Medication in Movement

Tai Chi has often be described as "meditation in movement" and it is true that Tai Chi can be practiced as a Meditation exercise, and can also be practiced in order top help regular Sitting  Meditation as we practice in Zen. Now, according to a Harvard Medical School newsletter, tai chi is increasingly seen as a form of "medication in motion."

Visit an urban park in China any given morning or late afternoon, and you're likely to find elderly people engaged in Tai Chi.

 

Visit an urban park in China any given morning or late afternoon, and you're likely to find elderly people engaged in Tai Chi.

A study out this week in Archives of Internal Medicine says it may help people suffering from heart failure  feel better about life. In a quality of life questionnaire the researchers gave out, those who practiced tai chi scored significantly higher than those who hadn't been doing the movement. The tai chi group also reported an improvement in mood.

 

Heart failure is a tough disease to live with; the shortness of breath and low energy that can come because the heart can't pump enough blood make physical activity unappealing. "Historically, patients with chronic systolic heart failure were considered too frail to exercise and, through the late 1980s, avoidance of physical activity was a standard recommendation," the study's authors write.

It's been shown to be useful in treating a wide range of diseases from breast cancer to Parkinson's. The National Institutes of Health has also jumped on board and is funding a variety of studies on tai chi for chronic disease.

The Archives of Internal Medicine study is the first large clinical trial to look at whether a tai chi program can do anything for people with heart failure. The researchers recruited 100 people with the chronic condition from heart clinics in Boston. About half were randomly assigned to receive a 12-week tai chi exercise program. The other half got a heart health education program.

The tai chi program started off with some traditional warm-up exercises of arm swinging, gentle stretches, breathing, and visualization techniques. Then patients learned five simple movements designed to release tension in the body, increase awareness of breathing, and relax the body and mind. Patients got an instructional video tape, and were encouraged to practice at home at least 3 times a week.

The study authors say there's a usually a strong relationship between depression and heart failure, so the fact that tai chi helped cheer people up was an especially good sign.