Therese Iknoian

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-22-2022

The ancient practice of T’ai Chi and Qigong includes postures and movements, as well as a philosophy. T’ai Chi also has its own lingo — words and concepts you need to know.

Article / Updated 06-20-2019

To get started with Yoga with Weights, you need a little willpower, an open mind, and a sense of adventure; at least, those are the only intangibles you need. Taking the first step in any new activity is usually the hardest part. As for the tangibles, you need some equipment to get going. At minimum, you need a quiet and comfortable place to exercise, hand weights, and ankle weights. A yoga mat, the right clothes, and good shoes (for warming up) are also beneficial. The good news for you? These items don’t cost a bundle. Read on for more information about the gear and equipment you need for a Yoga with Weights workout. Bonnie Kamin]" width="535"/> Credit: Photograph by Bonnie Kamin Choosing hand- and ankle-weights You need two kinds of weights if you want to incorporate weight resistance into your yoga workouts: hand weights and ankle weights. Most sporting goods and athletic stores carry these weights. Here are some guidelines. Investing in weights of different sizes Opt for three sizes of hand and ankle weights: a pair of 1-pound weights, a pair of 3-pound weights, and a pair of 5-pound weights. Why not lift weights heavier than 5 pounds? Using 5-pound weights — in addition to the yoga poses — gives you a very solid workout. The 1-, 3-, or 5-pounders stretch your muscles, release tension in your muscles, and engage the muscles in the deep core of your body that you use for balance and stability. This added resistance from the weights forces your deep-core muscles to spring into action. Lifting weights heavier than 5 pounds may make you too top- or bottom-heavy and upset the balance and distribution of your body weight. The amount of resistance you want is up to you. Experiment with the different weights, and choose the size that gives you the best workout. Always start with the lightest hand or ankle weights and work your way up. Doing so allows you to start from your comfort zone and work your way into the weight that gives you the most fulfilling workout. If you start with the heaviest weight, you run the risk of straining yourself and pulling a muscle. Knowing which size weight to use How do you know which size weight (1-, 3-, or 5-pound) to use in a particular exercise? The size is ultimately up to you, but if you find yourself straining as you do an exercise, consider using a lighter weight. Some telltale signs that you should switch to a lighter weight include grunting, holding your breath, or experiencing shaking or cramping muscles. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Keep different sizes of weights at your side and test the different weights until you find the pair that engages you the best in an exercise. You may find yourself using different weights for different exercises. The surest way to know whether your choice of weights is the right one is to see how you feel after a workout. If your body feels weak and shaky, or you’re too sore the next day, you need lighter weights. If you finish a workout with the feeling of “comfortable discomfort” — a feeling that you’ve met the challenge and given yourself a good workout — you know that your choice in weights was the right one. Settling on the right yoga mat You need a solid, supporting surface to exercise on, and for that reason, using a yoga mat is a good idea for your safety. Mats give you padding, comfort, and protection, especially for your knees and spine. However, it isn’t necessary to have a yoga mat when you do Yoga with Weights exercises. You can exercise on a solid, non-slippery, close-weave type of carpet or clean, dry floor. If you’re taking a Yoga with Weights class in a gym, bring your own mat for hygiene purposes. Most gyms offer yoga mats, but they can get very sweaty. Rolling around in your own sweat is much more agreeable and hygienic than rolling around in a stranger’s sweat. When you shop for a yoga mat, look for one that stretches a little and gives you good support. Mats range from a fraction of an inch to an inch deep, but depth isn’t the real issue — cushioning is. The idea is to get some relief from the hard floor, and although comfort is fine, a spongy mat can be a nuisance because it doesn’t give you a solid base to work on. For your purposes, a quarter- to half-inch-thick mat is best because it offers comfort and stability; if you’re uncomfortable sitting on the floor or on your knees, get a mat that’s on the thick side. Also, the mat should be as long as you are tall plus about 6 inches; in other words, if you’re 5-feet-6, find a 6-foot yoga mat. Don’t select a foam mat; they’re too thick and too short for Yoga with Weights exercises. Foam mats are made for aerobic exercising. Wearing clothing that preserves modesty and movement Don’t wear shirts and pants that restrict your movements in any way or drag on the floor, and never wear a belt; the waistband of your pants must be loose so your breathing isn’t constricted or confined. For the sake of comfort, wear clothes with natural and breathable fibers. You can find these clothes in many sporting goods stores, outdoor outfitters, and yoga retail stores, as well as on the Internet. Follow these guidelines when choosing your undergarments: Women: Women should wear an athletic or spandex bra that lifts their breasts and presses them into their bodies. For top-heavy women, this factor is important for balancing as well as for comfort. Men: Men should wear tightly fitting — but not too tightly fitting — underwear from which no, ahem, items may escape and see the light of day. Spandex running shorts are excellent for Yoga with Weights. They support your muscles and keep them warm, and they permit you to move without restriction.

