The Montgomery Advertiser recently published an interesting article by Janet Hutto about her journey from bad health, imminent back surgery, and being dependent on pain medication to a Tai Chi instructor completely free of pain medication:
Within three years of starting Tai Chi, I was off my pain medications. The fact that I avoided another back surgery and am not relying on a daily regimen of very heavy-duty anti-inflammatory medications says a lot…Tai Chi helps me stay as healthy as I can be.
Read the full article here.
The Montgomery Advertiser also has another article on Taoist Tai Chi and Mixed Martial arts, descriptions, and how they can benefit your health. Read it here.
Tai Chi Healthways and Master Jesse Tsao recently hosted a workshop in San Diego on December 8 and 9. The workshop was attended by Grand Master Chen Zheng Lui of Henan, China.
Highlights of the workshop included detailed explanation by the Grand Master on Chen philosophy and its application in health, longevity, and self-defense. Two special performances by the Grand Master’s daughter, Chen Yuan Yuan, drew applause and appreciation by participants and guests.
Click here to read the full article. On the Tai Chi Healthways site, there is a video of the workshop (it takes a little while to load, depending on your connection speed).
An article from ThirdAge.com expounds on the benefits that arthritis sufferers receive from practicing Tai Chi.
According to an Arthritis Foundation spokesperson, “Tai Chi is the basis for one of the Arthritis Foundation’s most popular exercise programs, known as the ROM (range of motion) dance…The result is often a feeling of stimulated relaxation and pain relief.”
Make sure to take their links to the second and third pages of the article and also to their Arthritis Guide.
An entertaining article just appeared in the Guardian Unlimited health section. Pete Doherty, a British musician who is probably best known for his decadent lifestyle involving heavy heroin usage and public misconduct, recently completed a tour with no cancellations and surprising onstage professionalism. Apparently, Doherty has become a practitioner of chi gung and tai chi.
Doherty has thus joined the ranks of veteran alt rockers Iggy Pop, who maintains his ripped-at-60 look via daily chi gung and swimming, and Lou Reed, who spends several hours each day practising tai chi with US master Ren Guang Yi. Reed released an ambient album, Hudson River Wind Meditations, in the summer, specifically designed to accompany workouts, and refers to his impressive biceps and triceps as his “Tai Chi muscles”.
The article goes on to discuss exercise addiction: could Doherty be simply trading one addiction for another? They conclude that chi gung and tai chi work differently than other “addictive exercises”:
With an addiction, it’s all about the sympathetic nervous system; you’re stuck in it 24-7, all stress, all agitation. Chi gung does the opposite: it helps you move into the parasympathetic nervous system, it brings about relaxation and real calm.
Good news for drug rehabilitation programs then, should they choose to take note!
The National Athletic Trainers’ Association outlines a 10-step plan to help you reduce body stress and prevent back pain. Among the 10 steps is Tai Chi, for keeping you mobile and limber.
The human body is an incredible machine that adapts to the stresses we give it every day. Stresses such as poor posture, unusual movement or activities, or even a sedentary lifestyle can lead to poor mechanics and pain…Increase your muscle mobility by stretching or doing activities — such as yoga, tai chi, swimming or pilates — that help keep you limber.
Read the full article here.
In the news this week is a story about alternative therapies in the elderly. 2/3 of 33 clinical trials focusing on alternative remedies for depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances showed benefits.
Particularly promising were certain “mind-body” approaches, such as tai chi and relaxation exercises, in the treatment of sleep problems.
While many alternative therapies such as herbs, vitamins and hormones still have not proved effective for older adults, this was not so for mind-body approaches like tai chi. The article also stated that, while not yet clinically proved, mind-body therapies hold promise for treatment of depression and anxiety.
A recent Reuters about Yoga for Heart Failure Patients made a small mention of Tai Chi. It is easy why Tai Chi was also mentioned, as the two exercises work in similar manner. Too often we think of exercise as a heart-pounding, painful ordeal. But the theory behind yoga and tai chi is to relax and boost your body’s energy, rather than drain it. As both yoga and tai chi are both about tailoring the exercise to your own body’s capabilities, it is easy to see that people with low cardiac function or depressed immune systems would benefit from these exercises.
Goldberg, a professor of medicine at New York University, said heart failure patients often have trouble with exercise due to fatigue and shortness of breath caused by the heart’s reduced pumping ability.
The FDA may finally be catching up with what Oriental Medicine has known for thousands of years. Under research is the Chinese medicinal herb Ban Zhi Lian, also known as scullcap. Better known as a sleeping aid, it has been shown to shrink or destroy ovarian and breast tumor cells in vitro. The FDA is conducting its first clinical study of a potential cancer drug derived from a Chinese medicinal herb.
 Read Time Magazine’s full article here.
Newswise Medical News reports on a new study by The Cochrane Collaboration. The study shows that older adults who engage in walking, strength and balance training, dancing and tai chi have improved balance, which decreases their risk for falls.
After engaging in an exercise program, study participants achieved improvements in different kinds of balance measures including walking speed, standing on one leg and reaching forward without tipping over.
Read the full story here.
I have always appreciated how Tai Chi appeals to different age groups for different reasons. Young people like the martial arts and self defense applications. Grownups appreciate a really good work out, and senior citizens appreciate its applications for improvement of balance and overall health and its kindness to tender muscles and joints.
An article in the Toronto Star tells about the benefits of Tai Chi for the over-50 set and marks the opening of a new center there. To read the article, follow this link: http://www.thestar.com/article/254609
