The Vital Force Archive

Tara Stiles reports that three Kaiser facilities contracted her, Judy Tretheway and Nancy Reed through Health Education and Behavioral Medicine, including her demanding class for the "Health Challenged."

Mark Moloney reports on three students in his St. Louis adult education classes whose knee swelling after surgery, Lupus pain and chronic arthritic neck and shoulder pain eased within weeks.

Carrie Kinsey describes teaching her father, who has ankle arthritis and a mild tremor from Parkinson's, in a backyard class after her mother's death, and the modest gains that followed.

Drs. Lumsden and Matire, with research assistant Baccala, introduce primary care physicians to t'ai chi ch'uan as a low-impact adjunct therapy for osteoarthritis of the hip and knee.

Justin Stone quotes a new teacher with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis who feels "uncorked" and symptom-free, and urges teachers who taste that joy and then back away to keep practicing.

Reprinted from Tapestry, a profile of Vivian Hoff of Eagan, Minnesota, who saw t'ai chi on a trip to China after her husband's death, became accredited, and won the Age is Opportunity Arts Award.

Hope Ridley's conference notes on adapting TCC for seniors, wheelchair users, cardiac and arthritis students, including skipping taffies, one-arm Pulley, mental practice, class fees and bringing focus back to the t'an t'ien before standing.

Lisa Langer's piece from OT Week describes t'ai chi as an occupational therapy intervention, citing studies on postural control in the elderly, rheumatoid arthritis patients, and NIH-funded balance research at Northwestern.

Barbara Riley's piece from the Jan.-Feb. 1995 HEALTH 2000 Newsletter introduces T'ai Chi Chih's twenty movements to newcomers, citing lower blood pressure, easier arthritis pain and better balance, and announcing her eight-week class series.

Press coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle and Contra Costa Times reported t'ai chi's gentle motion as arthritis therapy, including Patricia Yu's ROM Dance used in occupational therapy at a Madison hospital.

Teachers report in: Lisette Tingesdahl meets Barbara Joy by chance at a ROM Institute conference, Gary Halden's wheelchair student straightens her bad leg after five weeks, Ellen Tatge lobbies the New Mexico Arthritis Foundation, and Sister Dorothy Ferrell prepares classes for IBM employees.

Teacher news roundup with Pam Towne's public access video, Carmen Brocklehurst's class for Digital Equipment Corporation marketing reps, Oonagh Perdue's PBS interview, and letters to Ben Levitan reporting lowered cholesterol, vanished hay fever and restored circulation.

Reprinted from St. Luke's Hospital's Intercom Magazine and submitted by Dorothy Marks, a profile of 37-year-old Dorothy McKnight, who takes twice-weekly T'ai Chi Chih classes as therapy for psoriatic arthritis.

Judy E. Freeman, who manages court records for over twenty clerks in San Francisco, writes to teacher Lucy Hocking about arriving grouchy and leaving happy, and the arthritis relief she and her 78-year-old mother found.