Are there any similarities between yoga and Tai Chi

As a fan who has practiced flow yoga for 6 years and Chen-style Tai Chi for 4 years, I can clearly say that the two have far more in common than many people think, but the core differences are so deep that they cannot be confused at all. Last week, when I was finishing up my old routine in the park, the yoga teacher I had arranged to practice with in the morning came over and laughed, saying that the way I looked like my mind was wandering when I stood there for 10 minutes was exactly the same as the way she maintained Butterfly Pose until the 8th minute of her yin yoga class last week. Essentially, they are both trainings that tightly tie "breathing, movement, and thought" together. It is not just about counting the numbers and working out the intensity of ordinary exercise. Tai Chi talks about "qi sinking in the Dantian and guiding the Qi with the mind." In yoga, Ujjayi breathing cooperates with the flow of postures and the guidance of prana life energy, and both are required. I want to anchor my attention on body perception and not be carried away by messy thoughts. These underlying logics are really similar. Many of my friends who sit for a long time have back pain. Whether they rely on Tai Chi or yoga core training, the principle is to improve the sense of proprioception and get rid of the usual bad habit of slumping and shrugging.

But if we really dig into it, many senior practitioners on both sides do not agree with the statement that "the two are similar", and there is indeed a lot of controversy in the circle. A while ago, I came across a Tai Chi yoga fusion class at a gym, which combined the cloud hands of Tai Chi and the side angle stretches of yoga into a flowing sequence. Many students reported that their shoulders and back, which were usually tight during yoga, were actually loosened, and the effect was better than practicing alone. However, there are also many veteran boxers and practitioners in the video. Traditional yoga practitioners object, saying that this is a random modification. All Tai Chi movements are performed with silk-winding strength and seek to relax and consolidate strength. It originally has the attributes of martial arts and is not at all the same as the starting point of yoga's pursuit of muscle extension, joint opening, and inward exploration of one's own state. I was curious and tried to play around before. When doing cloud hand, I deliberately opened my hips and stretched my shoulders according to the requirements of yoga. As a result, my master came up and gave me a slap on the back, saying that my lower body was so weak that I would collapse when the wind blew. In turn, I used Tai Chi to sink my hips to do the Warrior pose. The yoga teacher said that my hips were twisted into twists and my waist was compensated without even realizing it. After stepping on these two pitfalls, I have figured out the boundary between the two.

In fact, for ordinary enthusiasts like us who just want to move the cervical and lumbar spine and stretch out after sitting for a long time at work, there is no need to worry about whether it is the same. After practicing, it is better to feel comfortable all over the body.