The Vital Force Archive

Excerpted from Justin Stone's book Gateway to Eastern Philosophy & Religion, this lecture material covers Indian Buddhism's three truths, the hindrances to meditation, practicing loving-kindness toward oneself first, karma and non-attachment.

A selection of Justin Stone's aphorisms on security and impermanence, doing your best now, money and karma, chasing your shadow, and gratitude as the antidote to self-pity.

Darlene Karasik recounts three pregnant women wandering into her HMO-sponsored class, the medical release forms that followed, and her call for teachers, testimonials and outcome data to establish prenatal T'ai Chi Chih.

Packing Good Karma Publishing catalogs for a conference, Carmen L. Brocklehurst realized the catalogs serve the students waiting for Justin Stone's materials, and argues his DVDs convey a purity words cannot.

Michiko Uramoto, a quadriplegic with severe chronic pain, describes four years of seated T'ai Chi Chih classes begun at her spinal cord injury doctor's invitation, and the pain relief, energy, posture and sleep changes that followed.

Sheryl Adair returns from visiting a friend facing another round of chemotherapy, and a Mark Nepo line about thinking sends her back to her daily T'ai Chi Chih; five Pyramid Poems follow.

Charles Hanks describes adapting T'ai Chi Chih to a swimming pool, where buoyancy defeated his grounding until teacher Mary Case suggested the ankle weights and weight belts scuba divers use.

April Leffler describes eleven years of drop-in classes at a YMCA, learning to teach to whoever shows up, giving cues to her "frequent fliers," and adding a Seijaku class in June.

Mary Wichmann lists the people she misses, from her coach Sarano to Justin Stone and her brothers, then asks whether to retell that past with gratitude rather than regret; Pyramid Poems from Alice Holden's San Antonio group follow.

Julie Buffalo writes in the month after her mother's death about the heaviness and rootedness she feels in private practice, and the sitting meditation she now adds afterward.

Responding to Sandy's "Even In Pauses" request, Tina Wells devoted a class to resting longer between movements, and lists the group's conclusions about settled chi, grounding and nature's own transition times.

Linda Jones fractured her ankle on a shore excursion in Crete, practiced T'ai Chi Chih mentally against the pain, and found calm and gratitude through surgery and eight days in a Rome hospital.

Donna J. Moore offers the verse she recites while practicing Pulling In The Energy, gathering vigor from red berries, strength from rocks, flexibility from fir trees and joy from the sun.

Sr. Antonia Cooper recounts a seven-week European trip visiting teachers near Mantua and in West Sussex, teaching ten movements to six Franciscan sisters, and honoring teachers who work unpaid.

Terry Jennings answers the question in reverse, asking how T'ai Chi Chih has not changed her life, followed by Pyramid Poems from Jeff Hoepner, Larry Bloom and others on chi and words.

Pam Towne outlines how students inspired to teach can get accredited, including Skype sessions and video review for those living far from any TCC teacher, plus advice for teachers preparing candidates.

A step-by-step guide to setting up Instagram on a smartphone, cropping and filtering photos, tagging them #TaiChiChih, and following instagram.com/taichichih to spread T'ai Chi Chih images widely.

Daniel Pienciak connects Justin Stone's "Love Energy" to the mechanics of the weight shift, noting that candidates who fail to sink fully onto one leg produce little yinning and yanging.

Linda Braga, a special education teacher for 40 years, introduces "think alouds," in which teachers speak aloud what they see, feel and sense while moving, with a full worked example using Rocking Motion.

Jack Weaver's poem moves through the entire T'ai Chi Chih form in clipped phrases, from Rocking Motion to the Cosmic Consciousness Pose, closing with thanks to Justin and Jean.

Good Karma Publishing and The Vital Force launched a public Pinterest page with boards on TCC movements, health benefits, news articles and Justin Stone quotes, plus links to hundreds of Flickr photos.

Jean Markey and her students spotted a praying mantis on a park bench before practising on the labyrinth at Bon Secours, prompting her to look up its meaning in Ted Andrews' Animal Speak.

Dan Pienciak, hosting his last accreditation before becoming a teacher trainer, gathers candidates' and auditors' own words from Sandy McAlister's May 2013 week and questions which world is the real one on re-entry.

Jack Weaver recounts how a workplace survey flagging rage and depression led him to T'ai Chi Chih while his wife was permanently hospitalized, and how practice lowered his blood pressure, eased shingles pain and carried him through his dog Cody's death.

Mrs. Stough, unable to do yoga after back surgeries, found TCC through an online search for relaxation, and describes falling asleep easily, lowered pain, and feeling grounded for the first time in her first Seijaku class.

B. Clouser was taken to a first class by her friend Tracy on her birthday in January 2012, doubted her coordination, and has since gone on to Seijaku and a Tuesday evening group.

Pauline Pike, partway through a Seijaku course, found that adding hardness made softness something to welcome rather than strive for, and steadied her long-troublesome Rocking Motion; Pyramid Poems follow.