With my slow legs, working out is something I’ve had to forgo this past year. But since I’m usually active, I’ve wracked my brain for absolutely anything I can do to keep the juices flowing. What I came up with is the low-impact sport of Tai Chi.

Many of you may, like me, normally consider such mellow exercise a bore—I must admit that if I weren’t sick there is no way I’d have the patience for it. But before you click on another article, scroll down to view some of Tai Chi’s benefits.

Increased balance
Let’s face it… in our current conditions, many of us are a little off-kilter these days. A surprise hug from a toddler or an exuberant greeting from our favorite dog can send our arms in a desperate search for something of which to grab hold. Tai Chi can train our muscles to respond instantaneously when we need to regain our center.

Increased blood flow
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been pretty sedentary these days. The couch has become my home during waking hours, and since my legs move so slowly I haven’t been exercising my arms much either. Tai Chi is perfect for my condition, because you are supposed to move as if moving through water, and that is what my body does anyway. With these slow, fluid movements, I’m using my muscles in ways they aren’t getting used normally these days. At the end of the hour, they thank me for bringing them back to life, even while asking me what on earth I’ve done to them.

Modifications
Tai Chi doesn’t need to be done by the book. In fact, my instructor teaches in various retirement communities, adjusting her routine to fit her clients’ needs. Tai Chi can be done standing up or sitting down (a feature I take advantage of often). The movements can be big or they can be small. It can be done for a full hour or only for a matter of minutes. As someone with special needs, you are in charge of the intensity of your workout.

Socialization
Tai Chi can be done by video, but it can also be done in a classroom setting. Because I take the class with someone else, I am able to do the drive into town, and I am there for the hour with a handful of other women, gabbing and laughing and finding our “chi” in the instructor’s upstairs studio. As a freelancer who cannot work outside the home, it gives me my only set activity outside of the quiet life I live in the woods, aside from visits with friends and family.

I know Tai Chi isn’t for everyone, but I hope these benefits will assist you in finding your own exercise routine. I can’t wait for a diagnosis so that I can be back to a more high-impact way of life. But for now Tai Chi gives me exactly what I need, and I go to bed after each lesson feeling like I helped my body in some small way.

Article written by: Shannon Luders-Manuel Butyoudontlooksick.com, 2007

Copyright © 2007 Shannon Luders-Manuel