©1999 by Kurt Nemes

Sometimes I think that we in the West are at war with out bodies. Go to any fitness club and you will see scenes that, in another time and place, could have come right out of a torture chamber. People nearly naked, stretched on racks, muscles bulging, sweating profusely, with grimaces of pain on their faces.

You've all heard that platitude that sums up the philosophy behind the modern fitness industry here-"no pain, no gain." The apostles of this religion say we have to punish our body and whip it into shape lest it turn against us. But let me ask you how many times have you heard this story: a man in the prime of his life goes to his fitness club and runs a mile like he has done every day for the past few years and when he finishes, he drops dead of a heart attack?

Until three years ago, I bought into that same approach. I swam competitively from the age of 8 until 18 and since then have continued swimming, yoga, running, biking and lifting weights. It was never fun. I did it out of a kind of duty or as a kind of insurance policy. To keep my mind agile and as a stress buster, I tried meditating. A demented part of my brain thought, if I do this three times a week, I could live forever.

Fortunately, however, three years ago, I saw an advertisement for a Tai Chi class given at the Bank. From that first class, I felt a unification of my mind and body that I had never felt before. As some of you know, I now teach Tai Chi and another related exercise. I get a lot of questions from people who have heard about Tai Chi, so I'd like to spend my time with you today, describing what Tai Chi is, why I think it works, and the beneficial effects that result from practicing it.

Now the philosophy and beliefs behind Tai Chi are a bit strange to Western ears, so let's begin with basics. Tai Chi is a martial art developed in ancient China. There are several forms of Tai Chi and the one I practice, called the short Yang form, was developed in the late 18^th century. A Tai Chi session consists of a series of movements that go together to create a form. These movements have descriptive names often based on the movement of animals-the Phoenix spreads its wings, butterfly flies around the flower, or the lion flings its mane. In our classes, we do a series of warm-up exercises, then follow our master who leads us through the entire form. Finally, we break up into groups by ability to work on various parts.

If you watch people practicing Tai Chi, you will notice that they do these exercises slowly and deliberately. It hardly looks like exercise at all. However, each exercise is comprised of different components that embody the philosophy on which Tai Chi rests.

That philosophy is of course Taoism, which is based on the idea of yin-yang, or the belief that dualities exist in everything. Dualities like light-dark, male-female, active-passive and light and heavy. So as you do each exercise in the Tai Chi form, you try to incorporate the light and heavy, the up and down, and the in and the out of the breath. To do the exercises correctly, you really cannot think about anything else. And believe me, you are concentrating so much that you do not realize until you've finished just how good a workout you've gotten. Usually, by the end of each session I have worked up a sweat.

Tai Chi works because it is a kind of moving meditation. Researchers on brain wave patterns have found that certain wave patterns are associated with different activities and mental states. You might know the names of these:

• beta waves, which you produce when you are awake and conscious,
• alpha waves, which are associated with day dreaming,
• theta waves, which are linked to feelings of intuition and inspiration,
• and finally, delta waves, which are present during sleep and which help heal your body.

When you practice a moving meditation like Tai Chi, your brain produces a balance of all four waves and this benefits both mind and body.

Another principle of Tai Chi is the concept of Chi, which some writers have called the vital life force that animates the body. As we grow older and become deluged by concerns and worries, our bodies tense up and this blocks the free movement of Chi through our bodies. That makes us prone to diseases and stress-related illness. The exercises in Tai Chi are designed to bring Chi, which is everywhere around us in the universe, into our body and to move it around to promote healing. As our master says, where the mind goes, the Chi goes, and where the Chi goes, the blood goes. And blood promotes healing.

What are the benefits of doing Tai Chi? Many of you have probably read articles in newspapers or seen spots on television that claim Tai Chi reduces stress, lowers cholesterol, and increases flexibility. I am not a researcher in those areas, so I can only speak about the effects that it has had on me, which I consider dramatic.

As I said, I have practiced mediation and sports for all of my adult life. Yet I never felt that my brain and body were working together. In Buddhism, they refer to the untrained mind as a "drunken monkey," which careens from one thought to another and is beset by one crisis after another. Stressful thoughts can cause physiological changes in the body. And changes in the body can cause stressful thoughts. About four years ago, my mind and body got so out of synch, that I began to experience the symptoms of clinical depression. After completing a successful program of chemical therapy with a psychiatrist, I discovered Tai Chi. Since then, it has helped me control, and pretty much eliminate the depression that overtook me.

Other benefits I have noticed from practicing Tai Chi are greater energy levels and an improved ability to concentrate. After a session of Tai Chi, I feel completely awake and alert. I have no trouble sitting down to work and have become much more productive. On the physical side, I have noticed that my balance has improved, I have gained greater flexibility, and lower back and upper shoulder pain no longer plague me as they once did. My body feels relaxed and any kinks I might have had have disappeared.

Finally, I look forward to every class I take or teach because I know that when I finish, I will be energized and ready to face the challenges put in front of me that day.

Nowadays I feel that my body is an ally rather than an enemy. I hope that my explanation of what Tai Chi is, how it works, and its benefits has helped you understand what at first blush is a mysterious exercise. I also hope that it might lead you to consider making peace with your own body.