The Vital Force Archive

Carmen Brocklehurst introduces Fast Track as Justin Stone taught it, the third speed after T'ai Chi Chih and Seijaku, naming which movements use the hop and which are left out.

Mary Strom gathers teachers' takeaways from the March 2021 online retreat on transitions, including Judy Kistler-Robinson's discovery that the palms turn before the weight shift completes in Rocking Motion and Push Pull.

Marie Dotts maps three stages of TCC unfoldment, journey to, with and as Center, quoting Justin Stone's Spiritual Odyssey and students who found the tan t'ien through Pulling Taffy and moving from center.

Host April Leffler collects participant accounts from Sandy McAlister's four-day Zoom intensive, including breakthroughs in the front and back weight shift, breakout group feedback, and one student's tearful Rocking Motion.

Justin Stone's photo text notes on the three Pulling Taffy variations, Working the Pulley, Joyous Breath, Passing Clouds and the Cosmic Consciousness Pose, followed by his account of habit energies, karma and chi.

Sharon Sirkis logs a fretful morning minute by minute until an insistent hunch sends her to the cable guide, where the 8:00 film is "Excess Baggage," followed by student accounts of Daniel Pienciak's June 2021 Seijaku weekend.

Dan Pienciak recounts flying out of Newark to a 2001 Albuquerque meditation retreat days after 9/11, Justin Stone's flat refusal to dedicate practice to the victims, and the question about why Pienciak left the priesthood.

Lorraine Lepine catalogues a T'ai Chi Chih intensive entirely in words beginning with R, from revisiting movement basics with a beginner's mind to remembering she is not alone in the journey.

Lisa Stroyan gathers highlights from the 2021 conference 20/20 activity, where 20 teachers led small groups discussing the tan t'ien, including Sandy McAlister's use of seated TCC and Carmen Brocklehurst's account of her ten-year discovery.

Five short passages from Justin Stone's writing between 1985 and 1993, on enlightenment as manifestation rather than intellect, the tongue outlasting the teeth, and why he left some questions unanswered.

Paul E. Ciske follows up his conference talk on grounding, describing the equal and opposite forces felt at the soles and the t'an t'ien, and how Seijaku with Fast Track worked as a neurologic stimulus akin to Z-Health drills.

Rick Davis likens life's transitions, from pandemic isolation to the death of a loved one, to the weight shift, arguing that firm footing and real permanence are found inwardly.

Terry Gay Puckett found the word "feelings" filling every page of her 2021 conference notes, and lists what she will carry back to her park class: grounding like tree roots, Judy Chancey's gold seal marking the tan t'ien, and softening hands and knees.

Margery Erickson traces a career in juvenile detention outreach, crisis intervention, sheltered workshops and special education that preceded her TCC accreditation, then lists community settings where she now hopes to volunteer.

Gail Nieto describes how a walk in her garden brought the message "let it go," which grew into weekly Zoom discussions with students linking life lessons to TCC and into her conference presentation on five movements and concepts.

Sheryl Adair notices a student's fingers moving during a post-COVID practice together, the confirmatory sign Justin described, and receives pyramid poems from the lawyer who finally let go of the mental.

Lynne Roberts recounts saying yes to being master of ceremonies for the 2021 Zoom conference, which grew out of Lisa Stroyan's September 2020 email to an informal online practice group.

Bruce Lee likens group practice to an orchestra, with the teacher as conductor and group t'an t'ien, where individual chi blends into a group chi greater than the number of people present.

Sr. Karen Kaelin's notes from three 2021 conference presentations: Carmen Brocklehurst on using breath to connect with the t'an t'ien, Jungmin Lee's tea ceremony, and a panel on reaching under-served communities.

Susan A. Corey describes taking up Seijaku and Fast Track at the Zoom conference Continuing the Connection, likening her first Seijaku practice to falling gracefully into cool water.

Sue Kenney recounts teaming up with George Manning and Linda Robinson to present on inclusiveness and seated students at the virtual 2021 conference, joining the Q&A from a nursing home wheelchair after two hip surgeries.

Allan B. describes how, after four months of daily T'ai Chi Chih, his post-practice sitting became a discipline he calls One. Perfect. Moment.; John Marquez adds how effortless movement brought joy.

Anita Vestal recounts the 2021 conference, from Paul Ciske on lifting the Chi to Sue Kenny and George Manning's volunteer work in Sacramento mental health programs, then asks readers to join new outreach and Spanish-language groups.

Sandy McAlister announces that intensives become a prerequisite for accreditation, recalls Justin's change of mind about conference breakout sessions, and moves the Tuesday Zoom teacher practice to monthly Saturday discussions.

Becky Shinas draws on passages from Spiritual Odyssey and Climb the Joyous Mountain after the 2021 conference, asking whether humankind's present task is recognizing its own divinity united with human form.

Daniel Pienciak recalls Justin Stone's rehab center sign, "Habit is the enemy of old age," and asks why so few students and teachers venture beyond their own teacher to conferences and intensives.

Marcella Levie, Vanessa Petterson and Adam Lacey, all training with Lesley Nell in Europe, describe what the online student day gave them, from transition advice to seated practice during back injury recovery.

Pam Towne recounts the conference's renewed interest in Seijaku, describing Prajna as the wisdom aspect of Chi and the four formats presented by Carmen Brocklehurst, Ann Rutherford, Dan Pienciak and herself.

Judy Chancey describes T'ai Chi at the Sea, a class she built for veterans with PTSD in a program that forbids instruction-based teaching, using sea imagery, grounding and wave rhythm instead of verbal cues.

Anne Rutherford recounts asking Justin Stone whether Turiya meditation alone sustains awareness, then embedding a chosen ego fixation as a felt sense in Seijaku's resistance section, with self-inquiry questions for students.