Time to try TAI CHI

From improving your balance to boosting your immunity, low-impact exercise has lots of unexpected benefits

- GEMMA WILCOCK

When it comes to building up muscle strength, flexibility and improving your cardiovascular fitness, tai chi may not be your first thought. Yet, this gentle, mind-body workout can do all that (and more). 'Tai chi is a traditional Chinese martial art that combines deep breathing, meditation and slow, flowing movements. It offers numerous benefits for both physical and mental wellbeing,' explains tai chi instructor Sifu lan Orkin.

Sometimes described as 'meditation in motion', the exercise involves moving through a series of slow, controlled motions without pausing, connecting the body and mind. The movements can vary in speed and style but, practised regularly, can improve many aspects of your life and health.

1 REDUCES STRESS 

If you have a lot going on in your life, whether that's family commitments or work stress, practising tai chi can help you feel more centred and calm.

'Tai-chi practice aligns simple movement to the breath-breathing out when in closed postures or movements and breathing in when opening the body,' says tai chi expert Jason Riddington, author of Life, Death, Tai Chi and Me (£14.99, Adams Media). 'By regulating the breathing to become deeper and more sustained, we become more relaxed. The repetitive nature of this peaceful mind-body-spirit dynamic significantly reduces stress.

2 DEVELOPS BALANCE