My Experience

I began my first day of T’ai Chi Chih teacher accreditation with the intention to be open, grounded, aware of connections, and thankful. We had great guidance in softening and letting go of ego. Everyone embraced and embodied that attitude, making it much easier to be open, to learn, and to take in feedback.

Being aware of connections wasn’t hard as a feeling of community naturally formed between us. I felt so supported by those present and it seemed the whole TCC community was rooting for us. Being thankful for the practice and all the support was an easy thing.

That leaves being grounded. There were two ways that this intention was hard. One was the tendency to start thinking about things, evaluating, judging. The wisdom of focusing on the soles of the feet is so key and helpful; most of us need constant reminders.

The second difficulty was more personal. One lingering effect of a brain injury is when, overly fatigued, I can’t rely on my brain to figure things out easily, to have the right words. By the afternoon of day five, I couldn’t figure out how to show and teach a movement I knew well. I appreciated a colleague, Patricia, reminding me of a quotation April shared from Benjamin Brisjar, “Do it, feel it, then describe what is happening.”

The next morning when I reviewed my original intentions for the training and saw “grounded,” I felt a swell of emotions and a realization. This practice is not reliant on having the right intellectual processes or on figuring things out in your brain. It is about being in your body, with the soles of the feet on the ground. It is about feeling and doing. All you ever need to do is the practice. Do the practice and you will experience the benefits. Do the practice and the rest will come.

During the training I experienced Chi moving through me and the Chi surrounding me in safety and support, helping me relax, soften, and let go. TCC is truly a gift of love to the world, and I am excited to be entrusted to share this gift.