The Vital Force Archive

A few lines from the 50th Teacher Conference by BM, praising good fresh food, the nourishment of T'ai Chi Chih friendships, and chi inside and all around, infinitely loving.

Diana Bahn's few lines from the 50th T'ai Chi Chih Teacher Conference name the joy of seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and sharing time together.

Holly Hershman passes along a student's note crediting T'ai Chi Chih with a 30% gain in movement and flexibility after hip and sciatic trouble, plus thank-you messages from JustinStoneTCC.com newsletter readers, including an opera singer who practices daily to warm up her breath support.

Excerpts from Justin Stone's Spiritual Odyssey on why a teacher who does not practice is "somewhat of a fraud," teaching beginners to flow slow motion in a dream, and self-clinging as the root of suffering.

Marie Dotts sets an anonymous line about being warm and soft like a newly woken puppy beside her own short declaration that she chooses life, come what may, good and bad.

Gail Nieto strings a few words together from the 50th Teacher Conference: joy, being together, old and new friends as companions on the way, and Albuquerque red and green chile.

Connie Shaw recounts breakthroughs in seeing her own conditioning fall away, and lists what keeps her practice alive: posture, empty mind, returning to the t'an t'ien, and deliberate uncontrived laughter.

Ann Rutherford opens a new column with three postcard-style letters to Justin Stone, asking colleagues whether they feel grounding in the palms during closing positions, whether standing up and pointing fingertips down disrupts Chi, and whether fingers flutter.

BM sets down brief poetic fragments from the 50th T'ai Chi Chih Teacher Conference, among them Cathy Dalton's line that one embrace of all life is all that is needed.

Two short pyramid poems from the 50th teacher conference, one by Jungmin Lee on eating and being hungry again tomorrow, one by Benjamin Brisjar on tea with friends.

Richard Brier lists the reasons we practice, from awakening intuition to opening to cosmic Chi, and describes the "mind fasting" of the empty cup behind Joy Through Movement.

JJ Johnson traces Walt Whitman's phrase through Ray Bradbury to the 2024 Teacher Conference, where a group practice of more than 130 teachers seemed to move as one Mind.

Victor's brief verse from the 50th Teacher Conference in Albuquerque, naming the teachers joined forever and moving the chi together with much joy, closing with Justin's name.

Bonnie Schowalter offers a few spare lines on the 50th Teacher Conference, where friends from the past reunited, shared the Chi, rested their souls and shared joy.

Linda Braga recounts writing "Blooming the Rose Within" during a silent retreat at Santa Sabina Center, where she led morning T'ai Chi Chih, and its 2020 first-place win in the International Dancing Poetry Contest.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst recounts the in-person teacher conference in Albuquerque, where 150 teachers gathered after COVID, and how letting go of her once-larger movements let her feel the flow Justin described.

Two brief poetic fragments from the 50th TCC Teacher Conference, one by NWA on life as one letting go and being human now, the other by NJB on love rising.

Lisa VanderVliet's short poem from the 50th T'ai Chi Chih Teacher Conference, on life beckoning something new, a radical step forward, and light shining through each person as the group moves together.

Lorraine Lepine describes moving her attention from the soles of her feet to the t'an t'ien until the Chi seemed to practice itself, and a group meditation on listening to mental clamor rather than pushing it away.

Mary Wichmann rereads years of notes from Justin Stone before the Albuquerque conference, recalling his congratulatory letters to new teachers, Turiya meditation at his home, Tuesday practice and "Second Breakfast."

Rachel Rilinger sums up the 50th T'ai Chi Chih Teacher Conference in a single line: the teachers came hoping to learn more and instead made lifelong friends.

Jo Brinkman's brief haiku-like lines from the 50th Teacher Conference, about flying back home to the garden, birds flitting by and keeping her grounded, and the calm and joy felt there.

Regina Otero-Sabogal, a psychologist and Colombian immigrant, describes recruiting students for free Spanish-language T'ai Chi Chih classes at Galería de la Raza's Casa Adelante housing and Berkeley's Latino Family Engagement Program.

Lisa Stroyan recounts the October "2nd Saturday" teachers' Zoom gathering led by Ev Hanson-Florin, where about 30 teachers compared Justin's written instructions on the Cosmic Consciousness Pose, the heel placement, arm height, gaze and how long to hold it.

Two short untitled haiku by CK from the 50th TCC Teacher Conference, one on time passing too fast and letting the moment go, the other on strangers becoming friends in one circle.

Gail Terriff strings together short imperatives offered at the 50th Teacher Conference: breathe, laugh, share, be a light, smile, try something new, be creative, then sit back.

Lisa Stroyan describes a stiff early-morning practice easing into a new grasp of the Effort of No Effort, distinguishing doing from feeling and moving from knowing TCC to learning from it.

April Leffler describes noticing the aging and homogeneity of the TCC community at the 50th Anniversary Teacher Conference in Albuquerque, and how her alarm gave way to trust when she responded from grounded stillness rather than emotional reaction.

A brief call from the 50th T'ai Chi Chih Teacher Conference, describing the practice as balancing, invigorating and circulating, and naming now as the perfect time to reach new depths.

A short untitled poem from the 50th T'ai Chi Chih Teacher Conference, addressed to Denise, praising twinkling eyes and shared laughter and closing with a line of Spanish endearment.