Tai Chi Moves That Reduce Stress

Tai Chi has been shown to significantly reduce stress. This form of exercise first began to be practiced in China, but it was not used to decrease stress back then. Tai Chi actually began as a form of self-defense, but in the modern world tai chi moves cause the body to be more relaxed. The reason is because tai chi has evolved into a slower form of bodily movements. To perform Tai Chi moves, the person slowly moves into different postures and stretches gracefully from one movement to the next. The point of Tai Chi is to focus the person’s attention in the present; when they succeed, they cannot be thinking about their stressful day at work, for example. The result that every Tai Chi variation wants to bring its clients to is that sense of inner peace, so it does not matter which type of Tai Chi moves a person performs; they will receive the relaxing and calming benefits of these movements from the more self-defense related moves as they will from the more serene types of tai chi moves. In order to begin performing Tai Chi moves, people must first warm up. These warm up exercises go by the name of Qi Gong. One of the warming up exercises is called the Bridge Over Water and it is executed by moving the arms in large circles at the same time that the body is being raised and lowered. After a warm up has been completed, people are ready to begin their exercises. Another movement is called Separating the Clouds. People perform this move by taking a deep breath first. Then they make sure that their body weight is centered. After that, they raise their arms above their heads with their palms facing inward. The downward move consists of reversing the position of the palms and lowering the hands while exhaling. The knees are slightly bent throughout this exercise. The best candidates for performing Tai Chi moves are people who need to practice a low impact form of exercise. These are people who have bad knees, are severely overweight or are senior citizens. The other great thing about Tai Chi is that people who would like to participate in it do not need to purchase anything; Tai Chi moves only require that the body be used. Tai Chi also can become a social event, with groups of people meeting in the park to perform their exercises on schedule.