The Vital Force Archive

Janet L. Starr, practicing since 2004, describes trust as the heart of her T'ai Chi Chih: trusting mentors' corrections, letting the hips carry the shoulders, and rebuilding confidence after health changes.

Dr. David Parrish, a psychologist of forty years, previews his conference talk on research into Qigong and neuroplasticity, and on the evolution of consciousness that Justin addressed in his spiritual talks.

Connie Shaw recounts the Spring Equinox class led by Marie Dotts, where silent practice in a circle within a circle broke open an expansive state of tears, deep sleep and impersonal love.

A preview of the 2019 Teacher Conference sessions, including Sheila Leonard on awakening energy, Bruce Eisenmenger on PTSD and veterans, Dr. Edward Ehlinger on public health, plus grounding, props and scholarship auctions.

Adabelle Rychtarik collected testimonials from her Greenville-area students at libraries, senior centers and a French creperie, who report better balance after hip replacement, tremor relief, improved sleep and giving up a cane.

Laurie Jacobi gathered four written responses from her students, who describe returning to the circle each week, practicing in a chapel, feeling the flow of chi, and leaving calmer.

Sandy McAlister asks what legitimately follows the graceful conclusion, naming gratitude, sitting quietly and the community's palms-together bow as the only traditions Justin Stone handed down.

Lynn Porzig argues that classes, intensives, retreats and conference practice deepen wholeness, describing community as the place where practitioners share joys and struggles and recognize God's presence in each person.

Pam Towne lays out the practical differences between a three or four day TCC retreat, open to anyone, and the four and a half day intensive for teachers, candidates and year-long practitioners.

Marie Dotts introduces reflections from the April 2019 accreditation week, with new teachers Rick Davis, Robert Poland, Debby McLister, Stephanie Copeland, Kyung Sook Lee and Becky Shinas describing transformation, community and moving well.

Daniel Pienciak defines softness as lack of tension and continuity as movement without abrupt starts, stops or slippery spots, naming the lunge-and-return habit in Daughter on the Mountaintop and offering the basin-of-water image for an even weight shift.

Connie Krumrai recounts her accreditation week with teacher trainer Daniel Pienciak, where eight teachers, a Folsom Prison DVD of Justin, and a Mark Nepo verse about cracked seeds met her anxiety with laughter.

Richard Karasik recalls Justin Stone telling him "Softness AND continuity IS the essence of T'ai Chi Chih," and uses symphonies, rests and punctuated circles to unpack that unnamed whole.

Charlotte Garrett describes the accreditation week when words Daniel posted on the wall released a habit energy of fear before her presentation, and names the teachers who prepared her.

Anna Vaith honors her student Karen, who cared for her husband through cancer, and recounts how grief over her grandmother's sudden death led her to accreditation in 2005 and to teaching.

Linda Braga's notes from the Northern California teachers' annual daylong workshop, where Sandy McAlister taught polarity, continuity and stillness through three movements each, followed by side-by-side partner practice.

Charles B. Cappel maps Daughter in the Valley onto the Louisiana oak trees in his yard and park, tracing roots, trunk and canopy in the hands' sweep and the Chi's rising polarity.

Bev Chandley handed each of her 31 senior students at Shell Point Retirement Community a polished stone to hold palm up, and not one hand turned over while learning Pulling Taffy.

Carol Selby describes teaching students with Parkinson's disease and poor balance to seek the brief secure moment when both feet are flat and the hands pass in front of the body.

Concluding "Who Am I?", Justin Stone moves from Shinran's Pure Land faith to the Buddha's five hindrances to meditation, Ramana Maharshi's verses on breath and absorption, and Hakuin Zenji's "Song of Dhyana".

Julie Heryet recounts how her Folsom State Prison students, backed by a TCC Foundation grant, entered the Annual Relay for Life and overcame deep fear to demonstrate before the general population.

Names for three group photographs, listing the seated and standing rows of teachers and students gathered with host Marie Dotts, plus the group pictured outdoors.

Shari Holmes describes keeping up daily T'ai Chi Chih with two of her first students during a busy Mekong River cruise through Cambodia and Vietnam, drawing curious passengers on the top deck.

Justin Stone takes up the question "Who am I?" through Tagore's unanswered poem and the 12th century Japanese saint Shinran, who abandoned self-power on Mount Hiei for Amida's saving vow.

Lauren Paitson's hour-long flight out of Sault Ste Marie became a nine-hour ordeal of blizzards and diversions, so she practised T'ai Chi Chih in the aisle in Omaha.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst asks teachers to teach the movements exactly as Justin Stone gave them, recalling a teacher who planned to omit difficult parts, and to demonstrate what they say.

Laurie Jacobi, co-chair with Linda Zelig, previews the 2019 "Return to the Circle" conference in Minnesota on June 27, and asks teachers to arrive with one burning question for the guides.