Softness & Continuity
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.
“The sun shines on everybody.” – Justin F. Stone, TCC Originator
From the August issue of The Vital Force:
The Principles: “TCC is fairly simple to learn but don’t let the simplicity fool you. It has the potential to take us all the way Home into the ground of Love that we are if we’re willing to go deeper and surrender to its transformative power…. The key to the spiritual and transformative power of TCC lies with its Principles of Movement. Justin said many times that it’s how we move, not what we move that’s important. In the embodying of the principles, the Chi is circulated and balanced…. These principles are Grounding, Yinning and Yanging (the weight shift), Softness and Continuity, Flowing from the Center, Circularity and Polarity. They are the boat that will take us Home.” – MD, Loveland, CO
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Editor’s Note: Read more of MD’s and others’ experiences of TCC’s transformative power in the August issue of The Vital Force.
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Let it Go: “This last year has given many of us time for contemplation and reflection. After a few months of staying home and isolating, I felt frustrated and anxious…. Then one day, I felt a strong message: ‘Let it go!’ That afternoon, while practicing with TCC students on Zoom, I realized the strong connection between this message as it applies to life and to TCC. The same message can be applied to TCC: We can let go of tension, find softness, and go with the flow.” – LR, Missoula, MT
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Joy in the Heart: “Is it worth it? Most definitely. I’ve discovered amazing joy in my life, and I assume this is the joy Justin referred to. This gift can influence every aspect of our lives. The benefits (of TCC) help us through many challenges…. I’m aware inside of the joy and absolutely feel the best ever. This joy in the heart is real, as is the Chi flowing throughout the body. Justin wrote, ‘There’s only one request that I have, practice every day, practice when you feel like it, and practice when you don’t feel like it.” – JM, Antioch, CA
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Softness & Continuity: “We stress softness and continuity in TCC, and the importance of the former can be seen in the following examples: The teeth are hard and the tongue is soft, but it is the tongue that outlasts the teeth. Water is soft and stones are hard, but it is the water that wears away the stones…. One cannot strive for softness; the very effort of trying to be soft creates tension. It si the absence of any pressure, moving slow motion in a dream, that allows softness to prevail.” – Justin F. Stone
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