Article / Updated 09-09-2016

Yoga is well known for making people more flexible, supple, lithe, and limber. In fact, you’ve probably seen photographs of yogis or yoginis contorting themselves into different yoga postures. However, recent studies indicate that it’s a safe and effective option for relieving moderate low back pain. In a study funded by NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), participants suffering from chronic lower back pain were divided into three groups: one group took 12 weekly yoga classes, one group took 12 weekly stretching classes, and one group was given a self-care book and encouraged to exercise to relieve pain. At the end of the study, participants who had taken the yoga and stretching classes did significantly better than those in the self-care group — reducing using of medications to relieve pain and rating their back pain as better or completely gone — and these improvements lasted throughout the study timeframe. Given how prevalent low back pain is — according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), four out of five adults experience significant low back pain sometime during their lives — these findings can offer hope to millions of sufferers. Even better than treating low back pain is avoiding it altogether. Following are eight tips you can follow to reduce the risk of back pain when lifting and moving heavy weights: When standing, spread your feet shoulder-width apart to give yourself a solid base of support and then slightly bend your knees. Tighten your stomach muscles before lifting. Position the person or object close to your body before lifting. Lift with your leg muscles. Never lift an object by keeping your legs stiff while bending over it. Avoid twisting your body; instead, point your toes in the direction you want to move and pivot in that direction. When placing an object on a high shelf, move close to the shelf. During lifting movements, maintain the natural curve of your spine; don’t bend at your waist. Don’t try to lift something that’s too heavy or an awkward shape by yourself. Get help.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-27-2016

Yoga itself is at least 5,000 years old, and yoga exercising — what you know as yoga postures, or asanas — emerged about 600 years ago. Even though yoga has evolved over the centuries as it traveled to new cultures, its principles are universal. Yoga is a practice of mind, body, breath, and spirit. The articles in the Cheat Sheet touch on the physical and mental benefits yoga offers, offer suggestions for how to enhance your yoga practice even when you’re on your own, and remind you why warming up is so important to any exercise routine — even one as “user-friendly” as yoga.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Practicing T’ai Chi on a regular basis may give you physical and mental benefits, depending on how much, at what intensity, with what seriousness, and how often you incorporate it into your life. Some of the benefits listed here aren’t completely proven by fully recognized scientific studies. Nonetheless, the various benefits of T'ai Chi may include the following: Better cholesterol levels Decreased depression Decreased risk of cardiovascular disease Increased immunity (less sickness) Increased muscle strength and flexibility Less lower back pain Less asthma Developing better balance with T'ai Chi Good balance has been easier to study than some other areas. And T’ai Chi develops this skill well. The physical balance that you can hone through the movements in T’ai Chi can train the proprioception of the nerves and muscles (basically, the muscle sense). When the muscles and nerves can sense correctly how and when to contract or fire, you don’t fall or get hurt. Staying upright can help decrease not only sports injuries but also broken hips in seniors, especially if a senior’s bones are affected by bone-weakening osteoporosis. Stamping out stress with T'ai Chi A slow and prolonged exhalation (the breathing out part of breathing) has been shown to enhance a reaction in the body that causes overall muscular relaxation. If you are more relaxed, you handle your stress and your emotions more easily, and you may even sleep better. When you aren’t bound up by stress and anxiety, you feel better on a day-to-day basis. But living without stress and anger may also lower your blood pressure, lower your bad cholesterol level, and cause decreases in other factors that can raise your risk of heart disease. Managing chronic disease with T'ai Chi Chronic disease can mean any number of medical conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), arthritis, fibromyalgia (a muscle disease that causes ongoing pain), or just chronic pain. Practicing full and deep breathing can stimulate the lungs and can cause positive increases in the amount of air you can get into and out of your lungs. If you can get more air in and more air out, you may be able to diminish the effects of asthma or other breathing ailments. People with arthritis or other kinds of joint pain know that every move can hurt, so they tend to move less. And the reduced movement causes the muscles and tendons that support their joints to get very weak. Over the years, studies have shown that simple, gentle movements help relieve arthritis and other chronic pain and allow people with these ailments to function better day-to-day. T’ai Chi has been used as the gentle movement needed to stimulate the joints and free up movement to relieve pain. This same kind of movement may help alleviate chronic pain. Fostering fitness with T'ai Chi Maybe T’ai Chi is also about complementing your overall fitness — balancing muscles, strengthening them, helping them become more flexible, or helping your heart and lungs develop more aerobic capacity. Maybe you want to finish a marathon or ride a bike better up hills. Even the gentle movements involved in T’ai Chi can help. For someone old or young who is very out of shape, the gentle movements of T’ai Chi can push muscles to get stronger and more flexible. Of course, if you push your forms a bit faster, make the squatting movements lower, or make the kicks higher, you can improve your muscles and flexibility even more — perhaps as much as with some traditional exercise. Some studies in Asia have shown more flexibility and strength as a result of a T’ai Chi practice.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

