density. Exercise is crucial to bone health, according to the Institute for Better Bone Health — and tai chi is an excellent source of exercise.
• Boosting brain power.  The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease did a study of 120 healthy older people in China. Those who practice this "moving meditation" techniques three times a week for 40 weeks shows increases in brain volume, as seen on MRI, as well as improvements on several tests of memory and learning, compared to those not doing the exercise who had normal age-related brain shrinkage.  (From the University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, December 2012.)

Here's another:

• Tai Chi appears to be associated with improvements in psychological well-being — including reduced stress, anxiety, depression and mood disturbance, and increased self-esteem. A Tufts University study U.S. National Library of Medicine reviewed data on eight U.S. databases and three Chinese databases. Read the study to find out more.

Find a tai chi class near you — and invite a friend to join you. You'll be glad you did.