Support From Near & Far

I have always believed that we have internal energy – a connection to the cosmic force of the universe if you will. Most of my life I have looked for a way to connect deeper to this energy but not until I was introduced to T’ai Chi Chih did I truly understand the benefits of moving this Chi.

I started practice with Opie Reed in South Carolina, almost ten years ago, but to my regret not always faithfully. I felt the absence of the moving Chi, and daily practice is now a must. My day is not complete without the stillness that TCC brings to my mind and the awareness of the vital force that moves within me.

On the occasions that I’ve had an extremely stressful day and feel that my Chi is blocked, doing just one movement will restore the serenity and allow the Chi to flow unhindered. The rhythmic motion of yin and yang – side-to-side following the tan t’ien, arms gently rotating in time to the flow – comfort me like being rocked as a child. For this calming of the mind, Passing Clouds is my favorite movement.

This has lead me to the next phase of the journey, to become accredited so I may pass this beautiful moving meditation to others. Reaching out to the TCC community brought me in contact with Lisa Otero, an accredited teacher in California. I have been practicing with her via Skype to refine my movements. This has been an amazing experience that I would recommend to students and teachers. Being able to work with another instructor in this manner has great rewards and has given me another perspective on the practice. My movements have softened and I better understand the effort of no effort. I hope more teachers will embrace this new way of reaching out and students will take advantage of these kinds of classes and sharing the experience of TCC anywhere in the world.

Opie is very supportive of the work I am doing with Lisa, who I hope will be my “second signature” teacher. With Lisa’s encouragement and under Opie’s supervision, I am starting to practice-teach in his class. The opportunity to give basic instruction and get feedback from students and Opie has been very beneficial. With their patient guidance and support, I hope to be accredited in October, so I may share the joy of movement. May the beauty and serenity of TCC always be with us.

A TCC Love Story
By Judy Anne Light, Colorado Springs, Colorado

I have reconnected to T’ai Chi Chih after 20 years of estrangement, and it’s like re-finding a childhood sweetheart at a class reunion later in life. I am overcome with memories of our early bonding together. I remember the passion of our initial connection, feeling we were soul mates, being inseparable and intertwined in daily interaction with a feeling of everlasting support, safety, enrichment and love.

But then somehow, life began to separate us – with me experiencing cross-country moves, changing careers and jobs, overloaded schedules with multiple children and aging parents, and overall life opportunities and hardships, situations that should have bonded us more closely together but instead pressed us further apart.

Until an invitation to reconnect at Eliza Fulton’s place in Glenwood Springs, Colorado this past Fall, and then again at a retreat with Pam Towne in Denver, Colorado this Spring. We found ourselves face-to-face, tan t’ien to tan t‘ien, for several days, with plenty of time to catch up and see how the years had seasoned us into heightened maturity and wisdom. We discovered a more acute awareness and attention to detail, a more patient appreciation of subtlety and grace, and a more gracious and trusting acceptance of flow, continuity, release and balance. We found ourselves falling in love all over again, the bubbling spring bubbling within us, as the flame of our youth, our Vital Force, more vibrantly rekindled than ever before.

I felt the power of the Chi – that crafty matchmaker that had sustained our connection over time and space. It opened its wide and limitless (oh so big) arms to our reconnection and to the whole community of TCC that was there to share our coming together again.

I am looking forward to never letting my sweetheart go. I see us holding hands through the decades and spending our distant years Rocking Motion together, reminiscing about the times we’ve reached the Mountain Top, traversed the Valley, Pulled in Energy, worked Taffy to softening, and watched Passing Clouds move before our eyes. Thank you Chi for reigniting us. Thank you and thank you again.