If you're speaking of just learning a solo form for exercise and relaxation I suppose about as much as any such practice for those purposes. I also think a lot would depend on the instructor. I do know of one teacher who had a program in a prison and the inmates who stuck with it did say it was beneficial in stress reduction for them,obviously he was only teaching them solo form and teaching it for that specific purpose. If you're talking about learning it as a martial system then that would depend on your specific triggers which cause anxiety and the level thereof. Learning it as a martial system is no different than any other martial practice-some things are going to cause levels of anxiety in anyone 'til they get used to it,getting tossed about,struck,doing the same to others,etc. There's no blanket answer to your question,it really does depend on what you would practice,and of course the most important factor is you,the individual. It's certainly not a panacea,perhaps you should discuss it with a therapist who may have some insight on it in this context. Sorry I couldn't be of more help than this.
I am glad you are trying to solve the anxiety problem through other means than a life time of prescription medications. The phrase *Don't worry be happy* is trivial I know but it helps me.Good Luck in your search for help and hang out here on the forum.We got some very knowledgeable and friendly people here.Welcome to MAP
Yes. Tai Chi will build your ground which will reduce the anxiety. It will take a long time though. You can't just do it for a few months.
Do you have any reason for saying this? Taking up an activity that takes your focus away from your anxiety and the thoughts that perpetuate it should have some degree of positive effect. It doesn't take years - just the act of joining in with a group of people and focusing your thoughts on mastering a physical activity is a useful thing in itself. To the OP - yes, why not? Give it a try and see how it works for you. That's the important thing. It's not that tai chi has any special properties in itself, but any physical activity that makes you think about something other than your anxiety could have a positive effect.
I think it'll help in far less than a month, albeit it'll take much longer to learn a whole proper tai chi form itself. Proper instruction has helped me to be much calmer. My first day wasn't calming though but the succeeding ones were.
Naw. I just wrote it for the hell of it. Where do you people come from? :bang: Original Poster? No one here at MAP knows anything about Martial Arts. They are all like Bam Bam from the flintstones. They think fighting is BAM BAM'ing people. Do not listen to this person. He has absolutely no idea what he is talking about.
It has a wonderful effect on mental illness. Not only does it help you relax, but it channels your emotions and works with not only to release endorphins, but the serotonin levels in your brain. It is also great for brain receptors. When one develops anxiety (whether Social, Panic, Emotional, PTSD, SAD, OCD, GAD, etc etc) there are instances where brain receptors become lost. When you manage your emotional psyche and do something like Tai Chi as an activity, they do not get lost. Instead, they develop and grow. Tai Chi works as a wonderful cognitive therapy and I recommend it to anyone. You cannot rely soley on SSRIs or SNRIs and other substances to control anxiety. You need goals and hobbies, especially those that help you some way. Tai Chi is perfect for you to channel that anxiety that you have. Now, you may ask "Sarah, do you know this?" Well, I had a Psychology class in college and I asked a ton of questions, not to mention one of my best friend's is a shrink.
Coming from someone who has a hard time understanding what the word "intrinsic" means, your comment lacks authority.
You got mad and don't want to talk to me huh? You work over in the philosophy forums by chance? That is there modus operandi. Send people away, trick people into going away, ignore people until they go away. It works but I am always wondering what that person who is walking away could have told me.
Show some respect. You're referring to somebody who's been thanked over seven hundred times for information in his posts. To the original poster, just agreeing with what's already been said, anything that helps you relax and control your breathing and so on can only be beneficial for helping with your anxiety. Even if you're not in a position where you can actually perform it, I'm sure if you concentrate (I know it can be hard when an anxiety attack is creeping up on you) and visualise yourself doing it, you'll still gain some benefit from it. I suffer from anxiety too, so I can appreciate how much it sucks. I hope you find some success. All the best.
Damn, dude. To be honest, I forgot all about this thread, otherwise I'd've commented. So, we've established that you disagree with my point of view but you haven't actually posted any reason for your disagreement, which is what I asked for in the first place. So far, I've posted that I disagree with you as I would expect any reasonably involved physical activity to have the same kind of effect as tai chi, to which you've responded with a load of abuse about the martial arts philosophy of this forum and my own personal lack of knowledge, but you've declined to enlighten me with any kind of evidence, which leads me to conclude that you're bluffing. As for this; obviously I have no evidence regarding your qualifications in the field of psychology but, on the balance of probabilities, I suspect that they're probably less than mine.
This statement relies on certain premises.. One is that tai chi is solely a physical activity. I think you would be hardpressed to find many tai chi practitioners who would agree it is only a physical activity. Second, that different "reasonably involved physical activities" all have the same effects and outcomes for those doing them. Whist on the physiological level that is broadly speaking true, when talking about chemical and hormonal release. Though what may be as relevent is the relationship between the activity and the person doing it. Somebody who is not a big fan of exercising and doesn't really enjoy it will probably find better ways to deal with anxiety than doing lot's of running for example. For this sort of question to be answered more accurately I think you would want to make a comparison on a broad base of people regarding the effects on anxiety between those activities that 1. are solely meditatively based (standing or sitting meditation),2. those that are simply a physical activity (like walking, jogging, press ups) and those that combine both together - like tai chi as moving meditation or yoga with its specialised breathing practices etc. Tai chi and yoga, like most things can range from being adapted to be fairly easy and relaxing to being a demanding activity.
I don't disagree with anything you've written there. There are some activities that will suit some people better than others. Some people will benefit from the physical or social aspects while others will benefit from the meditation or simply distraction. That's why I originally said "sure, try tai chi" - I think it could be a pretty good idea but he needs to find out for himself, which ties in with what you just said.
Sure, it's not that I disagreed per se with the statement, but "same kind of" leaves room for ambiguity people might pick up on (like jinkan). Just thought I'd add a bit of specificity (is that a word!?) to the discussion via some exploration of said ambiguity..
It is unimportant and meaningless to me also. That didn't seem like a rude way of phrasing to you? Why would anyone in the entire world speaking on any subject say what they do for no reason? The question made no sense at all in the setting of a friendly back and forth conversation. It sounded like someone saying "You just made that up didn't you?", only saying it in polite language. Accusing people of making things up, of lying, isn't usually considered polite. This is silly. Tai Chi is defined as a martial art that specifically works on the internal part of the body. No other exercise in the western world even mentions the internal part of the body, so why would you expect those exercises to have the same effect as Tai Chi? If I tell you you have a small penis, am I insulting you or am I stating a fact if you really do have a small penis? If I say someone has no martial arts knowledge and that is a factual statement in my opinion, it is not personal abuse unless the listener takes it as personal abuse. From what I have read no one knows anything about real Martial Arts. Anyone who denies or refutes anything about Chi knows nothing about real Martial Arts. That group includes about 90% of the people posting I have read so far.
You mean someone who wants to make certain that factual reality is adhered to might pick it up? Yes. Please include me in the group of "weirdos" who demand adhering to factual detailed reality.
