The room is silent as a group of about a dozen people use extended arms to gracefully carve giant S's in the air in front of them. Their repetitive motions soon become as mesmerizing as a child's wind-up toy.
Laura Knox wanders among the puppetlike figures, gently guiding an arm here and repositioning a foot there. The 63-year-old is teaching her students a traditional Chinese martial art called Tai Chi Ch'uan.While a form of Tai Chi used in self-defense includes quick kicks and rapid arm motions, Knox of Birmingham, Ala., teaches a slower method that allows beginners of all ages to participate.
The night class she teaches through the University of Alabama includes students who range in age from 11 to 70.
The philosophy behind Tai Chi is complex, but it is based on finding a balance between two polar forces, called yin and yang. People who have too much yang are thought to be too frantic, while those with too much yin are lackadaisical.
In addition to teaching people to find their emotional or spiritual centers, Tai Chi also helps participants learn how to find their physical centers.
"Tai Chi works at many different levels," Knox said. "For some people who are just awkward with their bodies, they learn to find their center and balance and learn a more efficient and pleasant way to move."
Knox said Tai Chi can be particularly beneficial to older people.
"It teaches them to straighten up and get into the center of their bodies," she said. "I can't overemphasize the importance of being aware of how your body moves and not just throwing yourself around."
Tai Chi also increases flexibility and strength.
But it takes practice - lots of it.
"I still feel pretty awkward," said Dick Pyburn, a 52-year-old pastoral counselor who began taking Tai Chi a few weeks ago. "It's more physically demanding that it looks. It's a good workout."
Both Pyburn and his wife Lil said they enjoy the feeling of relaxation evoked by practicing Tai Chi.
"The appeal of it is how it requires the mind, body and spirit to work together in a series of movements," Pyburn said.
Mickey Harrell, 53, said she finds herself going through the movements in her mind during the day to decrease stress. "You can float back to where you were in class," she said.
Harrell said she took the class to give herself a breather from her busy life as well as to get some exercise.
"Tai Chi is totally relaxing because you have to concentrate on what you are doing so you have to put everything else out of your mind," she said.
Knox said Tai Chi complements her training as a dancer.
"You have to use your mind to do Tai Chi - to have the concentration to stay in balance," she said. "I find that in our Western society, we usually want to do activities like aerobics, which is mindless, in my opinion. Dance, on the other hand, is a mind-directed activity."
Knox said she particularly enjoys practicing Tai Chi outdoors.
"There enters a spiritual kind of dimension, too, because you do feel a nice, relaxing way of moving and you connect up with other parts of the universe," Knox said. "It is very much a natural kind of thing, especially outdoors."