The Vital Force Archive

A short passage from Justin Stone's book Abandon Hope! warning against pushing for what cannot be manipulated, and noting that what is meant to come will arrive of its own accord.

Dori Gehr, new to T'ai Chi Chih, describes Steve Ridley's June weekend intensive at Happy Valley Conference Center, including brocade exercises, mantra and Chi K'uan meditation, Tibetan and Kundalini yoga, and a poem received while meditating at the Cathedral of the Redwoods.

Carmen Brocklehurst's pyramid poem describes a gentle force that caresses, whispers and calls, leading her onward until a little more of herself is gone each time.

Summer "T'ai Chi Chih In the Park" sessions continue monthly in Alvarado and Taylor Parks, and Virginia Shilson was invited to teach fall and spring classes for the Ayurvedic Institute's 1990-91 curriculum.

A passage from Lao Tsu's Tao Te Ching on emptying yourself, letting the mind rest at peace, and watching the ten thousand things return to the source in stillness.

Carmen Brocklehurst launches a new Vital Force section inviting readers' visions for T'ai Chi Chih's growth, and describes her own: a globe dotted with Centers, plus the Chi Foundation she is incorporating.

David Belz writes from Fort Myers about his accreditation week in Bemidji with Steve Ridley, the group chi field, his fear of not graduating, and the five presentations he scheduled on returning home.

Vicki Michele Brodie recounts four "T'ai Chi Chih situations," including practicing in a hospital emergency room beside her mentally ill daughter and being asked whether she was performing a secret ritual.

Nancy Wharton took T'ai Chi Chih only because her massage school required it, then used the movements to warm up and choreograph the body building routine that won her the Miss Natural of Colorado Invitational title.

Justin Stone recommends Gopi Krishna's "Higher Consciousness" as describing prana or shakti, synonyms for chi, and previews his talk on it at the August 10th Teachers Conference.

Vicki M. Brodie recounts an unexpected phone call from Brenda Woodard Pierce, an accredited teacher she had never met, who passed along a local teaching opportunity and mailed helpful information.

Satori Resources reports daily calls from across the US and Canada, 800-plus responses to Corinn's Los Angeles Times article, and Justin Stone's advice to organize regions around ongoing practice, meetings and brochures.

Teacher notes from around the world, including John Lash in Switzerland pairing T'ai Chi Chih with T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Lynne Blackford on the Bemidji accreditation, Yehudit Goldfarb's Hebrew Letter Movements, and Hilda Pertha's monitored heart strengthening as she practiced in bed.

Maxime Wan noticed that the thumbs and fingers of the Cosmic Consciousness Pose form the Chinese character for "complete," whose mirror image and added strokes yield the character for gold.

A new call for 100-150 word teacher biographies, plus Sister Rita Tschudi on teaching fourteen retired sisters in Baltimore, one aged 94, and Martha Lynn Armstrong on the change in her since accreditation.

Steve Ridley asks teachers to send only well-polished candidates to accreditation courses, since time spent correcting movements robs the whole class of deeper study, and urges continual refinement.

Chicago's Test Positive Aware Network newsletter advised people who are HIV positive to reduce stress by taking a class in yoga, T'ai Chi Chih, or Hannah Hedrick's relaxation classes at TPA.

Jean Katus of Fort Yates describes T'ai Chi Chih as subtraction rather than addition: letting go, releasing, sinking, and becoming vulnerable enough to the universe to let the chi lead.

A history of T'ai Chi Treks, the wilderness trips that grew out of T'ai Chi Ski and Colorado University outdoor courses, with journal entries from dawn practice in the Grand Gulch.

Rev. John J. Barbour recounts preparing for Teacher Accreditation in Alameda by first attending the June 1990 Intensive at Happy Valley Conference Center, closing with a poem dedicated to Steve Ridley.

Julie Attaway's Desert Sun report compares Jacques Moramarco's T'ai Chi Ch'uan classes in a Palm Springs park with Tais Hoffman's trial T'ai Chi Chih class at a Palm Desert senior center.

Barbara Boom retells a fable in which an old cat tells a kitten chasing its tail that happiness runs away when pursued and follows when ignored, closing with a line about approval seeking.

Rip Riparetti recounts practicing on Figueroa Mountain to drive off flies, leading a spontaneous set with fellow travelers during a delayed flight at the Lima airport, and sounding the healing sounds atop Machu Picchu at dusk.