Author: Joe Fleming

Tai Chi or T’ai Chi Ch’üan is a Chinese martial art that started in Chenjiagou aka Chen village. Since it was originally conceived as a martial art, many people don’t know that it’s also used for several health benefits and personal reasons such as improved life expectancy, competitive wrestling, demonstration competitions, and so on. An even little-known benefit of tai chi is its ability to be used as a form of physical therapy for rehab injuries. In case you’re having knee issues, tai chi might be the ideal form of therapy to get rid of the pain and stiffness.

Study suggests Tai Chi is better than physical therapy

A 2016 study conducted by Boston researchers – that also appeared on Harvard’s blog – compared the impact of standard physical therapy vs. tai chi on 204 patients. These people were aged 40 or more, had knee pain and their knee x-rays had shown osteoarthritis. Here are some takeaways from the results:

• The study continued for 12 weeks, and the subjects experienced the impact for at least 12 months
• Both the groups saw more or less the same degree of improvements
• While the health benefits were similar, the Tai Chi group saw better results in terms of reduced depression and improvements in certain measures of life quality. This seems to second the claim of tai chi practitioners that it’s a holistic body-mind practice.

Tai Chi exercises to alleviate knee pain

No matter what exercise you do, remember you don’t want to rotate your knees. Unlike your hips or ankles, your knees are hinge joints and not designed to rotate. Also, there can be several different reasons that can cause knee pain. If there is an underlying issue, exercises may or may not relieve the pain but that will not be long lasting, so know and treating the cause is important.  Read more about knee pain here. If, however, there is no underlying condition, some simple exercises can bring instant relief and help regain strength.

Massage and friction

Sit down on a chair with both feet flat on the ground, put one of your legs out and rub the outside your patella (the kneecap) in an up and down motion with your palms vigorously. If it feels uncomfortable, elevate your extended leg but keep it lower than your hips. Friction increases blood flow and helps remove any gases stuck around the patella. Stand up, and you will instantly feel a difference. Avoid doing this exercise if you have swelling or inflammation around the knee. Use ice to get the inflammation down first and also talk to your doctor.

Horse stance

Probably one of the best tai chi exercises for knee rehabilitation. Just as the name suggests, the workout mimics the stance as if you’re riding a horse. Stand with your knees stretched slightly wider than your shoulders, feet right under the knees and pointing straight ahead, and from there try to round your crotch like you’re on a horse by bending a little and relaxing the knees. Hold your arms in front of you at the level of your heart, with elbows bent at about 40 degrees as if you’re hugging a tree. This stance gives this exercise it another name, i.e. hug the dree. Sink your shoulder, avoid leaning forward, keep your back straight, and gently pull your chin in. The goal is to hold this stance for 20 minutes, but as a beginner don’t worry if you get fatigued far earlier.

Tai Chi squatting

This is one of the several different tai chi squat workouts and is a hard exercise that will take some practice. It will not only help with knee pain but also strengthen your knees. Stand with your feet a little wider than your shoulder width apart. Extend your arms in front of you and squeeze them as tight as you can, tighten your core, and sit back as you’re sitting in a very low chair. At the same time, bend your upper body as far back as you can. Hold for about 30 seconds and then stand up straight on your toes with your weight on your big toe for stabilization. Hold there for about 10 seconds and then keeping your weight on your toes and arms stretched, sit back as you’re sitting on a bar stool – don’t go down too much. You’ll feel your quads burning, which is a good sign. Try to hold it for as long as you can. Stand up, relax, and repeat ten times.

In the end, always remember this one little tip when practicing Tai Chi routine: your knees should feel better and not hurt. If you do feel any pain, it means you are not doing it right.

Most people who have experienced this ancient Chinese martial art know that it improves balance and strength, giving practitioners a healthy workout with lasting effects. But tai chi first spread in China largely because of its capacity for pain relief, a benefit that is underappreciated by some and forgotten by others.

Tai chi helps people find balance in their minds and bodies, and that is one of the ways to be truly healthy. However, there are some specific health benefits as well, especially with regard to conditions which afflict millions of Americans.

Back Pain

Most people associate tai chi with groups of people in parks who move very slowly in unison. Such controlled movement has some significant benefits for your back. Yoga works wonders for many people, but its lack of movement sometimes prevents dramatic results in terms of back pain. Likewise, running is very good for many people, but the jarring motion can exacerbate back pain instead of relieving it.

Moreover, in addition to movement, tai chi promotes good posture. Slouching and rounded shoulders are unhealthy in addition to unattractive. Such a position places undue stress on certain areas of the back. After much practice, tai chi eventually trains the body to correct these issues, thus promoting back health.

