In a culture where “toughness” is revered over sensitivity, tai chi practice can soften the hard edges of our hearts. Hopefully you don’t have the problem I struggle with: when people are mean to me, I put up emotional barriers to protect myself and sometimes those barriers express themselves as barb wire, cutting even those kind souls that want to lovingly connect. Fortunately, I know from experience that when I delve deeper into my practice, my hard edges soften and I become more sensitive to others again. Now there’s evidence that this is true for those who practice tai chi on a regular basis. In a recent study measuring the empathy of physical therapists, therapists who practiced just three times a week were found to be more empathetic to their patients.
Most of us have had experience with less than compassionate “health care providers.” Burn out is inevitable among Western practitioners following the grueling insurance industry models. It’s easy to lose personal connections when burning the candle at both ends. The good news is tai chi can help! A study in The Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research has begun the promising research into how tai chi influences compassion.
The November 2023 experimental study evaluated how healthcare professionals were impacted by 5 weeks of 30 minute video tai chi lessons done just twice a week. The results showed improvements in test scores of empathy! Check out the full study here.
Want to make the world a more compassionate, caring place? Practice tai chi and get your friends to practice tai chi too! If you are a health care provider, consider asking your boss to try a 6 week tai chi program to see if you get the same results the study did. Together we can make the world a more caring place!
Below are the study researchers (tai chi practitioners) doing a public presentation of their findings. Don’t they look happy?! Gratefully, tai chi really works to improve health and mood.
