Keep practicing
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.
… a silent and imperturbable center … – Justin F. Stone, TCC Originator
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From the recent issue of The Vital Force:
Peace: “Little did I know that changes I perceived in myself might be visible to others. About 18 months into my TCC practice, I was walking in my neighborhood when a car turned around and headed in my direction. A young woman stopped, rolled down her window and said, ‘I just want to tell you that you look like a person at peace with yourself and I want you to know that it made me feel good.’ Months later, as I was walking and listening to music, a friend drove by, stopped, rolled down her window and said something like ‘I want what you have.’ She wondered whether the music I was listening to was why I looked so serene. Since then, I’ve come to realize that practicing TCC does change a person. Certainly it has me.” – SN, Greeley, 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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Bliss: “Once again, I’m so grateful for TCC. I recently visited Piraeus, the port city of Athens, staying with an old friend who’d suffered a grievous loss. Being with someone so brittle and in such deep grief wasn’t easy. I was left feeling exiled from my soul. As I did my daily TCC overlooking the city and a bit of ocean, my practice kept bringing me back to my grounding, my flow. On my last night, because I was flying home in the morning and needed a 5:45 a.m. Uber, I was wide awake at 2 a.m., worried I’d sleep through both alarms. I completed my final travel preparations, had a cup of coffee, and did a long, slow, full TCC practice, watching the city lights spread out before me. TCC bliss.” – AB, Brookline, MA
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Recovery: “My eldest daughter had an unanticipated heart attack. Amazingly she’s in recovery and has also been doing TCC daily for more than 400 days. I sincerely believe she’s recovering because she began daily TCC practice on her own in Montana. My youngest daughter and her dad are accredited TCC teachers, as was my mom, who taught TCC in Minnesota. It’s been a family affair. I’m so grateful for Justin Stone, his guidance and friendship, and for creating TCC. There are days when it’s challenging to practice, yet all I need to do is do it. Then I feel the spark, the tingling effect, as Chi moves through my body and re-reminds me that all it takes is starting. We’re all blessed with the renewal that this incredible practice evokes.” – CM, Fargo, ND
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Serenity: The Japanese speak of Seijaku, serenity in the midst of activity. Not escaping from the world to some mountain top … but finding the real meaning, fulfillment, energy and wisdom in the midst of everyday hustle and bustle. Building a silent and imperturbable center, while active in the disappointments and triumphs of our busy lives, is real fulfillment. Words will not do it, no matter how reassuring or clever. Passive listening as in hearing well-meaning sermons is a waste of time no matter how good the speaker makes you feel …. It takes actual practice. You must do it yourself. – 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, originator Justin Stone.
