Archive for November 2008
Do you ever think about breathing?
Do you ever think about breathing?
Relaxation and the complete breath
Learning to breath deeply and fully during class has made such a difference in the way I do my forms. The slow, full, deep in and out breathing paces my moves and fills me with oxygen.
The following is excerpted from an breathing article by By Aaron Hoopes (Founder and Chief Instructor of Zen Yoga)
The Complete Breath:
The Complete Breath is a dynamic breathing exercise that is both simple and complex. Regular practice expands lung capacity, which, in turn, slows down unconscious breathing and makes it smoother and more regular. In addition, The Complete Breath maximizes oxygen intake and enables oxygen-rich blood to flow to the extremities. It also cleans and invigorates the lungs.
In the beginning it is best if The Complete Breath is practiced from a lying-down posture so maximum concentration can be placed on the exercise itself, which consists of four separate aspects: inhalation, retention, exhalation, and suspension. Read the rest of this entry »
Today at the gym as I did my Tai Chi
Waits, weights and crowds
Just another day at the gym (I won’t say which one).
Looking around while I did my warm up stretches I observed every type of person you could imagine. Big, little, fit, unfit, and yes, what I call over fit. There were the tread-millers, weight grunts and wait times for the most popular pieces of equipment.
Watching the grunting force of the weight addicts made me cringe. I enjoy fitness but find the desire for huge muscles non-existent. Now that my Tai Chi forms are ingrained in my muscle memory, I do however plan on using light hand weights while practicing the forms.
I was glad to be there for the mirrors in the quiet room. Using the gym mirrors for Tai Chi is not critical, although I find that the mirrors are my friends. Helping to demonstrate bad form, acting as spotters of flawed technique and to give suggestions on posture and artistic movement.
I met another Tai Chi student. He performs and studies a totally different version of similar styles. I study Chen and Yang styles. He studies Yang mixed with Shaolin techniques. We planned on working together to practice some two person Tai Chi Chuan techniques.
Just talking to someone else who finds Tai Chi so beneficial was refreshing. Usually I get odd looks from everyone except the Yoga and Pilates students.
What the science says about Tai Chi
It can reduce falls in the elderly!
Several studies have shown that regular tai chi practice has benefits: It can reduce falls in the elderly or those with balance disorders sometimes dramatically. In one 1996 Atlanta study, elderly people who practiced tai chi for 15 weeks reduced their risk of multiple falls by 47.5 percent. Falls are a particular danger for elders and others with brittle bones, or osteoporosis. For such people, falls frequently result in broken bones.
Research has shown tai chi has other benefits, too. Participants in the Atlanta study also had lower blood pressure at the end of the study; and a 1999 study that looked at people with multiple sclerosis who practiced tai chi found that it contributed to an overall improvement in quality of life for people with chronic, disabling conditions.
While there are no good, controlled studies that prove tai chi specifically benefits people with arthritis by reducing pain or inflammation, there is a study from 1991 that evaluates its safety for rheumatoid arthritis patients. It concluded that 10 weeks of tai chi classes did not make joint problems worse, and says the weight-bearing aspects of this exercise has the potential to stimulate bone growth and strengthen connective tissue.
And a recent University of Arizona opinion paper on mind-body alternatives, such as tai chi and meditation, for rheumatic diseases concluded that stress and pain are closely related, and therapies that focus on psychological as well as physical function could be beneficial, when used along with conventional medications.
But doctors don’t need proof to approve an exercise as safe and soothing as tai chi – even for themselves. Dr. Lam, who is 52, developed osteoarthritis in his neck, back and hands when he was in his 20s, and began practicing and then teaching tai chi to keep his own arthritis under control.
“Given its low impact and evidence that it tends to increase muscle strength and balance and give general pain relief, we think it’s a worthwhile option for arthritis patients,”says William L. Haskell, PhD, deputy director of the Stanford [University] Center for Research in Disease Prevention in California.
Stanford has offered tai chi classes for years, and is launching a major National Institute on Aging study to assess benefits of various types of exercise on healthy aging. A year-long study of tai chi for those 60 and older is part of the project. While this study won’t look at arthritis specifically, the data is expected to provide evidence of tai chi’s general benefits.
Do you need a good stretch?
The practicing of Tai Chi is a positive lifestyle choice
No matter what your level, ability or disability, movement is important. I know when I sit too long at work (at a computer all day) I hunch, lean forward and do everything I know I should not do.
So every so often I stop, do a few overhead Tai Chi stretches, incorporate some breathing techniques and go back to work.
These techniques can be done sitting or standing so most everyone can do them. It may not come easy at first, but it happens.
As the stretching gets easier, the ability for deep breathing increases.
The increased energy from loosing the tension and intake of oxygen revives me every time.
Tai-Chi replaced other high impact forms of exercise
I was looking for something I could do to improve my fitness and health
I was always active. A runner for 27 years, Frisbee fanatic, hiker with my friends and wife. Just about anything that had me outdoors and entertained. I needed it, thrived on it to keep me “SANE”.
In my mid 40’s injuries and other physical issues occurred bringing my outdoor activities to a grinding halt. Goodbye stress relief, goodbye exercise, hello depression.
Tai-Chi, for me, was the perfect solution. I had lost standing and walking balance due to foot surgery. I was out of shape from lack of activity and frustrated from inability to get over my situation.
I ran across my old contact, Tom Sulick, who has started to teach Tai-Chi after 40 plus years in the martial arts field. I remembered my feeling upon meeting him years before that he would have an impact on my life someday. We talked and I decided to try his class.
Learning the techniques, the forms and movements of Tai-Chi, I have improved my balance, general flexibility and leg strength. The concentration, focus and discipline needed to practice replaced what I had lost from my inability to continue as a runner.
What I did not expect was the addiction to the art of Tai-Chi. The more I practice and improve my technique, it increases flexibility which improves technique. This loop of improvement increases my desire to practice, and practice and practice.
