Blending The Roots and Rhythm of Tai Chi with Positive Psychology: A Handbook

The purpose of this Capstone is to integrate principles of positive psychology into an educational training program for the Tai Chi for Health Institute. This integration will be disseminated in the form of a small handbook and will be put into practice as a presentation in June 2013, during the weeklong Tai Chi for Health workshop in New London, Connecticut (June 10-15, 2013). After briefly providing an introduction to the field of positive psychology, the paper describes two broad areas: 1) Harnessing the experience of positive emotions in conjunction with physical activity; and 2) Developing and using character strengths in the service of optimal performance. Subsumed within these topics, various positive interventions are described at length along with suggestions for application. An overarching aim of this paper is to synthesize the disciplines of Tai Chi and positive psychology for the purpose of cultivating greater health, happiness, and harmony on a personal and collective level