Tai Chi and Qigong Practice at Beach or in Flight
 
June 28, 2010 - Summer vacation time is here. You can continue your Tai Chi or Qigong practice whether you are at the beach or in flight.

Beaches, the common summer vacation destination, can be a very soothing venue to rejuvenate your energy and harmonize your mind and body with the nature through the Tai Chi or Qigong practice. Imagine your mind being stimulated by the sound of the water wave pounding upon a beach, with the fresh smell of the air from the ocean, and your body being relaxed in the sunshine by dawn and sunset. You may even feel more exhilarated when you do your mind-body routines in an environment different from your normal ones.

Practicing Tai Chi at the beach may be a novel idea, yet it can also pose unique challenges for your practice.

Normally you would do Tai Chi or Qigong on a flat and solid ground. But the beach is usually uneven, and the sand is soft and shifting. Practicing on such surface, you may find it hard for your feet to take hold without making unusual efforts in using the muscles of your feet and your legs. To match the adjusted movements on the sand, your breathing exercise will have to change accordingly, too. Moreover, the advance and retreat of the ocean water may also subtly influence your breathing pace.

Despite these unique issues, doing Tai Chi or Qigong can be a very good opportunity to develop deeper concentration and stronger balance during the exercise, and hence improve your skills.

Compared to the beach, while you are en route to your vacation spot, the plane will pose a different challenge: the limited and confined space.

You may wonder why you would want to do Tai Chi or Qigong on the plane. A study published in the Lancet has shown that around 1% of peoTo minimize these health problem and risk, Dr. Paul Lam has created a program combining Tai Chi, Qigong and back stabilizing muscle exercises. This short program contains a set of simple stretching exercises incorporating Tai Chi principles, followed by a set of Qigong exercises to cultivate internal life energy. They are easy to learn and can be practiced in a confined space without disturbing the person next to you.

You can order a DVD of this program at : http://www.americantaichi.org/productDetail.asp?pid=4&catID=2&retCust=0 .