The Benefits of Tai Chi Meditation in Motion Energy Flow




To the uninformed, the mere mention of the term “martial arts” evokes images of rigorous fighting and violence.  However, in China and other parts of the world, thousands are recognizing the health benefits of a Chinese form of martial arts called Tai Chi.   Many of its practitioners have adopted Tai Chi not only as a martial art but as a technique to manage stress and anxiety.  While its roots are to be found in China, the martial arts has gained wide following in the United States where stress and anxiety are now considered very common ailments.

According to the Midwest Center for Stress and Anxiety, at least 19 million Americans are now affected by stress and anxiety.  The anxiety disorder includes other symptoms of distress such as depression, alcoholism, excessive cigarette smoking, and other forms of subtance abuse.   In many cases, the disorder becomes so intense that a person with anxiety could no longer function properly or engage in normal everyday activities.  A generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) manifests itself as a chronic irritability, tension, or worry over a situation. The anxiety is often unwarranted or exaggerated when a person is anticipating a certain event or situation. Stress and anxiety are treatable and can be addressed using a variety of therapeutic options.  The great number of people afflicted with anxiety disorders has also resulted in the increase in demand for therapy centers and psychiatric services.  In these centers, a patient with an anxiety or stress disorder is provided counseling, coaching, and even diet advice.  If necessary, the patients are also given anxiety medication to help relieve their worries.



One very popular stress management alternative is Tai Chi, an ancient Chinese form of “soft” or internal martial arts that helps promote health and longevity.  Often seen being practiced by groups of people in parks, Tai Chi has grown popularity especially among the elderly and people with chronic illnesses.   Often called the “moving meditation,”  Tai Chi was developed in China as early as the 12th century by a Taoist monk named Zhang Sanfeng.   Tai Chi literally means “supreme ultimate boxing” or “boundless fist,”  a name that clearly points out to the combat applications of this slow, graceful Oriental art of physical fitness.

Many Tai Chi practitioners attest to the effectiveness of the art in promoting relaxation.  The deliberate, slow movements of the upper torso, hands, arms, legs, and feet are soft exercises that promote flexibility.  The practitioner breathes slowly with each graceful movement of Tai Chi.  The slow repetitive movements of this unique form of martial arts promote the internal blood and oxygen circulation.  It is believed that the emphasis of Tai Chi on proper breathing allows its practitioners to heal damaged internal organs and body cells. 

Whether it is done alone or as part of a group, the Tai Chi forms or exercises offer anxiety relief.  In fact, there are specific movements that require the practitioner to visualize the act of releasing stress and anxiety.  As the Tai Chi practitioner moves his arms inward, it is accompanied by slow, deep breathing. The next move of pushing the arms outward is accompanied by the exhalation of air and the visualization of pushing away all negative thoughts and worries.



Other practitioners have also found Tai Chi to be an effective means of breaking the habit of smoking and excessive use of alcohol.  Aside from bringing a sense of clarity and serenity, the practice of Tai Chi also helps the practitioner to adopt a more healthier lifestyle.  Advanced forms of Tai Chi include the study and use of traditional Chinese medicine which involves the use of acupuncture, herbal medications, and therapeutic massage.

For serious cases of stress and other psychological disorders, regular consultation with a doctor or psychiatrist is highly advised.   While Tai Chi is already a proven alternative form of stress management, some individuals may need to take anxiety medication that is prescribed a health professional.  

While it is not always necessary to take drugs to treat anxiety, balancing the collective wisdom from Eastern and Western forms of medicine may be an ideal way of approaching the issue of personal health and fitness.  Millions of people around the world have taken up Tai Chi not just as a martial art but as a means to release stress and tension.   With more efforts to promote the healing and fitness aspects of Tai Chi, it is expected that more people will learn and benefit from the ancient secrets to longevity and stress-free living.

Boost Self Confidence with 5 Easy Techniques



There are very few people who could call themselves perfect and be right. Most of us need to build self confidence today, but the majority just either ignore the issues or concentrate on the negatives: stress, worry, jobs, money problems and relationship issues. Concentrating on these areas drains our self confidence rather than improving it.

If you could improve your self confidence you could make more money, look and feel better physically, or just be more relaxed with other people.  Below there are five simple techniques that have been proved to help build self confidence today.

1.  Talk to yourself. It sounds crazy but it works. All of us have a running monologue constantly in our heads, whether we realize it or not.  Everything we see, hear, or touch sparks off an immediate dialog in our thoughts.

For those who lack confidence this monologue is filled with negative messages many of which are the negative side of adverts from television, radio, advertisement boardings, newspapers, and just overhearing other people talk.

These negative thoughts literally suck energy from our minds and bodies and block the flow of positive messages. We need to hear the positive messages as they will build self confidence today and raise our self esteem.  Take control. Use your inner thoughts to talk to yourself in a positive manner, as often as you can.

