--- title: Why Tai Chi Is As Good For You As CrossFit description: Tai chi, an aerobic mind-body exercise that's described as moving meditation, is the ultimate mindfulness workout. canonical: https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4758683/tai-chi-exercise/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-28T14:54:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T05:07:34.969Z article:section: Health og:title: Why Tai Chi Is As Good For You As CrossFit og:description: It may be the ultimate mind-body workout. og:url: https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4758683/tai-chi-exercise/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3eec0383c728e961/6988d476ab6d77f9ad6aed5e/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-47.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Why Tai Chi Is As Good For You As CrossFit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Tai Chi Is As Good For You As CrossFit twitter:description: It may be the ultimate mind-body workout. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3eec0383c728e961/6988d476ab6d77f9ad6aed5e/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-47.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 28, 2017 # Why Tai Chi Is As Good For You As CrossFit > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Markham Heid](https://time.com/author/markham-heid/) ## Markham Heid Markham Heid is a contributor at TIME. He is the author of The Habit Trap, due out in early 2027.  Photo-illustration by Bethan Mooney for TIME You’ve probably seen groups of people practicing tai chi in a park, so you have some idea what it’s all about. Slow, mindful movements. No weights. Low intensity. The practice combines aspects of ancient Chinese medicine, philosophy and martial arts, and it’s the antithesis of most modern exercise programs that emphasize fast, vigorous activity. Indeed, certain parts of tai chi are thousands of years old. But while tai chi may look mundane—even boring to some—experts who’ve studied it say its benefits are vast and hard to oversell. Tai chi is a richly researched exercise, with health improvements ranging from better blood pressure scores to a sharper mind. “We’ve seen improved immunity to viruses and improved vaccine response among people who practiced tai chi,” says Dr. Michael Irwin, a professor of behavioral sciences and director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. During the past 15 years, Irwin has published more than a dozen studies linking tai chi to lower rates of insomnia, depression, illness and inflammation. It holds up when compared to other more strenuous types of exercise. “Over time, we see people who do tai chi achieve similar levels of fitness as those who walk or do other forms of physical therapy,” Irwin says. One [study in the _American Journal of Epidemiology_](https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/178/5/791/88678/Associations-of-Tai-Chi-Walking-and-Jogging-With') concluded that tai chi was nearly as effective as jogging at lowering risk of death among men. Another [review in _PLOS One_](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0117360&type=printable) found that the practice may improve fitness and endurance of the heart and lungs, even for healthy adults. **MORE**: [How Kickboxing Can Change Your Body and Your Life](http://time.com/4712881/kickboxing-fitness-workout/?iid=sr-link7) Part of that is due to tai chi’s soothing effects on the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which tends to activate when a person is under stress. Much like aerobic exercise, tai chi seems to increase hormone and heart-rate measures linked with lower SNS activity, which could partly explain its ties to stronger hearts and lungs, Irwin says. But how could such low-intensity exercise—something that involves movements with names like “cloud hands” and “lifting a lute”—offer these kinds of fitness perks? “One of the most striking things we’ve found is that \[tai chi’s\] physiological impacts can’t be explained by its physical activity component,” Irwin says. It’s the mindful, meditative quality of tai chi that makes it so compelling, and that may explain the practice’s broad benefits. “I think of it as meditation on wheels,” says Dr. Peter Wayne, director of research at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Harvard Medical School. (He’s the author of [_The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi_](https://www.amazon.com/Harvard-Medical-School-Guide-Tai/dp/1590309421?tag=timecom-20), in which he references more than 600 academic papers on the health boons of the practice.) “You’re getting all the cognitive pieces you might get from meditation—mental clarity and focus and positive thoughts and lower stress—but you’re also getting physical exercise.” **MORE**: [Why Running Is Such Perfect Cardio](http://time.com/4739986/running-cardio/?iid=sr-link3) Tai chi may also be a more approachable form of [mindfulness training](http://time.com/4470517/neuroscience-of-mindfulness/) for those who struggle with the sit-and-breathe forms of meditation. “Directing attention to the body and pairing hand movements with balance and flexibility is easier for a lot of people than breath focus,” Irwin says. Tai chi may be especially healthful for older or sick adults who can’t perform more vigorous forms of physical activity. Among these groups, the practice is associated with improved balance and mobility, reduced risk of falls and better reaction times, Wayne says. A [study in the _Journal of Rheumatology_](http://www.jrheum.org/content/30/9/2039) tied tai chi to reduced pain and stiffness among people who have arthritis. It may also improve kidney and heart function among people suffering from related health issues, according to another [study in the _Journal of Physical Therapy Science_](https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jpts/26/11/26%5Fjpts-2014-108/%5Fpdf). But maybe the most compelling reason to give tai chi a shot is its ability to strengthen the connections between your mind and body, which can help you move through life with greater awareness and pleasure. “You might enjoy exercise more than you did before because you’re more mindful of your body,” Wayne says. “Or you may avoid injury or falls because of body awareness.” It’s a rare aspect of exercise. Unlike almost every other form of physical activity, tai chi demands focus, which is central to its meditative benefits. “Even with [yoga](http://time.com/4695558/yoga-breathing-depression/?iid=sr-link1), you can do it and have your mind be somewhere else,” Irwin says. “It’s very hard to do tai chi and not be present.” Why Tai Chi Is As Good For You As CrossFit ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4758683/tai-chi-exercise/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4758683/tai-chi-exercise/"},"headline":"Why Tai Chi Is As Good For You As CrossFit","datePublished":"2017-04-28T14:54:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T05:07:34.969Z","description":"Tai chi, an aerobic mind-body exercise that's described as moving meditation, is the ultimate mindfulness workout.","url":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4758683/tai-chi-exercise/","keywords":["Exercise & Fitness","fitness","Exercise","Workout"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3eec0383c728e961/6988d476ab6d77f9ad6aed5e/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-47.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Markham Heid","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/markham-heid/"}],"creator":"Markham Heid","articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3eec0383c728e961/6988d476ab6d77f9ad6aed5e/time-magazine-exercise-fitness-health-bethan-mooney-47.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/exercisefitness/","name":"Exercise & Fitness"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/guide-to-exercise/4758683/tai-chi-exercise/","name":"Why Tai Chi Is As Good For You As CrossFit"}}]}] ```