Sometimes the workplace feels like a battle zone. With much emphasis placed on the importance of the company goals, markets and business plan much of the workforce feel an increasing pressure to perform at top levels at all times. Inevitably these requirements lead to stress and this must be tackled before it affects staff morale and productivity!
I remember working in a restaurant many years ago and having to go out into the main mall and perform, what appeared to be, ludicrous exercises. We all thought it was designed to keep the workforce fit but it is actually an ancient Chinese method of stress relief.
Tai Chi Chuan is a practise that the Chinese used to relieve stress and, in fact, try to avoid it in the first place. During the time of Mao Tse Tung this practise was widespread. At the beginning of each work day hundreds of employees were asked to meet at the main squares all over China to exercise. It is an elementary form of Tai Chi, the practice of extremely slow martial arts movements designed to balance the flow of Chi (life energy) around the meridian points of the body.
The majority of people who practise some kind of stress control in the...