Newcastle Tai Chi: 2023

Thursday

Tai chi & menopause

Morning Rachel,

Recently, I've been reading about the impact of Tai Chi on the effects of the menopause. Many of the women I know (my age or older) regularly talk about the symptoms that came on during menopause (with many continuing post-menopause) such as lack of sleep (very common), concentration, lack of strength, hot flushes, new joint aches, tiredness etc...

Many older women I encounter go to a physio or other medical practitioner to 'sort them out' and took various medications during the height of menopause to help with the symptoms. It is quite noticeable the difference in how I am.

When I was working, I was starting to really struggle to remember things and I was getting to the point where I felt I couldn't do my job properly, which improved enormously when I started attending class, even with training initially only once a week. Sleeping and hot flushes were an issue, but that noticeably improved too. I'd thought I was simply through the other side (getting older!), but given the recent conversations with other women, they are all still experiencing issues, particularly sleep, which I don't have at all. It's not the most scientific assessment granted, but was the prompt for me to look into it a little more.

Even a cursory search shows numbers articles highlighting the benefits of Tai Chi on menopause symptoms, but I like the following article (more evidence based), and indicates improvements in a group of post menopausal women in terms of sleep, quality of life and physical performance after an 8 week Tai Chi programme, 3 times per week.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9583377/

Some of the references also highlight studies showing benefits on gait, spine bone density, kidney function (to name just a few).

Another quote:

"In fact, tai-chi seems to have no end of benefits – studies have indicated that tai-chi improves both bone density and neurological function, helping to cut through brain fog and target joint aches, can shore up immune systems in menopausal women, and lower the risk of cardiovascular disease." (healthandher.com)

I shouldn't be surprised of course....

See you later.

Julia

From my experience the school provides the best opportunities to learn tai chi whether the reason one has to learn is for health and fitness purposes or as a martial art for self defence.

The instructors (Rachel and Sifu) are very experienced and one can tell that they know what they are talking about. The students are taught practically and in a way that helps the students understand how the skills and movements that are taught are incredibly useful to them in everyday life.

Every exercise that is taught is based on the extensive experience and in contrast with other tai chi schools there is no talk of chi or other esoteric concepts, instead the instructors discuss biomechanics and mention what muscle groups work in different exercises.

The quality and the effect of the exercises is incredibly beneficial to both the mental and the physical health of the students. In contrast to some other tai chi schools the joints of the students do not experience strain or discomfort as the experience of the instructors and their understanding of biomechanics makes sure that exercises taught do not have downsides for long term health and longevity but instead promote the healthy use of the body.

(Max)