The Vital Force Archive
Eighteen years of The Vital Force (2007-2025), the journal of the T’ai Chi Chih community. Search for a word, a teacher, a movement or a place, or browse by category and topic.
Costa Rica
Articles written by T’ai Chi Chih teachers and students in Costa Rica: their classes and practice groups, retreats and events, and personal stories of practice.
Anita Vestal summarizes twelve controlled trials of T'ai Chi Chih, covering sleep quality, shingles immunity, inflammation, physical performance in older adults, stress and depression, with recommendations for future studies.
Vestal
M.A. (In press), San Isidro, Costa Rica
Anita Vestal recounts the 2015 Black Mountain conference, where Susan Quinn used chocolate and candy to locate the perfect moment, April Leffler told of a fly landing on her nose, and Sandy McAlister taught gliding into a full weight shift.
Anita Vestal
San Isidro, Costa Rica
Anita Vestal, the only accredited teacher in Costa Rica, answers questions on teaching rural villagers in Spanish, loosening their tightened muscles, and leading her construction workers in fifteen morning minutes.
Anita Vestal
San Francisco de Rivas, Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica
Anita Vestal traces her teaching from a York health fair discovery in 2001 through classes in Taos, Austin, a Florida 55-plus community, and Spanish-language courses for Costa Rican mountain villagers.
Anita Vestal
San Jose Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica