The Vital Force Archive

Jessica Lewis pushes back on the claim that only specialists can teach Veterans, giving three reasons T'ai Chi Chih suits students with PTSD and advising class-wide suggestions rather than individual corrections.

Jessica Lewis recounts how a painful condition in three right toes converted her from dismissing seated TCC as "TCC light," and argues for starting all students, especially veterans, in a chair and adding seated training to accreditation week.

Jessica Lewis passes on a disabled Army veteran's account of going medication-free since 2018 and keeping his temper with his teenage son, then records her own sensations after their one-on-one Seijaku session.

Jessica Lewis recounts how she, Anita Vestal, Adam Lacey and Sokie Lee won a 30-minute experiential slot at Boston's OSHER Whole-Person Health Conference in September 2023, funded partly by grants and T-shirt sales.

Host Jessica Lewis introduces participant accounts from the March 2023 Zoom Intensive, where teachers and candidates report new sense of the t'an t'ien, fuller weight shifts, relief from knee pain, and reconnection to community.

Joanne Howell recaps the Second Saturday discussion of Sandy McAlister's four practice types - formal, working, play and tailored - with teachers' examples of connected forms, imagery and staying true to Justin Stone's original.

Jessica Lewis credits a painful summer of toe trouble with converting her to seated T'ai Chi Chih, and lists why she now starts every student in the chair, including her VA-referred veterans.

Jessica Lewis, who teaches veterans in chronic pain for the Federal T'ai Chi for Veterans program, describes using very few words in a first class so students discover the Chi themselves.

Jessica Lewis describes moving her Delaware classes to Zoom after the March 12 state of emergency, the marketing language she now uses to promote TCC, and the T'ai Chi for Veterans program's shift when VA activities halted.

Jessica Lewis recounts a 90-minute virtual meeting with David-Dorian Ross and TaijiFit instructors about the Free T'ai Chi for Veterans program, the Fang Song principle, and how teaching Vets with few words changed her view of other T'ai Chi styles.

Jessica Lewis describes launching veterans-only classes through Taijifit and the VA Community Care Network, with a roadmap for letters of introduction, meetup listings, flyers and befriending local VA staff.

Jessica Lewis reports on a T'ai Chi Chih Foundation grant that paid for 1000 flyers and a banner promoting Free T'ai Chi for Veterans, distributed at Stand Down and to Delaware realtors.

Jessica Lewis, once the only accredited teacher in Delaware, lays out practical promotion tactics: a logo and business cards, a website, free newspaper coverage, short free presentations, doctor contacts, and a local TV interview.

Jessica Lewis recounts arriving at her accreditation week intending to be an empty vessel, noticing old habit energies return during exhaustion, and leaving humbled, grateful and ready to teach.