If you’re waiting for your heart to be broken or for a new year to start to join the gym, Harvard has something to tell you about that that might make you change your plans. And it is that a new study, published in the medical journal of the prestigious American university, reveals which is the most beneficial exercise, both for the body and for the mind. And, probably, it is not any of those that are going through your head.
This is tai chi, which differs from other exercises in that the movements are usually circular and never forced. In this way, the muscles are relaxed instead of tense, the joints are not fully extended or bent, and the connective tissues are not stretched.
In addition, it is an activity that can be easily adapted to anyone and can help maintain your strength, flexibility and balance in optimal conditions. All this makes it, according to Harvard, the perfect physical activity to do the rest of our lives.
In fact, researchers are working so that this modality is considered a complement to standard medical treatment in prevention and rehabilitation of conditions commonly associated with age.
However, those mentioned are not its only benefits. Until now we have talked about the physical but tai chi is the perfect combination to do sports and meditate. In this way, practice It helps reduce stress and anxiety.
It also helps control asthma with deep breaths that are taken during movements, relieves insomnia, migraines and muscle pain and enhances memory. In addition, you do not need equipment or a specific place to do it.
It’s no wonder Tai Chi is often described as “meditation in motion.” It is done without stopping and in slow motion and has low impact. It consists of a series of movements named after animal actions such as “the whooping crane spreads its wings” and martial arts moves. All this accompanied by deep breathing and paying attention to bodily sensations.
when practicing it, There are two fundamental modalities: the Yang style and the Chen style. In the first, long, smooth movements predominate and those that do not cause an alteration in the rhythm of breathing or the force exerted. In the second, however, you go from 0 to 100 in a single movement, which makes it more complicated. In any case, keep trying relatively moderate exercises.
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