2 Popular Movement Therapies
Posted by angelwings4u - 04/29/08, 09:01 pm
Some of the best forms of exercise are those in which your body moves naturally the way it does during everyday activities. But unless you make a conscious effort to move every part of your body, you may be letting some of your joints and muscles off the hook. Basic aerobic, strength, and flexibility exercises go a long way to making sure you work your entire body, but some people find value in going a step beyond -- to movement disciplines that also nurture the mind and spirit.
The best examples of movement methods are yoga and t'ai chi. Both involve moving your body into a series of stylized poses, and combine elements of both physical and mental discipline. While they have their origins in the East and sometimes invoke spiritual concepts, neither one is a religion -- nor are they simply stretch routines. Yoga and t'ai chi do indeed enhance flexibility, but they also build strength, correct posture, may help relieve pain, and foster a sense of relaxation or peace of mind. At the same time, they're gentle enough that many moves can even be practiced by people with arthritis.
Yoga: A Physical Philosophy
Yoga is an ancient practice going back thousands of years to India, where its methods were first written down by a Sanskrit scholar as far back as the second century B.C. In its purest form, yoga is a way of life that leads to physical and spiritual unity, assuming body and mind share powerful bonds and need to be balanced to achieve and maintain good health. On a pragmatic level, yoga integrates elements ranging from precise forms of exercise to personal ethics, diet, and other daily health habits.
Exercises are a key element of the overall discipline partly because performing slow and deliberate poses encourages you to focus on your body and become more attuned to it. Ultimately, the goal is to reach progressively higher states of enlightenment, but it's possible to gain benefits from yoga without striving for bliss.
One of the most popular forms is called hatha yoga, in which you practice physical poses known as asanas as a way of influencing the flow of life energy through the body. In yoga thinking, your breath is an outward sign of this life energy (known as prana), and deep breathing combined with meditation is central to proper practice. A complete routine is designed to work all parts of the body, stretching and toning muscles while improving range of motion in joints. While it's helpful to receive instruction, you don't need any special equipment to practice yoga -- just a quiet room, a soft surface (exercises are usually done barefoot), and comfortable, lightweight clothes.
T'ai Chi: Slow-Motion Martial Art
Though its origins are in self-defense, the martial art known as t'ai chi chuan is actually a peaceful, gentle, and slow discipline that resembles dance more than combat. Like yoga, t'ai chi consists of postures or poses, which are performed in sequences (known as forms) that give t'ai chi a distinctively graceful, flowing quality. Here, too, the underlying philosophy is to promote the flow of life energy through the body and achieve physical, mental, and spiritual harmony. In traditional Chinese practice, t'ai chi is often done outdoors, to help connect the body's inner energy with the grander energy of the earth itself.
At the heart of t'ai chi are the twin concepts of yin and yang, contradictory yet complementary forces often represented with two merging semicircles of light and dark. In practice, t'ai chi is built on seemingly paradoxical ideas such as "alert relaxation" and "strength from softness." But there's nothing mysterious about the choreographed movements, which, beyond strength and flexibility, help promote coordination and balance.
It's possible to learn t'ai chi on your own with the help of instructional videos or books, but it's more useful (and easier) to learn from an instructor. Even "short" forms consist of up to 24 different movements that must be memorized, though actually performing the moves may take only 5 to 10 minutes. Longer forms contain more than 100 separate postures. Once you learn the moves, however, you can just as readily practice at home.
The best examples of movement methods are yoga and t'ai chi. Both involve moving your body into a series of stylized poses, and combine elements of both physical and mental discipline. While they have their origins in the East and sometimes invoke spiritual concepts, neither one is a religion -- nor are they simply stretch routines. Yoga and t'ai chi do indeed enhance flexibility, but they also build strength, correct posture, may help relieve pain, and foster a sense of relaxation or peace of mind. At the same time, they're gentle enough that many moves can even be practiced by people with arthritis.
Yoga: A Physical Philosophy
Yoga is an ancient practice going back thousands of years to India, where its methods were first written down by a Sanskrit scholar as far back as the second century B.C. In its purest form, yoga is a way of life that leads to physical and spiritual unity, assuming body and mind share powerful bonds and need to be balanced to achieve and maintain good health. On a pragmatic level, yoga integrates elements ranging from precise forms of exercise to personal ethics, diet, and other daily health habits.
Exercises are a key element of the overall discipline partly because performing slow and deliberate poses encourages you to focus on your body and become more attuned to it. Ultimately, the goal is to reach progressively higher states of enlightenment, but it's possible to gain benefits from yoga without striving for bliss.
One of the most popular forms is called hatha yoga, in which you practice physical poses known as asanas as a way of influencing the flow of life energy through the body. In yoga thinking, your breath is an outward sign of this life energy (known as prana), and deep breathing combined with meditation is central to proper practice. A complete routine is designed to work all parts of the body, stretching and toning muscles while improving range of motion in joints. While it's helpful to receive instruction, you don't need any special equipment to practice yoga -- just a quiet room, a soft surface (exercises are usually done barefoot), and comfortable, lightweight clothes.
T'ai Chi: Slow-Motion Martial Art
Though its origins are in self-defense, the martial art known as t'ai chi chuan is actually a peaceful, gentle, and slow discipline that resembles dance more than combat. Like yoga, t'ai chi consists of postures or poses, which are performed in sequences (known as forms) that give t'ai chi a distinctively graceful, flowing quality. Here, too, the underlying philosophy is to promote the flow of life energy through the body and achieve physical, mental, and spiritual harmony. In traditional Chinese practice, t'ai chi is often done outdoors, to help connect the body's inner energy with the grander energy of the earth itself.
At the heart of t'ai chi are the twin concepts of yin and yang, contradictory yet complementary forces often represented with two merging semicircles of light and dark. In practice, t'ai chi is built on seemingly paradoxical ideas such as "alert relaxation" and "strength from softness." But there's nothing mysterious about the choreographed movements, which, beyond strength and flexibility, help promote coordination and balance.
It's possible to learn t'ai chi on your own with the help of instructional videos or books, but it's more useful (and easier) to learn from an instructor. Even "short" forms consist of up to 24 different movements that must be memorized, though actually performing the moves may take only 5 to 10 minutes. Longer forms contain more than 100 separate postures. Once you learn the moves, however, you can just as readily practice at home.
