Meditation in Motion: Tai Chi for Arthritis Provides Balance in Multiple Ways
The thought of learning a martial art after the age of 65 may raise eyebrows, but for the Arkansan seniors practicing Tai Chi for Arthritis, it’s transformative.
“It affects every part of us when we practice,” says Kathy Packard, executive director of the Oaklawn Center on Aging in Hot Springs. She’s been a Tai Chi for Arthritis instructor for two decades and in that time has seen the practice grow throughout the state.
Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese martial art based on principles of balance in all things. Its simple, fluid movements have been practiced for centuries, but it wasn’t until 1997 that Dr. Paul Lam developed the Tai Chi for Arthritis program.
Lam, an Australian physician, developed osteoarthritis in his early teens. Familiar with Tai Chi from time spent in China as a child, Lam decided to practice the art with his father-in-law and quickly realized how much it impacted his mobility.
“The great thing about what he’s done is that he’s made a subset of the form that if you’re ambulatory – if you can move – you can do it,” says Terry Condren, a Tai Chi instructor at the Arkansas Yoga & Therapy Center in Fayetteville. Condren studied with Lam when the Tai Chi for Arthritis program was getting started.
“He’s classically trained, from a Western perspective, as a medical doctor, so he gives Tai Chi for Arthritis a lot of credibility,” Condren says. “Researchers have since done some analysis and found data indicating that we’re seeing improvement in arthritic folk.”
According to the National Institute of Health, 36% of patients managing osteoarthritis in the knee saw improvement in their pain symptoms after trying Tai Chi for Arthritis for 12 weeks. Other studies by the NIH found improvements in balance and cognition as well.
“These exercises have really helped with my balance. I do the seated Tai Chi for Arthritis, and it really builds up your muscles, strengthens your legs,” says Jane Bennett, 78, who started practicing Tai Chi about two years ago at the Oaklawn Center to help treat peripheral neuropathy. “It gives me something to look forward to and keeps me active; otherwise I would be sedentary.”
Traditional forms of Tai Chi typically involve long movement sets, with practitioners using fluid motion to move through each form. Tai Chi for Arthritis is similar, but Lam reduced the movements to 12.
“His style has some basis in Traditional Chinese Medicine,” Condren says. “You’re learning to move gently in space with loosened joints. To put it in more Western terms, the muscular and neural energy you’re using is very, very helpful to people who have arthritic limitations.”
The Oaklawn Center offers 11 Tai Chi for Arthritis classes each week, including a seated version for those with balance concerns. Packard says both iterations have proven helpful for those who attend her classes.
“We move our legs regardless of whether we’re seated or standing. You’re going to feel your muscles react to the movement,” Packard says.
Bennett says her classmates have varying levels of physical capability; yet, they’re all eager to practice Tai Chi, and it comes easily.
“Each one does as much as they’re capable of. There’s no pressure on anyone to do any certain moves,” she says. “I do have some problems with my knees and it loosens those up, along with my hips and shoulders.”
She tried yoga before Tai Chi but found it didn’t fit her lifestyle, and on top of that, further challenged her balance. At first, Bennett had some muscle soreness after Tai Chi lessons, but now she’s used to feeling the burn.
“The first couple of days, I noticed it in my upper legs – I could feel it in them because I had been so sedentary and was using muscles I hadn’t in a long time,” she says. “It really has strengthened my legs. I have more stamina and I do better with my balance.”
Condren says the slow pace of Tai Chi for Arthritis is a big part of the exercise’s effectiveness.
“This is an athletic movement, but it’s a small, refined athletic movement. Part of what makes Tai Chi distinctive is that it is a martial art, but rather than trying to do combat, instead you concentrate on the fine points of the movement,” he says. “It’s done very slowly, and slowly is more difficult than at-speed.”
Mind-Body Connection
Tai Chi for Arthritis isn’t just limited to physical benefits. The mind-body connection created and strengthened by practice can also have powerful effects.
Condren describes Tai Chi’s fluid movements as choreography.
“You teach them the rudimentary dance steps, and then you start getting them to have attention on the movement of their shoulder, the movement of their wrist, elbow, knee, ankle,” Condren says. “Once you start directing their attention to these things, you show them how to inhale and develop a different way to breathe with them.
“It’s a building process. You start with simplistic movements and add more,” he says. “You start with the rudimentary pieces of it and they get the muscular and kinesthetic feeling of the movement, then you combine that with the breath and working with the mind.”
Tai Chi can be translated as “supreme ultimate,” according to Lam. He calls Tai Chi “a moving meditation in the form of a series of gentle exercises that create harmony between the mind and body,” and its ultimate purpose is “to cultivate our inner life energy (Chi) to flow smoothly and powerfully through the body.”
With its roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tai Chi emphasizes mindfulness and intentionality. Tai Chi for Arthritis has come to be known as “meditation in motion” because of the focus practitioners need. Packard says the mindfulness components of Tai Chi can’t be overlooked.
“You have to focus your whole mind on what you’re doing. It’s the breath, it’s the slow inhale, the slow exhale, calming your entire system down,” she says. “We’re asking your brain to multiskill.”
During a typical Tai Chi lesson, participants will be asked to practice deep abdominal breathing, a technique that has its own health benefits, including improved muscle function, blood oxygenation and reduced blood pressure and heart rate.
“With abdominal breathing, you’re getting the blood and oxygen you need to function well and the focus on taking a deep breath in and letting go of all the tension in your head as you exhale,” Packard says.
The physical aspects of Tai Chi often leave first-timers with some muscle soreness; Condren says practitioners will also feel the mystical components.
“When you feel Chi moving through the body, it’s a little bit like chills going up and down your spine. You get a sensitivity to it. When you’re surprised or shocked and you feel a flush, feel it on your skin – that’s the movement of Chi,” says Condren. “Everybody knows these experiences because we all have them, and through Tai Chi, you can be able to control that through the movement of these energies in your body.”
Where to Start
Tai Chi for Arthritis is a widely-practiced exercise, with support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the National Council on Aging, AARP and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
UAMS Centers on Aging in El Dorado, Fort Smith, Little Rock, Pine Bluff and Texarkana regularly offer Tai Chi for Arthritis classes. Packard says many senior activity centers throughout the state offer classes. The Arkansas Yoga Center also provides Tai Chi instruction.
Additionally, Lam offers DVDs and online videos of his program. Elaine Waters, an independent Tai Chi instructor in Northwest Arkansas, provides how-to videos on her website.
But Bennett notes some of the biggest benefits from her Tai Chi practice are the friends she’s made.
“I’ve met and made about 25 new friends that I never would have met otherwise,” Bennett says.
“It’s a good thing all over. It keeps you from being depressed.”
Packard advocates for Arkansan seniors to give Tai Chi a try, whether in-person or through instructional videos.
“Just get up and do it,” she says. “There’s one wrong way to do Tai Chi, and that’s to not do it at all.”
