Beginning Tai Chi Exercises: Does Relaxing Relieve Stress?
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“I’ve been a videographer for 19+ years. I’ve taped lots of people’s presentations. While John may not be a professionally trained speaker, he is definitely very knowledgeable and presents the information clearly without a lot of hype or confusing terms. I’ve enjoyed working with him and think anyone can learn this stuff the way John presents it. In fact I found myself doing the exercises while editing and previewing the DVD’s and was not even aware I was doing them.”
George Nikas, Videographer
Does Relaxing Actually Relieve Stress?
Is simple relaxation an effective way to relieve stress? Yes it is, but only up to a point. The problem is, if you’re still under stress it doesn’t work for long.
When you’ve been building up stress for a long period of time simple relaxation relieves stress in the moment, yet the slightest problem brings it right back to the surface.
Have you ever noticed that when you’re under a lot of stress, you feel fine one moment and angry the next? Sometimes you may even feel out of control. You might feel this emotionally, you may feel this physically, or both.
Unrelieved stress shows up in our bodies through:
- Stiff neck and shoulders
- Back pain
- Stomach problems
- … the list goes on and on
There was a revealing study about this very thing at the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine. When average people with tension headaches practiced tai chi for only 15 weeks they:
- got significant relieve from tension headaches
- found they had more energy
- experienced better emotional well-being
- got along better with others
- experienced improved mental health… in short, they were less stressed.
Here’s the excerpt from the study:
“Researchers found that Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese low-impact mind-body exercise, provided significant health benefits for adults suffering from tension headaches. Compared with a control group, patients who participated in a 15-week Tai Chi program were helped not only with headache pain, but also perceived improvement in other areas, reporting increased energy, emotional well-being, social functioning and improved mental health.” April 2007 Los Angeles UPI release
Why Tai Chi and Not Just Regular Exercise?
Tai chi is a uniquely active method for relaxing both body and mind. Tai chi requires you to focus your mind while consciously relaxing your body as you move.
In simple relaxation you let your mind wander aimlessly or let it be led by someone or something else. When exercising at the gym people have a strong tendency to tense parts of their bodies not otherwise needed for the exercise. Ever see someone bench pressing weights while they lifted their feet, or even worse, arched their back?
Another important factor is that tai chi movements cause your body’s natural energy to flow more smoothly, and you don’t have to think about it for it to happen. Combined these factors are incredibly powerful stress relievers.
What Happens if You Don’t Deal With Stress?
Stress is recognized as one of the leading causes of disease and pre-mature aging. If you’re under 40 you probably don’t think much about premature aging. After all, why would you?
The worst thing about pre-mature aging is this: “Once you’re aware of it, premature aging can be extremely difficult to reverse”.
How Old Should You Be Before You Begin To Age Gracefully?
How would you like to look when you’re 40, when you’re 50, 60, 70, how about 80 or 90? With very few exceptions, we slow down and become weaker as we age, some even say we start dying the moment we’re born. I’m not too sure about that but maybe, just maybe there is something you can do about growing old and feeble before your time.
My Chinese Master began studying Tai Chi at the ripe old age of four. That’s right four. His grandfather, a senior disciple (protege) of the great Yang Chengfu, began teaching his grandson as soon as he was old enough to pay attention. As a result, Master Cui Zhongsan is now 60, moves like someone in his twenties, and looks about 20 years younger than he really is. I’ll tell you a little more about his early training in a minute. It’s an amusing story about childhood motivation.
If you’re like me, you don’t have the advantage of having a master as a grandfather. I started when I was 40. While I was blessed with a baby face that always made me look younger than I was, I also suffered knee injuries in my teens that required surgery. I’ve always been pretty active while at same time I’ve often suffered minor injuries along with frequent knee pain.
Now, 7 years later, my knee pain is almost non-existent, I’m much more flexible, I have more stamina, and I feel great. These are only a few of the reasons why I practice Tai Chi regularly. Ok you may be thinking “good for you, but I don’t think I’ll stick with it or even practice all that much”? I used to think that too. When I first started I didn’t practice much unless I was in class - once, maybe twice a week. I still felt better, and I wasn’t feeling that bad to begin with.
A couple of years before I became a disciple (protege) of Master Cui Zhongsan I injured my feet running and couldn’t practice for about 6 months. Although a number of my friends are marathon runners, my body just won’t let me run that hard. I usually only run a couple of months out of the year so I can get ready for the Peachtree Road Race on the 4th of July here in Atlanta, Georgia. Because I don’t run regularly, and wasn’t paying attention to what my body was telling me, I ended up with a severe injury.
