The Vital Force Archive

Amy Tyksinski's teaching tip for the Anchor variation of Pulling Taffy: check the heels before the forward step, quoting Justin's warning about an unanchored back heel, and grounding through conscious attention rather than holding the resting pose longer.

Terry Slaney overhears a woman at the fitness center say she misses her T'ai Chi Chih after a T'ai Chi Ch'uan class, and the two of them find a sunlit corner for a spontaneous practice together.

Thirteen short excerpts from Justin Stone's 20th Century Psalms, on impermanence, the heavy baggage of "I" and "Mine," the impossibility of forcing Realization, and why those who touch Unity must return to ordinary life.

Linda Braga pairs the CD "Seaside: Solo Piano" with Rocking Motion and Bird Flaps Its Wings, then teaches a visualization of a footprint in wet sand, washed away each time the weight shifts back.

Johanna Runfalo answers a newcomer's question by walking through all nineteen movements and the Cosmic Consciousness Pose, noting the basics of upright spine, soft knees, concentration in the soles of the feet, and the t'an t'ien leading.

Editor credits Tudor Oprea with the new tag line "May The Force Be With You," then sets out submission criteria, discourages duplicate and event-promotion articles, and lists upcoming deadlines.

Anna Vaith surveyed her continuing students about which movements and principles to review, and quotes their answers to the final question about what they most enjoy in practice.

Judy Hubbell traces a year of learning from many teachers, from Pam Towne's Albuquerque intensive and San Antonio teacher training to Sandy McAllister's Casa de Maria intensive and the Omaha circle of 96 teachers.

Beverly Weil's poem watches a bare tree rooted against a winter dawn sky, dances with it in flowing chi, and closes with thanks to Justin Stone for his life.

Rose Alvarez-Diosdado describes setting up a T'ai Chi Chih booth at a local Women's Health Fair, using the Good Karma Publishing Media Kit for colors, banner, flowers and press contacts.

Janet Oussaty announces a weekend Teacher Symposium about 20 minutes from the Philadelphia Airport, where teachers can deepen practice and renew teaching techniques for optimum Chi flow.

Donna McElhose recounts how preparing for teacher training made her stop and remember life before T'ai Chi Chih, and how that remembering turned into gratitude and new joy.

Mark Moloney audits the November 2009 Albuquerque teacher training, where Sandy McAlister's precise corrections and her nearly wordless demonstration of seated T'ai Chi Chih moved him most.

MaryAnn Moran, newly accredited, names the pressure and worry of a fast-paced life, the peace TCC gave her, and an aging population's need to stay active as her reasons for teaching.

Judy Hendricks recounts visiting Justin Stone in the hospital and rehab center, where he told staff about T'ai Chi Chih, joked with the ambulance driver and thanked visitors instead of complaining.

Chris Norkus draws on Norman Cousins, Bill Moyers and Jim Rohn's apple-a-day analogy to argue that TCC's cumulative circulation of energy builds health rather than repairing illness after the fact.

Moira Ann Holland describes a chapel meditation in a Texas spirituality program where her loud heartbeat was joined in perfect rhythm first by an insect, then a bird, and reads it against Justin's 1995 lecture Cosmic Rhythm.

May Swanson recalls Justin Stone's joy song and finds joy in her Cancer Wellness Community class in Phoenix, where a student named Grace, living with Alzheimer's, remembers every movement.

Pat Flynn argues that T'ai Chi Chih teaches the graceful letting go we are never taught, citing UCLA insomnia research, University of Cincinnati heart findings and a Cousins Center rheumatoid arthritis study.

Furman Riley traces his path from a 1990 workshop with Janet Yannacone to accreditation week, aided by Athena Mantle and Lorraine Lepine, capped by Justin Stone's 93rd birthday celebration, with brief comments from fifteen new teachers.

Carmen Brocklehurst arrives at the Albuquerque T'ai Chi Chih Center after weeks of whirlwind activity, finds peace accumulated by many practice sessions, then carries that slowed-down moment into a busy nursing home.

Judy Chancey's birthday greeting for Justin Stone's 93rd, praising his humility and crediting T'ai Chi Chih with leading her back to a genuine connection with the God-energy.

Dorene Krause writes from her sitting rock along a windy mountain road, breathing in sunlight, rain and falling leaves while sensing newly accredited teachers' self-doubt blow away into clarity and stillness.

Lisa Otero describes how returning to her own teacher's classes and retreats, and rewatching Justin Stone's DVD and textbook each year, keeps her from doing empty movements by rote.

Guy Kent recounts International T'ai Chi Chih Day in Albuquerque, where 15 new teachers were accredited, practice filled the New Mexico TCC Center, and a potluck honored Justin Stone's 93rd birthday.

Lauren Elaine Marble recounts declining immediate surgery for thyroid cancer in 2008, leaning on daily practice, Tuesday group practice with Justin Stone in Albuquerque, and a retreat with Antonia where the Six Healing Sounds convinced her she would heal.

Justin Stone traces the term Cosmic Rhythm to a meeting at Albuquerque's PBS station, then to plum blossoms in February snow, Indian kalpas, and the circularity felt through regular practice.

Two poems by Judy Tretheway written out of her teaching at Folsom Prison: one on travelling partners whose ripples do the travelling, the other on unlocking a door with movement.

A 79-year-old student of Jane Weiner danced four sets without tiring after one pool lesson, and a Tulsa student recounts the mother-and-daughters story she invented to remember the movement order.

Sr. Antonia Cooper recounts giving the New Year homily at a small New Jersey Unitarian Universalist church, where all 60 members rose spontaneously to move with her, and urges teachers to offer free presentations.