The Vital Force Archive

After ten years of T'ai Chi Chih, Mary H. Schultz took up Seijaku with Jungmin Lee and found that grounding her feet released the back tension and let the t'an t'ien lead.

Seven letters of thanks addressed to Justin Stone by new students, reporting reduced stress, restful sleep despite sleep apnea, stronger ankles, painless stair climbing, and relief from allergy-related asthma.

Jim Shorr collects November and December 2020 testimonials from Creekside Village residents who kept practicing through the COVID-19 shutdown, with balance the benefit nearly everyone named.

Kathleen McAlister describes Sunday morning group practice in a Philadelphia-area park through 2020, where flags, bees, motorcycle rallies, a political road rally and a track meet all tested her focus.

Justin Stone on the Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetic of understatement, weathered wood and Kaga no Chiyo's morning glory, paired with his wordless hours beside a silent sadhu near Baroda.

Marie Dotts lists the polarities of the COVID-19 year, from lockdown and freedom to fear and courage, and describes the t'an t'ien as the reconciling still point that can hold them, closing at the Winter Solstice.

Judy Kistler-Robinson learned Tai Chi Chih from Justin's photo textbook, DVDs and FaceTime sessions with Lubbock teachers, then found that Sandy's Zoom practices supplied the angles and words she had missed.

Rosalind Braga's haiku on passing clouds, rooted legs and the grand circle of chi, followed by Sheryl Adair on Carmen Brocklehurst's correction to her pause in Daughter on the Mountaintop: "Let Go! And take it with you," plus power-outage haiku from Hurricane Zeta.

Rebecca Paulson recounts being asked for a Diversity Statement when applying to teach T'ai Chi Chih in a community college Continuing Education program, and the answer she wrote about centering, self-acceptance and receptivity.

Carmen Brocklehurst recalls Justin Stone asking "What does that have to do with TCC?" during their conversations, and how his remarks about the blue sky taught her awareness beyond the movements.

Kristin Clark Taylor describes completing one of the first accreditation courses held entirely on Zoom, with Daniel Pienciak and April Leffler, and insists the Chi she felt alone in her living room was not virtual.

Lisa recounts how she and Sandy Roerig found students not among neighbors on their block but in a 55+ community meditation group, forming an outdoor practice group they named the Woo Woo Warriors.

Melissa Eichman's pyramid poem moves through glistening snow, patient stillness and a gentle breeze where yin and yang converge, ending with a soft walk across snow kissed earth.

Jungmin Lee offers a few spare lines on Bird Flaps Its Wings, asking practitioners to soak into the soles of the feet and be ready to rise in the mind.

Dorene Krause collects statements from five of her students, led by Peter Swist, who turned to TCC after spinal stenosis surgeries left him a constant fall hazard, plus Victor DePauw on daily practice.

Dora Wiemann recalls Saturday evening meditation and Teisho at Justin Stone's house, where he answered his own question about why they gathered, and Judy Hendricks describes learning from his DVDs and CDs.

Linda Raye, who has had mobility issues since her teens, took up T'ai Chi Chih 25 years ago as a substitute for dancing, followed by beginners' letters thanking Justin Stone.

Sandy McAlister retells Justin Stone's story of the unlettered mantra practitioner who ran across the water, and uses his shrugged answer about hand height in Pulling in the Energy to argue that correctness is found by feeling.

Sharon Sirkis collects five teaching mishaps from her early years, including a senior center student who wanted to push away his wife and a chat attempted with a man on silent retreat.

Daniel Pienciak compares learning to use an electric razor without pressure to finding softness in T'ai Chi Chih, recommending 27 or 36 Rocking Motions and Seijaku to keep the t'an t'ien charged.

Trish Winger's students kept missing the mark on Working the Pulley, so she watched herself in the mirror and recast the movement as a pie throwing machine, with one pie handed over after another.

Pam Towne takes up Justin Stone's promise that befriending the Chi brings a long, healthy life and an easy death, offering practical ways to do it: softness, continuity, relaxed wrists, freer waist turns and quiet sitting afterward.

Mary Ann Johnson of Ponte Vedra Beach offers a New Year blessing in verse, wishing 365 days of deep joy and 525,600 minutes of peace to the TCC circle, sometimes gathered virtually.

Sue Kenney traces two decades of the St Francis of Assisi practice group in Sacramento, its pairing of T'ai Chi Chih with the Wednesday Taize service, and its members' own accounts of finding the practice.

Bruce Lee describes how moving softly and slowly as though flowing in a dream draws attention out of the head into the body, letting thoughts float by and revealing the divinity within.

John Marquez describes how a Seijaku class on Zoom with Dan Pienciak, and the oft-heard instruction to feel your feet on the floor, finally brought the timing of the weight shift into focus.

Seven short pieces from Justin Stone's journal writings between 1985 and 1992, including Paul Reps' ten minutes of just sitting, watching wrists and waist for tension, his three steps on the Way, and his answer to a question about reincarnation.