The Vital Force Archive

Annie Braudy spent two weeks in Piraeus with a friend in deep grief, and her daily practice overlooking the city and the ocean kept returning her to grounding and flow.

Bonnie LeBlanc describes how four Cape Cod teachers sustain a TCC community through Sunday Zoom practice reaching Ireland and Florida, library and church drop-ins, weekly teacher workshops and regular coffee hours.

June Calende describes a weekly hour at the senior center: shoes off, chairs against the wall, Debby counting reps barely audibly, nineteen movements done beside an east window of trembling leaves and a kettle pond.

Debby McLister recounts teaching Bass Drum in her first beginner class, where a fist-and-release hand exercise worked until week two, so she brought 12-inch balloons to keep hands cupped and apart.

Debby McLister describes how years of T'ai Chi Chih have intensified nature's colors, from magenta azaleas and Kousa dogwood to bluebirds and goldfinches seen while practicing on her deck.

Bruce Childs returned to teaching chair-assisted TCC at the Barnstable Adult Community Center after the pandemic, and lists the resources in his toolbox, from Sandy McAlister's DVD to his own Little Guy illustrations.

Anne Braudy, a Boston pianist with no local teachers, describes how COVID-19 stay-at-home orders ended her group yoga classes and revived the near-daily morning T'ai Chi Chih she had learned from Carmen Brocklehurst's video.