Which one is more effective, yoga or tai chi?

There’s really no way to say which one is better. It all depends on your physical condition, purpose of practice and even daily habits. The owner of a yoga studio next to me who has been practicing for nine years takes classes with the Tai Chi team in the park two mornings a week. Aunt Chen, who has practiced Tai Chi for more than 20 years, also signed up for a small class in Yin Yoga last year to treat fascial adhesions. The two sports are not mutually exclusive.

If you are an office worker who sits for a long time and want to quickly improve your rounded shoulders and hunched back, relieve stiffness in your shoulders, neck and waist, or want to simultaneously improve flexibility and muscle strength, the introductory feedback from yoga will usually be faster. I had just passed the acute stage of lumbar prolapse. My legs were shaking like chaff after five minutes of standing in Tai Chi, and I couldn't even feel my shoulders or elbows sinking. Instead, I did recovery yoga for two weeks. Every time I did the cat-cow pose and baby pose, most of the hard knots in my waist that had been tight for several months were immediately loosened. After all, many introductory yoga movements are aimed at activating and relaxing local muscle groups. For novices with no exercise foundation, the feeling of relief after practicing is immediate. Of course, many people complain that yoga is easy to get injured, especially because some classes on the market blindly pursue difficult postures. I have seen a little girl break her ligament hard and injure her ligaments, which took three months to heal. If you choose yoga, you must find a reliable teacher, and don't compete with others in the range of postures.

On the other hand, if you have weak qi and blood, have trouble sleeping all year round, or are middle-aged and elderly people who want to treat chronic diseases or practice balance but are afraid of too high an intensity of exercise, Tai Chi will be much more suitable. Uncle Zhang, who lives downstairs in my house, used to have level 3 hypertension. He couldn't breathe even climbing the third floor. He tried a yoga class once and felt his whole body hurt from stretching. After half a class, he couldn't straighten his waist the next day. After practicing with the community Tai Chi team for half a year, his blood pressure is now stable within the normal range. Last week, he went climbing a mountain in the suburbs with his team. He said that the slow pace of Tai Chi was very stimulating. During the practice, his focus was entirely on the coordination of breathing and movements, and he forgot all about the troubles at work. After practicing, his whole body felt warm, and he fell asleep when he got home. However, many young people nowadays really can't sit still. After trying Tai Chi twice, they feel that it is too slow and painful. After practicing it, it feels like they have not practiced it. It is normal to turn around and go back to dance Pamela.

To put it bluntly, the core of the two sports are actually very similar. They both pay attention to the physical and mental training together. Yoga emphasizes mindfulness and awareness, while Tai Chi emphasizes intention and not exertion. In the end, they teach you not to compete with your body. Just choose the one that you can persist in and feel comfortable after practicing. If you really like it, it is no problem to practice the two at the same time. I now practice 20 minutes of flow yoga during the lunch break on weekdays to refresh my mind. On weekend mornings, I go to the park to play Tai Chi for half an hour to relax my mind. It is much more comfortable than practicing a certain activity.