The Vital Force Archive

David Fryd came to T'ai Chi Chih at the Shoreview YMCA for his balance, stumbled through his first classes under Judy George, and kept returning until she began telling new students to follow him.

Matthew Shin came to T'ai Chi Chih as a skeptic seeking relief from back pain, and describes how daily practice untangled his overcommitment, improved his sleep and ended his coffee habit.

Art Loche returns to T'ai Chi Chih as a moving meditation, describing how the circularity of Pulling in the Energy, attention in the t'an t'ien and imagined ocean motion inspired his published sketch.

Stella and Imran, who met traveling in Thailand, stayed a month with Anita Vestal in mountainous Costa Rica before their wedding and learned T'ai Chi Chih in daily morning sessions with her.

Jeff Hoepner argues that T'ai Chi Chih has no spiritual benefits in the transactional sense, matching Justin Stone's six aspects of spirituality to the practice and quoting Spiritual Odyssey on getting the 'I' out of the way.

Annette McNeil recounts a multi-day TCC Intensive where gentle corrections fixed her habit of leaning back and failing to fold the back leg, and where the bubbling spring and t'an t'ien were renewed for her.

Tracy Immordino strings together quotations from Justin Stone and the Buddha on habit patterns to argue that circulating and balancing chi changes thought, metabolism and mood, leaving practitioners calmer and less reactive.

David Parrish describes the final day of an Intensive with Sandy McAlister, where he noticed the difference between trying to do T'ai Chi Chih right and letting it happen; a set of Pyramid Poems follows.

Aphorisms by Justin Stone from the out-of-print 20th Century Psalms, ranging from Chao Chou's traveler carrying nothing to the jazz musician who wonders who is really playing.

Sheila Leonard of Newfoundland recounts the 1989 autoimmune and environmental crisis that led her to TCC, her flyers, brochures and "Beyond Beginners" classes, and the travel costs that deter Canadian accreditation candidates.

Justin Stone explains how habit energies and tendencies form grooves in the brain, and how balancing the chi through TCC practice reaches back to the cause and erases it.

Christine Moore traces her path from childhood theology reading through a dark night of the soul in her forties to Ron Barker's community education class and Justin Stone's Spiritual Odyssey.

April Leffler recounts saying yes to two assignments beyond her usual classes, a 20-hour weekend for 17 meditators and a day program on heightened awareness, and the ego-versus-prajna argument that followed.

Mary Tafoya describes the few minutes she sets aside for herself, beginning with the sound of her own breath and moving softly and gently, without strain or tension.

Carmen Brocklehurst recounts years of Justin Stone correcting her waist turn, one instruction at a time, until she held a chair, felt the hips trace an oval, and energy moved knee to knee.

Sharron Clark recounts her Albuquerque accreditation course, from learning how Justin Stone originated the form to teaching the movements' subtleties, and thanks teacher Daniel Pienciak and the Albuquerque TCC Center.

Three stages new students pass through: repetition until the body knows the movements, a grounding into weight shifts with help from Judy George, and finally letting the Chi move them.

Elaine Wagner's account of her accreditation week at the T'ai Chi Chih Center in Albuquerque, where visiting and local teachers helped with practices, Daniel Pienciak led, and all the candidates passed.

Sandy McAlister urges TCC practitioners to join World Healing Day at 10 a.m. on April 30, practising with an intention of compassion rather than directing energy, citing the Global Consciousness Project.

Holly Ueda recounts her November accreditation in Albuquerque as a series of mountains, from applying at the last minute through the worry of whether she was ready to the next climb of forming classes.

Daniel Pienciak weighs New Year resolutions against the emptiness found in the stillness between sets, recalling Justin Stone's book Abandon Hope and the Lewis Carroll line about jam tomorrow.

Barb Shambach audited the November 2015 Albuquerque accreditation with trainer Dan Pienciak, Carmen Brocklehurst and Dora Wiemann, recounting a candidate steadying himself with Bass Drum, the "random sacks" mix-up, and a reading of "Shadows."

Pam Towne describes her New Year's Eve burning ceremony for releasing the past year, then sets intentions of better sleep and greater service, including leading retreats and auditing an accreditation course.

Marcy Burns describes the annual candlelit holiday practice and party at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura, begun by Lisa Otero, where thirty-eight students and seven teachers moved in concentric circles.

Sue Bitney credits T'ai Chi Chih with keeping her grounded through the death of her husband Jim in 2013 and the many losses since, including her dying mother-in-law.

Sheryl Adair pauses on a rock above a bend in the Chattahoochee to practice Rocking Motion, watching two Canada geese drift into white water and paddle furiously through.

Roseann Heinrich describes a nightly practice that turned into a life review, returning again to the soles of her feet, and her plan to teach students to let go into 2016.

Donna Deffenbaugh draws a parallel between Bonaire's ban on boat anchors over its coral reef and the way the soles of the feet moor a practitioner, closing with Justin Stone on the Bubbling Spring.

Dorene Krause invited intermediate students from three of her classes to an open practice the week before Thanksgiving, and prints the thank-you letter she sent each attendee afterward.

Julie Heryet describes returning to her Folsom State Prison class after a month's closure for construction, and the students who used practice to handle schoolwork anxiety and a cell search.