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Anyone do any of these and how often do you practice?
Maybe once a week is not enough to keep us from stiffening up in old age and so it depends on whether we do it 2 or 3 times a week? Here there are grannies and grandads who do it every morning in the park and it is beautiful to watch. I am sure these are the folk who will stay supple and healthy well into their 80's.
When I was at University a long time ago, one of my mates started a course in Tai Chi and said after a few weeks that he felt the energy moving and taking over his movements. He was not someone who could 'feel' things at all. Is that how it is for anyone else?
It has been said that this kind of exrcise for grannies will reduce the possibility for falling and tripping. Shock and broken bones from a fall is what kills many folk as they get older.
I tried one senior yoga session on youtube and the stretching exercises aggravated my sciatica problem and I was in pain for days, so be careful with yoga, the same thing happened to a friend and she needed physical therapy and medication to stop the pain because she could hardly walk from her yoga class.
Yes, I know that some people try to push it too much and end up hurting themselves. It is almost as if it is something which is seen as very mild stretching but in actual fact, it is very powerful, so it is super easy to overdo it. I think maybe yoga needs to be started with a class to get the right technique and then maybe it is OK to do it on your own at home.
I've been doing tai chi for years to help with some weird balance issues I developed for no known reason (probably chronic lack of sleep). Even 10 minutes a day is remarkably effective. I've been doing yoga for decades. Most yoga today is just glorified stretching, its been Americanized and commodified to death.
Anyone do any of these and how often do you practice?
Maybe once a week is not enough to keep us from stiffening up in old age and so it depends on whether we do it 2 or 3 times a week? Here there are grannies and grandads who do it every morning in the park and it is beautiful to watch. I am sure these are the folk who will stay supple and healthy well into their 80's.
When I was at University a long time ago, one of my mates started a course in Tai Chi and said after a few weeks that he felt the energy moving and taking over his movements. He was not someone who could 'feel' things at all. Is that how it is for anyone else?
It has been said that this kind of exrcise for grannies will reduce the possibility for falling and tripping. Shock and broken bones from a fall is what kills many folk as they get older.
I think these mentioned above are great for everyone.
Some folks...often younger....want more fast action.....these forms of exercises are slower but very helpful.
I've been doing tai chi for years to help with some weird balance issues I developed for no known reason (probably chronic lack of sleep). Even 10 minutes a day is remarkably effective. I've been doing yoga for decades. Most yoga today is just glorified stretching, its been Americanized and commodified to death.
So with tai chi, do you feel the energy moving your body? or are the movements purely mechanical after all this time? My wife went to a tai chi class organized by the union of her International Company employer and they were all beginners learning 72 forms or movements. To me thats an insane amount to start with but obviously it is do-able as the teacher was well-known.
I went to a QiGong class for about 3-4 months some 20 years ago, when I used to live in UK. We trained in a forest, outside, the teacher used to be in the Army, was retired at the time. I do it now rarely, I find it extremely relaxing.
I do a form of yoga/Pilates daily, to keep my mobility. I get stiff if I don't work out. Again, it's very calming.
I don't feel the energy when I do QiGond but I do relax very fast. This I notice. The same with Pilates. I relax and feel better after the workout. Physically and mentally.
So with tai chi, do you feel the energy moving your body? or are the movements purely mechanical after all this time? My wife went to a tai chi class organized by the union of her International Company employer and they were all beginners learning 72 forms or movements. To me thats an insane amount to start with but obviously it is do-able as the teacher was well-known.
No I can't say that I do, but I have not had formal instruction and I'm still at a pretty basic level. I do it primarily for relaxation and balance now. When I started I really was doing it primarily for its (usually overlooked) martial applications but I haven't been doing it seriously enough for that. Plus I started messing around with Kung Fu and that satisfies my martial urges for now. I will probably get more serious about tai chi as I get older. I'm a lot more experienced in yoga than I am in my Chinese martial arts because I've been doing that for decades.
Last edited by Deserterer; 09-16-2022 at 09:15 PM..
I started yoga when I was in my twenties and had an incredible teacher. In fact, she is credited with helping to introduce the practice of yoga to this country. She was an older lady then, yet was fit and flexible.
You need to start off with easy stretches and warm ups and you need to know that you are not competing with anyone. You are just doing this for you.
I took yoga off an on over the years and never got back to the intensity of those early years but at my age I am still flexible and can easily touch my toes and do lots of stretches. However, I wouldn't attempt some of the poses I did when I was younger with this older body, have been told that we are not supposed to.
Never had a chance to try Tai Chi but always wanted to. Most classes are too early in the morning for me. I did used to get a wonderful feeling at the end of yoga when my original teacher would have us lie down and relax each individual part of our body after having done the poses for about one hour. I would just call it a sense of well being.
Qi gong bored me to death. I did not feel the energy, but I didn't stick with it, so I think it was just not for me.
I do yoga, I'm not great at it, but I like feeling limber and that's how it makes me feel. Literally, like move it or lose it.
I also tried Tai Chi because of the old people balance thing and while I found it difficult, I could see it has merit. I envy those "grannies" who probably started doing it when they were young. I have heard that it's good for balance and if you do it, you'll find out how well you can balance. In my case, not very well, but I'd do it again if it was nearby and free. I'd love to feel that I had control over my balance and wouldn't lose it.
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