The Vital Force Archive

Two short untitled haiku by CK from the 50th TCC Teacher Conference, one on time passing too fast and letting the moment go, the other on strangers becoming friends in one circle.

Seven excerpts from Spiritual Odyssey in which Justin Stone argues that enlightenment and softness come from letting go rather than trying harder, warns teachers against special breathing techniques, and names TCC an inner discipline.

Denise offers a short fragmentary poem from the 50th TCC Teacher Conference, quoting an anonymous line about peace inside all the time and letting go as the present.

Donna Aldous collects short poems from the 50th Teacher Conference, among them Nancy Frost's lines on quiet forest air and going home, and a verse on letting go into your soles.

Sue Bitney co-chaired the raffle and auction for the 50th anniversary conference in Albuquerque with Judy Trousdell, then tested positive for COVID and instead had a last conversation with her hospice patient.

Comments gathered from small groups at the 2024 conference, responding to session themes of Worthiness, Unity, Courage, Joy, Opening, Giving and Receiving, Trust, Love and Gratitude.

Excerpts from Justin Stone's Spiritual Odyssey on attenuating the pleasure principle, enlightenment hidden behind habit energies like clouds over the sun, why softness cannot be forced, and his 75th birthday verses.

Pam Towne led seven teachers through a Zoom Seijaku accreditation in February, with participants Yuko Voss, Patty Stupca, Michelle Sarubbi and Sally Sherwin describing grounding, healing and beginner's mind.

Lauren Marble recalls the 1988 Albuquerque workshop where Justin Stone taught heightened awareness, the Satipatthana mindfulness exercise, the reciprocal nature of mind and chi, and his choice to leave the Himalayas and be a 'big hermit'.

A sequence of pyramid poems by Beverly Miles, moving from passing clouds and softness that beckons chi to an ode to Seijaku and a closing poem on conference connection and flowing gratitude.

Four intuitive writings after practice: Dora Wiemann basking in a peaceful bubble, Dixie Adeniran finding the Cosmic Rhythm in kelp and swings, Terry Gay Puckett's Monday circle, and Daniel Pienciak surrendering a tight shoulder.

Connie Shaw recounts a class in which teacher Marie Dotts urged students to practice with soft eyes and follow where the Chi led, and Shaw felt the room dissolve into light.

Caroline Guilott recalls skipping into the room to greet Justin in Albuquerque, and describes how words about the movements can trap a practitioner while attention to the t'an t'ien, the weight shift and softness opens the practice.

Terry Gay Puckett strings together phrases gathered at the 2023 conference, from "effortless effort" and "empty the cup" to feeling the soles of your feet and remembering Justin Stone.

Transcribed from Justin Stone's spoken word CD, tracks 4 and 6 cover bringing heart fire below the navel, Hakuin Zenji's words on the elixir of life, why softness keeps the meridians open, karma and habit energy, and the balance of intellect and emotion.

Patricia Spears Bigelow credits regular practice with strengthening an ankle after tendon surgery, easing asthma, and stopping the falls her glaucoma caused, and describes doves, squirrels and an owl watching her practice outdoors.

Lisa Stroyan compiled accounts from April Leffler's October 2023 Zoom accreditation, where 12 candidates from three countries worked from tree-frog "suction cup" feet upward and shared their "green banana" takeaways.

Caroline Guilott insists on Justin Stone's exact wording, from "graceful conclusion" to the "hip swivel," and explains how the relaxed, slightly cupped hands let students feel polarity as heat, cold or tingling rather than a cosmetic gesture.

Caroline Guilott draws on Justin Stone's exact phrases, from "graceful conclusion" to the hip swivel, and explains why polarity between relaxed, slightly cupped hands is felt in the body rather than the mind.

Garo Nokhoudian's pyramid poems move from surrender and caring to Chi waking up playfully between the sheaths, ending with hang time when earth and sky beat as one.

Track 5 of Justin Stone's spoken word CD, in which he explains how flowing Chi erases vasanas and samskaras, names the seven emotions, recounts travels in India, Kyoto and Taipei, and denies that T'ai Chi Chih is a martial art.

Sharon Sirkis, in a piece reprinted from June 2001, used a slow winter in her classes to go within, then coaxed a squirrel across a parking lot and read its antics as a message: sit still, leap, discard the garbage.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst recounts years of struggling with Justin Stone's instruction to "come to a graceful conclusion" until a Tuesday morning practice when she simply followed him and her wrists went soft.

Lisa Stroyan collects teachers' responses from Sandy McAlister's April 2023 Zoom discussion on the split mind, including Joan Weaver's trick for recovering a lost count while teaching.

Connie Shaw describes how her teacher Marie's instruction to keep attention in the feet and belly led, during a weight shift, to the unraveling of her vasanas or habit energies.

Caroline Guilott describes the resting pose that ends each movement, the softening around the t'an t'ien with feet rooted, and her memory of Justin Stone rising early and repeating his own close.

Justin Stone maps Patanjali's Raja Yoga into three parts and eight steps, argues that morality is only the stairway to the bridge, and explains how erasing habit energies leads to detachment.

Rebecca Paulson opened her fall and winter classes in Colorado by comparing TCC to the life of trees: rooted grounding, a heart center, dropping leaves before snow, and winter dormancy as self-care.

Sandy McAlister questions Justin Stone's phrase "graceful conclusion," recalls how he ended repetitions with a downward thud, and asks teachers who studied with him to respond in the next issue.

Linda Prosche travels to Hilo for two weeks with her former teacher Hannah Hedrick, whose question about "Freedom Quotient" leads her to examine the decades-old habits, likened to Pele's hair, standing between her and effortless practice.