Form Videos Online

We have video! For those of you who are interested, we have added video demonstrations of the forms we teach to the web site. These can be an aid to memory as you practice, although they are not a substitute for in class instruction. Watching the forms performed is beneficial to your practice as it helps to imprint an image of the movements in the mind. The videos are:

• Dr Paul Lam's 6 posture form
• 24 posture form
• Tai Chi for Arthritis
• Tai Chi for Back Pain
• Yang 37 posture short form

Thanks to Gold's for the space and thanks to my ju jitsu buddy, Amy, for filming!
Enjoy!

Updated Tai Chi Play Web Site

We have moved the Tai Chi Play Web Site. Google is discontinuing their original Googlepages and is focused on an updated service with a lot more functions and features called Google Sites. We've moved to the new service and are adding several exciting new features. The new site offers:

• the ability for you to post comments on the content
• file downloads of key Tai Chi literature and forms charts
  
• video presentations (coming very soon)
• site search to find content
• easier site navigation

Be sure to subscribe to the Tai Chi Play Blog and visit our updated web site soon! Feel free to post you comments on the Blog or the Website.

Health news you can use

Four recent studies reporting on health issues ranging from weight loss to Alzheimer's.

While 30 minutes moderate exercise is adequate for good general health, women need 1 hour exercise 5-6 days per week to lose weight and maintain that weight loss. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7530345.stm

A new study has shown that Statin drugs may cut dementia risk. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7524816.stm

The most fit have less brain atrophy from Alzheimer's.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20080729/hl_hsn/mostfithavelessbrainatrophyfromalzheimers

Sweet fruit drinks found to lead to diabetes.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080728/hl_nm/diabetes_calories_dc;_ylt=AjVJOn_WAUSaFI3YOnWQUvi9j7AB

On The Mind and Tai Chi practice

It's common to feel relaxed and rejuvenated after a session of Tai Chi, and ancient claims are, that with regular daily practice, that calming experience produces long term, positive health benefits. This is because the mind was believed to directly influence the physical condition of the body. In the Poem of Thirteen Postures it is said that "the main standard of Tai Chi practice is the mind and internal energy come first, the muscle and bones come second." Tai Chi trains the mind and the body to live together harmoniously.

By means of meditation we can teach our minds to be calm and balanced; within this calmness is a richness and a potential, an inner knowledge which can render our lives boundlessly satisfying and meaningful. While the mind may be what traps us in unhealthy patterns of stress and imbalance, it is also the mind which can free us. Through meditation, we can tap the healing qualities of mind.


- Tarthang Tulku

Now it turns out that western medical researchers have been examining this effect as discussed in this article in US News and World Report . The article discusses studies which have shown ...

Relaxation techniques such as prayer, yoga, and meditation may alter patterns of gene activity that have an effect on how the body responds to stress, according to a new study, published in the journal PLoS One. "What we have found is that when you evoke the relaxation response, the very genes that are turned on or off by stress are turned the other way," Herbert Benson, co-senior author of the new study, told HealthDay. "The mind can actively turn on and turn off genes. The mind is not separated from the body." Other mind-body approaches that elicit a relaxation response include tai chi, breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback, guided imagery, and Qi Gong.

So when you practice your Tai Chi, keep the mind and imagination engaged. We aim for a calm, meditative state of mind in practice. We visualize and act with intent. These are key principles of practice.