With roots in traditional Chinese medicine, Tai Chi is a therapeutic mind-body exercise that integrates gentle movements, rhythmic breathing, and imagery. Tai Chi is practiced to improve strength, balance, flexibility, mental focus, and emotional tranquility. Tai Chi is increasingly being utilized as part of comprehensive health rehabilitation and prevention programs. New research suggests Tai Chi may have important benefits for individuals with Parkinson’s disease. The class is designed for people who are able to stand for the 60-minute program.
Space is limited & registration is required.
Dates: July 2 – September 24 at 7 – 8 p.m. (every Tuesday)
Cost: $200 (1 class/week, 12 total); $150 for partners
Venue: Fishbowl Conference Room, 2nd Floor Ambulatory Care Center
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
850 Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill, MA
Contact: The Osher Clinical Center for Complementary and Integrative Therapies at
617-732-9700.
Instructor: Stanwood Chang
Stanwood Chang is a certified instructor of the Tree of Life Tai Chi program and the Program Manager for the Eight Active Ingredients of Tai Chi Teacher Training Program.
He has taught in multiple Tai Chi medical studies funded by the National Institutes of Health, which include studying the effects of Tai Chi on patients with chronic heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Parkinson’s disease, and frail elders.
Stanwood has ongoing tai chi classes for Parkinson’s patients at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. He also teaches in MGH’s Home Base Intensive Clinical Program for military veterans.
Stanwood also studies Sun style Tai Chi with Master Thomas Duterme and Chen style Tai Chi with Master Wang Haijun. The practice of these styles allow him to offer unique insights into different Tai Chi philosophies and emphases, as well as a broader historical perspective on the development and evolution of Tai Chi. Stanwood is the founder and director of the Sun Tai Chi Institute of Boston, located in Cambridge, MA.
Course offered by The Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Osher Center For Integrative Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.