The Vital Force Archive

Harriet Marquit connects softness to Working the Pulley, which she likens to a machine that keeps moving without us, and describes beach practice where sinking sand moves her along and porpoises appear during Pulling In The Energy.

Dee Goss recounts learning T'ai Chi Chih from Harriet Marquit after retiring to Hertford, practicing summer mornings on the marina docks amid wind, jumping fish and curious onlookers, plus her take on Working the Pulley.

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.

Sheila Leonard describes how a herniated disc and a later flare-up reshaped her practice into genuine slow motion, culminating in a lakeside practice among ducks that left her grounded and softened.

Laurie Jacobi, a wool textile artist sent to Kazakhstan as a US Embassy cultural envoy, taught T'ai Chi Chih each morning in a noisy Shymkent parking area and did Rocking Motion at the ruins of Otrar.

Neal Roy joins Steve Marsh, Jim Shorr and thirteen others in Portland's Chinese Garden, where watching hips rise and fall during Pulling Taffy Perpetual Motion sharpens his own movement.

Jim Shorr details the Pulling Taffy refinements he picked up at Carmen Brocklehurst's Albuquerque spring retreat, then describes the Portland outdoor practice circles where one new refinement opens each session.

Diana Daffner recalls her husband Richard using Pulling Taffy's Perpetual Motion to stay warm during their subzero 1991 Bemidji teacher training, and their fifteen years of sunset beach practice in Florida.

Anita Vestal offers the prayer of gratitude she repeats for the oil-threatened Gulf of Mexico, and describes counting her nine repetitions by shifting her glance from one tall tree to the next.

Richard Cutler, Austin's sole accredited teacher since May 2009, describes building classes at Austin Community College, the Dougherty Arts Center and Sundara Yoga Therapy, where local T'ai Chi masters gave up their slot for Antonia's visit.

Barbara Clark recounts her second annual teachers' weekend at Lonnie's by the ocean, where the yinning and yanging sea, group softness and insights from Antonia and Dan enhanced her practice.

Patricia Strand describes the morning practice beside her lake, in soft rain and chickadee song, when she finally understood Justin's phrase "TCC is doing TCC," followed by Pyramid Poems from five writers.

Beverly Weil's poem watches a bare tree rooted against a winter dawn sky, dances with it in flowing chi, and closes with thanks to Justin Stone for his life.

Steph Winter describes the Thanksgiving 2009 vow that turned into a daily practice blog, quoting entries on early morning sessions, honest struggles, and the chi she sees in her northwestern Wisconsin forest.

Dorene Krause writes from her sitting rock along a windy mountain road, breathing in sunlight, rain and falling leaves while sensing newly accredited teachers' self-doubt blow away into clarity and stillness.

Sandy McAlister counts the ripple from Linda Braga's TCC presentation to 200 people at a six-thousand-person conference, and urges students who plan to teach after retirement to start now, one class at a time.

In a letter of thanks to her teacher Sr. Francis, Gaey Prior recalls nearly quitting after the first class's group hug because of childhood abuse, and describes waking three years later longing to practice outdoors.

Frances Alexander plays her flute in a hilltop grotto during a break at Dan Pienciak's T'ai Chi Chih intensive, and finds in the echo of her notes an understanding of honoring the stillness.

David Schulberg's students report sleeping better and feeling less on edge, and he recalls outdoor practice in a New Jersey backyard and a park where squirrels, birds and a hawk joined in.

Donna Aldous asked her poolside class what T'ai Chi Chih had done for them, and students reported less arthritis medication, easier flying, steadier footing on a bicycle and tingling fingertips from Pulling in the Energy.

Bette-B Bauer bikes to a Key West pier at dawn to practice, watching great blue herons, gulls and a brown pelican gather close, which her teacher Rita says the energy drew in.

Nancy Werner-Azarski takes a ranger's advice not to hurry through a park home from a Quetico canoe trip, then meets her husband's heart surgery and her own hip injury with visualized practice.

Anne Lovdahl describes the blustery oceanfront practice near Seal Beach pier, where four weekly sessions draw over 20 people on Saturdays, curious onlookers, and one regular leaving for the Peace Corps.

After seeing gentle exercise everywhere on a 2008 trip to China, Richard M. Lukesh joined Margaret O'Connor's class, watched his blood sugar drop twenty points, and finished a long-stalled poetry book.

Judy Tretheway's poem contrasts her own freedom sitting beside a flowing river with those behind bars waiting for a chance, then asks whether her dependence on the river limits her too.

Lucy Hocking, certified in the 1980s, returned to the 2008 teacher conference after a long absence and recalled the 1985 Asilomar gathering, where a distant piper played Amazing Grace during beach practice.

Judy Hendricks on Carmen Brocklehurst's Seijaku workshop amid June cottonwood snow, Connie Hyde on Sister Antonia Cooper's Albuquerque retreat, and Lois Arrigotti on World T'ai Chi Day in Golden Gate Park.

Francesco "Mondo" Mondini, newly accredited in Mantova, practices on a hillside facing Mount Baldo and describes how softer, freer movement carries into his mountain climbing and competitive skiing.

Betty J. Roberson credits daily practice with easing stress and improving her sleep after a sedentary life of caregiving, while Maybelle Filler recounts a snowy Saturday outdoor session in Sitka and her wordless first classes.

April Punzo used Rocking Motion, Around the Platter, Bass Drum and the Cosmic Consciousness Pose outside the gym before her karate belt exam and got through it without an anxiety attack, followed by Andrea Bork on Minnesota's summer park practice and a set of Pyramid Poems.