Maintaining a healthy lifestyle takes a knack for balance — both physical and mental. For those seeking improvement in these areas and better overall well-being, a traditional Eastern martial art may provide just the right avenue.

Tai chi has been practiced for hundreds of years, and has roots in both Taoism and Buddhism. Though sometimes practiced as a form of self-defense, many schools teach tai chi as a means to improving health and balance.

Tai chi has made its way to the West, and there are numerous opportunities for one to embark on a tai chi journey in Toledo.

Barb Colvin is an instructor with Taoist Tai Chi Society in Toledo. She is a nurse by trade and has over 20 years of experience in tai chi. Colvin is a breast cancer survivor, and she began tai chi because she knew she would be prone to conditions such as osteoporosis.

“That was what kind of got me into it to begin with,” Colvin said. “Now I stay for the well-being that I get from it.”

Colvin explained that tai chi promotes strength in the legs and other parts of the body, stretches the spine, feet and hands and improves joint movement.

She added that tai chi geared toward promoting health can be effective in combating a wide variety of maladies or conditions.

“We have a lot of people with a lot of different health issues that come in — Parkinson’s, stroke, multiple sclerosis, hypertension, arthritis and fibromyalgia. What they find [over time] is that they are starting to feel a lot better.”

Colvin said students in her classes work on the external parts of the body to begin with, and eventually work on the inner parts of the body, as well.

“Classes help people understand how to move, where the hands need to be and how to shift weight from one place to another.

“It’s not an aerobic exercise —there’s no impact, and you stay on your feet. That’s the attraction for some people.”

Rebecca Rahe is an instructor and manager for the Dr. Paul Lam Tai Chi Workshop. She said tai chi is a multifaceted art form that integrates the mind, body and spirit.

“Tai chi has many layers, but kept at a basic level and practiced most days of the week, people notice an improvement in health and well-being. [It is] an affordable way to treat chronic conditions, and it empowers us to manage our own health.”

Rahe said tai chi is something that can be practiced by people of practically any age, and it is recognized by the Centers for Disease Control as an effective way to promote fall prevention for seniors.

“Tai chi can be done seated, standing or even lying in bed. All you need to practice tai chi is loose, comfortable clothing and an effective teacher,” Rahe said.

Colvin also said tai chi is making its way into mainstream Western medicine as a legitimate means to improving one’s health.

“I think there is more of a growing interest in tai chi because doctors are starting to recommend it to patients,” she said.

Colvin said new students begin slowly, learning one movement at a time by repetition.

“You pick up what you can, you do what you can. We don’t expect people to go home and remember it, but the more we repeat, the more the body recognizes how to do it.”

The Taoist Tai Chi Society is a nonprofit, so donation amounts for classes vary, but the amount can be managed or reduced for those who are on limited incomes.

Beginner classes for the Taoist society began in January at various locations.

For more information, visit toledo.ohio.usa.taoist.org. For the Dr. Paul Lam Tai Chi Workshop, visit www.tchi.org.

Toledo native Julia Allen didn’t know what a heart attack felt like until she had one.

On April 15, 2013, the then-44-year-old started to feel tightness in her chest while at work. She ignored it until she became short of breath and nauseated and felt a tightening in her jaw. It was then that she knew what she was feeling wasn’t normal.

“We all go to health fairs and read stuff or watch ‘Dr. Oz’ and that stuff kind of sticks in your head,” she said. “Inherently I just knew something wasn’t right.”

Allen fought the idea of calling an ambulance because of the cost. After calling her husband, he tried to talk her into going to the hospital. She compromised, saying she would call her doctor. He told her to go to the hospital.

“I was in denial,” she said. “Up until this point, I had been the picture of health. I had never really had anything major. I was that person that went to the doctor every year, I got my physicals, I did everything … just like I was supposed to.”

She said she thought her husband and doctors were overreacting the day of her heart attack. She was almost convinced that she would get to the emergency room to find out she had the flu. She even stopped home on the way to the hospital.

Allen, who now lives in North Carolina, is a spokesperson for the American Heart Association’s “Go Red For Women” campaign. It’s the same campaign she turned to when she was suffering her heart attack.

“They had women out there doing what I’m doing now,” Allen said. “The women actually tell the story of what was happening to them, what they felt, what they experienced.”

She said the website saved her life.

Her outlook on life changed the day she had a heart attack. While in the hospital, she made a deal with God, asking for her time not to be up yet.

“I think you get to the point of desperation,” she said. “I am a Christian, I’ve given my life to Christ … so if he had taken me that day, I feel like I would’ve gone to heaven. But I wasn’t ready to not be a part of my children’s lives. I wanted to see them grow up.”

She promised if she survived, she would make changes in the way she treated herself.

Before her heart attack, Allen said, she always put everyone else’s needs before her own.

“I was trying to be that perfect mother and perfect wife,” she said.

Since her heart attack, Allen has reduced stress, started listening to her body and begun exercising during spare time. She said showing kindness and appreciation is another way she’s changed.

“All those things that we take for granted … make people realize that you care about them,” she said.

Having a heart attack proved to Allen that tomorrow is never guaranteed.

“I try to slow down now and definitely spend more time with my kids and my husband,” she said. “Now I have more family nights.”

