Plenty of adults with stiff hips, achy knees or a tight lower back picture Taiji Quan as slow, graceful stretching, and decide they are too stiff to start.
Humid weather has a way of making the body feel like damp laundry: heavy, slow to move, a little swollen.
Most advice on pacing yourself comes down to “listen to your body.” It is good advice, but it assumes you already know what your body is saying.
Hips and shoulders are usually treated as separate problem areas. One gets a hip stretch, the other a shoulder roll, and each is expected to improve alone.
Many people with stiff joints can name the week autumn arrives.
As the days lengthen, the heavy stews, roasts and long-baked dishes that suit a cold month can start to feel out of step with the weather.
Qigong for liver qi in spring starts with a different idea of “liver” than the one in a biology textbook.
Many people who practise Taiji or Qigong at home eventually ask whether it is making any difference.
Sit down to meditate and the usual instructions are to keep still and quiet the mind. For many adults in midlife and beyond, that is where it goes wrong.
Stand still for a minute and ask where your weight is going.