How to Start a Tai Chi Practice at Home

Gentle steps to begin your mindful movement journey

Starting a Tai Chi practice at home is one of the most accessible ways to reconnect with your body—especially if you’re over 50, returning to movement after injury, or simply looking for more balance, strength, and calm in your day. The beautiful thing about Tai Chi is that it meets you exactly where you are, and your home can be the perfect place to begin.

What many people don’t realize is that Qigong is often the most approachable entry point into Tai Chi.

Qigong helps you slow down, breathe, release tension, and learn the foundational movements that later make Tai Chi feel natural and effortless. It’s simple, repetitive, joint-friendly, and incredibly healing.

1. Begin With Your Foundation: The Feet, Knees and Posture

In Tai Chi, healing starts from the ground up.
Most of us spend years moving in ways that tighten the hips, collapse the arches, or overwork the knees. Tai Chi and Qigong retrain these patterns, but only if we start with alignment.
When practicing at home, focus on alignment in everyday life:

• Feet parallel, hip-width apart
• Even weight distribution from heel to ball, the inside to the outside of the foot
• Soft, relaxed knees (never locked)
• Relaxed Lower Back, gentle never forces
• Awareness of how your feet connect to the floor and how it affects your whole body
• Stand tall, as is there is a string gently pulling you from above
• Relax shoulders down, create space to relax in the whole body
• Breathe and let go

These simple adjustments can reduce knee pain, improve balance, and build the kind of lower-body strength that supports you long-term.

2. Try Videos to Learn the Basics (Consistency Matters More Than Perfection)

Guided videos are a wonderful way to start Tai Chi at home—especially if you’re nervous about joining a class or just want to move at your own pace.

Look for videos that focus on:

• Alignment
• Slow, mindful shifts
• Breathing with movement
• Simple, repeatable sequences
• Options for all bodies and all levels

If you’re completely new, my Qigong Foundations Course is the perfect place to begin. It’s gentle, beginner-friendly, and teaches the essential movements that make Tai Chi accessible, safe, and deeply restorative.

3. Explore the Yang 13 Form — A Beautiful First Tai Chi Form

Once you feel comfortable with basic alignment and weight shifting, the Yang 13 Form is an excellent next step. It’s the shortest traditional Yang Family form, making it the most approachable for beginners.

It helps you:

• Learn foundational Tai Chi structure
• Build strength without strain
• Improve balance through mindful stepping
• Understand how to coordinate the upper and lower body 
• Experience the flow and meditative quality of traditional Tai Chi

This form is a gentle bridge between Qigong and more complex Tai Chi sequences.

4. Get Personalized Feedback When You're Ready

Videos can take you far, but eventually, a teacher’s eyes can help fine-tune your practice and prevent habits that lead to discomfort.

Even one private Zoom session—or meeting in person—can help you:

• Correct knee alignment
• Improve footwork and weight shifting
• Adjust your stances to support your joints
• Move with less tension and more confidence

Most students feel a difference immediately.

5. Keep It Simple: Five Minutes Counts

You don’t need long workouts to feel better.

A few minutes of Tai Chi or Qigong a day can:

• Reduce tension
• Improve balance
• Strengthen the legs
• Calm the nervous system
• Rebuild confidence in your body

Progress comes from showing up—gently, consistently, and with awareness.

A Gentle Invitation

If you’re beginning your Tai Chi journey at home, start small. Focus on alignment. Choose movements that feel nourishing. Let your practice meet you exactly where you are today.

Whether through my Qigong Foundations Course, the Yang 13 Form Course, or a beginner video on YouTube…

You already have everything you need to begin.

Your practice grows one mindful step at a time.
And every step counts.