Which is better, yoga or Tai Chi

For this question, I have been practicing yoga for 6 years and Tai Chi for 4 years, and I have hundreds of similar samples. To be honest, there is no absolute "better". It all depends on your own needs, physical foundation and even compatibility with life scenarios.

I first started practicing yoga when I was working in an Internet company. I sat for 12 hours a day, with rounded shoulders and a hunched head. And now there are yoga studios everywhere, in business districts and downstairs of office buildings. You can drop in after get off work and practice for an hour. After that, you can have a light meal with your friends who attended the class. It is very suitable for young people whether it is to adjust their posture, shape their body or relax. I also recommend a few friends who suffer from chronic insomnia to practice 15 minutes of yin yoga and yoga nidra before going to bed. It is much gentler than taking melatonin. Many people report that they can fall asleep in five minutes after lying on the bed.

But if you have old joint injuries or are older, Tai Chi is really more friendly than yoga. My mother has synovitis in her knees. She used to join in the yoga practice with a neighbor, but the instructor insisted on forcing her to sit in the lotus position, which was so painful that she couldn't go downstairs for half a month. Later, she learned from the Chen-style Tai Chi teacher in the community. Moreover, Tai Chi emphasizes "intention without force". Unlike many novices who practice yoga who are prone to rush into concave postures, straining their waists and twisting their knees. As long as the movements of Tai Chi are correct, it is difficult to cause sports injuries even after ten years of practice.

If you are pursuing body awareness and mindfulness relaxation, the breathing control method and meditation system of yoga are indeed more mature. If you practice with a professional teacher, you can easily find the feeling of "sinking your body and mind"; but if you want to practice some practical foundation by the way , after practicing Tai Chi to a certain level, the whole person's strength comes out, and the lower body is very stable. My Tai Chi teacher is 72 this year. Last time, some young men in the park made a fuss and pushed him, but the three of them tried hard without shaking him. This kind of additional self-defense attribute cannot be given by yoga.

In fact, many people argue about whether one is good or bad, mostly because they have not met a reliable teacher. I have seen many yoga studios promote "lower waist in one week, one-word horse in two weeks" for the sake of marketing, completely ignoring the physical foundation of the students, and catching a lot of people with injuries during the practice; I have also seen many Tai Chi training classes that only teach tricks and do not talk about relaxation and breathing at all. After the training, the students' knees hurt so much that they scolded Tai Chi as useless. To put it bluntly, there is no superiority in the project itself, it is only good if you practice it correctly. Now I alternate between the two practices. In spring and autumn, when the weather is comfortable, I go to the park to practice Tai Chi for half an hour in the morning. In summer and winter, when I don’t want to go out, I lay out a yoga mat at home and do 20 minutes of stretching. I practice whichever is more comfortable. There is really no need to compete for a winner. The one that suits you is the best.