Using Tai Chi to Help Children Cope with Stress
You may have heard about the benefits of the practice of Tai Chi–a Chinese system of slow, meditative physical exercise designed for relaxation and overall health.Evidence is mounting that Tai Chi holds tremendous benefits for children, and you can help them learn it. Sifu recently taught some foster parents how to use Tai Chi with their foster children, but anyone can benefit. Regardless of the age of the person doing it, Tai Chi is proven to reduce stress, enhance flexibility and strength, and improve sleep, to mention just a few benefits.
Children experience stress just like adults do. Whether they're experiencing pressure to achieve in school, worried about a bully, or—as in some cases of children we work to help—wondering where their next meal will come from, their small bodies feel the effects. Stress raises adrenalin, blood sugar, heart rate and blood pressure. Over the long term, the cumulative effects can cause a host of problems.
Here are just a few of the benefits of introducing children to Tai Chi
Posture: Children today spend a lot of time sitting, whether in classrooms or in front of a computer or TV at home. As a result, postural problems are on the rise.
Focus: Concentration has become a casualty of busy lifestyles, with the ability to “stay in the moment” becoming increasingly difficult.
Exercise: Our sedentary lifestyle robs us of strength and flexibility as we get older. Tai chi exercises the whole body in a gentle way.
Diet: Diet is related to what is happening in the mind. If children learn to manage stress, they can reduce the desire to eat, or overeat, for comfort. Tai Chi has been embraced by the Diabetes Foundation of Australia as an effective way to help prevent type 2 diabetes.
Fun, Minus Competition: Many children shy away from sports because they are daunted by competition. Sports are not for everyone. The gentle movements of Tai Chi deliver similar benefits in exercise and health.