This same irregular stress occurs if a person’s everyday movements, such as walking and standing, are not properly aligned. The resulting lack of balance and perception creates a fertile environment for back pain, especially since these movements are so incredibly common. The scientific term for this lack of balance is proprioception, which is essentially a flaw in the body’s inherent position sense. Tai chi often corrects this problem as well, creating a balance where it did not exist before and thus promoting back health.

Poor muscle tone contributes to many back pain issues as well, and tai chi effectively addresses this issue. The slow, controlled movements build core strength, and since these muscles wrap around the spine, stronger abs usually mean better posture. The same thing applies to hamstrings and other muscles which directly support the spine.

Finally, tai chi may alleviate stress-based back pain. Such negative energy almost certainly exacerbates back pain, and may even cause it outright.

Tai chi significantly reduces back pain in many people, even hard-to-treat conditions like sciatica and herniated discs, but almost never alleviate it altogether. So, tai chi is part of a solution as opposed to the entire solution. In combination with massage, cold and heat therapy, topical aids, even pharmacological intervention when necessary, tai chi can play an integral role in a back pain treatment plan. Don’t miss this guide to find the best massage ball for back pain, and combine daily use with a tai chi routine to start seeing results.

Chronic Pain

The movement/inner peace combination is often effective against chronic pain as well. Shifting mental focus away from discomfort and towards something productive often alleviates pain, and it can be several hours before pain signals from nerve endings regain their prior intensity. Meanwhile, the slow motion is very good for achy joints. Some specific examples include:

• Osteoporosis: Many researchers are very encouraged by the substantial evidence that tai chi maintains bone density among post-menopausal women, and may even increase it, so they plan to conduct further and more extensive studies.
• Fibromyalgia: Little is known about this disease which creates chronic pain which, in many cases, is almost unbearable. According to one study, when fibromyalgia patients practiced tai chi, they reaped a number of benefits, such as better sleep, less pain, less emotional distress, and better mobility.
• Osteoarthritis: This same dynamic helps osteoarthritis patients. These individuals also benefit from the aforementioned movement and mental distraction.

Once again, tai chi is probably not a magic bullet. For the best chronic pain relief, combine this exercise with other treatments that your doctor recommends.

Stress Relief

The physical benefits of tai chi often emerge after several months of sustained practice, but the stress relief benefits are often apparent almost immediately. The stretching-and-releasing motion promotes physical relaxation. As a bonus, the tools learned in tai chi may be effective during those parts of the day when stress levels are at their highest. Furthermore, the deep breathing and soft commands from the instructor promote mental relaxation, extending stress relief even further in many cases.

Getting started is one of the most difficult parts of tai chi because it is so unlike most other Western pain relief methods. But tai chi is an evidence-based pain relief method, and if you suffer from stress or chronic physical pain, almost anything is worth a try if it might possibly break the grip of pain.

For some people, the last six weeks of the year are filled with almost non-stop activity. They have many parties and functions to attend, whether they want to or not. The constant business often leads to unhealthy stress levels, weight gain, and other unwanted changes. All too often, the unhealthy habits that are formed during this time are not easy to change.

Other times, the winter holidays mean the exact opposite. For many people who do not have these social or familial connections, for one reason or another, the joyful holiday season is the most lonely and depressing time of the year. Something must fill the void, and it needs to be something positive as opposed to something negative.

Whatever feelings the next few months bring, Tai Chi is a great alternative. Just like something as simple as a seat cushion for a car can make a tremendous difference in the way you feel, a small change like an hour or two of Tai Chi a week can perhaps make 2017 one of the most memorable holiday seasons. Even better, the healthy habits that begin in December usually last throughout the New Year and beyond.

Reduced Stress

Tai Chi is often called meditation in motion, and for very good reason. Most classes begin with qigong, which is essentially deep breathing combined with slow movements. The diaphragm breathing reduces blood pressure and stress levels, while the slow movements help practitioners feel looser.

That same idea continues once the Tai Chi movements begin, as instead of rushing through strength training or other repetitions, participants move almost as if they are dancing in slow motion. This gentle movement, combined with continued deep breathing, is an ideal way to relieve stress.

Optional Social Connection

Any activity class is a great way to connect with like-minded people who live nearby. That’s especially true for Tai Chi, because everyone there believes that these routines help bring balance to their lives, and this element is often sorely absent late in the year.

One really nice thing about Tai Chi is that these connections are strictly optional. Because there is so much emphasis on relaxation and meditation, it is no problem to arrive a few minutes early, find a corner of the room, go through the exercises, and leave quietly.

