Stress is a major problem in today’s fast-paced society and can lead to serious psychoso- matic complications. The ancient Chinese mindebody exercise of Tai Chi may provide an alternative and self-sustaining option to pharmaceutical medication for stressed individ- uals to improve their coping mechanisms. The protocol of this study is designed to eval- uate whether Tai Chi practice is equivalent to standard exercise and whether the Tai Chi group is superior to a wait-list control group in improving stress coping levels. This study is a 6-week, three-arm, parallel, randomized, clinical trial designed to evaluate Tai Chi practice against standard exercise and a Tai Chi group against a nonactive control group over a period of 6 weeks with a 6-week follow-up. A total of 72 healthy adult participants (aged 18e60 years) who are either Tai Chi naı ¨ve or have not practiced Tai Chi in the past 12 months will be randomized into a Tai Chi group (n = 24), an exercise group (n = 24) or a wait-list group (n = 24). The primary outcome measure will be the State Trait Anxiety Inventory with secondary outcome measures being the Perceived Stress Scale 14, heart rate variability, blood pressure, Short Form 36 and a visual analog scale. The protocol is reported using the appropriate Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Inter- ventional Trials (SPIRIT) items.