Tai Chi's a Natural for the Office

One thing that makes Tai Chi uniquely ideal for the workplace is that it requires no special clothing or equipment. If you have 15 minutes and a quiet room, you are all set to experience some amazing stress reduction and energy boosting.

Since Tai Chi is so slow and gentle, you often need not work up a sweat when taking a Tai Chi break. By simply loosening your tie or kicking off your heels, you are all set (see Free Online Tai Chi Lessons and Exhibitions section to realize they can be done anywhere with no special wardrobe needs and little space).

In fact, Sitting QiGong or simple Moving QiGong can be done right at your desk. As employees become more adept at these tools of breath and relaxation, they'll use them throughout the day to reduce stress and boost performance.

What your co-workers and you will soon discover is that the more loose and flexible you are physically, the more flexible you will become in your social and business interactions.

We literally hold onto prejudices, grudges, and resistance to change in our body's tight muscles. We cannot open our minds if we don't allow our bodies to loosen up. Tai Chi's promotion of deep loosening and relaxed motion promotes a letting go of the control issues we all have. It can facilitate a looser, yet more productive work environment as communication becomes easier between employees who less and less resemble walking, emotional land mines.

Tai Chi diffuses the stress bombs that build up within us and can make the workplace not only less dangerous, but more fun. We can discover the "real person" in our co-workers as their rigid armor begins to fall away. Part of that "realness" is the fun part of ourselves we were in touch with as kids. A rigid workplace environment can hide that fun, more vulnerable part of us. Therefore, Tai Chi may not only help us enjoy our work more, but the company of our co-workers as well. Again, the Chinese say Tai Chi helps return us to that magical youthful state of mind, which is not childish but childlike.