More and Less Energy

Tai Chi helps participants set, or reset, their body clocks. Given the short days and long nights during this time of year, that’s a major advantage regardless of your activity level.

Despite the slow motion, Tai Chi is a physical workout, as any participant will affirm. As a bonus, rather than being so intense as to bring about physical exhaustion, the movement increases blood flow to the extremities, for a palpable energy surge that has a lasting effect.

Mostly due to the increased energy during the day, Tai Chi means that participants are more able to relax at night. The meditation element helps as well, because it is easier to unwind when one is not as wound up to begin with.

Sharper Mental Focus

Whether it’s due to a full calendar or an empty calendar, we tend to get very distracted during this time of year. Some dropoff is not a big deal, especially in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. But six weeks of drop-off is something that none of us can afford.

The improved physical energy, quiet meditation, and increased blood flow all combine to improve mental sharpness. As a matter of fact, there is some evidence that Tai Chi actually expands the brain’s hippocampus, which is the section associated with learning and memory. These findings are truly extraordinary, as the brain usually shrinks with age. Many people see significant results after just eight weeks, so if you want to unwrap a better memory for Christmas, sign up now.

Better Physical Balance

Walking across a dark parking lot at night is not easy for anyone, but especially for older people who are afraid of falling.

Tai Chi’s gradual and controlled motions help practitioners gain a better awareness of their own bodies. Furthermore, the exercise strengthens leg muscles, so seniors, and all other people, have more confidence in these situations. The increased alertness helps as well, because we are more likely to fall when we are tired and not as focused.

Many of the gifts we give each other this holiday season either will not last are are not very meaningful. But Tai Chi offers lasting benefits from a relatively small change. These benefits improve your life, as well as the lives of people around you, whether that circle is large or small.

Work/life balance is one of the current buzzwords in the human resources world. The theory, which dates back to the 1880s, is that workers who live balanced lives are happier and more productive. One rather depressing way of looking at this issue is that workers have been seeking work/life balance for about a hundred and fifty years, but they still haven’t found what they’re looking for.

Fortunately, individual balance is not nearly as elusive, and many people have found that balance in tai chi. Furthermore, thanks to the efforts of people like 18th-century labor organizer Robert Owen and 20th-century industrialist Henry Ford, you have some free time this weekend to explore something new.

Physical Exercise

Before the tai chi wave washed ashore here in the United States, “physical exercise” was almost always synonymous with “physical exertion” and perhaps even “physical exhaustion.” After all, no pain no gain, right?

But rather than exercise through exertion, tai chi brings the same physical benefits through slow, controlled, and sustained movements that are targeted to strengthen and tone certain parts of the body. We know tai chi works in this way simply because it’s been around for so long. The discipline itself dates back to the Chinese Zhou Dynasty, which was about 3,000 years ago. Chen Wangting, whom many consider to be the founder of “modern” tai chi, developed many routines in the late 1670’s that are still used today.

In terms of muscular development, the tension from sustained movement has basically the same toning effect as the tension from weightlifting, ab crunches, or other forms of Western exercise. There is also considerable evidence that tai chi triggers improvements in respiration, heart rate, and other functions which many people believe that only high-exertion exercises, like jogging, can bring about.

Reduced Stress

In a nutshell, tai chi’s movement and meditation elements reduce stress.

Deep breathing is very calming, and slow movement usually reduces your heart rate. Moreover, the hand-eye movement has a calming effect on the brain. So, tai chi is exercise for your mind and spirit as well as your physical body. That’s a combination which is very difficult to find.

Furthermore, the meditation element is half of tai chi. It’s not a sideshow, like the mental element of running. This calmness helps unleash the parasympathetic “rest and digest” nervous system, and that helps people deal with both trauma-induced pain and chronic illnesses. If nothing else, tai chi meditation takes your mind off physical problems, at least for a little while, and that alone is often enough to bring some much-needed relief.

This is not to say that tai chi is a cure for any of these things, and there are plenty of tools available, like shoulder ice packs, that reduce pain as well. You can find more info here about such tools.

That being said, we all want better balance in our lives. Tai chi helps us understand that in order to have strong and durable bodies, we must also have strong and durable minds. And, just like physical exercise is the only way to strengthen the body, mental exercise is the only way to strengthen the mind.

Better Physical Balance

This is the big one for many people. For many seniors, a vigorous exertion-centered exercise routine is not really an option, because of physical limitations, mental roadblocks, or a little of both. Yet these individuals are among those who need physical exercise most.

