The difference and connection between yoga and Tai Chi

Yoga and Tai Chi are both physical and mental exercises of Eastern origin. The core differences are rooted in the cultural core, movement logic and training orientation. The connection is that both are based on breathing coordination and thought guidance. Long-term practice can improve body perception, regulate emotional states, and improve chronic health problems. There is no distinction between the two, and they are adapted to different practice needs and personal preferences.

Speaking of which, I first intuitively felt the difference between the two when I took several students from the yoga studio to a Tai Chi experience camp in the park last year. A girl who had been practicing flow yoga for half a year asked me confusedly after completing half a set of cloud hands: "Why don't you use any force during the whole process? I practiced Warrior Three poses last week, and my core was so tight that I almost cramped." Don't tell me, her words just hit the most superficial difference between the two sports.

Let’s first talk about the cultural roots behind the movements. There are actually many school disputes here: traditional yoga originated from the religious practice system of ancient India. The original purpose was to achieve spiritual transcendence through physical asceticism. The current domestic mainstream fitness yoga, Ashtanga, and flow yoga are actually the products of Western transformation in the last century, and they are more focused on physical function training. Many fundamental yoga practitioners still do not recognize this type of "fitness yoga" and feel that it completely abandons the core core such as meditation and discipline. Tai Chi was born out of the Yin-Yang philosophy of Chinese Taoism, and has the offensive and defensive attributes of traditional martial arts. The 24-position simplified Tai Chi commonly seen in parks is a competitive and popularized version. Many inheritors of traditional Tai Chi will also complain that competitive Tai Chi is a "show" and loses the core of "intention but not force". To put it bluntly, the two that are now exposed to the public are popular versions that have been modernized and improved. There is no need to get entangled in the name of "orthodox".

When it comes to the physical experience of actual practice, the difference between the two is actually much more vivid than the theoretical classification. When I first started practicing Tai Chi, I couldn't change the habit of practicing yoga. When I stood in the stance, I subconsciously tightened my core and stretched my knees. The master patted me on the back several times: "Relax, you are standing in the stance and not practicing the plank pose. If you try hard, your breath will be blocked in your chest." The logic of yoga postures is more like giving the body The body must be "precisely calibrated", whether it is the static downward dog pose, seated angle pose, or the dynamic and flowing Sun Salutation, all require clear lines of force, muscle alignment, and clear standards for the force point and extension direction of each movement. In many cases, it is necessary to actively use force to find the correct position. Tai Chi is completely the opposite, emphasizing "quietness while moving". The whole movement is continuous without pause, which may seem slow and lack of effort. In fact, the energy inside goes along the meridians. If you exert force hard, you will become unstable and your movements will be stiff. What you are practicing is loose energy.

But what’s interesting is that even though the movement logic is so different, the breathing requirements of the two are surprisingly consistent. When I led a yoga meditation class last week, I asked everyone to focus on the breathing at the tip of the nose. Don’t control it and just observe it. Some students who were practicing Tai Chi at the same time laughed and said that this was exactly the same as the master’s request to “follow the breath” when the master asked them to stand. The Ujjayi breathing and abdominal breathing commonly used in yoga, and the reverse abdominal breathing in Tai Chi essentially adjust the usual shallow and fast chest breathing into deep and slow diaphragmatic breathing, actively activate the parasympathetic nerve, and have almost the same effect on lowering blood pressure and relieving anxiety. When the epidemic was under lockdown last year, I suffered from insomnia for almost a week. Sometimes I did yoga breathing control for 10 minutes, sometimes I stood for 15 minutes on the Wuji Post, which could quickly slow down my heartbeat, and I could fall asleep in half an hour while lying down.

Many people always like to ask me, "Which is more suitable for ordinary people, yoga or Tai Chi?" I really can't give a standard answer. Most of the girls in their twenties around me like to practice yoga, either because they want to improve the rounded shoulders or lumbar protrusions caused by sitting for a long time, or they want to improve the range of joint mobility and improve their lines. The uncles and aunts in the community who are in their 50s and 60s prefer to join the Tai Chi team. Many of them come to practice with high blood pressure, diabetes, and poor sleep, and most of them can see improvements in their indicators in the first half of the year. Of course there are exceptions. I know a 70-year-old aunt who has been practicing Ashtanga for 10 years. Her body is softer than many 20-year-old girls. There are also young men who have just graduated and join the Tai Chi team every day. They say that after practicing, they feel less impetuous and are more efficient at work.

Now I feel that there is no need to draw too clear a boundary between the two. I take yoga classes twice a week and go to the park to practice Tai Chi three days, which complements each other perfectly: the core strength and joint stability gained from yoga allow me to maintain a more stable lower body when doing Tai Chi, and I no longer have to swing around when doing the Golden Rooster pose with one leg. The looseness gained from Tai Chi also allows me to not forcefully adjust postures for students in class, and I have fewer problems with compensatory injuries when practicing difficult postures myself.

To put it bluntly, whether you lay out a yoga mat and practice yin yoga for half an hour, or slowly do a set of twenty-four poses in the park in the evening, the essence is to find an opportunity to draw your attention back to yourself from the messy work and life. The exercise that you can persist in and feel comfortable after practicing is the most suitable exercise for you.