Course description

Tai chi is slow, gentle movement that asks you to stand well, shift your weight with control and breathe easily. This course teaches it from the very beginning, at home, with a sturdy chair and your kitchen worktop for support, so you can feel steadier, keep your legs strong and give yourself a calmer few minutes each day.

It's a full course, not a quick tour. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, and every movement is broken into stages, with a supported or seated version first. You follow Sybil, 64, a retired school receptionist in Cleethorpes, from a slip on her frosty path in January through 12 weeks of home practice and her first local class, with her neighbour Narinder, 71, doing seated tai chi alongside her. Every section has a large-print practice pack with movement cards, session cards, a progress log, record sheets, checklists and simple drawings of foot positions.

What you'll learn

• Getting started safely: what tai chi is and where it comes from, how it fits the NHS activity guidelines, when to check with your GP or physiotherapist first, the warning signs to stop, setting up a safe space, and two simple checks and a progress log.
• Warm-ups and opening exercises: a gentle warm-up, four qigong-style openers that join slow movement to easy breathing, and a cool-down for every session.
• Posture, stance and rooting: the principles of tai chi movement, the ready stance, rooting through your feet, looking after your knees and hips, and standing practice.
• Weight shifting and stepping: shifting your weight at the worktop, the bow stance, the empty step, tai chi walking and the side step: the real foundations of tai chi.
• Seven traditional movements: commencing form, part the wild horse's mane, white crane spreads its wings, brush knee, cloud hands, golden rooster with support and closing form, each taught in stages.
• A short beginner sequence: the seven movements linked into an eight-part sequence of about six to eight minutes, practised on the spot beside your worktop.
• Seated tai chi: the whole practice sitting on a sturdy chair, including a seated sequence you can share with someone else.
• Balance and falls prevention: how balance works, the support ladder for making balance work harder safely, tai chi habits for everyday balance, a safer home, the NHS advice on falls and what to do if you fall.
• Breathing and calm: natural breathing, joining the breath to the movements, a five-minute calm practice and looking after yourself on busy, tense or low days.
• Your home routine: building a weekly routine, reviewing your progress log, spotting the problems in a first draft plan, finding a local class and keeping going.

Who it's for

Adults who want gentle, low-impact exercise at home, especially people over 50 who'd like to feel steadier on their feet, and anyone who has never tried tai chi before. If standing for long is hard, the whole practice can be done seated. The course follows NHS guidance and gives general information, not medical advice: if you have a health condition, have had a fall or a recent operation, or aren't sure tai chi suits you, talk to your GP or a physiotherapist before you start. Everyone in the course is fictional.

What will I learn?

• Understand what tai chi is, where it comes from and how it fits the NHS activity guidelines for older adults
• Set up a safe space at home, know the warning signs to stop, and know when to check with a GP or physiotherapist first
• Warm up, open with four qigong-style exercises and cool down in every session
• Stand, root and protect your knees with the ready stance, and shift your weight and step with control
• Learn seven traditional movements, from commencing form to golden rooster, and link them into a short beginner sequence
• Practise the whole sequence seated, on your own or alongside someone else
• Make balance work harder safely with the support ladder, and follow the NHS advice on preventing falls
• Use the breath and a five-minute calm practice, and build a weekly routine you can keep going, at home or in a class

Frequently asked questions