Take Heart with Tai Chi

This is the last week of American Heart Month. March continues the theme in many ways (National Kidney Month), since kidney disease can also be caused by high blood pressure. Returning to the heart, in the side bar is the third case story from people who reported not needing a pacemaker due to Tai Chi. The first person was particularly remarkable (see the Metarobics Facebook Page, case story number 16), since Maggie was being rushed back into the operating room for a pacemaker, and asked the doctors to wait an hour while she did Tai Chi. Surprisingly the doctors did so, and an hour later Maggie’s heart had stabilized. Tai Chi can have many effects on the body, beyond Metarobic effects on enhanced blood oxygen saturation, diffusion, and oxygen based metabolism (See “Tai Chi Therapy: The Science of Metarobics” for an overview).
 
Tai Chi also helps to strengthen the knees, relaxes muscle tension (which is particularly nice for tight shoulders and backs), and straightens and manipulates the spine. In some respects, somewhat like a chiropractic adjustment. Enhancing spinal health may account for some of the neurological benefits of Tai Chi, including erratic heartbeat, related to the autonomic nervous system. Various studies have provided evidence that neurophysiological changes occur following spinal manipulation. The autonomic nervous system also regulates blood pressure, which further supports benefits of Tai Chi for heart health. So benefits for blood pressure and heart health, may be related not just to the relaxation factor, but also possibly due to benefits for spinal health and manipulation, as well as by moving the body through its range of movement. And since Metarobic science is a new field, further research may also discover a direct relationship between the health of the nervous system and enhanced oxygen based metabolism (as indicated by my own and others reports of benefits of Tai Chi for peripheral neuropathy).