The Vital Force Archive

Four written assignments collected by Donna McElhose: students describe emerging from bipolar isolation, easing fibromyalgia fatigue, practising anywhere after 2005 cancer surgery, and discussing Justin's Climb the Joyous Mountain chapter by chapter.

Three of Donna McElhose's College of Lake County students write letters to future beginners, describing bad knees, ankle and wrist ligament injuries, the switch to a seated class, and the fear of being the only man in the room.

A letter to future students from one of Donna McElhose's students, K. L., who began T'ai Chi Chih in 2005 after a breast cancer scare and urges beginners to persevere through the awkward first weeks.

Two student assignments collected by Donna McElhose: Nancy L. maps the electrical, magnetic and heat sensations she feels movement by movement, and Bryan F. describes chi radiating from the t'an t'ien like ripples in a pond.

Daryl Isenberg describes her twice weekly practice group in Ajijic, and Hannah Hedrick recounts how Theda Gillespie sold her the book in 1985 only on the promise she become accredited.

Catherine Fedewa, who co-chaired the 2023 online Teacher Conference, names what Zoom gave the community and what it could not, and looks ahead to the in-person anniversary gathering in Albuquerque in 2024.

Donna McElhose's students describe healing lower back pain and tennis elbow, feeling tingling energy, grounding in the t'an t'ien for balance, and combining silent group practice with meditation before and after class.

Monica Motyka Ganzer noticed, while adding dated margin notes to her copy of Spiritual Odyssey, that her once-alarming handwriting had become fluid and even, evidence that peace was no longer something she controlled.

Monica Motyka credits her teacher Donna McElhose, who led mixed standing and seated group practices, with the confidence to now teach seated T'ai Chi Chih in every location she teaches.

Donna McElhose asked her current students to write welcome letters to future beginners, and they describe bad knees and a seated class, being the only male in the room, and the daily practice that finally made the movements make sense.

Donna McElhose asked her current students to write to future beginners, and their mostly anonymous letters report a hip that stopped cracking, better balance, new friendships, and calm found in fifteen minutes of daily practice.

In a letter to the editor, Paula Weiner credits T'ai Chi Chih with saving her life and describes how recalling Hannah Hedrick, Maria Tallchief and fellow teachers stirs an energy flow that feeds her artwork.

Deb Sitron's 89-year-old student at a Naples senior residence introduced her to his grandson at a fruit stand as "my Tie Dye teacher," and she let the mistake stand.

Deb Sitron recounts meeting an 89-year-old Naples student at a fruit stand, where he proudly introduced her to his grandson as his "Tie Dye teacher" and she let it stand.

Andrea Skillman recounts teaching T'ai Chi Chih to long-term care residents, veterans at fall risk, and more than a decade of early morning classes for the American Holistic Nurse Association's national conference, with student evaluations included.

Sandra Wells describes visualizing the TCC movements as a mental practice she uses in the dentist's chair, in waiting rooms and on a train ride to a state park, arriving energized and relaxed.

Bobbie Anderson returned to her first teacher conference since her husband Andy's death, where a dragonfly, old friends' condolences and seated TCC sessions led her back to teaching.

Donna McElhose lays out the wall, flashlight, partner-touch and hip-rotation exercises she uses to prepare students for the T'ai Chi side step, then details foot angle and holding the t'an t'ien wind-up through the step.

Lisa Jacobs traces her path from a first class at the Gurnee Park District through years of unlearning ballet habits, and Ed Altman's insistence during accreditation that teaching stay purely Justin Stone's.

Dotty draws on Justin Stone's own words to trace how chi circulates, balances and accumulates in the t'an t'ien, noting the principles of softness, continuity, grounding and moving from the center.

Jeff Hoepner argues that T'ai Chi Chih has no spiritual benefits in the transactional sense, matching Justin Stone's six aspects of spirituality to the practice and quoting Spiritual Odyssey on getting the 'I' out of the way.

Tracy Immordino strings together quotations from Justin Stone and the Buddha on habit patterns to argue that circulating and balancing chi changes thought, metabolism and mood, leaving practitioners calmer and less reactive.

Terry Slaney tells students who speed up to treat each part of every movement as a beginning, and Sonja Walker adds nine-word meditations for every movement from Rocking Motion to the Cosmic Consciousness Pose.

Donna McElhose describes restructuring her intermediate college class with five minutes of silent sitting, a wordless 45-minute practice and a closing meditation, followed by nine students' written accounts.

Jan Kirch, a twelve-year student of Donna McElhose, practiced alone at the hour her class met and felt unusual energy in her arms and fingers, later learning the class had been told to focus on the upper body.

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.

Bayleigh Oberlander, who found T'ai Chi Chih during college, describes the balanced energy, greater peace, physical steadiness and improved body temperature regulation she noticed after beginning to practice.

Donna McElhose recounts the 2013 conference at St. John's University, from Kimiko Gunji's tea ceremony and the Dances of Universal Peace to KG expanding a 20-teacher video shoot to 45 slots.

Donna McElhose recounts organizing an After Conference Workshop for area teachers who could not attend, sorting her notes on the teacher trainers' comments, KG's media talks and the YouTube presentation videos.

Paula Weiner recounts her 1995 accreditation and volunteer teaching at Sunrise Assisted Living, where prima ballerina Maria Tallchief became a devoted student who practiced Six Healing Sounds daily until her death at 88.