5 benefits of stress management and reasons to do tai chi before you draw your pension

You know you lead a stressful life in Leeds, you have been thinking about adopting a mindfulness practice to manage your stress but you are not sure what method would suit you?

Your friends are recommending yoga but you feel bending into strange shapes it is not for you after trying it?

You feel intimidated by the idea of sitting meditation because you think you are not allowed to have thoughts or feel you need more movement in your life?

Have you thought about trying a form of Tai Chi Qigong? 

I practice Tai Chi Qigong shibashi, which I would describe as meditation in motion and use to manage my stress and Ankylosing Spondylitis. The slow, flowing movements are very effective at calming even people that are feeling restless a lot of the time.

You may be thinking Tai Chi is a form of exercise for older people due to its gentle nature, I must disagree – it is in fact suitable for everyone.

I have been teaching my Body Flow – Tai Chi Qigong shibashi classes in Leeds for one and a half years now and most of my participants are between 20-45 years old and do not sport a blue rinse.

You may find this unbelievable but I had a young fit man commenting that he perceived moving his arms for duration of the sequence of 16min was hard work. This of course is not the case for everyone; the experience is totally individual for everyone. You’ll have to try it to find out what Tai Chi will do for you.

You can have a look at how easy the Body Flow Tai Chi is, nice simple relaxing movements that anyone can follow.

Claim your free download of the short intro video showing the Shibashi sequence to get an idea of how nice Tai Chi can be. Just sign up for the newsletter at the top and the link will come straight to your inbox.

You could make time for mindfulness practice at home but…

Many of us find it hard to adopt a mindfulness practice on a regular basis by ourselves at home, if you are looking for the support of a group environment like you find in classes at the gym you will be delighted to attend my class. The shibashi sequence is simple and allows all of us to move together to the tranquil music.

You are wondering what the benefits are? The list is long but I have collated just a few that seem to resonate with most people.

The 5 benefits of using Tai chi to manage your stress:

1. calms the mind and reduces levels of stress hormones with minimum effort, you’ll develop a more positive attitude which improves your quality-of-life
2. mobility & flexibility, the stretch in Tai Chi is not done at the cost of causing discomfort
3. deep breathing massages the internal organs releasing them from damaging constrictions brought about by stress, poor posture, shallow breathing and difficult working condition
4. eases muscular pain and tension triggered by computer work, as well as improving your posture with ease.
5. increases circulation delivering nutrient rich blood to every cell of you body

Young people may have more stress

Now, back to why I think we should not wait until we draw our pension to start a mindfulness practice such as Tai Chi.

All of us live stressful lives no matter what age we are. I would even dare say that teenagers and young adults suffer more stress as they are trying to find their way in society, attending university and trying to get into the career of their choice.

Life can be tough and stressful without a mindfulness practice that you enjoy stress can get you down as well as affect your physical and mental health.

Whether you are 20 or 90 years old chronic stress affects the brain and body both chemically and structurally decreasing the capacity to think clearly reducing your productivity, which affects many areas of your life. We all know people that are showing the effect of long term stress such as heart racing, higher blood pressure, a weakened immune system and even type 2 diabetes has been linked to stress.

You probably agree that it is much easier and more enjoyable to take some preventative measures on a regular basis than to acquire one chronic health issue after the other until your quality of life is severely impacted.

We all need a quiet island in our life to re-charge and regenerate. I find it in my Tai Chi practice, how do you rejuvenate? (leave me a comment below!)

Do you have the moves? Show me at the next Tai Chi Body Flow class!

19:15 to 20:15 on Monday nights, Location: HEART, Bennett Road, Headingley, Leeds, LS6 3HN