Which is healthier, yoga or Tai Chi?

In fact, there is no absolute "who is healthier". Both of these are exercise methods that have been passed down for hundreds of thousands of years and emphasize the physical and mental training at the same time. They are adapted to different physical foundations and exercise demands. Choosing the right one that suits you is much more effective than trying to force the "healthier" trend.

Don't tell me, when I helped my elders choose exercise programs in the past two years, I checked a lot of literature and asked my friends who practiced these two methods. I found that practitioners on both sides could come up with a bunch of real cases of "their own programs are good": Take Aunt Chen who lives downstairs. She has had degenerative lesions in her knees for more than ten years. She initially signed up for a job with her old sister. In the district's flow yoga class, there were a lot of squats, jumps and downward dog movements in one class. After practicing for two weeks, her knees hurt so much that she had to hold on to the handrails when going up and down stairs. Later, she switched to practicing Wu-style Tai Chi with the Tai Chi team in the park. The movements were slow, which put less pressure on the knees, and she could also gradually improve the stability of her lower limbs. When she went for a review after half a year, the doctor praised her knees for being much better.

There was a young girl who had just graduated from our company. She worked at the computer every day. She had round shoulders and a hunched back. She was so anxious that she couldn't sleep when it came time to catch up on projects. At first, her parents forced her to learn Tai Chi. She was impatient and couldn't sit still. She got distracted halfway through a set of twenty-four poses. She gave up after practicing three times. Later, She signed up for a small hatha yoga class near her company. The teacher would help her adjust the strength of her shoulders and neck, as well as her breathing movements. In two months, not only the problem of holding her breasts was mostly corrected, but she also worked overtime until nine o'clock to practice for forty minutes. She fell asleep when she got home, and no longer had to rely on melatonin to stay up until midnight.

In fact, there have been related discussions in the field of sports medicine. There is a lot of evidence-based medicine that shows that Tai Chi can improve the balance ability of middle-aged and elderly people and is indeed more joint-friendly. The movements are smooth and even, and the strength training of the lower limbs is gradual. Even people with basic joint diseases seldom suffer sports injuries when practicing under the guidance of professional teachers. Some studies have even confirmed that long-term Tai Chi practice can improve the gait stability of Parkinson's patients. Of course, there are also studies supporting yoga, which believe that yoga is more targeted at muscle strength, especially the core, shoulders and back, which are generally weak parts of modern people. Different schools can also adapt to different needs. If you want to relax, you can practice Yin yoga, and if you want to increase your physical fitness, you can practice Ashtanga. The improvement effect on chronic pain and anxiety is also very clear.

There is nothing either/or. I went to a sports rehabilitation salon before and met a senior teacher who had practiced yoga for eighteen years. After retirement, he started to learn Tai Chi. He said that he had done a lot of strength training before, and his joints occasionally felt tight. Combined with Tai Chi's slow-motion breath adjustment, the whole person's state was much more comfortable than when he practiced yoga alone.

If you are really confused about which one to choose, why not try two or three classes first to see if you feel comfortable after practicing and whether you can persist. After all, exercise that can be sustained for a long time is really good for your health, right?