The Vital Force Archive

Diana Bahn links Justin Stone's Lotus Sutra quotation, William Penn's Quaker founding of Philadelphia, the LOVE icon's hidden yin/yang and the cracked Liberty Bell to the 2018 conference theme, with nine reasons to attend.

Nancy Rolph-Johnson's rhyming verse runs through all nineteen movements and the pose in order, from Rocking Motion to Passing Clouds, ending with an invitation to Tuesday's ten o'clock class.

Julie Heryet compiles first-person accounts from six men in the Folsom Prison T'ai Chi Chih class, who describe finding sanctuary, releasing anger, and practising on the yard and tier.

Bonnie Sokolov, host of the October 2017 Rochester accreditation course led by Pam Towne, gathers reflections from candidates on presentations, auditors, wrist refinements in Pulling Taffy, and graduation.

Nancy Rolph-Johnson likens Rocking Motion to a room full of rocking chairs, wooden arms sheltering the sitter, thoughts gliding away in a silent lullaby of moving meditation.

Nancy Rolph-Johnson recounts her week at Minnesota teacher accreditation training, where fear gave way to relentless practice of the 19 movements and one pose, personal-story presentations, and a softened, strengthened readiness to teach.

Sandy McAlister lays out how she runs a weekly class where students range from 17 years of practice to one day, from the opening "good news" circle to slowed-down Pulling Taffy and one-hand Working the Pulley.

Eliza Fulton hosts Carmen Brocklehurst's fall refinement workshop, where participants find Rocking Motion and Push Pull to be lessons in letting go and in receiving love, followed by Pyramid Poems on Chi.

Lisa Otero explains how she runs drop-in classes at fitness centers, a church and a park, placing experienced students in front rows and using a circle-within-a-circle formation for large group practices.

A group photograph submitted by Bonnie Sokolov and taken by a passing visitor at Assisi Heights, naming all nine people pictured, from Nan Nelson to Pam Towne.

Justin Stone recalls Himalayan Yogis who bathed in the icy Ganges without drying off, his own two years developing inner heat without a teacher, and why circulating chi, not technique, is the goal of TCC.

Justin Stone traces chi and prana through Hwa Yen Buddhism, Indra's net, the Japanese tea ceremony and Kundalini, and recounts two students who lost 75 and 100 pounds through practice.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst lists six principles of T'ai Chi Chih practice, from energy following attention to attention to the bottoms of the feet, then retells the Zen story of Tesshu, the swordsman beaten with a stick until he grew aware.

Justin Stone equates chi with the Indian prana, citing Hwa Yen's Indra's net, the T'ien T'ai master's mirrors and candle, the violet light of meditation, and students who lost 75 and 100 pounds.

Nancy Rolph-Johnson watches a tree outside her window glide, slide and arrive front to back and side to side, carrying spring birdsong, wind and rain, and wishes for its wisdom.

Lisa VV traces her path from Marie Dotts' 2014 beginners class through accreditation and conferences to hosting April Leffler's prajna workshop in a restored barn near her home.

Donna McElhose collected her advanced students' written responses to the 2019 conference theme Flowing from Emptiness, including Gloria G. on emptying the cup, Kathy L. on yinning and yanging, and Jan K.'s poem.

Mary Buirgy, a new student, recounts four teachings from April Leffler's Northern Colorado sessions: innate prajna as an inner GPS, the reciprocal nature of mind and Chi, saying yes with "Now, is how!", and leaning into community.

Lorraine Marcketta reports that after 19 months of nearly daily T'ai Chi Chih practice, her doctor's office called to say her osteoporosis was improving and bone was building.

Connie Krumrai recounts a weekend workshop led by April Leffler where meditation, eyes-closed partner exercises and guided visualization brought a subtle shift she located in her t'an t'ien rather than her head.

Sue Bitney buys a "Year of Thankfulness" calendar and recalls Justin's encouragement to live in gratitude, tracing her husband Jim's cancer surgery, his death three months later, and her new direction.

Lisa Stroyan gathers advice from April Leffler, Carmen Brocklehurst, Marie Dotts and Caroline Guilott into a hybrid-car metaphor: the adrenaline-driven mind as gas pedal, the t'an t'ien running quietly on chi.

Sharon Sullivan moves through the form one movement at a time, casting Around the Platter as a cosmic Eucharistic chalice, Bass Drum as an invitation to the feast, and the Six Healing Sounds as amen.

JoEtta Heck describes the self-gratitude she carried home from the Prajna and Heightened Awareness workshop, where April Leffler asked participants to list ten things they would love to do before leaving this world.

Donna Deffenbaugh's word poem takes the stubborn root of a pulled weed as a figure for grounding, holding fast through waves of worry, gusts of grief and tides of temper.

At April Leffler's workshop, Rebecca Paulson listed clearing out every closet among things that would bring her happiness, then went home, emptied magazines into the trash, and found unexpected prajna.

Sandy McAlister argues that nit-picky corrections and rigid insistence on one correct form are driving good teachers away from community events, and calls for tolerance, softness and self-discovery instead.

Bob Poland, 84 and a year into practice, describes being the only man at a Prajna retreat, April Leffler's talks on attention, four full practices indoors and out, and finding his way home in the dark.

Daniel Pienciak takes Marley's warning to Scrooge, "Save yourself," into the new year, naming the darker reactions and the fear, including fear of trusting a leg to support you, that block Chi and keep students from teaching.

Michele Peterson recounts the September 2017 Santa Barbara retreat at Mt. Calvary Monastery, from Brother Tom's blessing to participants naming its benefits: exposed bad habits, early morning practice with Dixie, and joy regained.