The Vital Force Archive

Amy Tyksinski followed an impulse to buy peonies at the grocery store, watched them open over days at a TCC retreat, and links the urge to Justin's "pointing arrow."

Anita Vestal, Jessica Lewis, Adam Lacey and Greg Berg report on their Mindful Attention and Awareness Scale survey of over 400 practitioners, and an abstract submitted to the 2026 Osher Center conference.

April Leffler likens the almost imperceptible pause at the end of each weight shift to a wave receding or a swing at its apex, and Dan Pienciak explains the knee release that keeps the shift level.

Richard Karasik takes up Justin Stone's puzzle of smoothness and continuity, arguing that whether you drop the hands between movements matters less than keeping the drop inside the practice rather than treating it as a coffee break.

Dr. Ofelia Olivero describes how lowering the foot slowly and deliberately keeps the practitioner rooted, sharpens awareness of shifting weight, circulates chi evenly, and becomes an expression of presence.

Kate Polk credits her T'ai Chi Chih practice with two reductions in her blood pressure medication, calmer recurring visions of a traumatic experience, and comfort during radiation for a skin cancer on her scalp.

Marie Dotts traces her grounding from the soles of her feet to the t'an t'ien and the vertical core, describing how a level pelvic floor and slower pace deepened her root.

Laurie Jacobi, quoting Waysun Liao and teacher trainer April Leffler on thinking, works out how to cage the monkey mind by turning attention to feeling the weight shift millimeter by millimeter.

Dorene Krause invites the reader into a moment of ordinary silence, breathing into the soles of the feet, releasing the heaviness of the heart and letting stillness calm the mind.

Accredited in November 2024, Joan Sheehan describes the intention she set during accreditation week, the absorbed attention she now brings to mashing potatoes, and the clarity of practising at the Poudre River.

Gail Terriff describes the self-care habits that keep her replenished, from journaling and singing aloud to her morning T'ai Chi Chih practice, and quotes Thich Nhat Hanh's book Anger on mindfulness as the energy of being present.

April Leffler recounts practicing T'ai Chi Chih abroad, from the 2003 Banff teacher conference to workshops in England and Italy and supporting Beverly Miles, Belize's only teacher, at her new open-air platform.

Lisa Stroyan recounts a week of twice-daily practice in Corozal, including a session at the Santa Rita Mayan reserve, and Mayor Vellos calling T'ai Chi Chih a healing art.

Tina Wells devoted a class to resting longer between the 19 movements, and the group concluded that pausing lets chi settle, grounds the feet, and mirrors nature's cycles of activity and stillness.

Sandy McAlister pairs a Rick Hanson quotation found in her filing pile with Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" to reframe moral outrage over humanitarian and planetary crises as a form of love.

April Leffler tries ending each movement both ways, palms facing the earth or hands dropped completely, and finds that attention to the four corners of the feet matters more than the choice.

Tara Stiles describes walking the corridor of five tiers of cells at Folsom Prison, resting attention in the soles of her feet, and the hungry, intelligent questions of the men who chose her class.

April Leffler describes noticing the aging and homogeneity of the TCC community at the 50th Anniversary Teacher Conference in Albuquerque, and how her alarm gave way to trust when she responded from grounded stillness rather than emotional reaction.

Dan Pienciak recalls two stories Justin Stone told, about the Master who was simply awake and the student who saw mind moving, then likens nearly 30 years of practice to a road trip without a destination.

Susan Corey describes the seniors she teaches, whose stories of sorrow and hilarity are woven into their unhurried practice, and likens them to the light-filled mystics of The Dark Crystal.

John Marquez led conference attendees in writing Justin's original Pyramid Poetry during the Friday evening program on July 26, with a tip to re-read only the first and last syllable for self-insight.

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.

John Marquez led conference attendees through Justin's original Pyramid Poetry form on the Friday evening program, with the tip of re-reading only the first and last syllable, plus two sample poems.

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.

Connie Shaw recounts breakthroughs in seeing her own conditioning fall away, and lists what keeps her practice alive: posture, empty mind, returning to the t'an t'ien, and deliberate uncontrived laughter.

Richard Brier lists the reasons we practice, from awakening intuition to opening to cosmic Chi, and describes the "mind fasting" of the empty cup behind Joy Through Movement.

Lisa Stroyan describes a stiff early-morning practice easing into a new grasp of the Effort of No Effort, distinguishing doing from feeling and moving from knowing TCC to learning from it.

After more than four years of practice, Nancy Hellebrand Blood woke up to why attention rests in the soles of the feet: it leaves no room for habitual thoughts.

Written before the 50th anniversary teacher conference in Albuquerque, April Leffler finds unity in flowing from the t'an t'ien and in the "Chi-mails" teachers send each other with their thoughts.

Sue Kenney frames T'ai Chi Chih as a web of relationships: with her aging self, with fellow practitioners, with a Sacramento parish's Wednesday Taize service, and with George Manning's class at HOPE Cooperative.