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How to Do Tai Chi for Balance, to Reduce Falls, Build a Stronger Body & to Live a Longer Life

Part 1 in a 3 Part Series on How to Do Tai Chi. Read  - Part 2 on Tai Chi Walking and  - Part 3 on Tai Chi Breathing.
your tai chi teacher is teapotmonk Paul Read
teapotmonk's basic tai chi series
  • Is Tai Chi good for balance?
  • Can Better Balance help me live longer? 
  • What Tai Chi exercises can help with balance?
In the Back to Basics Series you not only get answers these questions, but also some great Tai Chi balance exercises to help build a stronger body, reduce falls, improve peripheral vision and achieve a better work-life balance. 

What is the Back to Basics Series?

Tai Chi is often portrayed as something complicated and difficult to learn, but truth is, it's pretty simple. The Basics Series provides articles, instructions and short video courses on the fundamentals of Tai Chi. I believe these are essential skills we should all learn. 
To get the most from these exercises, read all 3 in the series and compliment the series with this free 5 Day Balance Course that takes you through the fundamentals of posture, movement and balance. 

Better Balance for Brain Coordination and Life Expectancy

According to the World Health Association, falling over is the second cause of accidental deaths in the world. This is an alarming statistic and is getting worse as each generation progressively is getting worse as we become more sedentary, less mobile and take digital rather than analog choices in life.
And it's not just the elderly at risk, we all begin to notice a decline in out ability to stay balanced from our mid-30s, resulting in less physical activity, less confidence to move about so easily, and less time interacting with others.
"In fact, those people with good balance, will likely live longer  - by a substantial number of years."
Dr. Michael Mosley
The BBC Radio show Just One Thing presented by Doctor Michael Mosley explores all these issues with health experts and concludes that it is a "marker of decline". Balance is the manifestation of many different systems at work in our body - brain coordination, joint responses, sensory systems, the inner ear and eye coordination. If we have poor balance then we may well have a problem in one of these other areas. 
The evidence and the discussion around the subject are fascinating and the BBC program ends recommending Tai Chi as one of the best exercises to improve balance. 
But what is it about Tai Chi that develops good balance and are there exercises we can do for ourselves at home? In the radio program they mention standing on one leg, but - they don't give the details as to how to do this well. So, the teapotmOnk steps in where the WHO does not ;) and presents you with 5 Easy Steps for better balance, better brain coordination and a longer life.   ​​

Tai Chi Balance Exercises: 5 Easy Steps

Good balance is more than just a physiological capability. In Tai Chi terms, it is made up of  5 elements or steps that in my courses, I take you through stage by stage:
  1. Work-life balance.
  2. Ligament and tendon strength
  3. Staying relaxed
  4. Rooting and learning from balance in nature
  5. Staying alert with ​Peripheral Vision

STEP 1. WORK-LIFE BALANCE

That BBC program was right about the importance of being able to stay upright when walking across a slippery surface - but it is not the only definition we need to look at to develop a better work-life balance.
Balance is a lot of other things too, it is also about learning to listen with both mind and body, and it is about learning to observe and stay open to all that life hurls at you.

Is Tai Chi good for Balance?

There is plenty of evidence from the research and investigative studies that show Tai Chi helps in improving balance and countering a fear of falls. ​If you are interested, take a moment to read these reports, otherwise, lets' begin the exercise called Stand Like a Flamingo​
To start, we need to first look at your posture. I'll give the basic pointers here, but there is also short video at the end of this article that walks you through some of these basic posture points. Make sure you watch that too.
Teapotmonk Balance definition poster
Balance Quote from the Manual of Bean Curd Boxing. Click on image for more info.

STEP 2: TAI CHI BALANCE EXERCISE

​This exercise is also known as Stand Like a Flamingo. Though we try and emulate how a Flamingo stands, it is important to avoid where a Flamingo stands. Stay out of puddles and salt beds. ​

Tai Chi Balance Tips

  • Start with feet flat on the ground.
  • Spend a moment allowing your breath to settle down to a gentle rhythm.
  • Avoid looking down at the floor or your feet. 
  • Keep your head up. Look ahead of you. 
  • The knee of the supporting leg should be soft and open (slightly bent). This allows the weight of the body to be carried by your large thigh muscles, and the balance adjustments to be carried out by the ligaments and tendons. 
  • Keep you shoulders, elbows and hands relaxed at at your sides.
  • Relax you chest and don't hold your breath. 

