Eight Ways Tai Chi Can Help
Tai Chi Can Help You
Whether you practice Tai Chi on your own or in a group, you can experience many benefits.
You move like quiet mist rolling over high mountains when you do Tai Chi. A person who does Tai Chi is called a “player” of Tai Chi. You play Tai Chi like a game or a song that brings you into natural way of being. Your natural self is not just you being quiet: it’s you sensing and being and feeling a part of the whole of existence. It is why we say that playing Tai Chi is about being part of something bigger. It is being a part of life. This can be very healing.
Here are the Eight Ways Tai Chi Can Help
With its characteristic slow and strong movements combined with an intentional mind focus, Tai Chi can transform you. Tai Chi works on you on many levels, mind and body. Here are the ways Tai Chi helps you:
Deep states of relaxation and flow take your body into healing spaces that feel safe.
Sharpening mind focus can happen after consistent and regular practice.
Getting to know your internal experience so that you can do things like balance on one foot or know your bodily signals like hunger, thirst, tiredness or alertness. This is hard for a lot of us, and these skills can translate to better self-regulation and mood management. And, if you are really motivated, you can apply these skills to your improve social relationships with others by communicating your feelings and being receptive to the feelings of others. This is empathy!
Aerobic benefits come from the breath work you engage in while moving, shifting weight, and engaging the core and limbs in Tai Chi movements. The breath work also calms and slows the heart and lowers blood pressure.
Regular practice develops memory for sequences and events and sharpens perception and abilities to sustain focus.
Meditation benefits, such as getting to know your own mind and motivations, can come without sitting still!
Gentle strengthening of knees, legs, back, and core develop as you practice Tai Chi regularly, weekly and even daily.
Spiritual understanding and growth arise as you develop patience with yourself and with others that can help you be calm in the face of challenge, adversity, and conflict.
It takes practice and commitment to achieve these eight things, which is to say that one session of Tai Chi is great, but many blessings and benefits come when you return and play Tai Chi again and again. The important thing is the feeling of Tai Chi and tapping into it regularly.