Learn Tai Chi and Build Your Own Blue Zone

#1 Let’s begin by looking at how Tai Chi is a great path toward a longer, active health span.  Click on the video below to see

Wendy Ma, Vince McCullogh and Matthew Ma

lead an Emeritus Tai Chi session.

#2 This link is another good place to start your own Tai Chi path. Click on the video below for an orientation by Ron Cohen to the 18 Shibashi movements linking breathing to moving meditation. Shibashi is a good warm up for more advanced forms of Tai Chi.

Ron, Cindy and Paul have been leading a Sun-style t’ai chi ch’uan group

at Heritage Park in Dana Point, California at 10:30 am Thursdays for over 10 years? 

Maybe they’ll show us how.

#3 Coming soon with Paul et al.

Or go straight to Yang-style t’ai chi ch’uan.  Click HERE to practice the short form with Vince McCullough. 

"What is essential is invisible to the eye." 
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Blue Zones are hot spots of longevity like Okinawa Japan and Sardinia Italy where it’s common for people to live actively beyond 100.  
This page will focus on Tai Chi which also contributes to a longer healthspan for

120 and Beyond

Click HERE for more about Blue Zones

#4 This is my favorite lesson, Vince names each position to create a moving narrative.

#5

Why Tai Chi?

1. Moving mindfulness does for your brain what rocket fuel does for NASA Planetary Missions. Tai Chi will put you into a longer health span orbit.

2. Tai Chi is one of many physical activities that delivers increased quantities of oxygen and nutrients to the brain, which fuel the brain's glial cells in their work to feed and clean up the brain's neurons.  By the way,  Alzheimers is a build up of plaque that glial cells are tasked to clean up.   See previous Brain post.

An excellent example in the creation of My New Blue Zone took place in late August of 2018 when Bill and Alexandra invited  me to join their Tai Chi community with Vince McCullough.  They met daily at the beach to enjoy a moving group meditation. I believe practicing Tai Chi two or more times a week and building my own Blue Zone will help make it possible to reach 120 and Beyond.

The Human Brain...  uses more energy than any other human organ, up to 20 percent of the body's fuel consumption* and 
fully 25 percent of the body's total oxygen consumption.**   

*(https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-does-the-brain-need-s/)
**(http://www.humanneurophysiology.com/cbfo2consumption.htm)

Blausen.com staff (2014). "Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 

How do we protect our most valued asset? First, let's gather important neurological information from a reliable source: MIT   This video begins by shining a light on our greatest neurological risk. 

  Your Brain vs. Alzheimer's:  "Knowledge is Power." Click here for the video.  "33% of US adults will die of Alzheimer's or age related dementia." Not the news we want to hear but there is good news too!

From this first resource we learn that there is a noninvasive technique to reduce beta amyloid plaques in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease.  Before we get carried away it is important to know that not all successes move from mice to humans. That said, we now have a compass pointing in a very compelling direction. It's hard to imagine a more non invasive experiment.  Exposure to 15 minutes of flickering Christmas lights a day.  More details to follow.