Top 6 Health Benefits Of Tai Chi

Tai chi or tai chi chuan is a physical and mental discipline that combines knowledge of martial arts with meditation and breathing techniques. When you do tai chi, you breathe slowly and deeply and all your attention is focused on making slow and very precise movements that are chained. Posture, coordination and concentration are constantly being worked on.

Tai Chi for physical and mental health

Tai Chi is suitable for everyone. Tai Chi can be practiced by people in excellent physical shape to those who have just undergone surgery and want to promote their recovery. The general health benefits are well documented.

1. Reduce stress and anxiety

A study carried out at the Sydney University of Technology (Australia) showed that tai chi, thanks to its incorporation of meditative and respiratory techniques, is more relaxing and is more suitable for treating anxiety than simple physical exercise.

Tai Chi also improves mood. Regular practice helps overcome mild depression by building self-confidence. In addition, slow and precise movement in conjunction with conscious breathing has a direct effect on the nervous and endocrine systems.

2. Improve balance

Older people tend to suffer falls that can be very dangerous. Tai Chi reinforces your sense of balance, making it an effective preventive means. It also improves the general physical condition and, especially, the mobility of the joints.

3. Helps control weight

The regular practice of tai chi (for example, five times a week for 45 minutes) favors constant weight loss within the framework of a balanced and controlled diet.

This was verified in a study from the University of Hong Kong, which observed a weight loss of between 0.5 and 0.75 kg after 12 weeks of practice (a loss slightly higher than that achieved with a light walking program during the same period of time). The study participants especially reduced their waist circumference.

4. Boost immunity

The practice of tai chi is also capable of increasing the number of immune cells related to cell renewal and thus promoting longevity.

This was demonstrated by a research team led by Dr. Shinn-Zong Lin, a neuropsychiatrist at Taiwan Chinese University Hospital, in a year-long study that compared rejuvenation and anti-aging indicators in three groups of participants under 25 years of age.

The first group continued their normal habits, the second followed a physical exercise program based on brisk walking, and the third group practiced Tai Chi. The analyzes showed that practitioners of the body-mind technique benefited the most at the immune level.

The study, published in the journal Cell Transplantation , provides one of the first biological evidence on the unique effects of continued Tai Chi practice.

5. Reduces chronic pain

Tai Chi can be helpful in the management of many chronic diseases that lead to pain. For example, standard practice mitigates fibromyalgia symptoms , according to a study led by researchers at Tufts University. The reduction of fibromyalgia symptoms achieved with the practice of tai chi and with the practice of moderate physical exercise during the same period of time was compared and the results were significantly better among the participants who did tai chi.

In another small study with 15 rheumatoid arthritis patients, it was found that after 12 weeks pain was reduced and mobility improved.

Similar results are achieved in patients with osteoarthritis, the most common disease that causes pain in the elderly.

6. Promotes sleep

Another study led by Dr. Karen L. Caldwell and conducted with adults suffering from sleep disorders, showed that two weekly Tai Chi classes for 10 weeks produced a significant improvement in the quality of their sleep.

The anxiety symptoms also decreased .