Tai Chi and Qi Gong

   I thought you might like to gaze at this photo of my left foot! Actually I don?t have a selfie if me doing Tai Chi and so this piccie of my greatly improved appendage will have to do.

   I took up these routines because an ex-GP I know said it improved his balance and I confess to wobbling sometimes. I have bought lots of dvd's and go to a class and find it all both soothing and energising. All my body seems to work better and so do its functions, the mentionable ones  like sleeping and the unmentionable like ... 

   It has taken me some time to work out the difference, if any, between Tai Chi and Qi Gong and I am not sure I have it right now. In Tai Chi you can do individual poses and movements - which have fascinating names such as The Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg - but you have the ultimate aim of joining them up into a "form" like a slow ballet. This is my stumbling block as I seem to have a poor memory for continuous movements. I won't give up but, meanwhile, I prefer Qi Gong, where the individual exercises have a healing claim for the various organs.

  I do recommend these methods of exercise: you can adopt the philosophy behind them or just treat them as physical routines but you can do them into old age, even sitting down. You do not heed any special equipment - just wear comfortable clothing. Yet I confess to envying the silk pyjamas the presenters wear! 

  For me it has been a life changer and the golden rooster stands on one leg a little longer every day. In summer I shall stun my neighbours by performing in the garden.