Can Tai Chi prevent stroke: Brehan Crawford, L.Ac., explaining how Tai Chi and Qigong lower stroke risk factors

Can Tai Chi and Qigong Prevent Stroke?

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    I was sent a video that claims a simple daily movement can help prevent stroke. My reaction: this is legitimate. A 2017 study found that Tai Chi and Qigong, two traditional forms of Chinese medical exercise, are incredibly effective at reducing the risk factors for stroke. Moving your arms back and forth and expanding the chest and thoracic cavity takes a lot of pressure off your heart and lungs, and it can help you reduce high blood pressure and high blood sugar, which can help prevent a stroke.

    The short answer

    Yes. Tai Chi and Qigong work on the two biggest drivers of stroke you can change: blood pressure and blood sugar. In the 2017 review, people practising them lowered systolic blood pressure by about 15 mm Hg and fasting blood sugar by about 10 mg/dL compared with people who did nothing. The arm swinging and chest opening in these forms ease the load on the heart and lungs, and that is how a few minutes of daily movement helps prevent a stroke.

    The short version, on video.

    Can Tai Chi prevent stroke?

    Tai Chi and Qigong prevent stroke by lowering the risk factors that cause it. The study I mention in the video is a 2017 systematic review with meta-analysis by Romy Lauche and colleagues at the University of Technology Sydney.[1] They pulled together 21 randomised controlled trials covering 1,604 people who already carried a major stroke risk: high blood pressure, high blood lipids, diabetes, overweight or obesity, or metabolic syndrome.

    Compared with no intervention, the people practising Tai Chi or Qigong lowered their systolic blood pressure (the top number) by 15.55 mm Hg and their diastolic pressure (the bottom number) by 10.66 mm Hg. Their fasting blood glucose fell by 9.6 mg/dL and their insulin resistance score (HOMA) improved. Against other forms of exercise, Tai Chi and Qigong also brought body mass index down further, by 1.65 points.[1]

    If you are new to this kind of practice, I have written a guide to the best Qigong exercises for beginners. And if you want a teacher and a community to practise with, my Gut Brain Synchrony community is where we do that work together.

    Can exercise prevent stroke?

    Yes, and the reason is that most strokes come from a short list of things you can change. The largest study of this question, INTERSTROKE, compared 13,447 people who had just had a first stroke with 13,472 people who had not, across 32 countries.[2] Ten modifiable risk factors accounted for about 90 percent of the risk of stroke worldwide, in men and women, young and old.

    01 High blood pressure is the biggest one. A history of hypertension, or a reading of 140/90 or higher, nearly tripled the odds of stroke and accounted for almost half of the risk across the whole population.
    02 Regular movement is protective. People who were regularly physically active had 40 percent lower odds of stroke.
    03 Diabetes adds to it. Diabetes raised the odds of stroke, and was more strongly tied to ischaemic stroke, the kind caused by a blocked vessel.

    A dose-response meta-analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study, drawing on 26 prospective studies of ischaemic stroke, found that the most active people had a 26 percent lower risk of ischaemic stroke than people who were insufficiently active.[3] The biggest gains came from going from very little to something every day.

    Does qigong lower blood pressure?

    Yes. Since the 2017 review, the evidence on blood pressure has grown a great deal, and it keeps pointing the same way.

    A 2025 meta-analysis of 17 trials in people with essential hypertension found that Tai Chi lowered systolic pressure by 9.12 mm Hg and diastolic by 5.43 mm Hg, with the clearest improvement at 12 weeks and no adverse events reported in any of the trials.[4] For Baduanjin, the Eight Pieces of Brocade, a set of Qigong movements built around reaching, stretching and opening the chest, a 2025 analysis of 24 trials and 1,994 middle-aged and older adults found systolic pressure fell by 8.3 mm Hg at three months and 11.4 mm Hg at six months.[5]

    A network meta-analysis of 49 trials and 4,224 hypertensive patients aged 45 and over compared six traditional Chinese exercises side by side. Tai Chi ranked first for lowering systolic blood pressure and also brought down waist circumference, which matters because abdominal fat is a stroke risk factor in its own right.[6] And a large 2025 review in BMJ Medicine, covering 182 studies of relaxation approaches for high blood pressure, found that meditative movement such as Tai Chi lowered systolic pressure by 9.58 mm Hg compared with no intervention.[7]

    How does opening the chest take pressure off the heart and lungs?

    When you swing the arms back and forth and expand the chest and thoracic cavity, you give the heart and lungs room to work, and you slow and deepen the breath. Three things follow from that.

