The Vital Force Archive

Gail Terriff returned from the 50th anniversary conference in Albuquerque after years of inactivity and pain, talked about T'ai Chi Chih at a neighbourhood block party, and set an August 8 start date for an outdoor class in her cul-de-sac.

Diana Bahn opens with a short poem, then recounts returning to a live event at the 50th anniversary conference in Albuquerque after years of laying low and being of service while her teacher Carolyn Perkins and husband Michael weathered obstacles through COVID.

Barbara Kristoff recounts the 50th teacher conference, from April Leffler's "walking the dog" image for Rocking Motion to small group sharing, and the grounding she carried home.

Rebecca Paulson recounts how her son's London conference on the circular economy led Lesley Nell to lead global economists in T'ai Chi Chih, and meeting Tina Wells and Adam Lacey in Albuquerque.

Edwin Beatty recounts taking a T'ai Chi class in Carmel with a friend decades ago, then realizing at the 2024 conference community practice that his early teacher had been Justin Stone.

Comments gathered from small groups at the 2024 conference, responding to session themes of Worthiness, Unity, Courage, Joy, Opening, Giving and Receiving, Trust, Love and Gratitude.

Lois Vermilya, a student of Kathy Grassel in Albuquerque, strings the names of the movements into a single poem that rises from rocking to standing steadfast as a tree.

Attendees at the 2024 Albuquerque conference answer five questions about why they came, what surprised them and what they carried home, from small-group talks to refinements in grounding and roundness.

Lisa Stroyan collected the praise voiced at Sandy McAlister's August 2024 Second Saturday Zoom practice, from the spheres presentation and Laurie Jacobi's video to scholarships, Karen K's emergency surgery, and a call for future conference committee volunteers.

Mary Strom recounts a Minnesota gathering for T'ai Chi Chih's 50th anniversary, where watching the leader's wrists during Around the Platter showed her the difference between softness and the collapse she long mistook for flexibility.

Excerpts from Justin Stone's Spiritual Odyssey recall the 1989 Albuquerque conference and its silent sunrise practice at Old Town Plaza, the first 1974 class, and his warning to keep T'ai Chi Chih unmixed with other traditions.

Sue Bitney co-chaired the raffle and auction for the 50th anniversary conference in Albuquerque with Judy Trousdell, then tested positive for COVID and instead had a last conversation with her hospice patient.

Linda Prosche reports how Marin teachers reconvened over lunch after the 50th conference, summing it up in four words - community, expansiveness, unexpectedness and joy - with quotes from Katy Cole, Barbara Kristoff and Tom Rothenberger, plus a Big Island retreat plan.

Laurie Jacobi, unable to attend the 50th conference in person, recounts why her Journey of Signposts story felt daunting to tell, the shaking she experiences practising around others, and how her video reached a wider audience.

Mary Karpin recounts the in-person 50th teacher conference and Sandy McAlister's closing charge, suggesting ways to spread TCC: sharing newsletters and the Vital Force, and demonstrating movements for mothers at the playground.

Guy Kent and Judy Hendricks report on the July 25-28, 2024 Teacher Conference in Albuquerque marking 50 years of T'ai Chi Chih, where 134 of 150 registered teachers attended, and point to online conference artifacts.

Adabelle Rychtarik recounts the 50th anniversary conference in Albuquerque: practicing in the new TCC Center, John Marquez teaching pyramid poetry, hot air balloons over morning practice on wet grass.

Sandy McAlister recounts the 50th anniversary teacher conference in Albuquerque, from Skip Whitson's memories of publishing Justin's books to a raffle and auction that raised $6,974 for scholarships.

KG describes how her two presentations at the 50th anniversary conference honored the people and entities that brought Justin Stone's works into print and published the community's experiences in The Vital Force.

Lisa Stroyan gathers her notes from the 2024 50th anniversary conference, quoting April, Sandy, Carmen, Daniel, Tina and Justin, and closes with a pyramid poem built from the daily themes.

Ann Rutherford connects the 2024 conference theme "There's Only One Thing Going On" to the Heart Sutra chanted with Justin Stone, arguing Push Pull should be taught as an ego-free ellipse.

Nancy Jo Bleier took "There is only One Thing going on" as her mantra from the 50th Teacher Conference, praising its organization, small-group sessions, and remembrance of Justin and Connie Hyde.

Benjamin Brisjar recounts how T'ai Chi Chih reversed a volunteer shortage at the all-volunteer Pittsburg Fifty Plus Club, sustained members through COVID Zoom classes, and led the Board to fund reprinting the Photo Text.

Written before the 50th anniversary teacher conference in Albuquerque, April Leffler finds unity in flowing from the t'an t'ien and in the "Chi-mails" teachers send each other with their thoughts.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst, a member of the program committee, recounts the first in-person conference since COVID, held at Albuquerque's Marriott Pyramid for TCC's 50th year, and Judy Hendricks' rededication ceremony.

Dorene Krause describes a June evening event for her students, with shared TCC stories and a practice in two concentric circles, and prints the words she wrote on the unity a circle creates.

Dora Wiemann recounts how a donation earmarked for outreach led her to pull 208 excerpts from Justin Stone's Photo Text, sorted into four card decks, and suggests practising with one quotation at a time.

Sue Johnson's account of her first TCC teacher conference, from breakout groups where she described how practice helps her play the piano to April's dog walker image for the t'an t'ien and meeting Carmen Brocklehurst.

Daniel Pienciak recounts the July 28 Zoom practice he led for teachers who could not travel to the 50th anniversary conference, with comments from participants across the country.

Mary Wichmann, who teaches just four one-hour classes a year for Survivors of the Fallen in Minnesota, questioned whether she belonged at the 50th anniversary conference in Albuquerque, then found connection and renewed interest in Seijaku.