Parting the Wild Horse’s Mane The Saturday Evening Post

Waving Hands Like Clouds The Saturday Evening Post

Rooster Stands on One Leg The Saturday Evening Post

Stronger muscles and better weight control are among the many benefits of t’ai chi. “In contrast to the Western ‘go for the burn’ workout, t’ai chi conserves your life energy to balance mind, body, and spirit,” says David-Dorian Ross of the PBS program T’ai Chi, Health & Happiness.

T’ai chi techniques can be practiced one by one or as a short flowing routine. Try these relaxing yet strengthening moves from Ross’ latest DVD, Intro to T’ai Chi, available at gaiam.com.

How-to Video: Parting the Wild Horse’s Mane

This move (aka Tossing the Frisbee in a Lunge) coordinates arm and leg movements.

How-to Video: Rooster Stands on One Leg

This exercise requires some balance and will help you build strength in your leg muscles.

How-to Video: Waving Hands Like Clouds

New practitioners of t’ai chi will love this basic, fluid move that requires very little footwork.

5-Minute Fitness: T’ai Chi for Calmness and Strength The Saturday Evening Post

So, what activities can ward off depression as we get older?

Researchers at UCLA turned to a gentle “Westernized” version of tai chi, the 2,000-year-old Chinese martial art. When a group of adults over age 60 and on antidepressant drug therapy attended a weekly tai chi exercise class, standard rating scales showed greater improvement in their level of depression—along with improved quality of life, better memory and cognition, and more overall energy—when compared to study participants taking the same medicine but going to a weekly health education class.

Results of the study appear in the online edition of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

“This is the first study to demonstrate the benefits of tai chi in the management of late-life depression, and we were encouraged by the results,” said first author Dr. Helen Lavretsky, a UCLA professor-in-residence of psychiatry. “We know that nearly two-thirds of elderly patients who seek treatment for their depression fail to achieve relief with a prescribed medication.”

In the study, 112 adults age 60 or older with major depression were treated with the prescription antidepressant escitalopram (brand name: Lexapro) for approximately four weeks. From among those participants, 73 who showed only partial improvement continued to receive the daily medication but were also randomly assigned to 10 weeks of either a tai chi class or a health education class for two hours per week.

Both groups showed improvement in the severity of depression, said Lavretsky, who directs the UCLA Late-Life Depression, Stress and Wellness Research Program, but greater benefits were noted among those participating in tai chi.

“This study shows that adding a mind-body exercise like tai chi that is widely available in the community can improve the outcomes of treating depression in older adults. With tai chi, we may be able to treat other, coexisting medical conditions without exposing them to additional medications.”

If it’s good enough for grandma, it’s good enough for me.

Finding a gentle tai chi class, however, can take some detective work. Contact your health care provider, YMCA, and community wellness centers. Check with friends too—the best referral is always based on firsthand experience. DVDs and online videos are available, but a supervised program seems best.

Know a good facility or instructor offering a low-key form of tai chi? Post it here!

Dealing With Depression The Saturday Evening Post

Bone may look dry and dormant, but they are actually living tissue that can get stronger with the right kind of exercise. Research now shows that new bone cells develop in areas where muscles tug at bones and when body weight impacts the ground with more than usual force.

“The body is ever changing,” explains physical therapist Patrice Winter, M.S. “Exercise that ‘loads’ or puts extra pressure on bones causes new bone cells to grow—not as efficiently as when we were young, but enough to make a significant difference.”

Depending on your health and fitness level (and with your doctor’s permission), consider these exercises to help bones stay strong as you move through life.

Light Weights: To strengthen wrist bones, hold onto soup cans and move the joint in all directions. Instead of using soup cans, look around your home for bottles of dish or hand soap that fit easily in your hand. When empty, fill them with sand, or small pebbles from the yard.

Stair Climbing: If your balance is good, climbing stairs is a great way to build bones in the hips, legs, and feet. Going up and down stairs involves standing on one foot in order to move the other one, and will further improve balance and prevent potentially devastating falls.

Take 10, Three Times Daily: Everyone can do three 10-minute sets of exercises that are matched to their capabilities. Beginners can sit in a chair and kick their feet out, or use the soup cans to do arm (biceps) curls. When standing, lift the cans in front of the body or above the head. March in place.

Work up to 30 minutes, Five Days a Week: Most people can do Tai chi. Yoga practice ranges from gentle movements performed sitting in a chair to Hot Yoga that works every body system. Use common sense, and always adapt Tai chi and yoga positions to what is comfortable for you. Brisk walking, golfing, and dancing all provide full range of motion. Hiking puts more pressure on the body than walking on a paved surface, and using a walking stick loads bones of the upper body as well.

Know Your Start Zone: Remember, exercises to tone the bones must put more pressure on skeleton than do your everyday activities. But don’t do too much, too soon. Honor your body, and consider consulting a medically trained physical therapist to design a fitness plan that is safe and effective for you. For a nine-question quiz to assess your current level of motion, and to find a physical therapist near you, visit www.moveforwardpt.com.

Physical therapist Patrice Winter, M.S., is affiliated with the American Physical Therapy Association, the American Academy of Manipulative Physical Therapists, and George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Strong Bones for Life The Saturday Evening Post