Between managing a household, caring for children, and the constant mental load of keeping everything running, it's easy to lose the one thing that rarely gets scheduled: quiet, physical time that belongs entirely to your own body. Tai Chi was built for exactly that kind of reset — and we teach it every Tuesday and Friday morning, 10:00am to 11:00am, at Kajukenbo NYC in Midtown Manhattan.
If you've been searching for something gentler than a bootcamp class, calmer than a spin studio, and more attuned to what your body and nervous system actually need, Tai Chi may be the missing piece. It isn't just movement — it's a practice that teaches you to notice what's happening inside your own nervous system, and gently guides it back into balance.
Meet Your Instructor: Julie Murakami, LMT
Our Tai Chi classes are led by Julie Murakami, a Licensed Massage Therapist trained in Tai Chi under Master Sherry Zhang. Julie teaches Tai Chi as a practice of interoception — learning to feel and interpret your body's internal signals — rather than just a sequence of movements to memorize.
That's an important distinction for anyone living in a near-constant state of low-grade alert: tight shoulders from carrying a toddler on one hip, a mind that's always half-monitoring the next thing that needs doing. Julie's classes are built to slow that pattern down, helping students recognize the difference between a nervous system stuck "on" and one that's genuinely settled — and to build the tools to move between the two on purpose.
A (Very) Brief History of Tai Chi
Tai Chi (Taijiquan) originated in China as an internal martial art, developed centuries ago and rooted in Taoist philosophy around balance, softness overcoming force, and the smooth flow of internal energy, or "qi." While it has genuine martial applications, for the last several decades it has become globally recognized primarily as a moving meditation — slow, deliberate, low-impact sequences that train the body and calm the nervous system simultaneously. It's this second identity — Tai Chi as therapeutic movement — that anchors what we teach in our Midtown Manhattan classes.
Why Tai Chi Is Especially Suited to At-Home Moms
- It teaches you to understand and regulate your own nervous system. Tai Chi's slow, continuous movement paired with deep, deliberate breathing engages the parasympathetic nervous system — your body's rest-and-recover mode. Beyond simply relaxing you in the moment, the practice trains a skill: noticing the early signs of stress in your own body and breath, and having a reliable way to bring yourself back down from them. That kind of body awareness doesn't stay on the mat — many students find they carry that same self-regulation into the rest of their day.
- It rebuilds balance that daily life quietly erodes. Carrying children asymmetrically, bending, lifting car seats, and long stretches of sitting all chip away at natural balance and proprioception over time. Tai Chi's slow weight shifts and single-leg postures retrain balance directly and gently — no jumping, no impact, no risk of a bad landing.
- It restores mobility without strain. Tai Chi moves joints through their full natural range of motion at a controlled pace, which helps loosen the stiffness that builds up from repetitive parenting postures without the joint stress of high-impact exercise.
- It builds real functional strength. Despite looking gentle, Tai Chi's sustained low postures build meaningful lower-body and core strength over time — the kind that actually helps with picking up a toddler or carrying groceries, not just gym-mirror strength.
- It fits a daytime schedule. Our Tuesday and Friday 10:00–11:00am classes are timed deliberately for the window after school or daycare drop-off and before midday pickups — a slot that's often otherwise empty on a parent's calendar.
What to Expect in Your First Class
You don't need any prior experience, flexibility, or athletic background. Classes are taught at a pace appropriate for complete beginners, with Julie offering hands-on guidance that goes beyond "do this movement" — she'll often explain what's happening in your nervous system in that moment, and why a particular breath or posture helps shift it from tension toward ease.