Gentle Tai CHI for Arthritis and Joints

Your knees crack going up the stairs. Your hips wake up stiff every morning. Your hands struggle to open a jar. And every movement seems to remind you that something inside is resisting now.

Arthritis doesn't ask you to be silent. It asks you to move differently.

Gentle Tai Chi for Arthritis and Joints is a guide designed specifically for people living with joint pain every day - arthritis, osteoarthritis, rheumatism, stiffness, post-surgery recovery, prosthesis, prolonged inactivity. Lucia Arston offers a progressive 28-day programme of slow, impact-free movements - with seated options for every exercise - to relieve pain, loosen joints, and move again with confidence.

Inside this book:

• Understanding your joints and gentle movement: what happens with osteoarthritis and stiffness, the vicious cycle of pain, why gentle movement helps, why tai chi in particular, the role of the muscles around the joint
• Setting up and practising safely: the chair as your ally, choosing standing or seated depending on the day, good supports, the right time of day
• The golden rule: never practise in pain - distinguishing good and bad sensation, the pain scale, "good days" and "bad days"
• Breathing to release tension and ease pain: the pain-tension link, belly breathing, the releasing exhale
• Hands and wrists: opening and closing, wrist circles, finger stretches, the finger butterfly, gentle gripping
• Shoulders: shoulder rolls, raising the arms, opening like wings, the arm pendulum, shoulder blade glides
• Neck: turning, tilting, the head "yes," massaging the back of the neck, lengthening
• Back and spine: growing tall in place, gentle twists, side bends, the seated cat, the reach to the sky
• Hips: slow mobilisation, gentle opening, smooth transfers
• Knees: targeted muscle strengthening without load, without forced extension
• Ankles and feet: foot roll, circles, waking exercises
• A progressive 28-day programme: four weeks, each deepening one area of the body, with a short daily routine and a seated option for every movement

Who it's for:

For anyone with osteoarthritis: knee arthritis (gonarthrosis), hip arthritis (coxarthrosis), hand arthritis (thumb-base arthritis), cervical or lumbar spine arthritis. For people recovering from a knee replacement or hip replacement. For those with rheumatism, mild rheumatoid arthritis, stiffness related to inactivity, chronic joint pain. For seniors wanting to prevent worsening. For physical therapists, occupational therapists, rheumatologists, family doctors, exercise physiologists and fitness instructors specialising in adaptive movement. For family caregivers.

Why this book is different:

Because it does not minimise pain, but does not submit to it either. Because it offers a path of movement instead of an instruction to stay still. Because every exercise is adapted as a seated version, so no one is excluded. Because it reminds you, on every page, of the golden rule: never practise in pain. No miracle promises, no therapeutic claims - a possible complement to your medical care, built with respect and precision.

Arthritis doesn't go away. But stiffness, the fear of movement, and discouragement can step back.

28 days. 10 minutes a day. One joint at a time.