Teaching and Learning

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. 

If you want to be happy, be grateful. – Justin F. Stone, TCC Originator

From a recent issue of The Vital Force:

Finding a safe place: “I’ve begun describing the moving-from-the-center concept as seeking and recognizing the brief moments of secure neutral balance that happen when both feet are flat on the floor and our hands are passing in front of the body. Teaching TCC students to move toward that brief secure and peaceful moment, rather than away from it, has made a significant difference in their confidence and ability to enjoy the practice…. By finding that safe place in the middle of each repetition of every move, we experience a stronger sense of balance and physical quiet, which produces the feeling of mindful joy and contentment so many of us treasure in this practice. – CS, San Luis Obispo, CA

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Cultivating an empty mind: Attending earlier TCC retreats and workshops with my ego mind, I entered confidently, thinking I had the movements down correctly. This time was different. I understood in time leading up to this intensive that I needed to come with an empty mind, knowing I would learn new ideas, techniques and sensations to deepen my practice. And I did…. For 3-1/2 days, I was free from anxiety, fear, sadness, judgment and self-criticism. I experienced feelings of strength, courage, joy, serenity, peace. I trust the Chi will bring the transformation needed for continued healing at the opportune time, and this brings me joy, faith, unity and community. – CK, Loveland, CO

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Practicing in community: Within the circle of my TCC practice community, I feel accepted and connected. The group’s kind acceptance enables me to relax and soften as I feel the sincerity and dedication of my teacher and colleagues. I can let go of the worries of daily life as I’m drawn into the warmth and calmness of our circle. It changes me, preparing me to embrace life outside the group with a deeper connection to myself and the world around me. With joy and gratitude, week after week, I look forward to being embraced within the caring circle. – LG, Minneapolis, MN

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Integrating: One of the hardest things for a beginner to understand is the fact that there must be physical changes for spiritual changes to take place. We are so used to thinking of spiritual as being something ephemeral that we cannot at all relate it to the physical organism…. Prana (or Chi) is what pulls together the seeming-spiritual and the physical. As we sink deeper into the essence of Prana’s action, which we do with a regular and conscientious practice of TCC, we become aware of what is happening.  –Justin F. Stone, from his book, Spiritual Odyssey

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Where in the World? Visit our website for photos of TCC practice around the globe. Submit your own.

Want more inspiration? Want connection with the global TCC community? Want tips for a better practice? Join us:

1) 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.

2) Subscribe to this monthly e-newsletter by sending an email.