The Vital Force Archive

Lynne Roberts recounts saying yes to being master of ceremonies for the 2021 Zoom conference, which grew out of Lisa Stroyan's September 2020 email to an informal online practice group.

Sr. Karen Kaelin's notes from three 2021 conference presentations: Carmen Brocklehurst on using breath to connect with the t'an t'ien, Jungmin Lee's tea ceremony, and a panel on reaching under-served communities.

Sue Kenney recounts teaming up with George Manning and Linda Robinson to present on inclusiveness and seated students at the virtual 2021 conference, joining the Q&A from a nursing home wheelchair after two hip surgeries.

Anita Vestal recounts the 2021 conference, from Paul Ciske on lifting the Chi to Sue Kenny and George Manning's volunteer work in Sacramento mental health programs, then asks readers to join new outreach and Spanish-language groups.

Becky Shinas draws on passages from Spiritual Odyssey and Climb the Joyous Mountain after the 2021 conference, asking whether humankind's present task is recognizing its own divinity united with human form.

Marcella Levie, Vanessa Petterson and Adam Lacey, all training with Lesley Nell in Europe, describe what the online student day gave them, from transition advice to seated practice during back injury recovery.

Judy Chancey describes T'ai Chi at the Sea, a class she built for veterans with PTSD in a program that forbids instruction-based teaching, using sea imagery, grounding and wave rhythm instead of verbal cues.

Suzanne Roady-Ross recounts Judy Chancey's conference presentation on teaching veterans in the ocean, waist or chest deep, replacing familiar imagery with waves, sinking sand, porpoises and frisbees.

Susan A. Corey describes taking up Seijaku and Fast Track at the Zoom conference Continuing the Connection, likening her first Seijaku practice to falling gracefully into cool water.

Mary Strom gathers teachers' takeaways from the March 2021 online retreat on transitions, including Judy Kistler-Robinson's discovery that the palms turn before the weight shift completes in Rocking Motion and Push Pull.

Anne Rutherford recounts asking Justin Stone whether Turiya meditation alone sustains awareness, then embedding a chosen ego fixation as a felt sense in Seijaku's resistance section, with self-inquiry questions for students.

Host April Leffler collects participant accounts from Sandy McAlister's four-day Zoom intensive, including breakthroughs in the front and back weight shift, breakout group feedback, and one student's tearful Rocking Motion.

Marie Dotts maps three stages of TCC unfoldment, journey to, with and as Center, quoting Justin Stone's Spiritual Odyssey and students who found the tan t'ien through Pulling Taffy and moving from center.

Carolyn Pogwist describes feeling like "Polarity in Motion" during Seijaku, held back and moving forward at once, and credits the Seijaku Retreat's shared reflections for her own "ah-ha" moments.

Rachel Rilinger disliked the air element until a Gatha course with Melina Bondy taught her to move slowly and feel color in the air, deepening her Seijaku practice.

Terry Jennings guides readers through a short experiential exercise: sensing the space outside and inside the body, around thoughts and sounds, then moving free form for five minutes, closing with a poem about air.

Rebecca Paulson recounts the four-day teacher retreat hosted by Pam Towne and led by Sandy McAlister, reworked from in person to Zoom, where teachers brainstormed how future trainings might continue.

Nancy Werner-Azarski works through her dismay at the cancelled 2020 conference and proposes declaring May a month of giving, with donations redirected to the Foundation, the Albuquerque Center and The Vital Force.

Linda Jones spent over an hour on Rocking Motion at Carmen's September retreat in Albuquerque, and argues the wider community should stay open to the subtle differences Albuquerque teachers bring.

Newly accredited in April, Connie Krumrai booked a last-minute trip to the June teacher conference on scholarship funds, and a typewritten letter from Justin Stone about ego doubts gave her the nerve to arrange classes at Harvest Farm, an addiction and homelessness rehabilitation center.

Nancy Hebert, accredited in June 2019, describes her first Tai Chi Chih teacher conference: meeting veteran and new instructors, evidence-based presentations, twice-daily group practice, and the sadness of leaving.

Tracy Immordino's account of her first T'ai Chi Chih conference, Return to the Circle, from checking the attendee list for old classmates to the twice-daily silent group practices and the auction that raised over $7,000 for the scholarship fund.

Dennis McCann, a hospital chaplain accredited in 2009, describes his first annual conference as a spiritual upgrade that led 26 employees and patients to sign up for his eight-week summer course.

Nancy Werner-Azarski traces her encounters with Justin Stone through teachers Ron Barker and Ed Altman, conferences, retreats and postcards, likening him to the elephant described by blind men.

Psychologist Bruce Eisenmenger draws on Robert Scaer's trauma research to argue that the rhythmic bilateral weight shift and attention to the Bubbling Spring quiet the amygdala and sympathetic nervous system.

Dr. David Parrish summarizes Richard Davidson's brain plasticity research on attention, positive outlook, resilience and generosity, and the Dalai Lama's answer about subtle energy, followed by Lorraine Lepine on adapting TCC to aging.

Linda Zelig, writing for the 2019 conference committee, recounts the 452-day climb to mount the Return to the Circle conference in Minnesota, from April 2018 planning to June 27 arrival.

Diana Bahn's poem carries the sense of ground into a canoe trip, paddling across lake water, portaging over rock, and passing painted Indian glyphs before turning back city bound.

Jim Campbell's poem credits Sister Antonia with lifting the heaviness from his shoulders, her laser pointer scribing a message across the sky: flow your Chi, letting go from your core.

Nancy Jo Bleier recounts the 2019 Minnesota conference, from Dr. Ehlinger's guitar-accompanied public health talk and tribute to his late wife Sally to breakout sessions on props and on veterans with PTSD.