As an example one of my regular sayings is "I like myself, I like myself, I like myself". I just repeat it for a couple of minutes.  It sounds cheesy, but does build self confidence today – Try it.  I bet that if you go to the mirror right now and repeat out loud "I like myself!" 50 times, it will be impossible to keep from smiling.

2.  Dress as smartly and as classily as you can.  You wont feel at your best if you don't look your best. You will be amazed at just how much more confidence you will have just looking your best.  It just feels good when you are wearing your best clothes, are well groomed, and are surrounded by a clean environment.  So what if it is Saturday, you need to build self confidence today not next week.  Put on your nice clothes, get the car washed, style that hair!  A hairdresser once told me "Everyday is show time!"

3.  Increase your self esteem even more by giving thanks to what you are, how you look, and what you are doing.  Say "thank you" to yourself to everything you see, all whom you meet, and each smile that you receive.

4. Stand or sit correctly:  How you stand sends out a message to the World, and in turn, back to you. This results in improving how you feel about yourself and will build self confidence today and every day.

There is scientific evidence that shows how posture affects our mood. Do not slouch. Slouching produces a down mood. By slouching you are telling the world and yourself it doesn't matter, you don't matter.  Standing tall and upright will actually lift your mood.  Help build up your confidence by pulling back those shoulders, stop that slouch, and walk proud.

5.  Smile. Just smile and things seem better somehow. Practice smiling regularly and get your facial muscles used to the physical act of smiling.



Go to the mirror and smile – make yourself. Not a grimace, but a proper smile. If you don't think you can try this:

1)Open your eyes as wide as you can – (try and get your eyebrows right up to you hair line)
2)Slightly open your mouth
3)Pull the corners of your mouth back towards your ears (If your not sure pull them back with your fingers so you know what it feels like then try again without your fingers).
4)Repeat 50 times. Get your facial muscles used to smiling and you will smile more and encourage smiles from others. This will make you feel happier and with that you'll build self confidence today.


How to Improve your Self Esteem using Simple Techniques



When you're learning about something new, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of relevant information available. This informative article should help you focus on the central points.

So how do you stay calm, composed and maintain self esteem in a tough environment? Here are some tips you may to consider as a starter guide to self improvement.

Imagine yourself as a Dart Board. Everything and everyone else around you may become Dart Pins, at one point or another. These dart pins will destroy your self esteem and pull you down in ways you won’t even remember. Don’t let them destroy you, or get the best of you. So which dart pins should you avoid?

Dart Pin #1 : Negative Work Environment
Beware of “dog eat dog” theory where everyone else is fighting just to get ahead. This is where non-appreciative people usually thrive. No one will appreciate your contributions even if you miss lunch and dinner, and stay up late. Most of the time you get to work too much without getting help from people concerned. Stay out of this, it will ruin your self esteem. Competition is at stake anywhere. Be healthy enough to compete, but in a healthy competition that is.

Dart Pin #2: Other People’s Behavior
Bulldozers, brown nosers, gossipmongers, whiners, backstabbers, snipers, people walking wounded, controllers, naggers, complainers, exploders, patronizers, sluffers… all these kinds of people will pose bad vibes for your self esteem, as well as to your self improvement scheme.

Dart Pin #3: Changing Environment
You can’t be a green bug on a brown field. Changes challenge our paradigms. It tests our flexibility, adaptability and alters the way we think. Changes will make life difficult for awhile, it may cause stress but it will help us find ways to improve our selves. Change will be there forever, we must be susceptible to it.

Truthfully, the only difference between you and Self esteem experts is time. If you'll invest a little more time in reading, you'll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to Self esteem.

Dart Pin #4: Past Experience
It’s okay to cry and say “ouch!” when we experience pain. But don’t let pain transform itself into fear. It might grab you by the tail and swing you around. Treat each failure and mistake as a lesson.

Dart Pin #5: Negative World View
Look at what you’re looking at. Don’t wrap yourself up with all the negativities of the world. In building self esteem, we must learn how to make the best out of worst situations.

Dart Pin #6: Determination Theory
The way you are and your behavioral traits is said to be a mixed end product of your inherited traits (genetics), your upbringing (psychic), and your environmental surroundings such as your spouse, the company, the economy or your circle of friends. You have your own identity. If your father is a failure, it doesn’t mean you have to be a failure too. Learn from other people’s experience, so you’ll never have to encounter the same mistakes.

Sometimes, you may want to wonder if some people are born leaders or positive thinkers. NO. Being positive, and staying positive is a choice. Building self esteem and drawing lines for self improvement is a choice, not a rule or a talent. God wouldn’t come down from heaven and tell you – “George, you may now have the permission to build self esteem and improve your self.”

