Exercise Your Body, Relax Your Mind

Tai chi is an ancient Chinese discipline that integrates mind, body, and spirit. Practitioners use meditation and deep breathing as they move through a series of continuous exercises. Though it originated as a martial art, tai chi is now practiced more for its therapeutic benefits, which include reducing stress, promoting balance and flexibility, and even easing arthritis pain.

It is believed that tai chi increases strength and promotes calm and harmony by improving the flow of internal energy throughout the body. It is the calming, meditative aspect of tai chi that makes it particularly useful for reducing stress and anxiety. Indeed, people who do tai chi regularly say that it improves their sense of well-being.

As an aerobic exercise, tai chi benefits the entire body, increasing muscle strength and enhancing balance and flexibility. People who practice tai chi are also said to exploit the strength of yin (the earth) and the energy of yang (the heavens) through exercises designed to express these forces in balanced and harmonious form.