Tai Chi was once an ancient martial art and is now a local wellness activity.
Eva Westin
Contributor
GREEN BAY – On a Wednesday morning in Voyageur Park, members of the Brown County Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) practice slow, gentle tai chi movements in the shade of trees, listening to birds singing and meditative music.
The group is led by Shelley Vanness, a retired occupational therapist who now volunteers her skills and passion for the practice of Tai Chi as a beginner-level instructor at ADRC.
Vanness first had the opportunity to learn about tai chi in 2000 when she received an email about tai chi training for therapists.
At first, she set the email aside and forgot about it, but a few months later she picked it up again and decided to look into it.
She then attended several workshops over the course of about a year and a half.
After training at the Tai Chi Center of Madison, she eventually decided to teach Tai Chi herself.
Vanness subsequently became certified as a Tai Chi instructor and has been volunteering to teach Tai Chi to others for 22 years, eight of which were spent at the ADRC.
“I feel like this is a gift that I’ve been given in life and I want to share it with others,” she said.
Tai Chi is a meditative exercise with low-impact movements that originated in 13th-century China as a martial art passed down from generation to generation.
Today, it is practiced as an art form, meditation technique, or mind, body, and spirit training that is becoming increasingly popular across the United States.
This is a particularly convenient form of exercise because it can be done alone or in a group and requires no special equipment or clothing.
Anyone can practice Tai Chi.
“A lot of seniors are interested in it. It’s meditative and it helps with focus and balance, so it’s good for all of us,” said Jean Huxtable Hamersky, a local resident who has been taking Shelley’s tai chi classes at the ADRC in downtown Green Bay for several months.
Tai Chi also has many other health benefits, including improved posture, enhanced body awareness, blood pressure control, flexibility, cardiovascular and respiratory function, pain relief, and emotional wellbeing.
In fact, the National Institutes of Health has introduced grant funding that organizations like the ADRC can use to create opportunities for community members to practice tai chi and other similar exercises as part of an effort to reduce balance-related falls among older adults.
Anyone can practice tai chi, but Shelley warns that it can be a long process.
“It takes quite a long time so be very patient with yourself. If you’re really interested, it will take about nine to 12 months before you feel like you can do one form really well,” Vanness explained.
She encourages beginners to find something online that they can stick to at home, even if it’s just 15 minutes a day.
If you’re interested in attending a local in-person Tai Chi session, check out these offerings: Call 920-448-4300 for a Wednesday 9:30 AM session with Shelley at the Green Bay Senior and Disability Resource Center. Call Eric Peters at 920-366-0899 for beginner, intermediate and advanced sessions on Tuesdays from 9-10 AM at GBASO, 2351 Holmgren Way, Suite 102. Call the YWCA of Green Bay at 920-432-5581 for Wednesday 9:30 AM water Tai Chi sessions and Thursday 10 AM classroom Tai Chi sessions.