Tai chi to the rescue, because almost everyone can stand and move. Even if these things are not possible, there are many aquatic tai chi classes available, as well as other options for those with mobility impairments.

Now for the balance part. Tai chi’s slow, controlled movements lead to better body control. In one study, tai chi reduced falls by a whopping 45 percent. Potential like that should be enough to get seniors into tai chi studios in groves, because a majority of folks over 65 will fall and a majority of these individuals can no longer live independently thereafter.

There are plenty of other tai chi benefits in addition to these three, but hopefully, these are sufficient to at least spark an interest in this discipline. Since tai chi is one of those rare things that really is addictive once it gets in your blood, that spark should be all it takes. So, say your thank-you’s to Messrs, Ford, and Owen then pencil in your weekend tai chi class.

Master Instructor Norm Gill, who discovered tai chi for himself in 1995, began a class for wounded soldiers at Fort Bragg in 2012. Five years later, the class is still going strong.

Instructor Norm Gill (in red hat) leads students through Tai Chi movements.

Although most of the students are injured soldiers, the eclectic group also includes foreign liaison officers and those individuals who are interested in the ancient Chinese art form. What makes tai chi special, according to Gill, is that it brings body and mind together and stresses the health of both, which is especially useful for wounded warriors struggling with issues like brain injuries. “They usually are dizzy and have balance issues, and so to work with the breathing and the calming effect it has, it really helps them with their balance,” explained physical therapy assistant Wendi Sheets. The exercises are also ideal for other types of injuries, such as torn rotator cuffs and broken bones, as many practitioners find relief in tai chi when traditional medicine has fallen short. Captain Lloyd Blackburn, who suffers from a variety of injuries, said tai chi helps him find “inner peace” and it is also “a good workout.”

Gill, who is an injured veteran himself, summed up tai chi by saying “It teaches you to know yourself.”

Traditional Recovery vs Tai Chi Recovery

Most people, including both doctors and patients, assume that physical injuries are just physical problems that also have physical corrections, such as a support brace and perhaps some physical therapy. In many cases, that’s a perfectly accurate assessment, because many people quickly respond to these kinds of treatment regimens, especially considering the wide array of choices available. For example, you can read more about the different kinds of advanced hinged knee braces that are suitable for ACL tears and other such wounds.

But a strictly physical response is not always the best approach, because injuries heal much faster when the parasympathetic “rest and digest” nervous system is fully engaged. Such engagement dramatically decreases cortisol levels, and this stress hormone often retards injury recovery.

Of course, tai chi has a physical component as well, and gradual yet somewhat rigorous exercise is one of the best ways to rehabilitate an injured body part.

Tai Chi Benefits

As several of the wounded warriors noted, tai chi’s gentle and gradual movements are suitable for everyone, almost regardless of age, weight, and general health. This dynamic is important for injury recovery, because when the body’s resources are geared towards healing an injury, strenuous physical exercise is much more difficult. ower movements are especially ideal for joint injuries and other wounds that usually only get better through movement, but even a little too much movement can be devastating.

In summary, for many people, tai chi is the happy medium between aggressive physical therapy and a sedentary lifestyle.

Along this same line, tai chi is far away from the “give 110 percent” mentality that’s so pervasive in the West. Because most practitioners perform their exercises at about 70 or 80 percent, the soft tissues are more relaxed, so there is almost no chance of injury aggravation. That effort level also helps the injured area heal gently and naturally while keeping the rest of the body stronger.

Blood flow is one of the most important elements in the injury recovery realm, and tai chi gets the blood flowing perhaps better than any other kind of exercise, even yoga. Especially in the immediate aftermath of a serious injury, almost any movement is very painful, and that immobility is one of the biggest obstacles to speedy recovery.

Tai chi’s gradual movements slightly elevate the heart rate and move body parts to also move blood. Yet the effect is so subtle that there is no shock to the system.

Even more importantly, tai chi is relaxing, so it unleashes the parasympathetic nervous system, as mentioned above. Muscle tension saps our energy and triggers stress, pulling us into a downward spiral just as we need positive energy to help us heal. Tai chi reverses this process, by stressing slow, easy movements, correct breathing, upright posture, and mental placidity.

The relaxation also strengthens uninjured areas of the body, and sometimes, the best path to recovery is to make our strong areas even stronger.

Many doctors and therapists note that a large number of patients assume almost no role in their injury recoveries, instead relying on devices and pills to do all the work. From this perspective, tai chi is also very empowering for injured patients, and that may be the most effective injury recovery method of them all.