Through Tai Chi I’ve learned how to really pay attention to my body and to stop before I injure myself. I used to think I got sore because I was a weekend warrior. Tai Chi has taught me how to really pay attention to my body, and it does this for everyone. Sometimes I still get sore, but I don’t seem to injure myself anymore.
One thing about Tai Chi is it’s really addictive. Once I reached a point where practice felt really good and I noticed my body was responding better than it used to, I wanted more and so will you. Sometimes it even feels like a drug, when everything really comes into focus; my energy is flowing and I feel like I’m on top of the world. It’s legal, it’s all natural, and it’s not expensive.
The Chinese Know the Secret
of Staying Healthy All Through Life!
What if You Can’t Stand Long Enough to Exercise, or Can’t Stand at All?
Beginning Tai Chi Exercises is easily modified and can be done in a seated position, or even in bed. If you or someone you know can’t stand, or has difficulty standing, this is the perfect exercise. Most people seem to think that a seated exercise is of little or no real value, heath wise. Beginning Tai Chi Exercises teach you to move in a way that brings significant health benefits, even when done while seated. You’ll be truly amazed, and if you’re able to do it standing you’re really in for a treat!
What if You’re Really Uncoordinated?
I’ve seen people show up to their first class in pretty poor shape who are now doing amazingly well. One shinning example really sticks in my mind. Dotti knew she had to do something. She had osteoporosis and asthma, and had never really done much exercise. She had little coordination and I frankly didn’t expect her to stick around. Well, she did and Dotti’s now been at it for 5 years.
I remember a time, about 4 years ago when Dotti came to class beaming. She had just been to see her doctor and he’d said “I don’t know what you’re doing, but whatever it is keep it up because it’s working.” Her bone density had actually increased; an occurrence almost unheard of by her doctor!
About her asthma, Dotti says she uses a prescription inhaler and her subscription inhaler’s date now expires before her inhaler runs out. She’s not sure that Tai Chi is responsible for this, but since medical studies have shown that Tai Chi has a positive impact on lung capacity and how well you breathe, she’s not willing to dismiss it either.
So who would you like to follow, Master Cui who started at 4 years old, me who started at 40, or Dotti who started at 55? The young woman in this video with me, Emily, started at the age of 13; how would you like to follow her?
Now realize you don’t have to be perfect. A little Tai Chi practice is better than just about anything else you can do, even if you don’t do it very well at first. Volumes of medical studies are filled with the specific details about people who had never done Tai Chi before and still benefited enormously.
As a teacher I see a lot of uncoordinated beginners, yet their heath benefits are no less significant than their more polished and more senior training brothers and sisters. Sometimes maybe the benefits are even more significant because they weren’t in very good shape when they started, so they had even more to gain.
You’ll see in this video that I’m just a regular guy. I’m not the most polished person you’ll ever see, but I have a system that will teach you these seeming simple, yet fairly complex, moves one piece at a time so that before you know it you’re doing it right along with me. Tai chi is one of those things that looks easy but is harder to do than it looks.
This method has been tested on both beginners and more advanced practitioners. Everyone has told me they’ve benefited from learning this method. It’s simply an easy way to learn Beginning Tai Chi Exercises as well as good practice for more advanced practitioners working on the basics. It provides an incredibly good foundation for advancing your Tai Chi skills and I do it myself all the time.
And now the rest of the story about Master Cui Zhongsan and how his grandfather encouraged him to begin practicing at the age of four. Cui Zhongsan loved a sweet and sour candy called tang hu lu. It’s a Chinese candy made from small sour, candy coated apples eaten from a stick. To get him to practice, his grandfather would put the candy on a table in the middle of the room and let him have one piece for each time he did one single move, or form, all the way around the outside edge of the room. Because he liked tang hu lu so much, he did a lot of practicing for a four year old.
What if You Don’t Have Time to Exercise?
These routines can be done in about 4 minutes. Of course the more you do the better, within reason, but you can get some amazing health benefits in as little as 4 minutes a day. Let me help you get there.
What if You Don’t Have Room to Exercise?
If you live in a small apartment or spend a lot of time in hotel rooms, this is the perfect exercise routine for you. It’s designed so that it can be done in an area of only 4 foot by 3 foot. That’s about the room you have at the foot of your bed, or it can be done in a hallway, or in your kitchen; you think of a place and you can probably do it there. So now you really have no excuse not to feel better.
