FOCUS ON MIND AND BODY
Today, Tai Chi is practiced as a meditative exercise made up of a series of "forms," or choreographed motions, requiring slow, gentle movement of the arms, legs and torso. Tai Chi practitioners learn to center their attention on their breathing and body movements so that the exercise strengthens their overall mind/body awareness. In a sense, Tai Chi is similar to yoga in that it is also a form of moving meditation, with the goal of achieving mind/body stillness through motion and awareness of breath. In China and in Chinese neighborhoods all over the world, Tai Chi is practiced by young and old alike in city parks in the early morning hours.
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." Performed to a soundtrack of peaceful music and a prose poem, the dance combines traditional arthritis exercises with Tai Chi movements. Relaxing and concentrating their minds, participants put their bodies through a full range of motion that is easy on the joints. "The result is often a feeling of stimulated relaxation and pain relief," says the Foundation spokesperson.
MULTIPLE BENEFITS
Although Tai Chi is a relatively easy form of exercise, even healthy people find it difficult to master at first. "In order to perform the movements correctly, you have to empty your mind of thoughts and the day's worries," says Claire Klabin, a 70-year-old Queens, New York, arthritis patient who has been doing Tai Chi for four months. "I find that this exercise has relieved my pain and stiffness while improving my balance." Because Tai Chi teaches practitioners to stand on one leg at a time, rotate their bodies and constantly monitor their relationship to the environment, Klabin ventures, "It makes you steadier on your feet." Tai Chi also teaches people where to place their feet and arms to prevent falling if they start to lose their balance.