In life, its hard to stay tough specially when things and people around you keep pulling you down. When we get to the battle field, we should choose the right luggage to bring and armors to use, and pick those that are bullet proof. Life’s options give us arrays of more options. Along the battle, we will get hit and bruised. And wearing a bullet proof armor ideally means ‘self change’. The kind of change which comes from within. Voluntarily. Armor or Self Change changes 3 things: our attitude, our behavior and our way of thinking.

Building self esteem will eventually lead to self improvement if we start to become responsible for who we are, what we have and what we do. Its like a flame that should gradually spread like a brush fire from inside and out. When we develop self esteem, we take control of our mission, values and discipline. Self esteem brings about self improvement, true assessment, and determination. So how do you start putting up the building blocks of self esteem? Be positive. Be contented and happy. Be appreciative. Never miss an opportunity to compliment. A positive way of living will help you build self esteem, your starter guide to self improvement.

There's a lot to understand about Self esteem. We were able to provide you with some of the facts above, but there is still plenty more to write about in subsequent articles.

Being Happy is Easier than You Think!



If you aren't happy, why aren't you?

Chances are it is because you want something which you do not have, objects or conditions. This is probably not a good enough reason and a review of your situation and perceptions may be in order.

You may have seen video of children in very poor countries laughing and playing, unconcerned that they should have more to be happy about. They are happy because they are playing, because they have their friends and family, and some food to eat that day. Everyone has the right to be happy, and if they can be in their situation, shouldn't you?

"Happiness consists more in small conveniences of pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life." - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Happiness is inside us, in our minds, in our thinking. It is not external material things or experiences, but the enjoyment of our thoughts and feelings. This is good because our thoughts, and therefore our happiness, are up to us.

Start by reviewing the things that you have to be happy about and dwell on these. Don't overlook the little or basic things that you take for granted.

Make a habit of substituting unhappy thoughts with happy thoughts. Whenever an unfavorable picture enters your mind, eject it and replace it with a pleasant one. We all have some nice experiences to recollect and there are usually little pleasures around us most of the time. You can even imagine enjoyable experiences, and it will have a similar positive effect.

"Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."  - Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

Establish good principles and conduct yourself according to these principles. Love, or at least be tolerant of, your fellow humans. Don't strive too hard for that which, in the end, will not make you happier.


Easy Relaxation Techniques to help you Unwind from Stress



When looking for relaxation techniques you will find there are many forms. Here are a selection of four techniques you can choose from and use when practicing relaxation.

Relaxation techniques and methods

For a deeper state of relaxation you might want to use a combination of these relaxation techniques.

Relaxation techniques: Meditation
Meditation is a mental exercise. You choose an object or a visual image and focus on it. A popular method is focusing on the breathing. A lot of people prefer the lotus position when doing this exercise. By keeping the spine straight, energies are allowed to flow better.

This helps to develop something called mindfulness. Random thoughts are reduced when mindfulness is being developed. You can be more productive with fewer random thoughts because you can focus on one thing at a time.

Relaxation techniques: Progressive relaxation
Muscles are use with the progressive relaxation technique. This technique is use to help identify the difference between tensed and relaxed muscles. When you can recognise tensed muscles you can consciously relax them.

It is best to lay down when practicing this technique. You should focus on one muscle at a time. Tense the muscle for about 10 seconds. Then consciously relax it. Pause for a moment before moving on to the next muscle. Moving from each muscle from the top of the body through to the toes. After the exercise, each muscle should be totally relaxed. You may want to lay still for a while and enjoy the relaxing feeling.

Relaxation techniques: Breathing
There is a logical reason why breathing exercises helps you to relax. If you are tense you may have noticed you are breathing with your chest. Maybe fast and shallow.

This exercise helps you to get into the habit of breathing using your belly. You can notice the difference if you place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly. Inhale deeply and allow your belly to expand. The hand on your belly should move more.

To do the exercise sit in a comfortable chair. Your back should be straight. Both feet should be flat on the floor.

Inhale deeply through your nose and hold for as long as it feels comfortable. Exhale through your mouth which should be only slightly open. A pause before repeating the process has a better calming result with this exercise.

Relaxation techniques: Imagery
Another powerful technique is visualisation where you use your imagination. Guided imagery is a term often used for this technique. The practitioner imagines being in a calm and pleasant place. It doesn't have to be a place you have been to. Just as long as it is nice to imagine. The objective is to imagine being in a place where you are surrounded with things that makes you happy.

Used on there own, any one of these techniques can be quite relaxing. Used together you will find that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

If you wish to use a combination of these exercises, start with the progressive muscle exercise to relax you. Use the breathing exercise to maintain the relaxed state. And then use meditation or the imagery exercise to focus your mind and help reduce random thoughts.