Information for People with Special Health Needs and their Carers
HOW CAN T'AI CHI AND CHI KUNG BENEFIT
T'ai Chi and Chi Kung can help a person maintain a healthy and centred lifestyle and increase wellbeing. In addition they can help tom improve and prevent a wide range of conditions including:
Improving balance after falling.Aiding recovery from long term physical and mental illness, Injury and Stroke.
Correcting postural problems.
Improving respiration and circulation and increasing oxygen intake.
Increasing range and quality of movement for people suffering from debilitating conditions such as
Multiple Sclerosis, Arthritis and Parkinson's Disease.
Helping to relieve and manage chronic pain
Reducing stress and tension.
Because of the many different aspects and approaches to these arts there are a wide variety of activities one can find in a class; some teachers will put more emphasis on the Martial aspect of T'ai Chi, including various types of partnerwork; whilst others will concentrate on health aspects or teaching the basics common to all aspects like the long flowing forms (sequences) that characterise T'ai Chi in particular. Some teachers will offer classes where the traditional forms and stances are adapted to specific needs or integrate these in to their more traditional classes. T'ai Chi Chuan classes generally include one of many different sequences whatever else they offer. Chi Kung classes are more likely to consist of individual exercises or standing postures. All of them will include, in one way or another the principles outlined above.
It is important to realise that these arts, whilst being very gentle and able to engage with the individual student in a very personal way may also involve long periods of standing and the ability to follow movements, sometime in long sequences. Many people find that they quickly learn the methods involved and benefit greatly from this; others however may find that the initial difficulties are to difficult for them to overcome and so drop out. Further on in this sheet are some questions that you might like to ask of a prospective teacher; the vast majority of teachers will be only too happy to accommodate people with particular needs.
FINDING A CLASS
There are a growing number of people beginning to teach T'ai Chi and Chi Kung now. A teacher may be a part of a particular school or organisation, but this may not always be the case; there are many good teachers working independently. If you are unsure, you might want to contact one of the organisations listed below for help in finding an appropriate teacher. In particular the `T'ai Chi and Chi Kung Forum for Health ' is aware of many teachers who are willing to adapt the traditional exercises.
If you are unsure whether a class is suitable for you then do talk to the teacher beforehand if at all possible. Explain to them as clearly as you can what your particular needs are. Things you might want to ask are:
Do they have classes available that are more appropriate to your needs?
Will they be able to offer you advice about how movements might be adapted to suit you?
Are they willing to let you have a learning partner in the class with you should you require one?
If you are likely to miss classes regularly is this going to affect your progress - for instance if you are learning a sequence?
Are they happy to allow students to develop at their own pace, even if they are learning a sequence as a group?
Your teacher should be more than happy to discuss these issues with you.
Classes are also available for sepcific groups and needs; Grey Heron Internal Arts tutors already run gorpus for a diverse range of people including frail elderly; people with learning disabilities; mental health service users and people with head injuries. Please contact Mike for more information
