The Vital Force Archive

Social work student Lauren Robson and a classmate review the TCC health benefits page and Twitter feed, noting claims about migraines, chi flow, depression and the discovery of seated practice for wheelchair users.

Two social work students report on the TCC health benefits page and Twitter feed, with Lauren Robson noting migraine and blood pressure claims and another discovering seated practice for wheelchair users.

Darlene Karasik recounts three pregnant women wandering into her HMO-sponsored class, the medical release forms that followed, and her call for teachers, testimonials and outcome data to establish prenatal T'ai Chi Chih.

Gail Terriff describes teaching T'ai Chi Chih at four Edmonton sites serving people with mental health issues, from psychiatric hospital groups to a YMCA program whose participant evaluations she reports.

Becky Watkins taught T'ai Chi Chih at two conferences for grief professionals and bereaved parents, drawing on her son's death, and dolphins surfaced in Biscayne Bay during Push Pull.

A rundown of the new taichichih.org features: a chronological, hyperlinked "In The News" archive of TCC press and research, a blog of Justin's writings, comment threads, and integrated Facebook and Flickr feeds.

Anita Vestal closes out the 2007 to 2010 Student Reaction Questionnaire, reporting that 610 surveys from eleven teachers showed significant gains in energy, sleep, focus, balance and stress response, with creativity the sole exception.

Hannah Hedrick reviews a Respiratory Care pilot study of T'ai Chi for COPD patients, praising its 61-item bibliography and two T'ai Chi Chih citations, then previews the 2011 Ohio teacher conference at Sawmill Creek Resort.

Pat Flynn argues that T'ai Chi Chih teaches the graceful letting go we are never taught, citing UCLA insomnia research, University of Cincinnati heart findings and a Cousins Center rheumatoid arthritis study.

Kate Hollister, instructor for three UCLA studies, describes Dr. Michael Irwin's insomnia trials with older adults and breast cancer survivors and Dr. Helen Lavretsky's project on depression.

Carmen L. Brocklehurst argues that most routes to freedom, like taking a better paying job to clear debt, create new bondage, while T'ai Chi Chih turns attention inward, citing the UCLA shingles study.

Anita Vestal describes the TCC Student Reaction Questionnaire, a 12-question survey given at first and last classes, with 298 returns analyzed by SPSS showing higher positive ratings and lower pain.

Rhonda St. Martin, RN, introduces T'ai Chi Chih to nurse life care planners, citing the Journal of Gerontological Nursing balance study and the UCLA shingles immunity trial alongside her own experience since 1986.

Claire Whalen replaced dwindling eight-week beginner classes with weekend and one-day intensive formats at her convent retreat center, paired with a Harvard Health Letter report on UCLA's T cell study.

Sr. Patty Campbell resigns from public teaching after 13 years and a posture brace; Stephen Thompson credits Mississippi workshops with filling classes, and Lorraine Lepine seeks 1,000 student questionnaire responses.

Lorraine Lepine describes three teacher tools from the 2005 survey and 2007 Conference: an online Teacher Resource List, a 12-question student questionnaire being piloted, and guidelines for special populations.

Diana Wright interviews Dr. Jennifer Pike about UCLA's rheumatoid arthritis trial comparing TCC to relaxation therapy, followed by Judy Hendricks recruiting co-workers for a child-parent class and Tony Johansen's first class.

Anita Vestal describes a 12-question Student Reaction Questionnaire being piloted by a few teachers, given anonymously before the first class and at the last, and invites others to test it.