About a year ago, a study was done about depression and the elderly. They took a group of people with depression, at an average age of 70, and found that after 10 weeks of taiji, a staggering 94% "showed marked improvement". Sixty five percent experienced remission.
Those are good numbers.
Here's a link to the study:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/tai-chi-eases-depression-in-elderly/?emc=eta1
If you are a certified instructor and are thinking about teaching in a retirement community - do it. You know the benefits. You know how to share them.
If you already teach in a similar fashion, let us know your experiences. We'd love to hear about them.
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Teaching seniors can be very rewarding since there are so many ailments seniors have that are lessened by taiji practice. I taught for years in a senior gated community and one woman would come in shuffling her feet and would leave walking normally. After a few months, she came in walking well. It's so good for us all. :-) Thanks for this Lucy.
ReplyDeleteIt's so great to see the transformation! Thank you for sharing that experience, jarl.
ReplyDeleteAnd what I always think is so beautiful about watching the transformation from shuffling to walking with a heel or toe step is that the student made an intentional, conscious choice to work to make the shift happen.
Students many times want to thank the teacher for the transformation! But THEY did it! Maybe we brought an option for them to choose, but the work was all theirs. And the empowerment that realization brings is absolutely priceless.