I was just accredited in September 2023 — as the only teacher in Belize. I offer classes, practices, and presentations to community groups, individuals, and corporate and academic leaders locally and at large.

I began studying and practicing T’ai Chi Chih in 2015 under the tutelage of Linda Braga in San Leandro, California. Some years prior, I had received a certification in the 108 moves of T’ai Chi Ch’uan. After becoming ill in 2012 and eventually undergoing surgery for the repair of two hernias, I accepted that I would no longer be able to engage in the forms of exercise to which I had become accustomed (yoga, golf, T’ai Chi Ch’uan or step aerobics, (so I thought)). The long process of ridding my body, mind, and spirit of all toxic habit energies and replenishing same with new healthy habits led me to T’ai Chi Chih and to Teachers Linda Braga and Sandy McAlister.

Attracted from the very beginning to its soft, unhurried, gentle, movements I found that the practice was so much more than mere exercise. It was, indeed a meditative movement that dispelled the need for stress or competition (the underlying contributors to my illness), and in time, invited my muse of creativity and joy of life to return. While continuing to practice T’ai Chi Chih I enrolled in a Senior Storytelling Academy and began writing stories and poetry and performing them live before theater audiences. I authored a children’s book and became a playwright with two of my plays produced and performed on theatre stages for audiences in Berkeley and the Bay Area.

My decision to settle in Belize came after many years of traveling and living abroad. Reconnecting with the T’ai Chi Chih community over ZOOM and working with Lisa Stroyan, Marie Dotts, Daniel Peinciak and Lorraine Lepine helped me to recognize my desire to become a teacher.

Today, my mission is to introduce this magnificent practice to the beautiful people of Belize and to teach them to move with joy together in their already harmonious communities.