The Tai Chi for Arthritis Handbook assumes you are learning the Program from an instructor or by studying the instructional DVD. It is designed to assist you with your practice. The handbook provides a handy summary of all movements with photographs and instructions. The new and previous Warm Up and Wind Down Exercises and the Qigong Exercise are also included.

Also Includes:
Additional information about Tai Chi, Qigong, arthritis and how to improve your Tai Chi. Towards the back of the Handbook you can learn more about the essential principles of Tai Chi and resources about arthritis.

Introduction

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world have discovered the benefits of the Tai Chi for Arthritis Program. Created by Dr. Paul Lam and his team, the Tai Chi for Arthritis Program is supported by Arthritis Foundations and Societies throughout the world. People with arthritis have been learning the Program at classes led by authorised instructors or at home from the self-learning DVD. Either way, the key to long-term gains is regular and committed practice.

This is where the recently published Tai Chi for Arthritis Handbook fits in. With clear photographs of Dr. Paul Lam demonstrating the movements, the Handbook is designed to assist both beginner and experienced students in their practice. It can be used in conjunction with classes or the self-teaching video. As well as providing a useful reminder of all the moves, the Handbook has information about Tai Chi, exercise and arthritis, and advice on how to practise Tai Chi safely and effectively. The design of the Handbook is mindful of older people and people with arthritis; it is light, easy to handle, clear to read and stays open in one position.

Phillip Hopkins, chief executive office of Arthritis Foundation of NSW commented on how the Handbook will make a very useful companion to the Tai Chi for Arthritis video. Both are available from the Arthritis Foundation in each state in Australia.

Our customers ' comments below, click here to add your comment or read more.

• "I am a geriatric nurse practitioner from the University of Pennsylvania. I am currently managing a research project for fall prevention in the inner city elderly. I previewed several videos on Tai Chi, including the one used for the study done in Atlanta that showed the effectiveness of Tai Chi for fall prevention. I found that the videos by Dr. Lam were the most helpful by far. They are the next best thing to having a teacher in the room with you! Dr. Lam's extensive experience enables him to point out areas that are difficult for many students. I highly recommend these videos for self learning."
  - Bill Edwards, Pennsylvania USA

• "...We are doing the tai chi forms for the first time, and we love it. We became interested because my aunt, who lives in Washington, has been practicing it for some time. She is 88 years old,very healthy and still very active...The reason we ordered again is that my sisters and a sister-in-law in Peru are interested in starting the exercises too, so we are going to send them the videos."
  - Gladys Aparicio

   

• "I am a forty eight year old Nurse and after having a healthy and active life style I was diagnosed as having Rheumatoid Arthritis five years ago. Since then I’ve tried numerous Anti-inflammatory drugs, Arthritis diet, exercise and even Yoga, but I was still in constant pain and was limping quite badly. Sometimes I couldn’t even lift a cup of coffee or dry myself after a shower in the morning because my joints were so painful. It was so bad that I either had to take days off work or take regular pain killers before I went to work. This was starting to get me down as the side effects of the medications were starting to effect my personality and I wasn’t feeling quite myself. I became very depressed, irritable and unsociable.

• Just over a year ago I heard about your Tai Chi classes through the Arthritis Foundation and immediately enrolled. Within a few weeks I noticed the difference. This was one class I was looking forward to attending every week as I was actually enjoying doing Tai Chi because it was such a gentle form of exercise... Since taking up Tai Chi I noticed I’ve become much more flexible and not limping anymore and above all, I rarely need to take pain killers."
  - Name withheld upon request