Showing Tag: "health" (Show all posts)

Tai chi can help with mental health issues

Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Monday, March 24, 2014,
This article appeared in Anxious Times, the magazine of Anxiety UK. The link to their site is on our Links page.

Most people have heard of tai chi's benefits for physical health, but what you may not have heard is that it can also be beneficial for improving mental health too.

I used to suffer from such severe anxiety that when I first started tai chi, it was six months before I could speak to the chief instructor. At that time I used to find it hard to practise anything because I was so stre...


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Stand up for health!

Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Tuesday, August 20, 2013,
I have been struck by the sheer number of people in motorised wheelchairs that I see every day... combined with tv adverts for circulation boosters and the like.

From my perspective as a former couch potato, I think plain truth is: use it or lose it! 

One of the most basic exercises you can do in most tai chi styles, is standing in a horse stance (legs like you're riding a horse, knees slightly bent), with your arms in front of you (as if you're holding a giant dinosaur egg pointing away from ...
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MIND on Wednesdays,Whitethorn St, E13

Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Friday, July 26, 2013,
On Wednesdays I do a drop in session at MIND in Tower Hamlets.  This is a free class, and open to anyone to drop into.

As well as the known health benefits of tai chi, it's also very good for helping relieve mental issues.

In the short term, this is because the need to concentrate on the precise movements will take your mind out of your negative thought spiral. It's also helpful doing something that you're all helping each other improve, which gives you back some control in at least one area of...
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Breathing and mindfulness

Posted by Fiona Anderson. on Monday, May 13, 2013,
In learning chi kung, you will experience much deeper breathing than normal. Most people are shallow breathers, only breathing in/out from the top of their lungs. This leaves the air at the bottom of their lungs to become stale.  By breathing longer and deeper, the air all through your lungs right down to the bottom gets changed, so that the stale air is exchanged for fresh air and you get healthier more oxygenated air into your bloodstream.

This has effects not only on your physical health, b...
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