Studies show significant improvements in persons with balance issues when doing Tai Chi.1, 2 The mixture of deep breathing with slow balancing movements compounds on each other to work with healing AND physical performance. In this case, balance. The risk of falls decreases by about 45% over short term studies!3
Remember the previous post about how deep breathing influences the brain to increase in density and grow? Any part of the brain that you start to use more on a regular basis will grow new neuronal connections so that that area of the brain will function faster and more efficiently. Like-wise will those areas of our brain (primarily the cerebellum) function more efficiently if you use it more to balance.
Reference:
Hain, T. C., Fuller, L., Weil, L., & Kotsias, J. (1999). Effects of T’ai Chi on balance. Archives of otolaryngology–head & neck surgery, 125(11), 1191–1195.
Zou, L., SasaKi, J. E., Wang, H., Xiao, Z., Fang, Q., & Zhang, M. (2017). A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Baduanjin Qigong for Health Benefits: Randomized Controlled Trials. Evidence- based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2017, 4548706.
Lomas-Vega, R., Obrero-Gaitán, E., Molina-Ortega, F. J., & Del-Pino-Casado, R. (2017). Tai Chi for Risk of Falls. A Meta-analysis. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 65(9), 2037–2043.
Till next time. Thank you,
