Feeling better
T’ai Chi Chih is a mindfulness-moving meditation practice that’s easy to learn. The series of 19 movements and one pose helps circulate the Vital Energy, the Chi. Practitioners experience peace, improved health, and many more benefits. Our free monthly e-newsletter offers inspiration between issues of the TCC quarterly journal, The Vital Force, in which teachers and students tell stories about ways they’ve benefited from the practice.
Accord with Impermanence – Justin F. Stone, TCC Originator
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From the recent issue of The Vital Force:
Connecting: “What is joy to me? It’s the feeling that I’m right in the center of my being and connected — connected with the ground beneath my feet, with the place I’m at, with other people, and with my own body and self. TCC gave me a home in my body, something I’d been searching for and still sometimes have trouble finding. I’ve recently been untangling complex mental health and neurodiversity challenges. Yet, as Justin said, ‘Joy is our natural heritage.’ Doing our TCC practice, we uncover joy. It isn’t something we have to do, create, or even find. It’s living in my feet and tan t’ien. It’s waiting for me to come back home to it.” – LS, Fort Collins, CO
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Editor’s Note: Learn more from TCC teachers with more than 25 years of experience in the February issue of The Vital Force.
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Flowing: “Justin often said, ‘Get the self out of the way and let the Chi move you.’ Everything is already written within us. In that space of silence, of emptiness, we can receive all the information we need — we simply need to allow things to flow through us. As Justin taught, ‘We’re not the doer; the Chi is the doer.’ We do need a container in which magic (transformation) can happen, and the container of TCC practice is founded on the principles of how to move, how the body responds through deep breathing, letting go, the weight shift, and how it receives the Chi. Justin was clear: ‘Continuity, flow and softness — these are the essentials.” – LL, Kansas City, MO
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Healing: “At age 72, I have some arthritis and two knee replacements. I often drive to visit friends 2.5 to 3 hours away, and during that time, my driving leg ends up sore along my hip and foot. In November, however, I drove 11 hours to Southern California and had absolutely no pain. I was surprised! A week later, I drove 10 hours home and, once again, experienced no pain and needed no recovery time. I attribute this to TCC practice. I also do other things for my body, but TCC was the only added practice that contributed to this huge change.” – GT, SF East Bay, CA
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Living: How to act? To live in a straightforward manner, to speak in a truthful manner (not as easy as it sounds), is enough. The prajna, the inherent wisdom that is in all of us, will take care of the rest. Huineng said, ‘The straightforward mind is an enlightened mind. – Justin F. Stone
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Where in the World have you been doing T’ai Chi Chih? Share your images for our gallery.
Want more inspiration? Want a connection with the global TCC community? Want tips for better practice? Join us:
Subscribe to The Vital Force. Our quarterly journal offers engaging stories, hints, and insights from TCC teachers and students. We also highlight wisdom by, and photos rarely seen of, the originator Justin Stone.
