New York’s Central Park is one of the city’s residents’ most prized possessions. It is also enticing to the numerous tourists who visit the city every year, however, they could probably never understand how important and precious this 843 acre piece of land is to the city’s inhabitants. It is truly a natural paradise placed right in the middle of the largest city in the nation. With all of that concrete and skyscraper buildings, finding a piece of land with a few trees can be a rarity. New York residents use the park for jogging and other exercise oriented activities as well as entertainment and other attractions. Music concerts and staged plays are presented in the park as well as dances and other events. And while tourists who visit the city may stay in a hotel Central Park and enjoy the view and certain features and attractions of the park, they may not understand how fundamental to the lives of New Yorkers this precious park actually is.

It is not uncommon to pass a group of people engaged in a yoga class or workout or a single individual practicing Tai Chi alone near the fountain. Children play and adults toss Frisbees and footballs to each other. Afternoon or even quick lunchtime picnics are also popular park activities. Everything that occurs in parks in cities across the nation and the world also takes place in New York’s Central Park but on a heightened scale. Of course everything in New York occurs on a heightened scale. The park was designed by landscape artist Fredrick Law Olmsted and architect Calvert Vaux. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark and has existed as one since 1963. Some of the more popular attractions sought out by tourists include the Central Park Zoo and the Central Park Conservatory Garden. The Belvedere Castle, historic carousel and Delacorte Theatre are a few of the other main park attractions.

Wayne has been a basketball player since he was ten years old and was the star guard on his school team. He played all through junior and senior high school and even won a scholarship for college. He played throughout his years at the university and he loved the sport though really had no intentions of pursuing a career in it. This disappointed some of his coaches and friends, as well as a few girlfriends but it as Wayne’s decision and he wanted to become an architect, which was his major in college. After graduation he declined entering into the professional draft and instead committed to a graduate program for which he had applied and been accepted.

This was all ten years ago and Wayne was currently working for an architectural firm in the same city he grew up in and while he was completely satisfied with his job he also continued to play basketball for both health and fun. In addition it was a great way for him to reduce stress, or so he thought. At Wayne’s last doctor’s visit he learned that his blood pressure was high and that he was at risk for heart disease. This surprised the lifelong athlete and after discussing his lifestyle with his doctor he learned he may be too passionate and competitive on the basketball court for it to be serving him well. He had to admit that playing frequently stressed him out more than it relieved his already accumulated stress from work.

It was determined that he should find other ways to relax and also to exercise and one of the things he discovered was the art of tai chi. He had never really taken this seriously as a workout but he quickly learned the effects that the ancient art could produce. He quickly became converted to the practice and was telling his good friend this while they soaked in his friend’s personal spa. His friend told him that he had searched all the models of hot tubs for the one he felt would give him the greatest pleasure and relaxation. At that moment Wayne decided he too needed to install a home spa system and felt that would be the perfect compliment to his tai chi workout.