Be stronger longer! Older people thrive with Taoist Tai Chi® arts
With ageing comes experience, wisdom and freedom from responsibilities such as work and child-rearing. Yet ageing can also bring physical challenges, chronic health conditions, loneliness and a desire for a more meaningful and fulfilling life.
Taoist philosophy does not see the decline usually associated with ageing as inevitable. Instead, the Taoist arts seek to reverse this process of contraction and degeneration, enabling practitioners to age in a healthier way.
Seniors notice that their lives improve through Taoist Tai Chi® practice. They become stronger and more flexible. They have better balance, more confidence and stamina and are more resilient physically and emotionally. This experience, together with the regular social interactions fostered in our classes, and the opportunities to volunteer contribute to a more joyful outlook on life.
The dynamic present when everyone practises Taoist Tai Chi® arts together is one of harmony and connection resulting in a sense of calm, quiet and stillness. With the mind and body united in movement, seniors find they feel good and can bring this feeling into their everyday lives.
Research and News: Seniors and Tai Chi
“A growing body of carefully conducted research is building a compelling case for tai chi as an adjunct to standard medical treatment for the prevention and rehabilitation of many conditions commonly associated with age,” says Peter M. Wayne, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Tai Chi and Mind-Body Research Program at Harvard Medical School’s Osher Research Center.
Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School May 2009
http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-health-benefits-of-tai-chi
The research evidence shows excellent benefits of Tai Chi for preventing falls, for improving balance, improving cognitive capacity, good evidence for improving strength in the lower limbs, and reducing the severity of depression.
Canadian Family Physician (official journal of the College of Family Physicians of Canada), Nov 2016
https://www.cfp.ca/content/62/11/881
This article reviews the well researched benefits of Tai Chi.
Jane Brody, The New York Times, Sep 10, 2018
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/10/well/move/using-tai-chi-to-build-strength.html
Seniors Flourish with Taoist Tai Chi® arts
On Oct 1st, 2017, a live video connected seniors who practise the Taoist Tai Chi® arts in many different countries including Canada, the USA, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain and New Zealand.
Here participants share their stories. Older persons and the Taoist Tai Chi® arts — the perfect match!
Here is what older practitioners are saying about practising the Taoist Tai Chi® arts
Caregiver Support
After my wife died Taoist Tai Chi® arts helped me cope with the grieving process. The calming yet focused “moving meditation” was an enormous help in giving me back a purpose for living.”
– Michael, St. Catharines, Canada
My Taoist Tai Chi® practice kept me going when my husband was going through significant health issues. It gave me physical and emotional support.
– Joy, Langley, Canada
Dual Cultivation / Physical changes lead to a new outlook on life
I have been a student of Taoist Tai Chi® arts for a year and this has completely transformed my life.
I joined knowing Taoist Tai Chi® practice would help my health. I was concerned about mobility issues as I am getting older and I had also just come through some pretty serious health scares which left me emotionally and physically exhausted. I spent too much time at home becoming more negative. I believed I was at the beginning of an increasingly depressing aging process.
Within months of starting classes the torn rotator cuff began to heal. In 6 months my range of motion was back and now the pain is a distant memory. Taoist Tai Chi® arts did what years of costly physiotherapy could not do. My balance is coming back. My osteoarthritis doesn’t slow me down anymore. I have energy, afternoon naps are a thing of the past. But it gets better. A lot better.
My outlook on life has become more positive. The “peace, acceptance and love” I feel while doing Taoist Tai Chi® arts now overflows into my everyday life. The calm experienced through this “moving meditation” helps me deal with life’s little frustrations. I am once again “the glass is half full” kind of person! Taoist Tai Chi® practice has breathed life back into me. And an extra special bonus is the wonderful friends I have made. I have a healthy social life; we do lunch, coffee and get together for mahjong, etc. I feel more fulfilled and balanced and look forward to everyday. Taoist Tai Chi® arts are truly amazing. It is so very much more than just moving the body. I thank Taoist Tai Chi® practice for saving my life.
– Camille, Vernon, Canada
Aging with vitality
“This is the best decision of my life that I joined Taoist Tai Chi® arts. I enjoy the health benefits as well as social, and emotional. I have more pain free days and am able to keep up with active grandchildren. Thank you.”
– Urmil, Orléans, Canada
“In the twenty years I have watched many people just come to life with the friendship and sense of community (belonging) over and above the physical benefits of the practice. This is, in and of itself, satisfying to my soul.”
– Margaret, Dartmouth, Canada
Making new friends
“An instant feeling of belonging.”
– Denise, Trenton, Canada
Aging with confidence / Continuing to learn
“Becoming an instructor enabled me to grow from having no voice to being confident.”
– Wade, New Zealand
Aging with heart / Volunteering
Taoist Tai Chi® practice has given me a terrific sense of purpose. I like to help others and I don’t want to take all the oxygen for free.
– Ginette, Lanaudier, Canada
How does Taoist Tai Chi® practice help?
Taoist Tai Chi® arts involve a full range of motion with deep stretching and continuous turning of the spine. They exercise the whole physiology including muscular, skeletal, and circulatory systems, as well as tendons, joints, connective tissue and organs.
This whole body approach has a profound effect on our health, increasing strength, flexibility and resilience, whatever our condition.
Taoist Tai Chi® arts are also a form of moving meditation that has a deep effect on the brain, calming and clearing the mind.
Move Confidently – Be Active – Be Social