You can perform T'ai Chi routines to target a specific area, such as flexibility in your trunk, hips, back, and legs. This is helpful if you don’t have enough time available for a complete T'ai Chi practice. Lunging side to side in T'ai Chi Lunging side to side is a warm-up movement, depicted below. By taking a wide stance and sliding your hips back and forth, you stretch not only your hips but also your inner thighs and legs. Kick with Left Heel — Kick with Right Heel in T'ai Chi For the best stretch, do the Kick with Left Heel — Kick with Right Heel movements slowly, lifting each leg as high as you can while keeping good body position. If you want, you can do this mini-form without the arms and hands so that you can focus on the leg and lower body position. These kicks fine-tune balance and leg strength. Start in a good T’ai Chi Posture. Stand upright with your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees slightly, relax your chest and shoulders, and let your arms hang naturally at your sides. Step into the first Kick with Heel, choosing one side to start. Be sure to inhale before you start and be sure to exhale with the kicks. After your foot has reached its peak, lower it slowly to the floor and put your weight on it, shifting your body so your opposite foot lifts off the ground and you're in a Centering Step. From the Centering Step, do the Kick with Heel on the opposite side. Repeat this sequence. You move slightly forward with each kick. A little bonus to this sequence is the balance and leg strength that the kicks help fine-tune.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

For quieting the mind, calming the body, and developing chi, nothing surpasses T'ai Chi's standing meditation practice. It can give you an even better (and more peaceful) kick-start to your day than that cuppa joe. You can also use standing meditation to give yourself a little stress-free oasis in your day. (Try the bathroom stall at your office if you have to — who will be the wiser?) This is also a fine way to unwind at day’s end. Any time is a meditative time, but dawn and dusk are the tops: Dawn: Yang energy of the day begins to grow, and yin energy of the night begins to wane at dawn. Practicing meditation in the morning allows you to greet the day with a fresh, open, and relaxed mind, ready to face whatever the day brings. Dusk: Yang energy dissipates, while yin energy grows as the sun sets. Practicing in the evening allows the accumulated mental sludge and sediment to settle or even drift away so that you can enjoy a peaceful evening. The Standing Like a Tree forms are important calming stances and powerful developers of the mind and energy flow. Do your daily Standing Like a Tree meditation with several arm positions, or alternate one each day. Here are some variations to try (as depicted from left to right, below): Place palms on table top: Hold your hands in front of your hips with the palms facing down and the elbows slightly bent. Fingers are facing forward and are spread slightly without being forced. You feel as if you have your palms resting on a hip-high table in front of you. Embrace the tree: Hold your arms out in front of you with the elbows soft and rounded. A slight curve goes from your shoulder down to your fingertips. Imagine that you are hugging a tree very gently. Frame your face: This is the most advanced position because it takes the most endurance to hold your arms up. Lift your hands up so that they frame your face. You kind of look like you are holding very large binoculars except your palms are turned slightly more outward and your fingers are softly extended.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Most people who know a little about T’ai Chi think of its movements, called forms. But T’ai Chi isn't just about moving in interesting ways with your body (making the shapes of T'ai Chi). You actually build on the principles of mindful movement so you can gain healthful benefits. Every movement in T’ai Chi has its origin in some martial application. Sure, the movements look pretty. They flow. They look graceful. But behind the curtain of beauty, the movements are self-defense applications. Knowing this information can help you learn the movements even if you never plan to do combat with them, because you know why you pull back or why you place a hand in front of your face. Focusing on T'ai Chi forms Learning a single move in isolation is one thing. But learning an entire series of forms (or movements) that make up an entire sequence is an entirely different thing. Imagine learning the waltz. You pick up one box step just dandy. But what happens when you want not only to string together a whole bunch of steps but also to flow while you're doing them? To find the flow in T’ai Chi — as in waltzing — and the energy needed to achieve it, you need to learn entire sequences, not just one itty-bitty step in isolation. Of course, you don't need to learn all the steps at once! T’ai Chi is a lifetime practice. But if you aren't ready to dedicate your life, you can practice a few minutes every few days or an hour or two a week so you can learn the techniques of the forms and their sequencing. The forms are your alphabet, and after they become linked, they are your T’ai Chi vocabulary. All together, the forms are indispensable for developing balance, honing coordination, and building strength. They also help you move the chi within your body. Forms help you fine-tune the energy flow that helps unblock chi in your body. Practicing the principles of T'ai Chi Forms also provide an excellent vehicle for learning to apply the principles of T’ai Chi. Although you may come to T'ai Chi for the movement, you may find that you want stay for the principles and the internal changes that you experience. Nothing gives you a better chance to work on the principles than the forms. Knowledge of the forms is essential to learning to move with the physical and mental relaxation that T’ai Chi requires. You can’t practice good T’ai Chi — physically or mindfully — while making a mental shopping list or worrying about your next project at work. Training in forms lays a sound physical and mental foundation for everything you do in T’ai Chi. It allows you to work on the opening of the joints, the stretching of the muscles, and the development of song (pronounced sung). Song refers to relaxing and sinking your body lower. Maintaining mental focus ensures that the mind and body work together harmoniously.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

