Page 517 - Total War on PTSD

longevity. Translated it means “supreme ultimate fist” and is often referred to as Taiji boxing. Practitioners do a variety of styles traditionally named after the family who developed their own particular style: Yang, Chen, Wu, Sun. As an exercise, Tai Chi is basically a sequence, or choreography, of postures and movements known as forms. Forms have martial applications; thus, it is a fighting art, as well as health exercise.
Qigong, which is much older than Tai Chi, is primarily performed for the purpose of health, but with one great difference — to build vital energy called ‘qi’ (pronounced “chee”). Characteristically, Qigong movements are performed repeatedly in a stationary position, either standing or seated. Tai Chi usually requires stepping and changing position and directions.
Tai Chi and the Brain
Tai Chi and Qigong mind-movement practice can profoundly affect mental states, including PTSD and attendant anxiety, depression, chronic stress, chronic depression and sleep disorders. Tai Chi and Qigong practice affects every system in the body and is considered whole-body, or mind-body-spirit exercise. The movements of Tai Chi and Qigong, which are very precise in nature, nurture precise mental focus, which directly affects brain and nervous system function. Later on, I will give some examples how this can happen in practical terms and which can be implemented.
Scientific discoveries about the brain and nervous system have revealed the brain's capability of plasticity — the intrinsic ability to change and grow—to adapt to environmental, physiological and behavioral cues. All physical and mental health are dependent primarily on a fine-tuned nervous system, yet rarely does conventional physical exercise take into account this understanding. Most of what we see these days is “muscle exercise” with secondary effects on the cardiovascular system and internal organs. This direct stressing of the cardiovascular system is promoted by western practitioners. In contrast, practitioners of Chinese internal martial arts, such as Tai Chi,
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