For Arthritis and Good Health
6 week Course
Begins Sunday July 13th
4.30pm - 5.15pm
With Joan Tan

Tai Chi is a gentle form of exercise focusing on fluid, circular movements that are relaxed and slow in tempo. The program is easy, safe and effectively helps relieve pain and improves quality of life. The Arthritis Foundation of Australia supports this program.

Dr. Paul Lam, a Sydney based GP who suffered from osteoarthritis from an early age took up tai chi and realised the benefits including the improvement of arthritis. He then worked with a group of Tai Chi, medical experts, chiropractors, osteopaths, etc. to develop a simple set of movements based on the Sun style of tai chi to help people with arthritis and other health problems.

Tai Chi can be thought of as a moving form of yoga and meditation combined to form a sequence of movements. Many of these movements are originally from the martial arts, which in turn derived them from the movements of animals and birds.

Tai Chi is performed slowly and gracefully as a meditative exercise for the body. For others the combat aspects of Tai Chi are of considerable interest. In Chinese philosophy and medicine there exists the concept of 'chi', a vital force that animates the body.

One of the aims of Tai Chi is to foster the circulation of 'chi' within the body, improving the health and vitality of the person practicing Tai Chi. This 'chi' circulates in patterns that are closely related to the nervous and vascular system.

Another aim of Tai Chi is to foster a calm and tranquil mind, focused on the precise execution of these exercises. Many practitioners notice benefits in terms of correcting poor postural, alignment or movement patterns which can contribute to tension or injury. Furthermore the meditative nature of the exercises is calming and relaxing in and of itself.

This series of Tai Chi beginners classes build week upon week progressing the sequence completing the full form of movements that make up a Tai Chi practice.