When you start to perform any action in T’ai Chi, you visualize it. In other words, you think it through first. Don't just let your mind go along for the ride — use it to see not only what you’re going to do, but sort of inside what you’re going to do. You see yourself completing it. You imagine the energy flowing to all the right places. You know that you’re relaxed, not tense. And you can even visualize the breath moving in and out and through your body. Visualizing connects many of the mind-body concepts of T'ai Chi. Because visualizing is not just about relaxing, breathing, and aligning. It’s about seeing it. And visualizing is not just about mechanically doing something the way that you are told. It’s about feeling it. In the practice of Hsing-I, otherwise known as “mind-shape boxing,” the mind forms the intent, and the body follows. The mental aspects make internal martial arts, such as T’ai Chi, more than just ways to use the body. They become platforms for the discovery and elevation of your character. Jim Lau, a well-known instructor of a martial art called Wing-Chun, has said: “I can defeat you physically with or without a reason. But I can only defeat your mind with a reason.” Use your mind, and the body will follow. When you start doing some mindful movements in T’ai Chi, you may not be sure where to look with your eyes. Your eyes may sort of skip about, catching some dust that you should wipe up on a shelf, something on the floor that you should put away, or a neighbor in the yard next door. Wandering eyes distract you from putting T’ai Chi concepts into full practice. You need to see — without truly seeing. Here’s a tip: Soften your gaze as if your eyes are open but nobody’s home. You want to look inward and focus on your breath and relaxation. Let the gaze follow your fingertips, although you aren’t really looking at them. The eyeballs are just moving in the same direction. You can also try some movements with your eyes closed, but work into keeping them open or halfway open.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Trying or reading about other things can supplement your practice so your T’ai Chi actually becomes better. Take a look at the following items, any one of which can help you become a more well-rounded and better T’ai Chi practitioner: Read a little Taoism: Taoism (dow-ism) is the philosophy underlying T’ai Chi, as well as other Chinese internal martial arts or spiritual and health practices, such as Qigong. Taoism, as a philosophy of going about your life, is not a religion (although it can be a religion practiced in other ways), and it doesn’t request that you give up your current beliefs. This kind of Taoism is a way of living in — and looking at — the world harmoniously. It advocates simplicity and selflessness. Understanding the basic principles of Taoism can enhance your T’ai Chi practice, particularly a solid understanding of the concept of yin and yang. Watch T’ai Chi videos: You can always pick up more by watching other teachers. If you choose to study with a teacher, videos can help you with lessons in class. If you study on your own, videos can help expand your world with extra instruction. Every teacher has his or her own way of doing things. Be open-minded to these variations. Expose yourself to them gladly. Only with a broader view can you determine what is best for you. Peruse T’ai Chi books: Books can be a valuable supplement to your practice, although finding out all you need to from one book is difficult. However, books can be great resources and references as you progress along the path. For starters, check out T'ai Chi For Dummies by Therese Iknoian (published by Wiley). Watch yourself on video: Just as watching sports on TV can be an enlightening way to pick up technique — good and bad! — watching yourself can be an eye-opener, too. Try meditating: Meditation, in some small way, is a part of every good T’ai Chi class or practice session. So what about the sitting meditations? They are another facet of a practice and are something you can try apart from your T’ai Chi session. Practice mentally: Great athletes visualize or mentally rehearse a game or technique as a part of training. You can do the same thing. Start by relaxing your mind with a little meditation. Then visualize yourself moving through a T’ai Chi movement or form. Dabble in other martial arts: Reading books, studying with teachers of other martial arts styles, or even watching a few Jackie Chan movies (really!) can enhance your practice and open your mind to additional applications of your T’ai Chi techniques. Apply T’ai Chi principles to everything you do: There are opportunities to put a little T’ai Chi practice into practically everything you do. Here are a few physical ways: Sink a little and do some abdominal breathing when stuck in a line at the bank or grocery store. Write T’ai Chi-style. Grasp the pen or pencil with the least amount of force necessary. Drive with a relaxed grip on the steering wheel rather than white-knuckling your way down the road. Pull doors open by shifting your weight rather than pulling with your arms.