    The heart works more efficiently

    A 2025 network meta-analysis of 48 trials and 4,184 middle-aged and older people with high blood pressure looked beyond the blood pressure cuff. Tai Chi improved cardiac output and cardiac index, meaning the heart moved more blood with each minute of work. Baduanjin lowered resting heart rate, raised nitric oxide, the molecule that relaxes and widens blood vessels, and lowered endothelin-1, which narrows them.[8]

    Slow breathing calms the pressure system

    Opening the chest naturally slows the breath, and slow breathing is a recognised way to lower blood pressure. A review of 19 studies found that a single session of slow, guided breathing increased baroreflex sensitivity, the reflex that keeps blood pressure steady, and reduced the sympathetic nerve traffic that tightens blood vessels. Slow breathing practice also reduced arterial stiffness and pro-inflammatory cytokines.[9]

    The lungs gain capacity

    In people with chronic lung disease, where every breath is work, a 2026 meta-analysis of 22 trials and 1,871 patients found that traditional Chinese mind-body exercises such as Tai Chi, Baduanjin, Liuzijue and Yijinjing increased the amount of air the lungs could move (FEV1 by 0.20 litres, FVC by 0.22 litres) and lengthened the six-minute walk by 42 metres, with no serious adverse events.[10] When the lungs move air easily, the heart has less to compensate for.

    Can qigong lower blood sugar?

    Yes. High blood sugar damages the lining of blood vessels over time, and it is the second risk factor I name in the video. The 2017 review already showed lower fasting glucose and better insulin sensitivity with Tai Chi and Qigong.[1] Newer work adds to it.

    A 2026 meta-analysis of 48 studies and 3,699 people with type 2 diabetes found that Baduanjin significantly lowered fasting blood glucose and HbA1c, the three-month average of blood sugar, and also brought down triglycerides and total cholesterol. The best results came from 40 to 45 minutes, three times a week, kept up for six months or more.[11] A separate 2025 review of 13 trials and 1,746 adults with cardiometabolic risk factors found that Tai Chi lowered fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, diastolic pressure and waist circumference, and raised HDL, the protective cholesterol, with no serious adverse events.[12]

    How does Chinese medicine see movement, exercise and stretching?

    In Chinese medicine, movement is medicine. Health is the free flow of qi and blood, and disease begins where that flow slows down and stagnates. The old saying is that flowing water does not go stale and a door hinge that keeps turning is never eaten by worms. The physician Hua Tuo, writing about his Five Animal Frolics in the second century, made the same point about the body: move it, and the blood circulates and illness has nowhere to settle. Silk paintings of guided stretching and breathing exercises, called daoyin, have been found in a Han dynasty tomb at Mawangdui sealed in 168 BCE.

    The chest is where the heart and lungs meet

    The Heart governs the blood and the vessels. The Lungs govern qi and breathing. Both live in the chest, and the classics describe a gathering qi, zong qi, that collects there to drive the breath and push blood through the heart's vessels. Qi is the commander of blood: where qi moves, blood follows. When the chest is collapsed and tight, from sitting, stress or shallow breathing, that gathering qi weakens and the heart and lungs work against resistance. Swinging the arms and opening the chest is the direct remedy.

    Stroke as wind, and why stretching matters

    The Chinese name for stroke is zhong feng, being struck by wind. It is often traced to Liver yang rising unchecked, which looks a great deal like what we now call high blood pressure, combined with stagnant blood and phlegm in the vessels. The Liver also governs the sinews. Stretching keeps the sinews supple and lets Liver qi flow smoothly instead of building up and rising. The Spleen governs the muscles and the four limbs and turns food into usable energy; when the limbs do not move, that transformation slows, which is how Chinese medicine has always connected inactivity with the dampness and sugar problems we now measure as blood glucose. The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic warns that long sitting injures the flesh. Daily movement, stretching and breath are how you keep all of this moving.

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    How to do the arm swing and chest-opening movement

    This is the practical version of what you see in the video. It takes a few minutes and needs no equipment.