Join Me, Discover the Astonishing Health Benefits of Tai Chi
Tai Chi isn’t really a magic bullet; it just feels like one when you do it regularly. What you’ll find by doing Tai Chi Exercises is that you have more energy for everyday living. You’ll be training your body to use less energy naturally, even when you’re doing everyday tasks. In fact, you may have more energy than you know what to do with. The best thing is that you’ll be able to do Tai Chi Exercises whenever you want and wherever you are. It’s easy and convenient any time of day or night. And you can even practice in a tiny little space.
Tai Chi is an incredible natural medicine with no dangerous side effects. Science is only now discovering the surprisingly large number of health benefits Tai Chi provides. The pile of scientific paperwork for studies confirming the benefits of Tai Chi is growing almost daily.
Tai Chi has been used for centuries as a natural medicine by people of all ages and abilities. Tai Chi has been called the ‘Ultimate Exercise’ because it activates our own natural ‘Elixir Within’. If you’re feeling good right now you can use Tai Chi to stay that way and if you’re not, you can use it along with just about any medical treatment imaginable to help you feel better.
Exactly What Benefits Do Tai Chi Exercises Offer You?
The Overall Medical Benefits -
- There are no harmful side effects and it’s impossible to overdose
- You’ll be sick less often because it helps strengthen your immune system and prevent illness*
- You may be able to avoid medication because it naturally reduces blood pressure: both systolic and diastolic*
- You’ll be winded less often because it helps increase your lung capacity*
- Tai Chi has a long list of health restorative properties*
- You’ll wake up ready for the day because it promotes better sleep*
- Tai Chi supports your entire body
- Your body and your mind will naturally work better because Tai Chi calms your body and your mind, allowing them to function in a more efficient and relaxed manner
- Tai Chi naturally detoxifies your body, eliminating excessive toxins due to the way the movements are performed
- Tai Chi is effective whether you’re sick or healthy
* supported by medical research studies (a few of these studies are sited in this letter)
More benefits from Tai Chi Exercises -
- You’ll increase your energy level
- You’ll become taller because of the way it trains you to stand
- You’ll improve your mental focus while strengthening your body
- You’ll find that you age slower and more gracefully while maintaining a healthy glow from within
- You’ll learn to move your body’s energy so you’ll just plain feel better
- You’ll gain significantly better leg strength over time if you do the leg work as well
- Your balance will improve more than you realize over time
- As your balance improves your movements will become more and more grounded and graceful
- You’ll be less susceptible to back pain as you learn to relax your back and hips during stressful times
- General body pain will decrease as you learn to relax while doing everyday things
- … and the list goes on
What Will You Get From This Video?
You’ll get a 40 minute video teaching the exceptionally simple moves of Beginning Tai Chi Exercises.
- While you probably won’t learn everything the first time you watch it, you will find it amazingly easy to follow so you can learn the moves quickly.
- Each form or move is taught one simple piece at a time. Many beginners find moving both arms in different directions at the same time challenging, so I teach these types of movements one arm at a time allowing you to “anchor them into your body”.
- Practice sessions are broken down into 2 separate and different routines so you’ll have the choice of exercising the way you like: either with or without leg conditioning.
- Individual chapters make it easy for you to get right to the exact exercise you want whenever you want, without searching around or wading through stuff you’re not interested in.
- Each routine is done two times in about a 4 minute time frame so you can get the benefits even when you don’t have the time for a longer workout.
- The routines are also simple enough that you’ll be able to repeat them as many times as you like and get even more benefits when you have more time.
- This video will leave you well prepared for more advanced Tai Chi forms later on. This way you’ll be able to continue learning and Tai Chi will continue to be fun and interesting. Tai Chi has so much to offer; you’ll never stop learning. To me it’s one of the greatest things about Tai Chi.
The exercises you’re going to learn:
- Are taught ONE basic and simple movement at a time
- Are easily and quickly learned
- Can be done in very little space
- Can be done seated for those who are unable to stand
- Are done with no special equipment
- Can be done in less than 5 minutes
- Are effective at moving energy throughout your body
- Can be done anywhere, in a hotel room, at the foot of your bed,in your kitchen, in the park, anywhere
What Else are You Going to Get?
Aside from a very simple and complete set of movements with 2 different routines:
- You’ll also get a Bonus Video with two additional variations on the routine set.
- You’ll learn the proper way to move your waist & hips. Hip and waist movement is a fundamental part of good Tai Chi, and most beginners find it to be one of the most challenging things to learn. Because it is so important, it is taught separately in the bonus video, after you’ve had a chance to really learn the arm movements.
