Mind-Body Activities Promote Overall Health

We all benefit from focus, calmness, inner peace.

Mind-body activities promote Overall Health.

But sometimes we search with such determination for inner peace that we defeat ourselves before we even start.

• Know this is true
• I have done it myself
• Sometimes I promise myself with force and anger that I will do something
• Something that will make me better!
• An ACTIVITY  that will MAKE ME RELAX

But it doesn’t work that way.  We often try too hard.  We want so badly to be in control –  

 TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.

The best activities are mind-body activities where the mind is not pushing with determination towards a goal.  Instead the mind is relaxed and allows the energy to flow until we feel better, understand more clearly and share compassion and understanding with those around us. 

We need to:

• let it happen
• be in the moment
• allow the chi to flow within our body
• feel peace, happiness, calmness, and compassion to flow through us.

Studies on the effects of TaiChi and Qigong were done on adolescents (under 18). Frequency ranged from 2 sessions a week for 5 weeks to 5 sessions awake for a year.   The focus of the study was on the “interactions among the brain, mind, body, and behavior, with the intent to use the mind to affect physical functioning and promote overall health”

For full information of this study click on this link.     There were 696 students in 10 different countries. They were divided into two group – the intervention group and the comparison group.  The ages ranged from 8 – 14.8 years.  Girls were 54% of the total..

The results were over 60% positive showing increased interaction and connection with peers and support from peers, and improvement in physical health – including groups with specific disease symptoms.

I imagine that if young people learned to do a some

tai chi or qigong everyday, even just 5 – 10 minutes,

we would see huge difference in behavior, understanding,

compassion, cooperation, health and focus.

Mind-body activities like Tai Chi can lead to more happiness, gratefulness and appreciation of others and of what we have.