by Cheri Burcham
Extension Educator
U of I Extension                    

Several of our family life educators including Emily Harmon have become certified in teaching Tai chi and have been offering classes. Emily has written this article to explain the benefits. She says: “Tai chi is the practice of slow, gentle movements while having a meditative state of mind and mindful breathing. This form of exercise has been found to be a safe exercise because of the slow, gentle movements. Tai chi was originally founded in China, but you can see it being done worldwide today.”

I’m sure I am like many of you who have seen tai chi being done by others, or maybe you have even done it yourself. It was honestly something I was never interested in for one reason or another. Last summer, a group of Extension Educators were trained in Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention. This was completely out of my comfort zone but something I wanted to push myself to do. Going through the training, I learned that this isn’t a high-intensity exercise, like doing a set of high jumps. Just like the definition of tai chi says, it is a very mindful exercise that incorporates your whole mind, body, and soul. 

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