The Vital Force Archive

In a note to her teacher Parker Reynolds, Liz Emmer asks whether love and chi are linked, wondering if the walls hatred builds block chi the way open hearts let energy flow.

Christian Gunning, accredited in November 2024, traces 25 years of practice from Athens, Georgia through a midlife reckoning to the Colorado accreditation week with Sandy McAlister, where a long-carried sense of not deserving to be lifted.

Roseann Heinrich's rhymed verse traces her path from needing calm, through twenty years of teaching, to the chi that now leads her to write poems each morning.

Parker Reynolds compares teaching before and during the pandemic, crediting Zoom classes, Sandy McAlister's 80-teacher practice and a felt t'an t'ien connection as answers to the pain of separation.

Charlotte Garrett describes the accreditation week when words Daniel posted on the wall released a habit energy of fear before her presentation, and names the teachers who prepared her.

Dr. Janet Oussaty reports from the inaugural International Medical Tai Chi and Qigong Association conference at Massachusetts General Hospital, where researchers proposed grandfathering accredited T'ai Chi Chih instructors into new standards.

Parker Reynolds traces a two-year intention to teach youth back to a video of Sister Christa and April Leffler at Drexel Neumann Academy, and to the church youth group class that finally resulted.

Lucinda Kutsko recounts teaching an after-school TCC enrichment class to eight first and second graders, from snack-time chaos and taped Xs on the floor to their surprisingly poised family performance.

Roseann Heinrich, co-hosting the 2016 Teacher Conference with Lucinda Kutsko, recalls her first conference in 2001 and lists the Seattle sights she plans to visit with her daughter.

Roseann Heinrich wonders what it would be like to be a rock in the moment, then recounts a whirlwind year of travel, deck repairs and shrinking retirement accounts steadied by daily TCC, yoga and Zumba.

Roseann Heinrich describes a nightly practice that turned into a life review, returning again to the soles of her feet, and her plan to teach students to let go into 2016.

Roseann Heinrich describes attending the 2015 conference in the North Carolina hills two years in a row, finding that smaller numbers, old friends and unhurried talk with teachers mattered more than lodging or food.

Introduced by teacher Lucinda Kutsko, Jan Poncar describes years of Kempo-based T'ai Chi in which he was told to always imagine an opponent, and how TCC replaced that defensive stance with grounding and ease.

Teresa Lisum recounts her teacher accreditation course, where full, intense days and the support of fellow candidates, auditing teachers and Pam let her feel successful even while embarrassing herself.

Roseann Heinrich, who could never sit still to meditate, describes how the slow weight shift across the soles of her feet let her stop taking medication to relax and become a daily practitioner since 1999.

Roseann Heinrich recounts the 18 months from her son Joe's brain tumor diagnosis in May 2012 to his death in October 2013, and the daily practice she did in hospital waiting rooms to find peace and courage.

Roseann Heinrich describes practising at home the day after the 2011 conference, applying a correction to her head position while memories of friends and hugs streamed in and lifted her practice.

Roseann Heinrich reports from the three-person Cleveland planning committee preparing the 2011 conference on Lake Erie, crediting Lucinda Kutsko's registration spreadsheets and inviting readers to register and recommit.

Roseann Heinrich came to T'ai Chi Chih in 1999 because restless leg syndrome kept her from sitting still or sleeping, gained total relief in six months, and left corporate work to teach.

Teresa Lisum, a fitness devotee and public school teacher of twenty years, describes how months of daily practice softened her hard-edged, athletic movements, and how sensations of energy first arrived through Daughter in the Valley.

Barb Petroski took her first T'ai Chi Chih class at a "Women in the Outdoors" event and found that four months of practice ended the nerve pain in her leg.

Lucinda Kutsko describes how Working the Pulley went from difficult to favorite, and how Justin Stone's phrase 'swimming through heavy air' fell flat with students who had never learned to swim.

Lucinda Kutsko announces the 2011 Teacher Conference, "Go With The Flow," set for July 21 to 24 at Sawmill Creek Resort on Lake Erie, with registration and travel details.

David Wasserstrom finds TCC more accessible than meditation in a busy life, while Laurenda Messer stops toppling over when she crouches and Margie Cala eases twenty years of chronic fatigue.

Marlene Brown recounts three attempts at Seijaku: a noisy 1993 San Francisco hotel certification beside a wedding, a refresher in Denver, and finally sessions with Ed and Noel in Cincinnati that clicked.

Ann E. Federspiel offers two class images: an imaginary jump rope for the wrist circles in Bird Flaps Its Wings, and a torso on a glider rod for upright weight shifting.

Cristina Minelli returned to her hometown of Mantova after 14 years in the US and, through a sport center owner named Beatrice, gathered 14 students for her first Italian classes.

Marlene Brown volunteered to lead T'ai Chi Chih at a clinic program for people with schizophrenia, and within four days was offered a paid contract that was later extended twice.