The Vital Force Archive

Daniel Pienciak recounts studying Seijaku with Justin Stone in Albuquerque in 1997, the last course Justin taught, and argues that the Seijaku principle is the entree of a seven-course meal.

Amy Tyksinski followed an impulse to buy peonies at the grocery store, watched them open over days at a TCC retreat, and links the urge to Justin's "pointing arrow."

April Leffler likens the almost imperceptible pause at the end of each weight shift to a wave receding or a swing at its apex, and Dan Pienciak explains the knee release that keeps the shift level.

Daniel Pienciak traces how incomplete weight shifts left him wobbling and leaning in Perpetual Motion Taffy, and how finishing the knee bend, hip and heel placement corrected it for him and his students.

Pam Towne uses Passing Clouds as a reminder to let thoughts drift by without following them, keeping the head facing forward while the waist turns, and describes extended repetitions as moving meditation.

April Leffler tries ending each movement both ways, palms facing the earth or hands dropped completely, and finds that attention to the four corners of the feet matters more than the choice.

Daniel Pienciak connects the Winter Solstice online retreat he hosted on December 21st to the elliptical yin-yang cycle of practice, describing the hairpin turn between weight shifts as continuous, not frozen.

April Leffler describes noticing the aging and homogeneity of the TCC community at the 50th Anniversary Teacher Conference in Albuquerque, and how her alarm gave way to trust when she responded from grounded stillness rather than emotional reaction.

Dan Pienciak recalls two stories Justin Stone told, about the Master who was simply awake and the student who saw mind moving, then likens nearly 30 years of practice to a road trip without a destination.

Pam Towne, after 38 years of Seijaku practice, describes the yin-yang alternation of softness and resistance, lists its massages, tonings, Jing and Joy Song, and quotes Justin Stone calling its discovery the most important event of his life.

Sue Johnson's account of her first TCC teacher conference, from breakout groups where she described how practice helps her play the piano to April's dog walker image for the t'an t'ien and meeting Carmen Brocklehurst.

Mary Wichmann, who teaches just four one-hour classes a year for Survivors of the Fallen in Minnesota, questioned whether she belonged at the 50th anniversary conference in Albuquerque, then found connection and renewed interest in Seijaku.

Daniel Pienciak builds on Justin Stone's instruction to focus on the soles of the feet, distinguishing merely bending the knees from surrendering all bodyweight to the feet so the upper body genuinely relaxes.

Pam Towne led seven teachers through a Zoom Seijaku accreditation in February, with participants Yuko Voss, Patty Stupca, Michelle Sarubbi and Sally Sherwin describing grounding, healing and beginner's mind.

April Leffler traces the "three-part harmony" of soles of the feet, softening knees and t'an t'ien in her practice, then asks how that same sense of connection applies to relationships in life.

Pam Towne, accredited in 1984 and present at every teacher conference since Asilomar in 1985, urges teachers to come to Albuquerque in July for the first in-person gathering in five years and TCC's 50th birthday.

April Leffler recounts an intuitive nudge to focus on the Taffies at her YMCA class, and the fellow teacher who arrived that morning with a box of salt water taffy, as evidence of prajna at work.

Daniel Pienciak recalls Pam Towne relaying, at a 2009 Seijaku accreditation, that Justin Stone prized expansion and contraction, and describes feeling that dynamic in the t'an t'ien during every weight shift.

Sandy McAlister describes how a wandering mind lets the Chi rise, bringing headaches and giddiness, and how attention below the waist keeps practice grounded while softness stays shaped rather than limp.

Pam Towne offers a New Year self-check on how you move, using a mirror or cell phone video to test softness, continuity, weight shift, polarity of the palms and focus in the t'an t'ien.

April Leffler describes how allowing space under the armpits, rather than letting the upper arms hang, dropped her shoulders and freed the Chi, and how she taught it using the Goldilocks Method.

Daniel Pienciak explains why he teaches Bass Drum before Around the Platter and Pulling in the Energy, breaking each into hand circle, weight shift, then both, with eyes forward for balance.

Pam Towne teaches Justin Stone's joy song from Meditation for Healing, with its faster weight shift, swinging arms and one syllable per shift, and suggests adapting it for students' balance.

Daniel Pienciak, a conservatory-trained musician, compares solo piano practice and choral singing to TCC, arguing that group flow delights but daily solo practice carries the inner discipline Justin Stone described.

April Leffler uses Justin Stone's image of teachers as the jewel of T'ai Chi Chih to recount the 2022 conference rededication ceremony and her own resistance to seeing teachers stand up after grounding.

Pam Towne traces how she moved from seeing seated T'ai Chi Chih as a last resort to respecting it as a powerful practice, after teaching wheelchair users, hurting her back overdoing the pelvic tilt, and finding beginners connect with the t'an t'ien faster when seated.

April Leffler compares the t'an t'ien to a dog walker and the arms to the dogs, then describes trying the analogy in class, including students whose hands reached up Daughter on the Mountaintop before the center moved.

Daniel Pienciak takes Justin Stone's reminder that softness means lack of tension into the weight shift, suggesting practitioners feel the receiving knee lead and release rather than stiffen.

April Leffler describes the phrase "present time awareness" surfacing during a morning practice, the small mental check-outs it gently interrupted, and how returning attention to the soles of the feet carries over into daily life.

Daniel Pienciak turns attention away from favorite movements and toward the middle of the weight shift itself, the bending and straightening legs and the grounding stillness between sets.