Tai chi and mindfulness: research overview

Not medical advice. This page lists research about tai chi and mindfulness. It does not say whether tai chi works for any person or condition. Talk to a qualified health professional before starting a new exercise program, especially if you have a medical condition.

Studies in PubMed

47 (tagged with “Mindfulness” as a major topic)

Years

2014–2026

Registered trials

0 on ClinicalTrials.gov

Types of studies

Each study is counted once, under its strongest type in this order: meta-analysis, systematic review, randomized controlled trial, clinical trial, review, observational study.

Studies, newest first

1. Beyond pain: Impact of movement-based mindful exercises in fibromyalgia. A systematic review with meta-analysis. — Journal of bodywork and movement therapies, 2026 · DOISystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
2. Effects of mindfulness-based exercise on Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. — Frontiers in neurology, 2026 · DOISystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
3. Improving exercise motivation and physical fitness in college students through a long-term mindfulness-enhanced Tai Chi Chuan program: a randomized controlled trial. — PeerJ, 2026 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
4. Mindfulness and Tai Chi for Sleep, Fatigue, and Pain in Distressed People After Cancer Treatment: A Partially Randomized Patient-Preference Comparative Effectiveness Trial. — Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2026 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
5. Mindfulness-based interventions to promote improved sleep quality in older adults. — Nursing, 2026 · DOIReview
6. A comparative study between mindfulness-enhanced exercise training with tai chi and resistance training for college students' mental health: Efficacy, trajectories, and mechanisms. — Applied psychology. Health and well-being, 2025 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
7. Integrating mindfulness and physical activity: a meta-analysis of mindful movement interventions for symptoms of anxiety and depression among university students. — PeerJ, 2025 · DOIMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
8. Mindfulness and Tai Chi for Cancer Health (MATCH) Study: Primary Outcomes of a Preference-Based Multisite Randomized Comparative Effectiveness Trial. — Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2025 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
9. The effect of mindfulness-based Tai Chi Chuan on mobile phone addiction among male college students is associated with executive functions. — PloS one, 2025 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
10. Effects of mind-body therapies on schizophrenia: A systematic review and network meta-analysis. — Schizophrenia research, 2024 · DOISystematic Review
11. Efficacy of Mindfulness Exercises for Primary Osteoporosis Pain and Balance: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. — Orthopedic nursing, 2024 · DOISystematic Review
12. Mind-Body Exercises as an Intervention for Improving Executive Functioning: A Systematic Review of RCTs. — Advances in mind-body medicine, 2024Systematic Review
13. Salivary testosterone and cortisol response in acute stress modulated by seven sessions of mindfulness meditation in young males. — Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2024 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
14. Effects of Mindfulness Training Combined with Tai Chi in Patients with Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy. — Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, 2023 · DOI
15. Resistance, Motor Control, and Mindfulness-Based Exercises Are Effective for Treating Chronic Nonspecific Neck Pain: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis and Dose-Response Meta-Regression. — The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 2023 · DOIMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
16. Stress reduction for paid home care aides: A feasibility study of mindfulness meditation and Tai Chi interventions. — Home health care services quarterly, 2023 · DOI
17. The Effect of Meditation-Based Mind-Body Interventions on Symptoms and Executive Function in People With ADHD: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. — Journal of attention disorders, 2023 · DOISystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
18. The comparative effects of Tai chi versus non-mindful exercise on measures of anxiety, depression and general mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis. — Journal of affective disorders, 2023 · DOIMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
19. Contemplative Psychology: History, Key Assumptions, and Future Directions. — Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, 2022 · DOI
20. Effectiveness of a nurse-led Mindfulness-based Tai Chi Chuan (MTCC) program on Posttraumatic Growth and perceived stress and anxiety of breast cancer survivors. — European journal of psychotraumatology, 2022 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
21. Effects of Mindfulness-Based Tai Chi Chuan on Physical Performance and Cognitive Function among Cognitive Frailty Older Adults: A Six-Month Follow-Up of a Randomized Controlled Trial. — The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease, 2022 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
22. The effects of an integrated mindfulness-based tai chi chuan programme on sleep disturbance among community-dwelling elderly people: protocol for a randomized controlled trial. — Trials, 2022 · DOI
23. Factors Influencing Preference for Intervention in a Comparative Effectiveness Trial of Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery and Tai Chi/Qigong in Cancer Survivors. — Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 2021 · DOI
24. Tai Chi practice and change in exercise habits in survivors of acute coronary syndromes: Is mindfulness a possible mechanism? — Explore (New York, N.Y.), 2021 · DOI
25. Taijiquan and qigong as a mindfulness cognitive-behavioural based therapy on the treatment of cothymia in school-age children - A preliminary study. — Journal of bodywork and movement therapies, 2021 · DOI
26. A Spoonful of Mind-Body Medicine: If a Little Is Good, Is More Better? — Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 2020 · DOI
27. Factors related to dropout in integrative oncology clinical trials: interim analysis of an ongoing comparative effectiveness trial of mindfulness-based cancer recovery and Tai chi/Qigong for cancer health (The MATCH study). — BMC research notes, 2020 · DOI
28. Mindfulness and Meditative Movement Interventions for Men Living With Cancer: A Meta-analysis. — Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 2020 · DOIMeta-Analysis
29. Mindfulness and yoga for psychological trauma: systematic review and meta-analysis. — Journal of trauma & dissociation : the official journal of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation (ISSD), 2020 · DOIMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
30. Subtle Motor Signs as a Biomarker for Mindful Movement Intervention in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. — Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP, 2020 · DOIClinical Trial
31. Efficacy of mindfulness-based intervention ('mindfulness-based joyful sleep') in young and middle-aged individuals with insomnia using a biomarker of inflammatory responses: a prospective protocol of a randomised controlled trial in China. — BMJ open, 2019 · DOI
32. Mindfulness is associated with psychological health and moderates the impact of fibromyalgia. — Clinical rheumatology, 2019 · DOI
33. Synthesizing the Strength of the Evidence of Complementary and Integrative Health Therapies for Pain. — Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.), 2019 · DOIReview
34. A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis of Mindful Exercises on Rehabilitative Outcomes Among Poststroke Patients. — Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 2018 · DOIMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
35. A nonpharmacological approach to improve sleep quality in older adults. — Asia-Pacific psychiatry : official journal of the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists, 2018 · DOI
36. Integrative Oncology Trials in the Real World: Assessing the Pragmatism of an Ongoing Integrative Oncology Trial of Mindfulness and T'ai Chi/Qigong. — Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 2018 · DOI
37. Mindful exercise versus non-mindful exercise for schizophrenia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. — Complementary therapies in clinical practice, 2018 · DOIMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
38. Minding the Mind-Body Literature: Aging and Cognitive Decline. — Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 2018 · DOI
39. Mindfulness Is Associated With Treatment Response From Nonpharmacologic Exercise Interventions in Knee Osteoarthritis. — Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 2017 · DOIRandomized Controlled Trial
40. Mindfulness is associated with psychological health and moderates pain in knee osteoarthritis. — Osteoarthritis and cartilage, 2017 · DOI

7 more studies on PubMed

Government health information

The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health summarizes the evidence on tai chi.

Study list: PubMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine), citation data only. Trials: ClinicalTrials.gov. Retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: PubMed (NLM citation data, free to use (abstracts not reproduced)); ClinicalTrials.gov (Public domain (U.S. Government work)); NCCIH (Public domain (U.S. Government work)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.