The Vital Force Archive

Sue Bitney recounts the five months between her husband Jim's lung cancer diagnosis in October 2012 and his death in March 2013, and how practice, Sandy's seated DVD and a visit from Antonia sustained them both.

Terry Jennings passes along an exchange in which a student with MS and vertigo practices lying down or on the couch, with Sandy McAlister and April Leffler advising effortless movements and both feet.

Donna McElhose recounts organizing an After Conference Workshop for area teachers who could not attend, sorting her notes on the teacher trainers' comments, KG's media talks and the YouTube presentation videos.

Michiko Uramoto, a quadriplegic with severe chronic pain, describes four years of seated T'ai Chi Chih classes begun at her spinal cord injury doctor's invitation, and the pain relief, energy, posture and sleep changes that followed.

Charles Hanks, an eight-year student in Darlene Karasik's seated class at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, argues that TCC's seated approach assumes students will return to standing, and calls on teachers to prepare for more disabled students under the ADA.

Diane Curley, struck by violent motion sickness on a tour bus between Florence and Siena, braced her hip against a seat post and practised Joyous Breath for three minutes until the nausea vanished.

Valerie Jennings began T'ai Chi Chih after a hysterectomy for cancer, practiced sitting and later in her hospital bed through congestive heart failure and a pacemaker, and sewed scarves showing the movements.

Bobbie Weichman rereads the letter she wrote to Donna McElhose, Justin Stone and Carmen Brocklehurst after three months of classes, measuring twelve years of practice against fibromyalgia, cranky joints and shorter, sometimes seated, sessions.

Kendelyn Beck credits nine years of continued T'ai Chi Chih practice, sometimes seated when her energy was low, through chemo, breast surgery and brain radiation for Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, with scans now showing no active disease.

Sandra Freda visited Jerry Bumbalough's twice-weekly class at a Salinas adult day health center, where he teaches seated TCC to Spanish-speaking students with Alzheimer's beginning with "Copy me."

Adabelle Rychtarik describes how sciatica, plantar fasciitis and an inflamed iliotibial band ended her full standing practice, and how sitting practice brought continuity, softness and gratitude toward her body.

Esther Matassarin-Jacobs recounts starting seated T'ai Chi Chih at a Cancer Wellness Center after chemotherapy left her feet numb and falling weekly, and standing to class applause after knee replacements.

Zen verses on chanting and enlightenment are followed by remembrances from Beth Preston, who practised seated after breaking her foot, Dina Ajlenberg in Israel, Deborah Massey and Anita Vestal.

Nancy Werner-Azarski, who has attended every conference since 1996, lists what one weekend gave her, including lectures and meal talk, and how an injured knee upended her bias against seated T'ai Chi Chih.

Donna J. Moore recounts how she resumed T'ai Chi Chih from a bed and wheelchair after her prosthesis exploded her right femur in July 2010, using seated arm movements and focused breathing to manage pain and fend off depression.

Physical therapist Sara Nelson picks movements like Working the Pulley for clients with pain or fatigue; Donna Moore and Daisy Hobbs then discuss twenty years of teaching and seated practice.

Anna Vaith recounts recovering from abdominal surgery with a six-inch incision, using mental and seated T'ai Chi Chih for pain, sleep and balance, plus practical tips on limiting the weight shift.

Hannah Hedrick describes her Hilo class grown from the Warriors Against Diabetes support group, an adaptive session co-taught with Marty Mimmack, who was born without arms, and a proposal to host low-cost 2012 accreditation.

Judith Schwartz describes her three classes at Laguna Honda Hospital, including the Zen Hospice Floor, where she rings a singing bowl, plays Mbira and chant recordings, and leads patients in wheelchairs.

Cynthia Madonna describes seated practice at Laguna Honda Hospital, where residents calm down, insomniacs nearby fall asleep and one stroke patient left his anger in the Wellness Center, plus her own recovery from a back injury.

After a 2010 car accident left her back and knees painful, Judy George swapped the chair for a large exercise ball, then coached an 82-year-old student through her fear of falling onto it.

Ten pyramid poems from Dianne Moody, Jim Shorr, Nancy Little and others on letting go and chi, followed by five of Sharon Sirkis's funniest moments teaching at an MS day group and a retirement home.

Cara Greene fell on slate steps and re-injured her knee a week before Bill Moore's intermediate class, and practicing the movements from a chair brought a humbling lesson and a deeper sense of grounded chi.

Mark Moloney audits the November 2009 Albuquerque teacher training, where Sandy McAlister's precise corrections and her nearly wordless demonstration of seated T'ai Chi Chih moved him most.

Sue Bitney recounts an elderly Minneapolis student who arrived with a cane and oxygen tank on doctor's orders and, over three eight-week sessions, stood unaided for a full hour.

Faith Isaacs asked her class of seniors, aged seventy-eight to ninety-four, what the essence of T'ai Chi Chih was for them, and records their answers about presence, home, peace and grace.

Fran Green, diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia and recovering from spinal tumor and neck fusion surgeries, began with seated TCC and now practices ten minutes daily for strength, balance and less pain.

Lorraine Lepine reports on the open Outreach Coordinator post, guidelines being drafted for teaching seniors, children and seated TCC, and the teacher reference materials project, followed by Justin Stone's letter objecting that T'ai Chi Chih is being made commercial.

Terry Jennings describes the 11-session pilot seated T'ai Chi Chih class she led at her mother's Honolulu memory care facility, using circle seating and chair rocking to prime the chi.

Michael Isaacs practices in airport waiting areas and visualizes the movements in cramped plane seats, Pete Gregory draws squad cars twice while practicing outdoors in Indiana, and Stephen Thompson finds stillness within the shifting.