Written by Bill Donnelly
On April 30th and May 1st, 2026, modern science and traditional eastern health systems experienced a meeting of the minds at “The Science of Tai Chi & Qigong As Whole Person Health” conference. Held at Harvard University, the conference represented a cross section of 400 attendees, from practitioners and policy makers to health care experts and researchers from fifteen countries and 35 domestic U.S. states. The programs were rich with content, and the participants enthusiastically shared their knowledge.
The conference was again hosted by Gloria Yeh, PhD, and Peter Wayne, PhD, both of Harvard Medical School and Osher Center for Integrative Health. Gloria and Peter are not stiff-lipped academics. They possess deep knowledge that is balanced with curiosity, open-mindedness and an unpretentious approach that set the tone for the entire conference.
What is it about Tai Chi and Qigong that intrigues new students while inspiring experienced practitioners to deepen their knowledge? Perhaps because Tai Chi and Qigong are uniquely based on principles rather than fixed ideas. These principles form a unique nexus that enables scholars, doctors, martial artists and even tech-bro innovators to explore the myriad applications first documented in the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine in 320 B.C.E. and now applied to modern healing and experiments in AI applications.
This year’s conference focused on mind-body integration as the foundation of whole person health. This approach considers the whole of a person to be greater than the sum of their parts, which counters the modern precision-based reductionist system and its related side effects. Whole person health places health above the absence of disease, with an understanding that with regard to the patient, context is important.
The conference topics addressed the needs of young and old. As Peter Wayne has said, Tai Chi is like a multi-drug combination producing a variety of effects. The conference illuminated Tai Chi and Qigong as a multi-non-drug therapeutic intervention.
A connecting theme throughout the plenary sessions and symposiums was Tai Chi’s ability to counteract the chronic stress that impacts young and old alike, albeit in different ways. Research was presented on how Tai Chi reduced anxiety and stress for young adults while restoring the reserves and resilience of older people. With less stress, both age groups can address the challenges of life and make better decisions, which improves the impact on their overall mental wellbeing, sense of peace, and ultimate happiness. The studies make a strong case to encourage taking up Tai Chi over taking a pill.
There seems to be an endless offering in the mainstream exercise industry to keep our body in shape into old age, but what about the brain? Our opening speaker, Alvaro Pascual-Leone, MD, of Harvard Medical School, explained how the later years of life are associated with more years of disability. He identified brain disease, not physical disease, as the number one cause of human disability, and that the current medical approach is too reactive.
Currently there is a 15-year gap between the beginning of an illness and its diagnosis. Pascual-Leone’s remedy is to include brain health assessments in the annual patient exam. Additionally, he described how Tai Chi can enhance brain health, as it modifies the spatial-temporal signatures of the brain and promotes and restores the brain’s reserves while increasing resilience in the face of insult, injury and pathologies that can lead to brain disease.
Breakout sessions also addressed common ailments including back pain, cardiovascular issues, sleep problems and menopause. In each session the presenters shared information that was as much personal as data driven. They connected their topic and a Tai Chi in a relevant, accessible and comprehensive way.
Tai Chi and Qigong have been applied to cancer oncology programs for over two decades and is now being recommended for survivorship. This relates to whole patient care approach and the understanding that wellness behaviors have major impact on outcomes. Tai Chi addresses the needs of the patient side of treatment, offering remedies for fatigue, anxiety, and depression.
According to Jun Mao, MD MSCE of Memorial Sloan Kettering, Tai Chi is now being introduced during active treatment – preceding oncology, thus illustrating how powerful the impact of Tai Chi can be. He envisions nurses as future champions of Tai Chi and Qigong, and noted that the medical and societal value of Tai Chi exceeds drug influenced outcomes.
One topic of interest is the exploration of Tai Chi and its extraordinary impact on the body’s Fascia, a thin, tough network of connective tissue that wraps around muscles, organs, and bones as a “body-wide web.” Helene Langevin, MD, of the Osher Center at the University of Vermont, discussed research being done around Fascia and Interoception, the process by which the body senses, interprets and regulates signals within itself. She has found that Tai Chi masters are finely tuned to their body sensations and believes that Tai Chi may optimize Facia Interoception.
