In Chinese medicine, 'CHI' is the term for the universal energy, or the energy that permeates everything. The concept of 'CHI' extends beyond the physical body, to the subtle energies that activate all human functions, including emotions and thought. Unbalanced 'CHI' causes you to become emotionally agitated and distressed. Balanced chi causes your emotions to become smooth and more satisfying.
From the perspective of thought, when your mental chi becomes more refined, it enhances your creativity at all levels, including art, business, relationships and child-rearing. Spiritual chi makes it more possible for us to personally enter into higher states consciousness which lie at the heart of religious experience Chi embodies antithetical qualities: it can be used for healing, or it can be used for breaking stones.
T'ai Chi and other forms of Taoist martial and healing arts, help you develop subtle chi-energy. In the T'ai Chi form, the mind initiates the flow of 'CHI', which, in turn, initiates each movement. Each movement in-turn intensifies the 'CHI'. Thus, there is a synergistic effect that greatly escalates the flow of 'CHI' over time.