    01 Stand and settle. Feet shoulder-width apart, knees soft, weight even. Let the shoulders drop and the crown of the head lift.
    02 Swing the arms back and forth. Let both arms swing forward to about shoulder height and back behind you, loose, like pendulums. The movement comes from the legs and the waist, not from forcing the shoulders.
    03 Open the chest on the back swing. As the arms go back, let the chest widen and the shoulder blades draw gently together. Feel the ribs and the thoracic cavity expand.
    04 Breathe with it. Breathe in through the nose as the chest opens, out as the arms come forward. Let the breath slow down on its own.
    05 Do it every day, then build. Start with a few minutes each morning. When that is a habit, add a full Qigong set such as Baduanjin. The trials that lowered blood pressure and blood sugar ran most sessions for 40 to 60 minutes, three to five times a week, for at least 12 weeks.[8][11] For more forms to grow into, see my guide to Chinese longevity exercises.

    Frequently asked questions

    What is the best exercise to prevent stroke?

    The best exercise is the one that lowers your blood pressure and blood sugar and that you will actually do every day. Tai Chi and Qigong do both, they are gentle on the joints, and they can be practised at almost any age. Regular physical activity of any kind is linked to lower stroke risk.[2]

    Can stretching exercises prevent stroke?

    Stretching that is done with slow breathing and whole-body movement, as in Qigong, works on the same risk factors as the rest of the practice. In Chinese medicine, stretching keeps the sinews supple and the Liver's qi flowing, which is the opposite of the rising, stagnant pattern behind wind-stroke.

    Is qigong good exercise?

    Yes. It looks gentle, but the trials show real changes in blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, heart function and lung capacity. It has been practised in China for more than two thousand years.

    Move your arms, open your chest, and do it every day. Your heart, lungs and brain will thank you for it.

    — Brehan Crawford, L.Ac.

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    References

    1. Lauche R, Peng W, Ferguson C, Cramer H, Frawley J, Adams J, Sibbritt D. Efficacy of Tai Chi and qigong for the prevention of stroke and stroke risk factors: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2017;96(45):e8517. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000008517
    2. O'Donnell MJ, Chin SL, Rangarajan S, et al. Global and regional effects of potentially modifiable risk factors associated with acute stroke in 32 countries (INTERSTROKE): a case-control study. Lancet. 2016;388(10046):761-775. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30506-2
    3. Kyu HH, Bachman VF, Alexander LT, et al. Physical activity and risk of breast cancer, colon cancer, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, and ischemic stroke events: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. BMJ. 2016;354:i3857. doi:10.1136/bmj.i3857
    4. Xu J, Huang Y, Li L, et al. An RCT meta analysis based on the efficacy of Tai Chi exercise therapy on blood pressure and blood lipids in patients with essential hypertension. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2025;12:1506912. doi:10.3389/fcvm.2025.1506912
    5. Zhang T, Chen L, Guo M. Meta analysis of the intervention of Baduanjin in middle-aged and elderly patients with essential hypertension. Complement Ther Med. 2025;95:103258. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2025.103258
    6. Li H, Lin X, Wu X, Huang R. Effects of six traditional Chinese mind-body exercises on obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged and elderly hypertensive patients: a network meta-analysis of 49 RCTs. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2025;25(1):606. doi:10.1186/s12872-025-05084-x
    7. Webster KE, Halicka M, Bowater RJ, et al. Effectiveness of stress management and relaxation interventions for management of hypertension and prehypertension: systematic review and network meta-analysis. BMJ Med. 2025;4(1):e001098. doi:10.1136/bmjmed-2024-001098
    8. Han Y, Sun W, Han J, Li S, Zhou Y. Effects of six traditional Chinese mind-body exercise therapies on vascular health and cardiac function in middle-aged and elderly hypertensive patients: a network meta-analysis of 48 randomized controlled trials. Ageing Res Rev. 2025;115:103007. doi:10.1016/j.arr.2025.103007
    9. Pingali H, Hunter SD. Exploring mechanisms of blood pressure regulation in response to device-guided and non-device-guided slow breathing: a mini review. Auton Neurosci. 2022;244:103050. doi:10.1016/j.autneu.2022.103050
    10. Xiang Y, Liu J, Zhu Z, Hu X, Li W. The effects of traditional Chinese mind-body exercise on pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Med (Lausanne). 2026;13:1740693. doi:10.3389/fmed.2026.1740693
    11. Zhang S, Fan S, Wang H, et al. Optimal exercise parameters of Baduanjin for improving glycemic and lipid control in type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2026;17:1731466. doi:10.3389/fendo.2026.1731466
    12. Wang M, Wang D, Liao Y, Li R, Zhong Y, Zhang J. The effect of Tai Chi on cardiometabolic risk factors: systematic review and meta-analysis. J Integr Complement Med. 2025;31(7):641-653. doi:10.1089/jicm.2024.0759