The Vital Force Archive

Sue Kenney notes that most TCC groups gather similar people, and challenges teachers to carry the practice into mental health clinics, public housing projects and drop-in centers, raising funds to pay teachers when students cannot.

Sandy McAlister announces two new accreditation resources, the Teacher Preparation Suggested Curriculum and the Teacher Prep Coaches created by Lesley Nell, Marie Dotts and Lisa Otero, then passes the role of Guide to Marie Dotts.

Lesley Nell answers questions about the new suggested curriculum for preparing teacher candidates, developed with Marie Dotts and Lisa Otero, and the new Teacher Prep Coach designation for experienced referring teachers.

Richard Karasik takes up Justin Stone's puzzle of smoothness and continuity, arguing that whether you drop the hands between movements matters less than keeping the drop inside the practice rather than treating it as a coffee break.

Sue Kenney describes a student returning to George Manning's Tuesday class at Hope Cooperative's mental health program after two years away with long COVID, recalling the Taffy variations and finishing seated.

Linda Braga lists how nutritionists, neuroscientists, astrophysicists and others define human beings, then cites Justin Stone's claim that regular TCC practice can speed up evolution and heighten awareness.

Linda Braga read a podiatrist's brochure on plantar fasciitis and found its recommended lunge stretch and heel-walking exercises already present in the Six Healing Sounds, Anchor Taffy and Rocking Motion.

Thirteen accredited teachers, among them Michelle Sarubbi, Pam Towne, Barbara Kristoff and Shirley Cross, name what teaching T'ai Chi Chih has given them: grounding, community, patience, creativity and companionship through grief.

TCC Guide Sandy McAlister likens the community's year to Spring, announcing the 2025 focus on Supporting and Strengthening Each Other, new suggested guidelines for preparing teacher candidates, a Foundation stipend for European support, and a July 26 Zoom teacher conference.

Pam Towne uses Passing Clouds as a reminder to let thoughts drift by without following them, keeping the head facing forward while the waist turns, and describes extended repetitions as moving meditation.

Sandy McAlister pairs a Rick Hanson quotation found in her filing pile with Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" to reframe moral outrage over humanitarian and planetary crises as a form of love.

Rod Nakayama recounts becoming accredited in November 2024 after seven years as a student, and teaching a class of thirty-plus at his Senior Center, including a seated session.

Judy Hubbell describes teaching T'ai Chi Chih outdoors and at senior centers in the Castro, South Sunset and Ocean Beach, with City College classes for older adults and YouTube sessions for isolated students.

Tara Stiles describes walking the corridor of five tiers of cells at Folsom Prison, resting attention in the soles of her feet, and the hungry, intelligent questions of the men who chose her class.

Tara Stiles recounts coaxing travel companions into doing T'ai Chi Chih in airports before long flights to Australia, and choosing grounding movements like Bass Drum in a cramped courtroom corridor.

Marilyn Griffin describes co-leading a bi-weekly open practice at her YMCA with fellow new teacher Russell Stith, building her confidence while navigating the Y's rules about who teaches what.

Christina Tillotson describes practicing daily near her 21-year-old cat Quanyin, conducting chi toward her as she purred, and continuing that practice at her death and over her ashes.

Suzanne Roady-Ross, seventeen years into her practice, describes her grown children's differing responses to T'ai Chi Chih and the lasting friendships her students have built around class and lunch afterward.

Pam Towne, after 38 years of Seijaku practice, describes the yin-yang alternation of softness and resistance, lists its massages, tonings, Jing and Joy Song, and quotes Justin Stone calling its discovery the most important event of his life.

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.

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.

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.

Benjamin Brisjar recounts how T'ai Chi Chih reversed a volunteer shortage at the all-volunteer Pittsburg Fifty Plus Club, sustained members through COVID Zoom classes, and led the Board to fund reprinting the Photo Text.

Linda Prosche reports how Marin teachers reconvened over lunch after the 50th conference, summing it up in four words - community, expansiveness, unexpectedness and joy - with quotes from Katy Cole, Barbara Kristoff and Tom Rothenberger, plus a Big Island retreat plan.

Sandy McAlister recounts the 50th anniversary teacher conference in Albuquerque, from Skip Whitson's memories of publishing Justin's books to a raffle and auction that raised $6,974 for scholarships.

Sue Johnson's account of her first TCC teacher conference, from breakout groups where she described how practice helps her play the piano to April's dog walker image for the t'an t'ien and meeting Carmen Brocklehurst.

Barbara Kristoff recounts the 50th teacher conference, from April Leffler's "walking the dog" image for Rocking Motion to small group sharing, and the grounding she carried home.

Sue Kenney frames T'ai Chi Chih as a web of relationships: with her aging self, with fellow practitioners, with a Sacramento parish's Wednesday Taize service, and with George Manning's class at HOPE Cooperative.

Sandy McAlister recounts how her breath settles naturally as she sinks into stillness, citing Justin's insistence that no breathing technique be coupled with T'ai Chi Chih, and a class experiment that found regulated breathing distracting.

Pam Towne led seven teachers through a Zoom Seijaku accreditation in February, with participants Yuko Voss, Patty Stupca, Michelle Sarubbi and Sally Sherwin describing grounding, healing and beginner's mind.