The Vital Force Archive

Stephen Thompson takes Loraine Lepine's pronunciation of "E-motion" at the October accreditation as a starting point for how moving first lets the mind rest, separating and reuniting yin and yang Chi.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst recounts how Justin Stone received T'ai Chi Chih without knowing its effects, from the woman whose narcolepsy eased to his own cure for writer's block.

Transcribed from a recorded lecture, Justin Stone answers audience questions on why concentration rests in the soles of the feet, why softness frees the meridian channels, and how karma builds habit energy.

Carol Love makes the case for taking practice outside, from Nature-derived movement names to choosing a spot where uneven ground sharpens balance and birdsong replaces traffic noise.

Lois Vermilya's prose poem gathers energy from the most distant star into fingertips and soles, naming a paradox of force and letting go that might fuel her activism of fierce hope.

Marie Dotts uses the pearl formed from an irritant to describe how her longstanding struggle with the forward and back weight shifts, and the gripping tension it caused, became her deepest gift to students.

A transcribed lecture in which Justin Stone traces the Yin and Yang Chi back to the Tao, compares T'ai Chi Chih with Zen meditation, Hatha Yoga and T'ai Chi Ch'uan, and recounts early student results from 1974 onward.

Kathy Grassel tells how a student who arrived late and had to stand across the room noticed the energy there felt different, leading Grassel to conclude that collective Chi has variable individual components.

Transcribed from Justin Stone's spoken word CD, Justin describes the tingling fingers, healing heat and three confirmatory signs of Chi flow, quotes Lao Tzu, and outlines a maximum Chi program for athletes.

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.

Chris McLain credits her daughter Carrie's recovery from an unexpected heart attack to more than 400 days of solo daily practice, and traces three generations of accredited teachers in her family.

Dr. Ofelia Olivero describes how lowering the foot slowly and deliberately keeps the practitioner rooted, sharpens awareness of shifting weight, circulates chi evenly, and becomes an expression of presence.

In a note to her teacher Parker Reynolds, Liz Emmer asks whether love and chi are linked, wondering if the walls hatred builds block chi the way open hearts let energy flow.

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.

Gregory Berg notices how seldom the body moves sideways in daily life, from supermarket aisles to the Pecos River, then follows that thought into Carry the Ball to the Side, where the margin becomes the new center.

Lorraine Lepine recounts a small group of T'ai Chi Chih teachers gathering in Belize, where twice-daily practice, jungle, ocean and Beverly's community combined into what she calls the most delicious Chi dish.

April Leffler recounts practicing T'ai Chi Chih abroad, from the 2003 Banff teacher conference to workshops in England and Italy and supporting Beverly Miles, Belize's only teacher, at her new open-air platform.

Guy Kent announces the TCC Association's move to a larger Osuna Road center in Albuquerque, recalling the counsel that Chi follows community and the first center's 1995 opening.

Two excerpts from Justin Stone's Spiritual Odyssey equate energy with wisdom and describe Prana's physical work, citing Krishnamurti, Gopi Krishna and Rinzai, plus Paul Reps' ten minutes of quiet receiving.

Marie Dotts traces her grounding from the soles of her feet to the t'an t'ien and the vertical core, describing how a level pelvic floor and slower pace deepened her root.

JJ Johnson describes how instructor Marie Dotts located the Bubbling Spring point below the ball of the foot, and how rooting the weighted leg before stepping out changed the start of every movement.

Reprinted from November 2006, Justin Stone describes Chi as the Cosmic life principle vibrating through all things, and credits consistent T'ai Chi Chih practice for his undiminished health at nearly 86.

Carmen Brocklehurst breaks down the hip swivel used in the side-to-side movements, from the slight curve of the hips to Justin's reminder "nose to the front" and grounding the Chi.

After 26 years of practice, Laurie Jacobi questions a rule she thought sacred and begins dropping her hands between movements, finding it releases wrist tension and helps ground excess energy.

Tina Wells devoted a class to resting longer between the 19 movements, and the group concluded that pausing lets chi settle, grounds the feet, and mirrors nature's cycles of activity and stillness.

Colette Hertz describes the exhaustion and deepening after her November 2024 accreditation, teaching seated TCC to her 95-year-old neighbor Roberta, and feeling chi in her fingertips while her right hand was in a cast.

Excerpts from Spiritual Odyssey in which Justin Stone takes up non-attachment within family life, Buddha's answer that he is awake, the poet Tao Yuanming, and why all healing is finally self-healing.

JJ Johnson, a self-described novice, describes feeling chi flow like honey from the fingertips, carrying it between movements, and noticing a slight finger flutter at the yin-to-yang weight shift.

Terry Jennings answers questions on feeling grounded in resting pose, moving on without disrupting Chi flow, and her favorite Cosmic Consciousness Pose saying: embrace everything, all 10,000 things.