Are yoga and Tai Chi similar?

The answer is yes. The two have a lot in common in practice logic and somatosensory. However, many practitioners who are deeply involved in their respective fields believe that the cultural cores of the two are completely independent. Forcibly binding the similarities will easily dissolve their uniqueness.

I have been practicing yoga for almost 7 years. I have been practicing yoga for more than 2 years with the Chen-style Tai Chi disciples in the park below my home. At first, I thought that one was a foreign sport from India, and the other was a project rooted in traditional Chinese culture. The most intuitive thing is the requirement for breathing. Whether it is Ujjayi breathing that requires the same frequency as the movements in yoga, or the "breathing to bring energy and Qi sinking in the Dantian" mentioned in Tai Chi, the essence is to draw your attention away from the external movement standards. In terms of my own rhythm, the last time I practiced vinyasa flow yoga, I couldn't stabilize myself until I reached the third warrior pose. The instructor asked me to slow down my breathing first and don't hold on hard. When he practiced Tai Chi with me until I reached the sparrow's tail, my shoulders were always stiff. Master Chen said, "First regulate your breath and then move forward." The physical feeling was almost the same.

Going deeper, the two emphasize body awareness in a surprisingly consistent manner. Yoga emphasizes alignment and does not pursue extreme postures. Tai Chi emphasizes standing in a neutral posture and not forcing the body down. The core is not to let you rely on brute force to force the movement, but to follow your own skeletal muscles to find the feeling of strength. I had an old knee injury before, and the teachers on both sides specifically reminded me not to lock the knee joints, and the force should sink to the position of the Yongquan point on the soles of the feet. Even the details of adjusting the movements can be matched.

However, I have also met many practitioners who do not agree with the statement that "the two are connected". I went to a classical hatha yoga workshop before, and the Indian teacher made it clear that the origin of yoga is deeply bound to the religious philosophy of ancient India, and ultimately points to the spiritual practice of "the unity of Brahman and self", which is completely different from the Taoist yin and yang and traditional martial arts systems that Tai Chi relies on. Some courses on the market now mix the chakras of yoga and the meridians of Tai Chi, which is actually a misunderstanding of the two cultures. Seniors who have practiced Tai Chi for more than ten years also said that the essence of Tai Chi is derived from martial arts. Every movement has the logic of martial arts. It is fundamentally different from the exercise attributes of yoga that focus on cultivating the body and mind. There is no need to forcefully connect them.

In fact, for ordinary enthusiasts like us who just want to regulate the body through exercise, there is no need to get entangled in these academic disputes. I now do half a set of 24-style Tai Chi in the morning to activate my muscles and bones, and do 10 minutes of yin yoga before going to bed at night to relax my shoulders and neck. I mix the two breathing methods. Recently, my old problem of insomnia has improved a lot. Being able to find an exercise rhythm that suits me is much more meaningful than worrying about whether the two types of exercise are similar.