Tai Chi Exercises in a Chair

Choosing a Chair

Your chair should be comfortable, but not so padded that it restricts movement. It should be low enough for your feet to touch the ground. With your feet flat, your thighs should be parallel to the ground. If you have no problems with stability, use a chair without arms to maximize your range of motion.

Just like with standing tai chi, proper posture is a vital part of the exercise. Unless a movement demands otherwise, keep both feet flat on the floor with your knees forward and legs parallel to each other and the ground. Your spine should be straight, with your hips aligned with your shoulders and your shoulders beneath your head. Let your arms rest in your lap, with your hands palms up and fingers toward one another.

While moving through the tai chi exercises, focus especially on your core muscles. Without free hip movement, you will have to exert the muscles of your abdomen and lower chest far more than with standing tai chi. Don't worry about full range of motion while beginning---overdoing it with your core muscles can easily lead to soreness.

Though many tai chi motions involve complex arm movements, focus most on your breathing and core. It's best to think of your arms as tools you push from your torso rather than as objecta that move on their own. This is especially easy to forget in seated tai chi.

Leg and hip motion is difficult to practice in a chair, and sometimes dangerous. The one exception is kicking. If a motion calls for a kick, slowly extend the proper leg as far as your flexibility will allow. Most people will feel very tight in the hamstring and glutes when doing so, but this just tells you how good a stretch it can be.

In some cases, trying to kick while seated just won't work with the position of your upper body. Without being able to rotate the hips, a few stances lose their alignment. Don't worry too much about which these are---your body will let you know. If you listen, you won't have any problems.