Tai Chi for Beginners - for Strength and Balance

Now I'm going to get into some Tai Chi moves, very easy Tai Chi moves. If you can get in the habit of doing this on a daily basis, you'll find your balance, your whole posture alignment will become better, and you'll also feel good. And that's the most important thing. You want to feel good all the time. You don't want to be waking up with a lot of aches and pains. So if you can, just follow me on this. I'm going to bring my feet together. My hands are resting on a table. All I'm going to do is step with my left leg on an angle, just a little step. I'm going to bring my hands up to my chest, rock forward. Push both arms out, let them open slowly, and rock back. I'm going to rock forward again, pushing both arms out, open, rock back. I'm going to do one more like that. Normally I do about five or six. And once you're done, you bring your leg in, and the hands rest on a table. Same thing on the right side. The hands come up to the chest, step two o'clock, rock forward, and rock back. As I rock forward, I try to keep my back foot flat on the ground, and my toes come up as I rock back. One more, and bring my leg in, rest your hands on a table. The next one is you turn your palms to the left. You step with the left leg to the side, and you push the water. Turn the hands over, push in the water. Notice I'm moving in a slow pace, shifting the weight from one leg to the other. This shift is what strengthens the legs. And now I'm going to bring my left leg in, and the hands rest on a table. The next move, the palms face each other, and I like to keep it about head width apart. You step with the left leg again. Pretend you go over a drum, a round drum, and back. This helps your balance and also helps your brain. I'll do one more this way, and bring my leg in, rest it on a table. Palms face each other again. I step with the right leg at two o'clock, go over a drum. By the way, I am mirror imaging you, so for those who are analytical, when you use your left, I'm using my right. And now bring your leg in, and down. Next move, the palms open. All I do is step out with my left leg, and I bring the hands up to form a ball right in front of my face. This is a ball of energy. As I rock back, that energy ball comes down, breaks apart gently, and then you build it up again. This helps the whole meridian system to build up energy. I'll do one more. As I come back, the hands just circle around, and rest on a table. The next move, right side, palms open, step with the right leg, same thing. And now I'll bring it into a close, and rest the hands on a table. The next move, the hands float up to the shoulders. Step with the left leg, and the hands come down to form a ball below the navel. It's a ball of energy. Pick the ball of energy up towards the neck, let it break open softly, and slowly go back, build the energy up again. Bring it up to the neck, break open. Now as the ball comes up, I bring my leg in, turn a hand over, rest the hand on a table. Right side, go down again. I'll do one more this side. Bring your leg in, and down. Now, the breathing on this is natural breathing. Don't force it, just let it be a natural form of breath. Every time you move forward, you exhale. Every time you come back, you inhale. But there's a lot going on when you're doing this, so just breathe natural, you'll be okay. The next move is called circle of globe. Form a ball, think of a beach ball. Left hand on top, right hand on bottom, the two palms face each other. Let your knees relax, step with the left leg to the side, and just shift the weight. Now roll the ball over slow. Now if you notice, I'm not going to move my arms, I'm just moving my body. The ball will follow. Roll the ball over, just move the body to the left. And roll it over, and move it to the right, and bring the left leg in, and down. Next move, the hands float up to the shoulders. Step with the left leg, slowly push the left arm out. As you come back, push the right arm out. The left arm goes out, and the right arm. Left arm again, and I'll bring my leg in with that, and down. Same thing to the other side. Hands up to the shoulders, step with the right leg. Push the right arm out, and now to the left. And now bring the right leg in, and hands come down. Two more moves I'm showing you. The hands will float up to the chest. Step with the left leg out, and push both palms out. It's a beautiful move, very easy to do. Turn the palms over, pull it in. It's a good way to practice your breathing. Exhale as you go out. Turn the hands over, inhale coming back. Exhale out. Inhale in, and the feet come in, and down. Hands float up to the chest again. Step with the right leg. Exhale, and inhale. And now bring your leg in, and softly come down. The last move I'm going to show you, I'll show you this way. Put your left hand right here. Put your right hand down here, below your belly button. Step with your left leg to the side. Just shift the weight. Switch the hands. Now at this point here, don't move the arms. Just move your body. It's called hands waving clouds, or cloud waving. There's many names for this. As you get more experience in this, you can let your top, your head follow your hand on the top, and that works your neck muscles. This is one of the most popular Tai Chi moves today, is this one here. And now as I shift to the right, bring your left leg in, and the hands come down. To close this, I open my palms. I breathe in. The hands come together. I exhale to the chest. I open into the lotus flower, the flower of beauty, strength, and purity. I breathe in its strength. As I exhale, I close the flower into two fists. I breathe in and push it out to the universe. As I exhale, I open and I let it go. I come back into prayerful pose. Namaste. Seniors with physical challenges prefer this DVD. Active seniors and beginners often prefer this DVD. Both DVDs can be ordered from TaiChiHealthProducts.org. For more free practice videos, go to Don Fiore's YouTube channel. Stay healthy. Namaste.