Letting Go of Worry, Anxiety and Stress

Hear stories of participants letting go of worry, anxiety, and stress through Taoist Tai Chi® practice.

Man 1: At the time that I was then I started Tai Chi, I was a trial lawyer and I’d been a trial lawyer for quite a while. It’s a very high-stress occupation.

Man 2: I’ve had a lot of anxiety attacks. I used to get anxiety attacks with super pain right across my chest here, really like a heart attack, but it wasn’t it was just pain, really bad anxiety.

Woman 1: I have a very stressful high-pressure job and, do you know, would quite often arrive at the club rooms all hunched over and you know just full of the stress of the day.

Man 2: I was worried all the time because [ ] and the more I worried, the more problems I had physically. Everything was very high stress. I’m very… how will I say it… speaking to you would have been very difficult.

Woman 2: I was diagnosed with IBS when I saw the doctor, because of the stress. So, I kind of took it all on my system. [interviewer – “what is IBS?”] – irritable bowel syndrome.

Man 2: So I signed up for the three-month course then, and I did the three months. After a couple months, my back pain started getting better, my knees felt better, and… the physical part was really quick.

Woman 1: The instructor would say “open up” and “extend the spine” and I would go “what day? I feel great to be walking” and “it’s good to be able to do Taoist Tai Chi®.”

Woman 3: I found myself really relaxing and finding this meditative quality to it that really helped me, you know, deal with at the time, you know, some stressful life situations.

Woman 2: I think I handle stress better now. I feel more… I feel more energetic in terms of like this calm energy that is very hard to describe.

Man 1: I just realized that whenever I went into class and I just started the first move of Tai Chi – which just starts like this – by the time I got here… there was nothing on my mind at all. I was completely relaxed, the stress was gone, and that’s what really got me kind of hooked on Tai Chi.

Woman 2: It’s not just, you know, graceful synchronized slow motion or slow movements that looks so pretty and peaceful; No, it’s much more than that. It had a lot of great impact on me physically and mentally.

Man 2: Waking up in the morning, I stretch out in bed and nothing hurts. For me that’s amazing, and I want to get up and do the day. That’s what keeps me going; I wake up and I feel good.

Woman 3: Because I realize how much it helped me for clearing my mind and helping me cope with things. I think a lot of the teaching from the Tai Chi is not just about the physical, and so I feel like it helps me spiritually and emotionally.

Man 2: You’re not alone with your stress you know; there’s lots of help out there in the Tai Chi world.

Man 1: Yeah, I think like most trial lawyers, I was really a triple A personality, you know AAA. With Tai Chi now I’m probably maybe a B, B minus, B plus. My life has changed dramatically, really from the Tai Chi.