The Balance Exercise

Okay, let's start. 
  1. Hold on to a chair, but preferably something fixed that will not fall over with you, such as a table top or window ledge. 
  2. Keep the other arm loose, at your side. 
  3. Sink down slightly, taking the weight into the supporting leg.
  4. Bend the knee a little.
  5. Check your posture once again (see list above)
  6. Lift the other foot off the floor, just an inch or two. ​
Balance holding chair
Start by holding on to a chair

STEP 3: STAY RELAXED AND WORK BOTH SIDES

Just practice holding your foot off the floor for a few seconds to begin with. Then try with the other leg. You may find that one leg is stronger than the other. Don't panic, this is normal.  Knowing this, you can then devote more of your time to developing the weaker leg/side. 
The better you know your body, the easier it is to improve . your posture, the more your posture improves, the better your balance.
To get maximum benefit, try to keep your body relaxed. Avoid locking the knee that is carrying the weight. Keep the knee soft and the joint open. Staying relaxed and keeping your joints open means that you will be working the ligaments and tendons, as well as the muscles of the leg and lower back. 
​
Want a bigger balance challenge? Once you feel comfortable raising your foot an inch or two  - you can move on to the next step to develop your balance skills. ​
One leg balance exercise in Tai Chi
Keep both knees soft and use hands for balance

Give yourself a Bigger Challenge

  1. Still hold on to the chair or something more solid, like a table. But this time, try raising your leg a little higher. Pick up the thigh, so that the foot is level with your knee and hold it there for a few seconds, working up to a minute.
  2. Once you can do this, try keeping the thigh still but circling your ankle one way, then the other.   
  3. Once you can do this comfortably, try relaxing the ankle but this time swinging your thigh out to the side, then back in front of you 3 or 4 times.
Finally, if you want a further challenge still, try going back to the beginning, but instead of holding on to a chair or table top, place both arms out to the side. Imagine both palms are still holding on to the chair or table and push down on these imaginary surfaces. This is how we develop a greater balance, especially as we work towards lifting the knee and moving it out to the side. 

STEP 4: ROOTING AND LEARNING FROM BALANCE IN NATURE

Rooting in nature and in Tai ChiRooting in nature
So good balance is partly physical, partly mind (imagination) and partly conceptual (see the poster at the top of this article or read more in the Manual of Bean Curd Boxing). In all Tai Chi exercises and practices, the imagination plays a crucial part, and in the area of balance it arises within the concept we call rooting. Rooting involves imagining that from the soles of your feet, roots grow out of your legs, feet and soles of the feet and into the earth.
Try to keep this image in your mind when practising the balance exercises. Also, keep your head up, back straight and look directly ahead. Don't look down, as this throws your body weight forward, and you'll more likely topple over. Imagine you are a bamboo stalk, swaying in the wind, fragile and vulnerable perhaps, but with a good root structure you will never fall down. 

STEP 5: STAY  ALERT WITH PERIPHERAL VISION

Peripheral vision with teapotmonnkCan you see the fish without looking at the fish?
At the beginning, you may only be able to hold the foot up for a few seconds, but in time, this will increase, as your ligaments get stronger and stronger. 
There is one last concept I want to mention, and that is about the eyes and where we focus. I said earlier not to look down and some of you might be thinking - I need to look down to check my posture. That's ok, but raise your head up straight away or you will topple over. To avoid having to always look down we should begin to develop our peripheral vision​. This is our ability to see what is happening around us without needing to look up, down or to the sides. 

More on this Balance Exercise

Standing on one leg in the kitchen exerciseWaiting for the kettle to boil? Stand on one leg.
Practice the balance exercise at least three or four times a day, but perhaps more importantly, try to incorporate the exercise into your daily life - preferably whilst you are doing something else, such as:
  • Waiting for the kettle to boil. 
  • Cleaning your teeth
  • Waiting in a bus queue or supermarket
  • Waiting for the dog to pee up the 600th tree that morning
  • Waiting for your phone to find a wifi signal
  • Anywhere that you have a free moment in which to regain some balance in life. 

What is the Secret to Good Balance?

Some Tai Chi schools bander the word "secret" about a lot. You'll see "Secret training methods, secret techniques, secret flapjack recipes" etc. But, the teaptomonk says  - there are no secrets. It's all just a question of practice. But don't just practice in class or when you are in a training session. Try and make Tai Chi part of your daily routine. Live the change you want to see in your life. 
​Now, don't forget to watch the video below for a few more examples of what we have been discussing.
Tai Chi FAQ free download
START HERE: Right now we have to think again about how we stay well and stay healthy. There is no easy answer but there are many simple changes we can make to our lives. Try out some of these exercises linked from this updated new Tai Chi PDF to download here. It's now been updated and extended with over 60 pages of information packed into a questions and answer format for beginners. 
5 day free tai chi course on balance
5 Days - 5 Balance Exercises
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