- You’ll learn how to easily modify the moves so they can be done from a seated position, or even in bed. If you or someone you know has difficultly standing, this is the perfect exercise. Most people seem to think that seated exercises are of little value. Beginning Tai Chi Exercises teaches you to move in a way that brings significant health benefits, even when done while seated. You’ll be truly amazed.
- You’ll also receive the 10 Fundamental Principles of Tai Chi Chuan for Beginners (available in e-book format). This is based on Yang Chengfu’s description of the 10 principles and is simplified for beginning Tai Chi practitioners (players, as they’re called in China).
- You’ll receive a detailed written description of how to get the most benefit from your Tai Chi practice (available in e-book format).
- You’ll also get an easily downloadable video of me performing the exercises as a moving form set so you can also learn this graceful moving set of forms developed by Master Cui Zhongsan, my master. He created this form set so beginners can quickly get the satisfaction of practicing a full form set. Yang Style Tai Chi used to require learning the full 108 form set right from the time you started classes. It used to take months to learn the 108 form sequence, rather than a just a short series of classes to learn this 8 form sequence.
What Does it Cost to Learn Tai Chi?
At the school where I study and teach, it takes most people 8 to 12 classes, or more, to learn the information that’s on this tape. At the per class price of $15 you would end up paying $120 to $180. If you were to learn faster than most people you might be able to do it for around $70. If you’re one of those people who really dwell on the details and take your time it could cost as much as $240 or even more.
Well because you will be learning this from a video, the cost will obviously be less. Charging half of what the typical class room time would cost is probably a fair way to go. That’s $60 to $90 for learning a form you can do over and over and reap incredible health benefits. Not a bad deal, right?
Well I personally think that’s still a little high for a beginner’s video. You should be able to try it out and see how much you like Tai Chi first, without spending a bunch of money. For this reason I’ve set the price of my Beginning Tai Chi video at $37.95*(see below). Then I threw in a few extras just for good measure. I really want you to try Tai Chi and see if you like it. If you don’t, no big deal, there are lots of other exercise routines you can try later on. If you do like it, then offering it to you for this price was worth it for both of us. You have a new hobby you really like, and I have a happy new customer.
* Limited Time Offer:
The list price for Beginning Tai Chi Exercises is $37.95 including the bonus video and free additional bonuses. I’d really like to hear what people think of my video so for a limited time I’m offering it at a reduced price of $27.95. That’s $10 off the list price.
In exchange for this discount I’m asking you to send me an email telling me what you think of Beginning Tai Chi Exercises and letting me know if there are any other things you’d like be able to get from me. I’m not looking for people to tell me what I want to hear, but real honest feed back.
This type of feed back not only helps me to know how I’m doing, but also helps me make sure I’m giving you what you really want. So the $27.95 price is available for a limited time. All I ask is that you send me an email after you watch my video.
YOU’LL ALSO GET FREE BOUNS EXTRAS WORTH $30:
- Extra #1, The 10 Principles of Tai Chi for Beginners: This eBook is the perfect thing to get your tai chi off on the right foot. It is a re-writing of the 10 Principles of Taijiquan by the great Yang Chengfu. It was rewritten in today’s common language so it is easier for beginners to understand and follow. A $13 value.
- Extra #2, How to Get the Most From Your Practice: This write-up will help you learn how and when to practice to get the most out of your time as well as to help you learn faster. You don’t have to spend hours on end practicing and you’ll learn that you can fit practice into even the busiest schedule. A $7 value.
- Extra #3, Special Additional Bonus Video: You’ll also get an easily downloadable video of me performing the exercises as a moving form set so you can also learn this graceful moving set of forms developed by Master Cui Zhongsan, my master. He created this form set so beginners can quickly get the satisfaction of practicing a full form set. Yang Style Tai Chi used to require learning the full 108 form set right from the time you started classes. It used to take months to learn the 108 form sequence, rather than a just a short series of classes to learn this 8 form sequence. A $10 value.
The Guarantee -
So go ahead and give my video a try. If for any reason at all you don’t love this video, just let me know and I’ll refund the purchase price, plus shipping, no questions asked.
So Where Would You Like to do Tai Chi?
“Every day MILLIONS OF PEOPLE around the planet are practicing Tai Chi, you could be one of them!”
With Beginning Tai Chi Exercises you can exercise anywhere you like. How would you like to be able to bring the benefits of Tai Chi into your life, without dedicating hours and hours to practicing? Do you believe now that it’s possible to learn just a little Tai Chi and still gain incredible benefits?
“The most incredible thing to me is that there will always be thousands of other people doing Tai Chi at the exact moment you are, no matter when that moment is.”
So what are you waiting for? Act Now!
