The Vital Force Archive

Stacey Moore poses a string of questions about how we know what to do next and why some days fall apart, answering that consistent T'ai Chi Chih and Seijaku practice teaches her to breathe, trust and let go.

Daniel Pienciak traces his understanding of expansion and contraction to a scene in the film "The Mask of Zorro," where staying inside a circle teaches the young student to let the enemy come to him.

Pam Towne lays out the in-person options for connecting with the TCC community, from the Santa Barbara retreat and four-day Intensives to the New Jersey Teachers' Conference and its post-conference Seijaku courses.

Linda Braga thanks the Minnesota team for the 28th annual conference, naming Judy George's morning intentions, the tea ceremony, KG's social media session and the shared focus on Seijaku.

Julie Schuster's first conference, which she helped plan with fellow Minnesota teachers, gave her a deeper grasp of prajna, the ability to ground in Seijaku, and ACE continuing education credit through Pam Towne.

Monica Campbell almost skipped her first TCC conference, then found a breakout session with Bill that reversed her unease with Seijaku, leaving her grounded, taller and heading to Tupelo for more.

Linda Watson links Antonia's conference remarks on Impermanence and Pam's Seijaku accreditation opening to her own turn at 52, saying no to lifelong activities and returning to writing and studio work.

Sherry Corson traveled to conference with a cane while recovering from a shattered hip, and Bill Moore's introductory Seijaku class left her leg stronger and Seijaku at her practice's core.

Judy George, accredited in Seijaku since 1999, describes letting the form lapse until Bill Moore's post-conference class clarified holding fast and letting go, and she began teaching longtime students.

Lorraine Lepine's account of the first introductory Seijaku course, led by Bill Moore for 18 participants after the 2013 Minnesota conference, with his emphasis on grounding and participant comments.

April Leffler describes eleven years of drop-in classes at a YMCA, learning to teach to whoever shows up, giving cues to her "frequent fliers," and adding a Seijaku class in June.

Jack Weaver recounts how a workplace survey flagging rage and depression led him to T'ai Chi Chih while his wife was permanently hospitalized, and how practice lowered his blood pressure, eased shingles pain and carried him through his dog Cody's death.

Mrs. Stough, unable to do yoga after back surgeries, found TCC through an online search for relaxation, and describes falling asleep easily, lowered pain, and feeling grounded for the first time in her first Seijaku class.

B. Clouser was taken to a first class by her friend Tracy on her birthday in January 2012, doubted her coordination, and has since gone on to Seijaku and a Tuesday evening group.

Pauline Pike, partway through a Seijaku course, found that adding hardness made softness something to welcome rather than strive for, and steadied her long-troublesome Rocking Motion; Pyramid Poems follow.

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.

Lisa M. Otero recounts the first three years of her plan to build a self-sustaining T'ai Chi Chih community in Oxnard and Ventura, from fitness center and church classes to Seijaku and teacher prep.

Hannah Hedrick urges teachers and students to send their stories to The Vital Force, describing the Hawaiian habit of "talk story" and how fellow Seijaku teachers' confessions finally moved her own practice.

Pam Towne addresses the reasons teachers avoid Seijaku, explains that a year of TCC practice is enough preparation, and points to Justin Stone's DVD and the two courses following the conference.

Maxime Wan recalls meeting Justin Stone in Edmonton in 1989, staying with him in Pacific Grove and Albuquerque, and being called out in 2006 after three years practicing Falun Gong instead of TCC.

Ann Rutherford recalls Justin Stone's Turiya meditation retreats in Albuquerque's South Valley and his two lessons, then shows how Seijaku's resistance section and weight shift help release karmic attachments.

Henry Smith was referred to a hospital T'ai Chi Chih class for work-related anxiety after two emergency room visits, and now pairs weekly floatation tank sessions with near-daily Seijaku; Pyramid Poems follow.

Dan Pienciak recounts being announced as a new teacher trainer at the Portland conference, the panic and self-doubt that rose up, and the framed Chinese brush painting of Chi he won at auction.

Pam Towne recalls Justin Stone calling his discovery of Seijaku the most important event of his life and a turning point for his health after triple bypass surgery, then advises when and how to learn the form.

Donna Aldous came home from the teacher conference realizing how great it was only when friends asked, and describes the Seijaku accreditation course she completed as putting a tiger in your tank.

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."

Ann Rutherford recounts Justin Stone confirming Seijaku is a heightened awareness practice, and describes placing a hindrance such as fear in the resistance section so the weight shift deepens letting go.

Ann Rutherford reports from the Albuquerque Seijaku training, where Pam read from Justin's 1989 notes and trainees named the benefits they found, from softened TCC practice to one-pointed concentration.

Karan Lee compiled closing comments from participants in Pam Towne's November 2011 Seijaku accreditation weekend in Aston, on internal resistance, release, grounding and the unexpected lightness they carried home.

Bill Moore describes how efforting to achieve Justin Stone's 'holding fast' can obscure Seijaku's underlying softness, and credits Pam Towne, Ann Rutherford and Dan Pienciak's 2011 Ohio conference presentation and accreditation course.