Which is better, yoga or tai chi?

There is no absolute "better". It all depends on your current physical condition, practice requirements and even the adaptability of your life rhythm. I have practiced yoga for 6 years and Tai Chi for 3 years. The pitfalls and benefits gained by friends in the two circles are really different.

A while ago, I persuaded my junior sister who works in Internet design not to follow the trend of learning Tai Chi. She is so busy that she often eats dinner. Her shoulders and neck are so stiff that it hurts when she turns her head. She just wants to find a place to sweat quietly and loosen her muscles after get off work. I signed up for a flow yoga class near my home. After one class, the tightness in my shoulders and back disappeared quickly. By the way, I can also practice core. After practicing for half a year, the rounded shoulders that were serious before half a year have been reduced a lot. If you ask her to get up early every morning and go to the park to stand for half an hour and do a set of boxing, she will most likely not last for a week. For her, yoga is a more suitable choice.

Uncle Zhang, who lives downstairs from me, is just the opposite. A few years ago, he had high blood pressure and was always dizzy. The doctor specifically warned him not to do too strenuous exercise. He has been practicing with the Tai Chi team in the community for almost a year. Now his blood pressure has stabilized a lot, and he can climb the sixth floor without gasping for breath. He had tried to take yoga classes with his daughter before, but he couldn't breathe after holding Down Dog pose for 30 seconds. An old injury from a fall when he was young made him unable to even do the simplest hero sit. Tai Chi was obviously too friendly for him.

Nowadays, many people on the Internet are making a lot of noise, saying that yoga is an imported product, and it can easily cause injuries to the knees and lumbar spine. In fact, most of the problems are caused by finding unprofessional coaches and trying to make up the range of postures. If you really practice with a reliable teacher, the recovery sequence of yoga has no bad effect on improving joint problems.； Some people say that Tai Chi is practiced by the elderly, and it is too slow and useless for young people. Anyone who has really calmed down and practiced Chen Style Tai Chi all the way knows that after a trip, the whole body is sweating, and the core is so tight that they dare not relax the whole time. The polishing of concentration is no worse than a yoga meditation class.

In fact, the difference is simply that they are suitable for different people. If you want to quickly improve your posture and increase muscle strength, your daily time is relatively fragmented and you can accept dynamic or static stretching. There are many types of yoga to choose from, and the degree of adaptability will be higher.； If you have old joint injuries, need slow-paced breathing adjustments, or want to practice breathing and concentration at the same time, Tai Chi has a lower threshold and is less likely to cause sports injuries. To put it bluntly, these two are just like your choice of daily drinks. Some people like to drink iced American style to refresh themselves and relieve fatigue, while others like to drink warm candied date tea to soothe their throat and nourish their body. There is never any good or bad, only the difference between whether it suits you or not.