Which one is healthier, yoga or tai chi?

If you really want to find an absolute answer, there is actually no one - both are physical and mental exercises that have been proven for hundreds of thousands of years. Both will benefit a lot if you practice them correctly. If you practice them wrongly, they may hurt your body. There is no way to roughly distinguish them.

Two years ago, Aunt Zhang, who worked at the community fitness center downstairs of my home, had degenerative knee disease. She used to follow the trend of short videos to practice flow yoga. She always followed the postures of squatting and standing on one leg, but her knees always got stuck when she didn't use the right force. After practicing for half a month, it hurt to go up and down stairs. Later, she followed Tai Chi in the community. The varsity exercise simplifies the 24 postures. It does not require strong exertion, the movements are slow enough to keep up, and it is also required to relax the waist and sink the hips so as not to put weight on the knees. After three months, not only the discomfort in the knees has disappeared, but also the problem of waking up at night has improved a lot. Now everyone says that Tai Chi is much more practical than yoga.

But if you ask this to the post-95s girl at the desk next to me, she will be the first to disagree. She sat in front of the computer for 10 hours every day, and her shoulders and neck were as hard as frozen slate. She was always insomnia because of the anxiety of catching up on projects. I took her to experience Tai Chi once before. After standing for 5 minutes, she was too slow and itchy all over her body. She refused to go anymore. Later, she signed up for yoga. She took private lessons at a gym, targetedly adjusting rounded shoulders and hunched back, and then did 10 minutes of breathing meditation. After half a year, not only was half of her wealth gone, but the migraine that she hadn't had for a long time never came back to her. Now she goes there three times a week, saying that yoga is a life-saving weapon for working people.

I have talked about this topic with a friend in the sports rehabilitation department before. He said that the underlying logic of the two actually has something in common. They both pay attention to breathing in conjunction with movements and do not pursue explosive force. However, the people they are suitable for are indeed different. Tai Chi is generally a low-intensity static aerobic exercise. Its effect on improving the balance ability and lower limb muscle strength of middle-aged and elderly people has been confirmed by many clinical studies. The risk of falling in the elderly who practice it for a long time can be reduced by more than 30%. The intervention effect on hypertension and chronic osteoarthritis is also very clear. There are many schools of yoga and a wide range of choices, ranging from Yin Yoga, which is almost motionless, to Ashtanga, which can cause sweating. Whether you want to stretch and relax, adjust your posture, or practice some core strength, you can find corresponding exercises. For young people who are used to sitting and fast-paced, the acceptance is naturally much higher.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that there is nothing wrong with any one of them. I have seen yoga enthusiasts who strained and tore their ligaments by pressing their legs, and I have also seen old men who bent their knees too much when practicing Tai Chi, causing their knees to go too far over their toes, causing meniscus damage. Exercise is never about choosing a “healthier” category and settling it once and for all. The core is to adapt the movement standards and intensity to your physical condition. A while ago, I tried to combine Tai Chi stances with yoga shoulder and neck stretching. I felt that the relaxing effect was better than practicing either alone. To put it bluntly, the one that makes you willing to persist and is comfortable and not uncomfortable after practicing is the healthiest for you.