Allen said heart disease runs in her family. She said her son, an avid athlete who eats well, has high cholesterol because of his genes.

“Family history plays a very strong part in your risk of disease,” she said.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in America and 48.9 percent of African-American women ages 20 or older have cardiovascular disease, Allen said.

“In my situation, before the heart attack, I remember having chest pains here and there years before,” she said. “It would come and go and [I would] ignore it.”

Through her efforts as a spokesperson, Allen meets other women and hopes to inspire them to take better care of their hearts.

Allen also encourages everyone to wear red for the nationwide Wear Red Day on Feb. 6. The day serves as a reminder for women to be aware of their health. For more information, visit goredforwomen.org.

Linda Shaw thought she had the flu.

Four years ago, while visiting her sister in Valparaiso, Indiana, the Perrysburg woman awoke at 4 a.m. with the feeling of not being able to lie down any longer. Shaw, who had not been feeling well for some time prior to that, just wasn’t feeling “right,” by her own admission.

Her sister told her she was taking her to the hospital.

There, Shaw learned she didn’t have the flu.

She had had a heart attack.

“I had that kind of [flu] ache. Muscle aches in my arms, across my back,” Shaw said. “No chest pain, no jaw pain. None of the earmarks of a heart attack.”

But inside Shaw’s body were the indicators of a heart attack. That Friday, the doctor told her she had three blocked arteries: one at 98 percent blocked, another at 100 percent and the third at 97 percent. She had triple-bypass surgery the following Monday.

Now 62, Shaw can be found first thing in the morning three days a week in the lower level of ProMedica St. Luke’s Hospital in Maumee. She’s a regular at the hospital’s Cardiac Rehab program, which aims to help those who have suffered a heart event regain their health.

“Recent studies show those who get in rehab after a heart event live on average five years longer,” said Karen Sherman, a nurse and cardiac rehab coordinator at St. Luke’s. “Time is muscle. The heart is a muscle.”

The hospital’s cardiac rehab program began in 1983. Through exercise, education and support, the program aims to provide healthier lives for patients who have had a heart attack, bypass surgery, valvular surgery, heart transplant, angina, stents or heart failure.

The program consists of three phases. Phase 1 begins with light education and exercises while the patient is still admitted in the hospital. Phase 2 is a three-month program of monitored exercise and education, with patients coming in three to five times per week. Phase 3 is a maintenance phase for those who want to continue the exercise portion of the program in the hospital setting. Up to 300 people are regularly in the Phase 2 or 3 portion of the program, with more in ProMedica’s other hospitals throughout Northwest Ohio.

Sherman said the hospital encourages patients to start the rehab program within one to three weeks of being discharged.

“The quicker we can get to them and start educating them and exercise them, the better they do,” she said.

After recovering in Indiana for a month following her surgery, Shaw was eager to begin exercising at St. Luke’s. She’s been in Phase 3 for more than three years.

“I’m here because this is my lifestyle, this is where I belong and it’s a comfort to me,” Shaw said after one of her two-hour workouts, which begin as soon as the center’s doors open at 6:15 a.m. “While I don’t worry about it on a daily basis, if something would happen, they’re here for me. In a second, they’re here. … [The center] deals with the whole compass of heart disease. Not just the nutrition and exercise, but the emotional support. We have a great camaraderie here because we’re all here for a reason.”

The communal spirit of the program is beneficial to many patients, who may be experiencing the “cardiac blues” following their heart event, according to Sherman.

“Some people are socially isolated, and they’re depressed after an event,” she said. “Getting them out and interacting with others improves their quality of life.”

Each patient’s exercise program is catered to his or her ability, said Kristin Easter, an exercise therapist in the program.

The patient’s background, risk factors and any health problems they may be experiencing are reviewed during their first day in the program. Because participants may be as young as their 20s to as old as their 90s, there is a wide range in exercise routines.

“That’s a big part of the program — making sure we can provide them with an exercise routine that they feel comfortable with, so it’s all individualized for a patient,” Easter said. “We kind of act as a liaison between the doctor and patient. They may see the doctor once every three to six months but we’re here to keep the doctor updated and let them know how their patients are doing.”

Shaw said the program has helped improve the quality of life for not only herself, but also the lives of her daughters and grandchildren, who say grandma had a “broken” heart. Because Shaw had a heart attack prior to the age of 60, her family is considered at-risk for a heart event.

“It’s hard, I won’t deny. Nothing’s ever laid me out like that,” Shaw said of her heart attack. “But I think what you do is just keep pushing forward. It’s been a blessing for my family. … Since then, my girls, who never had a weight problem, are very conscious now of what they’re putting in their bodies.” Her 10-year-old grandson recently told her, “I’m not going to have a second helping of this, Grandma, because it’s a better choice if I don’t.”

Although Shaw knows she doesn’t “have” to keep showing up three times a week, she has no plans on stopping.

“I’m not done. This is the lifestyle now, and this is something that you have to do for yourself,” she said. “I want to be an example for my grandchildren, so they continue this better lifestyle of being healthier for themselves — so they know it’s their responsibility to be the best that they can be.”

For more information about the program, call (419) 897-8440.