Columbia University’s Martin Picard expanded the topic of Fascia and Interoception in a presentation centered on energy resistance and the healing process. He described the human form as a network of 40,000 trillion metabolically interconnected mitochondria: cells that break down nutrients through cellular respiration to produce energy. His theory proposes that life is not merely a collection of molecular machines, but a physical-energy system where energy flows through resistance. Too little resistance and energy cannot be effectively transformed. Too much energy leads to inefficiency, heat and molecular damage.
Picard’s focus aligns with Chinese Qigong theory, where the body receives sunlight (electromagnetic energy), oxygen and food, then metabolizes them to create Qi – intrinsic energy. The ideal is to create a balance of energy flow throughout the body, ensuring that the vital organs function in an optimum range. As a result, the body maintains a higher level of immunity, echoing Picard’s assertion that the hallmarks of illness are traced back to energy resistance.
Tai Chi’s self-defense principle of yielding to oncoming force makes it understandable that the art, and its scholars would receive, envelope, even embrace the new frontier of technology. This was evident in plenary sessions and symposiums that highlighted the increased use of technology to measure and apply the power potential generated from Tai Chi. Sessions included wearable sensors for clinical and training applications and the rapidly expanding use of AI.
The healthcare industry is an early adopter of AI – twice the rate of the broader economy, with 86% of healthcare professionals employing AI in their work. But while AI is rapidly expanding, the reality is that it is still a decentralized and experimental tool, according to a recent Forbes Magazine article. Still, expense pressure and a shrinking workforce make AI a necessity in the healthcare industry. There is promise though, of more quality time, empathy and presence, all of which can be enhanced with Tai Chi and Qigong.
Acknowledging AI’s opportunities and threats, Claudia Witt, MD, University of Zurich, discussed the potential of combining AI and human teams in healthcare. With the existence of AI in the patient plan, Tai Chi will be a significant contributor to the individual patient’s self-efficacy.
Wayne Jonas, MD, of the Healing Works Foundation discussed whole person care and Salutogenesis – an approach to human health that examines the factors contributing to promotion and maintenance of mental well-being rather than disease, with particular emphasis on the coping mechanisms of individuals, which help preserve their health despite stressful conditions. Jonas’s remarks echo the ethos of all the presenters, and the single most important question that must be asked by all healthcare providers: What matters most for the patient?
What matters most for the patient, begins with what matters most to you and I – as individuals experiencing a complete life. What we need, and what we seek, is beyond intervention or proactive healthcare, but the need to experience life fully, as it is. Helen Lavretsky, MD at UCLA, traced our need to the neuroscience of brain health. Lavretsky contends that mind-body therapies promote the optimal mental and physical states that open us to transcendent experiences – the essence of life.
The Science of Tai Chi & Qigong Whole Person Health conference offered a wealth of information. For the studious notetaker, it may take days or weeks to read through their notes, find the connections and determine what is essential for their needs. Others may have already absorbed all the information they need. Still, the question that each participant must answer is simple: How can I use this new knowledge to educate, inspire, and possibly heal another person through individual instruction, education or by contributing to research, policy and advocacy on the local, state and national level? The answers may be as varied as the conference programming, and that is where the principles and creative art of Tai Chi reside.
The conference provided an opportunity to gain more knowledge, make new acquaintances and see old friends. A meeting so many like-minded people sharing their stories – be it in martial arts or their personal and professional lives, made the conference more than just informative. It was a communal experience around the common goal of applying the knowledge and experience of Tai Chi and Qigong to change the world in our own way.
About the Author: Bill Donnelly is a rare combination of entrepreneur/artisan, adept at building on strength and bringing a creative approach to modern real world life and business challenges. He is a 7th generation lineage holder of Choi Li Fut Kung Fu and has over 20 years of experience practicing and teaching Yang T’ai Chi. Bill has presented lectures, demonstrations, workshops and lessons at T’ai Chi events, associations, not for profits, networking and education events. Bill is also an accomplished New York musician, drummer for artists in the world of Rock, Jazz, Funk, World and Fusion music. He is the author of Inner Secrets, Discovering T’ai Chi’s Hidden Lessons for Preservation, Protection, and Peace of Mind Meditations on the Principles of T’ai Chi, A Beginner’s Guided Reflection to Cultivate your T’ai Chi. Bill presents demonstrations and workshops to corporations, not for profits, associations and education institutions. More information can be found at www.privatetaichi.net