A Cautious Thumbs Up For Tai Chi
Editor's ChoiceMain Category: Complementary Medicine / Alternative Medicine
Also Included In: Depression; Anxiety / Stress; Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 22 May 2010 - 0:00 PDT
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Tai Chi, a low impact martial art, has been associated with reduced stress, anxiety and depression, and enhanced mood, in both healthy people and those with chronic conditions. A systematic review of the subject, published in the open access journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, found that although Tai Chi does appear to have positive psychological effects, more high quality, randomized trials are needed.
Dr. Chenchen Wang, Associate Professor, from Tufts Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Massachusetts, USA, worked with a team of researchers to pool the results of 40 studies, including 17 randomized controlled trials, into the mental health effects of Tai Chi. She said, "Tai Chi, the Chinese low impact mind-body exercise, has been practiced for centuries for health and fitness in the East and is currently gaining popularity in the West. It is believed to improve mood and enhance overall psychological well being, but convincing evidence has so far been lacking".
Wang and her colleagues found that practicing Tai Chi was associated with reduced stress, anxiety, depression and mood disturbance, and increased self-esteem. The quality of the studies identified was generally modest, however. In particular, rigorous, prospective, well controlled randomized trials with appropriate comparison groups and validated outcome measures are generally lacking. Wang said, "More detailed knowledge about the physiological and psychological effects of Tai Chi exercise may lead to new approaches to promote health, treat chronic medical conditions, better inform clinical decisions and further explicate the mechanisms of successful mind-body medicine".
Source: BioMed Central
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Visitor Opinions In Chronological Order (3)
Balancing T'ai Chi Study Results
posted by David R. Newman on 22 May 2010 at 2:22 pmThe problem with "randomized" tests to measure the mental efficacy of T'ai Chi is that the results are extremely dependent upon the quality of instruction the subjects are given. In order to attain, much less optimize, mental benefits, the instructor must be able to help the students access the inner quality available in T'ai Chi. Otherwise, it's just another exercise, that perhaps has physical benefits, perhaps results in nothing more than increased frustration over an inability to learn the T'ai Chi form. In sum, the instructor part of the equation highly influences the outcome as far as T'ai Chi holping people use the art in achieving a healthier mental state.
Tai Chi Has Helped Me, Too
posted by Dorothy Ragan on 28 May 2010 at 7:53 amI started tai chi about a month ago. I was invited to a cancer support group and after the group meeting ended, a Tai chi master came and lead us in Tai Chi. I can honestly say that it has improved my mood as mentioned in the article.
I believe that with my emotional improvement, Tai chi has contributed to calmness and decreased OCD... I have only been doing Tai Chi once per week, so far.
Tai Chi Therapeutics
posted by Cody Petrov on 5 Jul 2010 at 11:51 pmTai Chi effects on mental state and physical health are varied and problematic to the observer. The form focuses on living in the moment of breath and energy, as well as in attainment of correct alignment and balance in movement and stillness. It's like a reset, going backwards to what you are. You can't be what you're not. I have observed that the cruel remain so; the submissive might go a little overboard. Training can magnify both strengths and flaws.
The form might be experienced as a time out from too rapid a life rhythm. It gives time where there was none, with vigor from improved body mechanics and fewer blockages. I think there is more in the realm of advanced healing, but I haven't witnessed those situations. My health issue years ago was not in that category, and it resolved. A foundation in Tai Chi served me well.
When one has studied Tai Chi for health, with or without martial applications, there can be increased confidence in abilities, judgment, perceptions, along with respect for limitations. Will a harmonious individual emerge from a Tai Chi egg? Maybe.
I'm skeptical about forming a model of "mind-body medicine" without going beyond the ethereal borders of mind and body, on to the emotional unconscious. It surfaces on its own terms. I believe mind and body are a coherent whole, layered in some way that defies awareness. Concentration on duality might stall a unifying effort.
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