The Vital Force Archive

Charlie Williams, sent to T'ai Chi Chih by his orthopedic surgeon after two knee replacements, describes crossing an ice-covered rear deck to feed wild birds by shifting weight one grounded step at a time.

Jean Katus relays what her monthly practice regular Carol reports: calmer nights, better sleep, lower blood pressure, and balance regained after knee replacements, plus dropping the Pulling in the Energy visualization before bed.

Nancy Jo Bleier recounts jamming her right leg on a house step in June 2014, the conference, retreat and Seijaku practices she had to cancel, and her slow return through seated T'ai Chi Chih.

After a fall left her with a fractured ankle and an Aircast boot, Margery Erickson practised seated Seijaku and TCC from a stool, feeling energy gather at the t'an t'ien.

In a letter shared by Dan Pienciak, Fran Alexander describes breaking her ankle in three places, healing far faster than predicted with added bone density at nearly 70, and teaching elderly relatives in Florida.

Jackson Rains credits his 35-pound weight loss not to T'ai Chi Chih directly but to the walking, calorie tracking and body awareness he took up after a hospital stay left him too weak to teach eight classes.

Joyce K. Veerkamp recounts the April appointment that found a mass in her mid-section, the surgery to remove it while family and friends practiced TCC nearby, and her unexpectedly painless six-week recovery.

Carol Nelson-Selby answers a new teacher's question about introducing Carry the Ball to the Side to seniors with hip and knee replacements, using a rain stick to teach the weight shift.

Sherry Corson traveled to conference with a cane while recovering from a shattered hip, and Bill Moore's introductory Seijaku class left her leg stronger and Seijaku at her practice's core.

Linda Jones fractured her ankle on a shore excursion in Crete, practiced T'ai Chi Chih mentally against the pain, and found calm and gratitude through surgery and eight days in a Rome hospital.

Jim Shorr describes Don, a modest resident of Edgewood Downs Retirement Center who sheds his walker for T'ai Chi Chih after a concussion years ago and wrote his own practice creed on a napkin.

Betty Dobberstein thanks Jean Katus for reviewing the movements and orders the Joy Thru Movement photo text, noting that old knee stitches, hernia surgery and spinal curvature limit her while flexibility grows.

Valerie Jennings began T'ai Chi Chih after a hysterectomy for cancer, practiced sitting and later in her hospital bed through congestive heart failure and a pacemaker, and sewed scarves showing the movements.

Carolyn O'Donnell, told years earlier she would lose all her teeth to gum disease, reports x-rays showing a marked increase in jawbone density that amazed her periodontist and hygienist.

Rickie Wilson credits twelve years of T'ai Chi Chih with friendships, a 30-point drop in blood pressure, and mental practice that carried her through acute pancreatitis surgery and a failed dental anesthetic.

Stu Goldman, whose high-pressure career ended after life-saving surgery left him with neurological changes and depression, describes finding T'ai Chi Chih through a 2010 AARP article and now pursuing accreditation.

Adabelle Rychtarik describes how sciatica, plantar fasciitis and an inflamed iliotibial band ended her full standing practice, and how sitting practice brought continuity, softness and gratitude toward her body.

Nancy Goff-Laipple credits regular practice with teacher Hope Spangler for steadier balance after breaking her right ankle twice, two avoided falls, energy in her palms, and a quieter mind.

Esther Matassarin-Jacobs recounts starting seated T'ai Chi Chih at a Cancer Wellness Center after chemotherapy left her feet numb and falling weekly, and standing to class applause after knee replacements.

Joan Hutchison, diagnosed with spinal stenosis in 2009 and unable to walk, describes how intense physical therapy helped her avoid surgery and how T'ai Chi Chih became the one exercise she can still do.

Chris Norkus watches fifteen students at his FirstHealth class practice within their own abilities, likening them to blooming dandelions, and describes Christina falling mid-class and her hard-won gains.

Nancy Werner-Azarski, who has attended every conference since 1996, lists what one weekend gave her, including lectures and meal talk, and how an injured knee upended her bias against seated T'ai Chi Chih.

Donna J. Moore recounts how she resumed T'ai Chi Chih from a bed and wheelchair after her prosthesis exploded her right femur in July 2010, using seated arm movements and focused breathing to manage pain and fend off depression.

Anna Vaith recounts recovering from abdominal surgery with a six-inch incision, using mental and seated T'ai Chi Chih for pain, sleep and balance, plus practical tips on limiting the weight shift.

John and Laura Schwartz of Spokane each describe two years of practice with teacher Pat Moseley: no falls in six months after spinal cancer and a broken hip, and fifty pounds lost.

Marty Beery, an accredited teacher, had a stroke weeks after retiring, and describes retraining her right hand, finding that body memory brought the movements back, and practising with a beginner's mind.

Karen Carlisle, 67, joined Hope Spangler's class at Yavapai College after two foot surgeries and severe arthritis, and six months later walks miles barefoot with minimal pain.

Glenn Northern, skeptical that a non-Chinese teacher could create a T'ai Chi form, enrolled in Sister Morales's class four years after meniscus surgery and found his knee pain gone by the tenth lesson.

Cynthia Madonna describes seated practice at Laguna Honda Hospital, where residents calm down, insomniacs nearby fall asleep and one stroke patient left his anger in the Wellness Center, plus her own recovery from a back injury.

Donna Dittmer, 73, took up T'ai Chi Chih after serious surgery left her with problematic breathing, and felt the energy in the first movements her class learned with Bev Chandley.