Tai Chi

Last January someone at my work offered to teach Tai Chi classes at the gym at my work.  The classes were free and they started just 15 minutes after the end of my workday.  It was a perfect situation.  As soon as I started the classes I noticed my leg muscles were stronger and my balance was much improved.  I was only going to two classes a week but trying to practice on the days in between.

I soon discovered that it really was "moving meditation."  For the 45 minutes I'm in that class I'm paying so much attention to my movement, my posture, the placement of my hands, feet, legs, hips, head and the teacher that I can't think of anything else.  I'm focused so closely on what I'm doing right at that moment that I can't think about my problems or my worries.  There was a lot of time that I felt like those were the only minutes where I was sane.

The exercises are simple and can be done at any level.  I work up a sweat during my workout so I know I'm burning calories.  The postures and movements also help me in my regular life to stand straight and to move things with as little stress on my body as possible.  When I'm keeping up with my exercises I feel better and my muscles feel looser.

This is definitely one of the necessary items in my fibromyalgia arsenal.  I feel much better when I keep moving.