Your keys aren't in the spot you thought you left them? Can't recall the title of a book? I've had those moments.

Amid our busy lives, distraction or fatigue may explain our forgetfulness. But instances of 'brain freeze' make me realize I want to do everything in my power to help keep my brain sharp.

There's plenty of evidence that exercise can help protect our bodies and brains. And as we age, daily movement doesn't need to be super intense. In fact, a new study finds tai chi, a form of slow-moving martial arts, can help slow down cognitive decline and protect against dementia.

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Tai Chi Is a Workout for the Brain and Body

The mental and physical benefits span cultures and generations. Here’s how to get started.

By Cindy Kuzma, NY Times

• June 20, 2023

“Parting the Wild Horse’s Mane.” “Wave Hands Like Clouds.” “Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain.” These are not song titles or poems. Rather, they’re the deceptively complex movements of tai chi.

With around 250 million practitioners around the globe, tai chi is often cited as one of the world’s most popular physical activities. It originated in China in the 17th century as a martial art. Unlike karate or taekwondo, tai chi focuses on quiet strength rather than combat, which makes it more accessible to older adults or those who have been injured.

Shirley Chock, 48, began practicing in her 20s, after she tore her A.C.L. She had previously trained in wushu kung fu, a more acrobatic martial art that caused the tear, but tai chi offered a low-impact way to rehab. The former financial professional, who was born in New York and spent her childhood in Taiwan, also found tai chi beneficial in managing stress and conflict. After about two years, she began teaching, and eventually took over Aiping Tai Chi, the Connecticut school where she had trained. Full Article

By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter

(HealthDay)

WEDNESDAY, May 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- When the late Brown University researcher Catherine Kerr had cancer, she benefited from an ancient Chinese practice known as qigong and began looking into its impact on others.

Now, her colleagues are building on Kerr’s work, studying how practicing qigong affects a person’s perception of fatigue in a small group of 24 female cancer patients just out of treatment.

They found that qigong was as effective at reducing fatigue as an energy-intensive exercise and nutrition program. It might also be easier for someone tired after weeks or months of treatment to begin. Read Full Article.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) revolves around the interaction and relationship among the five elements; metal, water, wood, fire, earth.  The relationships are referred to as "Wu Xing", the five phases,  and are graphically demonstrated in the graphic shown.  Each of the elements supports one of the other elements (black arrows).  For example water supports wood like water supports a tree.  Alternatively, each element controls another element (white arrows), as one example metal controls wood like an axe on a tree.

The phase that fascinates me and is not initially intuitive is that wood controls earth.  As an arborist that works in urban forestry and writes about the importance of trees, it is clear to me how wood manifests its control on earth. As more research is being conducted, a forest's impact on earth's soil, climate, and the air we breath is becoming more documented.  In TCM this relationship is traditionally imparted as wood parts earth (such as roots; or, Trees can prevent soil erosion).  

Optimal health requires a state of harmony or balance in both the control and support phases between the elements. For example, too much water will kill the tree as would too much metal.  The objective is to keep them in balance in both support and control.  These relationships are expressed in the yin/yang symbol which is a dynamic symbol of opposing forces in balance and harmony.

Like in the Wu Xing we seek a wood / earth balance.  Wood is associated with the spring while earth is the transition between seasons.  Using five element, four season Qigong we stimulate these elements through movement during certain times of the day and year to create harmony within ourselves and around us connecting ourselves with nature. Stay tuned for an overview of the circadian cycles and how to use your practice to create harmony and connect with nature!

This gentle form of exercise can help maintain strength, flexibility, and balance, and could be the perfect activity for the rest of your life.

Tai chi is often described as "meditation in motion," but it might well be called "medication in motion." There is growing evidence that this mind-body practice, which originated in China as a martial art, has value in treating or preventing many health problems. And you can get started even if you aren't in top shape or the best of health. 

In this low-impact, slow-motion exercise, you go without pausing through a series of motions named for animal actions —

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If you're looking for a way to reduce stress, consider tai chi (TIE-CHEE). Originally developed for self-defense, tai chi has evolved into a graceful form of exercise that's now used for stress reduction and a variety of other health conditions. Often described as meditation in motion, tai chi promotes serenity through gentle, flowing movements. 

Tai chi is an ancient Chinese tradition that, today, is practiced as a graceful form of exercise. is tai chi?

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We find friends in many quarters, proximity, common interests, school, neighbors, and even on the internet. I often encounter new friends in movement. My friend Billy Lee has asked me to share my perspective on friendship and movement after demonstrating to him some Qi Gong. 

In Qi Gong, an ancient Chinese series of movements, we often discuss different types of learning, whether auditory, visual, and/or kinetic. Perhaps there are different ways of being friends. I know that becoming friendly with someone often has to do with a “feeling”. Love at first sight would be an extreme example. Often there is just something that intrigues you about the other, which could fall into the categories of types of learning. You might like the sound of someone or how they look. Alternatively, you might be repelled by someone on the same grounds. I found that my movement when not paying attention, which can appear quick and intense upsets dogs. I know because they bark at me. What does it mean to be kinetically drawn or repelled by someone?

So much of our language comes through our body. When we move together in unison there is a power and reinforcement that is shared without words. I have always considered myself a kinetic learner, it is a language that comes natural to me. While I have learned to adapt, words have always been a struggle. I enjoy my Qi Gong practice as it allows me to share with others through movement. Often in movement, I find I can be truer to myself and relate more genuinely than through words.

Movement also allows me to align myself with nature that combines both elements of me and nature as reflected in my body. For me, moving in sync with nature means slowing your breathing pattern and coordinating it with my mind and body through gentle movements. When we move with nature, our movement takes on a deeper meaning. Combine that with another person and it becomes reciprocal. Sometimes I practice what I jokingly call Tree Gong, a type of Qigong with a tree, where I slow my breath and stand like a tree, envisioning your exhalation of carbon dioxide and inhalation of oxygen, exactly inverse to what the tree is doing.

While movement most always starts internally, it is always expressed in an external fashion. Some types of movements are more accepted than others, for example tennis on a tennis court, or frisbee on a field, or dancing in a club. The ancient arts, like Tai Chi and Qi Gong, not only connect us with those of past, but it is also an excellent way to connect with those in our present. There have been several occasions when I attracted unwanted attention practicing Tai Chi in public.  So, finding a safe place to practice is important, unless you are trying to make a statement, but do not be surprised if the statement is misinterpreted or worse is threating to someone.

Many feel constricted by their ability to move, whether it is emotional or physical. Each of us has our own ways to move through gravity on Earth. We are nature, each one of us, so embrace a method and do not judge yourself, just breath and move. The next time you see a movement practice, whether dance, tai chi, qi gong, throwing the frisbee or playing ping pong, consider partaking. There is power in moving together and in unison with nature.