The Vital Force Archive

Ann Rutherford quotes Justin Stone's Photo Textbook and Heightened Awareness on enlightenment experienced in the body, then asks fellow teachers whether they tell students the deeper meaning of the Cosmic Consciousness Pose.

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.

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.

Paul Ciske recalls the breeze he felt between his hands at a cardiac rehab demonstration, his 1991 accreditation with Steve Ridley, reversing his arms in Working the Pulley, and the veil lifting in a Hong Kong park.

Judy Smith walks past saguaros and the Garden Bistro to Laura Star's class under an adobe ramada at Tohono Chul in Tucson, correcting a movement and remembering family members Justin taught.

Sandy McAlister recounts the second Saturday teacher Zoom gatherings, including September's discussion of TCC polarity and which movements have it, October's swap of class handouts, and tips on Cosmic Consciousness Pose.

Sandy McAlister climbs out of the dent in her couch and returns to a two-mile woodland trail, finding in the walk, its mile marker ritual and lighter return a parallel for restarting a lapsed practice.

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.

Jeneth Rundle traces how the instruction to think of what she was grateful for during Cosmic Consciousness Pose brought her to Justin's "fasting mind," with humility arriving hand in hand with gratitude.

Eliza Fulton treats the final pause after practice as a living silence that heals body and mind, noting that "silent" and "listen" are anagrams and urging us to rest from mental activity.

Carol Nelson-Selby draws on neuroscience findings about body movement changing the brain to argue that TCC hand gestures, from Pulling Taffy's welcoming palm to the rising hand of Daughter in the Valley, are universally self-affirming.

Tom and Julie Schuster recount climbing Half Dome in Yosemite, where a fear of heights was met by visualizing the grounding and opening of Cosmic Consciousness pose, culminating in Daughter on the Mountaintop at the summit.

Donna Aldous collects her Mesa, Arizona students' comments on balance, grounding and practising with shoulder bursitis, then describes how a Vital Force article changed her view of Cosmic Consciousness Pose.

Judy Resele found a cable soundscapes station for her practice and used the eight panes of her window to track repetitions, freeing her mind and lengthening her Cosmic Consciousness Pose.

Mary Frances Reis describes how a three-month stay at an eco-spirituality center led her to match the nineteen movements to Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry's universe story, from Rocking Motion as the flaring forth onward.

Jayne Kennelly recounts how her body collapsed under grief after her father's death in 2009, and how years of classes with Joe Apt and Monica Campbell brought softness, balance and freedom from pain.

Newly accredited teacher Linda Jones describes a single sweat-soaked practice on a soft oriental rug where every foot placement felt right, the weight shifts stayed smooth, and her arms rose above her head without strain.

Larry Bloom describes his pre-dawn practice at the living room windows, watching his reflection multiply and lighten, a spider abandon its web, and the sun arrive as he assumes the Cosmic Consciousness pose.

Stephen Ryter describes the 6:45 a.m. T'ai Chi Chih class he teaches to Blue Cross of Idaho employees, from a November sunrise over the foothills to the closing Cosmic Consciousness Pose.

Judy Tretheway's poem finds a hollowed, charred stump inviting Cosmic Consciousness Pose outdoors, followed by Pyramid Poems on silence from Jerry Granock, Sheryl Adair, Joyce Shar, Dora Derzon and Dianne Moody.

Lisa M. Otero recalls Justin Stone's effortlessly erect posture and teaches Cosmic Consciousness Pose by first engaging the tan t'ien, so students can lift heel and hands without tensing knees or shoulders.

Jim Shorr led 7 a.m. TCC practice for fellow Road Scholar travelers during a 16-day tour of Turkey, culminating in a demonstration of the first nine movements for Dervish hosts.

Amy Tyksinski explains that the Cosmic Consciousness Pose brings the energy back together after the ida and pingala have been strengthened by the separating of the movements.

Caroline Guilott describes holding the Cosmic Consciousness Pose for a minute at the end of practice, the phrase "heaven, earth and men in the middle," the focus settling to the t'an t'ien, and the feeling of being rooted through the soles of the feet.

Judy Hendricks and Dora Derzon gave one-hour demonstrations for Presbyterian Hospital leadership at Ghost Ranch, following Justin's advice to teach Around the Platter, a Daughter and the Cosmic Consciousness Pose.