Health Benefits of Tai Chi
Tai chi, which consists of slow, balanced, low-impact movements, is not only good for your body, it’s good for your brain, new research shows.
Tai chi originated in China centuries ago as one of the martial arts; it was an outgrowth of the ancient Taoist philosophy, which values tranquility and reflection. The martial side is no longer central to most practitioners. Instead, tai chi combines elements of a workout, meditation, and dance. It involves dozens of postures and gestures, performed in sequences known as “sets” or “forms,” derived from animal movements. It’s a bit like slow-motion karate or “moving meditation.”
To do the sets correctly, you must learn controlled breathing, concentration, how to shift your body weight, and how to relax your muscles. Great claims are made for the benefits of tai chi—that it provides an “inner massage for your organs,” for instance, and that it benefits your heart as much as aerobic exercise. This is not totally farfetched. Studies have long shown that tai chi offers physical and mental benefits for young and old, healthy and less so. It is especially beneficial and safe for older people, even the very old. It’s a good complement to aerobic exercise and weight training.
The new study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, included 120 healthy older people in China. Those who practiced tai chi three times a week for 40 weeks showed 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. Previous research has shown that aerobic activity is good for the brain, but this study suggests that a more gentle form of exercise is also beneficial.
What else tai chi is good for: