What *type* of exercise is yoga/tai chi/qi gong?
 

I know those 3 exercises are different and I also know that there's different types of yoga, some more intense than others.

I'm looking into yoga and qi gong. I have a Yoga for Beginners & Beyond boxed set dvd with Barbara Benagh. I've also been perusing Lee Holden's videos on Youtube. Also very interested in Essentrics and Classical Stretch clips.

I try to be pretty balanced in incorporating strength and cardio and stretch during a workout week. Trying to figure out which category to sort these workouts.

For further info, I mostly follow Joyce Vedral for weight training, and Leslie Sansone for cardio or an outside walk. I usually use one of Tamilee Webb's 10 minute segments after these workouts with a longer stretching routine once or twice a week.

Thanks in advance for any responses. It's driving me nutty that I can't seem to get it straight in my head.

Put them into a stretch and balance category. You can have three or more. Don't drive yourself nuts over exercise. Keep it simple and you will continue to move doing what you love.

Thank you, Cheryl. I appreciate all of your response!

The main difference between Tai Chi and QiGong, to my knowledge (which I realize is limited the more I delve into them) is that Tai Chi follows more choreographed. I find it more difficult to follow along with. Some day I hope to take live classes and learn the sequences.

QiGong is more user friendly, consisting of flows to balance energy in the body along with some self massage and sometimes vocalizations or healing sounds. I find QiGong videos easier to follow as a home user.

Thank you for that information, Pat58. I am very new to both tai chi and qi gong so that is helpful to me. I've been watching Lee Holden's videos on youtube and I think I would be able to follow his routines.

Lee is very easy to follow. :heart:

no offense, but i couldn't get into Tai Chi and have never attempted Qi Gong. some moves from these 2 disciplines appear in some of my fitness videos (exhale core fusions, janis saffell, sharon mann), but it didn't turn me away nor did it motivate me to study those styles further. my brother practices tai chi, but i could never get into it.:)

i have totally enjoyed yoga in almost every style except kundalini. haven't tried bikram.

a recent discovery for me was meditation and pranayama breathing. in a short time, i have experienced immediate relief from these 2 disciplines.

Jeannine, 'm about to verge onto Bikram. I don't know what to make of it. I've done it twice and it was okay. So, I may just do a month to see if I really like. it. Even at $79 a month, I'm not going to Really like it:) lol. But I'll give it more of a chance with a month.

I don't like Kundalini. I just don't like the body Gyrations. I think they are just gross. Makes no sense to me. I just don't get it. some may say you have to do it to get it but, I don't want to. So why push myself to do something to *get it?* lol
Something about Bikram, I do like so I'm willing to go more.

l

hi Cheryl - kundalini was just not my cup of tea. i can manage it when it is sandwiched with other moves, for example, i'm OK with Yoga Booty Ballet's version (teigh and gillian). but i didn't like ravi & ana's version; joni-o'd it!;)

there is a bikram studio here and it costs around what you quoted. my friend went, and she likes it.

i wanted to comment about meditation. i've acquired many meditation CDs over the past 2 years and own many DVDs that have yoga & meditation combined. i've also been to 2 classes on breathing and meditation and both were very good.:heart: