Tai Chi and Qi Gong

The ancient Chinese practices of tai chi (Supreme Ultimate) and qi gong (pronounced CHEE-gung) (energy work) combine gentle movements, awareness and breathing exercises. Qigong and Tai Chi have been proposed, along with Yoga and Pranayama from India, to constitute a unique category or type of exercise referred to currently as meditative movement. Both are inherently multi-modal, and typically integrate flowing movements, dynamic and static postural training, and breath instruction, along with training in a variety of cognitive skills including heightened somatic awareness, imagery, and focused mental attention . Though these routines are practised as a part of overall fitness and well-being, elite athletes also benefit from these routines, because everyone needs better motor and sensory control of the body.

As per Chinese medicine these practices help regulation of body focus (posture and movement), breath focus (pulmonary component), and mind focus (meditative components). Tai Chi and Qi gong provide many physiological and psychological health outcomes. Tai Chi, Yoga, and Qigong are considered the most popular mind-body exercises, ranked by the 2002–2012 National Health Interview Surveys as the top three of the 10 most common complementary health approaches in practice.


Following categories provide insight of benefits based on the medical researches:

♦ Weight Management:
-  Reduction in BMI
-  Reduction in waist circumference

♦ Cardiopulmonary:
-  Reduction in blood pressure
-  Reduced heart rate
-  Increase in heart rate variability (sympathetic and parasympathetic balance)
-  Improvement Serum B-type natriuretic peptide levels (improved left ventricular function)
-  Reduced cholesterol levels
-  Increased VO2 level
-  Improved aerobic capacity

♦ Physical Function:
-  Improvement in flexibility and strength
-  Improvement in Agility
-  Reduction in fibromyalgia symptoms
-  Improvement in balance and reduction in fall rates (vestibular rehabilitation)
-  Improvement in gait performance
-  Increase in sensorimotor acuity
-  Reduction in blood sugar (HbA1C)

♦ Quality of Life:
-  Reduction in stress, anxiety and depression, fear , low self-esteem
-  Reduction in mood disorders
-  Improvement in coping ability
-  Increase in positive attitude and reduction in negative attitude
-  Increase in patience
-  Better sleep

♦ Immune Function and Inflammation:
-  Improvements in thyroid-stimulating hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, triiodothyronine
-  Improvement in immunoglobulin G (IgG)

In Soham Yoga Studio, we combine potential of Yoga, Taichi and Qi Gong to give best outcome of non-pharmacological therapies.
Yoga from India shares ancient connection with Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Shaolin Temple Monastery. CLICK HERE to find out more in our indepth research.

Journey of Yoga, Tai Chi and Qi Gong