The Vital Force Archive

Lorraine Lepine describes the four-days-a-week Zoom practice she has led since March 2020, letting the Chi teach during silent practice, with testimonials from Melissa, Steve Geer, John Marquez and Nicky Mendenhall.

Linda Prosche describes attending the virtual 2022 Teacher Conference with 150 others, lying on the floor to rest her back, and finding that less effort meant she learned more.

Lynne Roberts recounts the 2022 virtual conference with 60 volunteers and 163 teachers, praising new presenters and April Leffler's tip of mentally placing dimes on the soles of the feet.

Denise Alire found joy in worldwide Zoom practice during years of solitude, favors practicing alone along the beach until a place invites her to stop, and still loves the stronger cosmic vibrations of moving as one in person.

Jeneth Rundle describes teaching seated T'ai Chi Chih over Zoom while her student Angela recovered from knee replacement surgery, and teaching from a chair herself during her own knee trouble.

Sue Bitney played Carmen's KNME interviews and Justin's instructional DVD for her senior students, who asked why no one had told them about softness, and moved more softly alongside him.

Terry Gay Puckett's Shih Tzu puppy chewed open a tube of toxic acrylic flow, and the two hours stranded in a vet's exam room became a slow practice of T'ai Chi Chih and Seijaku.

Judy Chancey and Sky Young-Wick outline the 2022 International Teachers' Conference on Zoom, themed Cultivating Wisdom, from the Friday Around the World Practice to Sandy McAlister's opening words, Seijaku mornings and breakout rooms.

Lisa Stroyan's notes from Sandy McAlister's monthly Zoom teacher practice cover December's discussion of movement order and January's on drop-in classes, with Zoom tips and handout suggestions.

Marcella Levie connects Marie Dotts's Zoom guidance about letting TCC do her with the Hebrew Letter Movements she teaches, tracing her path from a Siesta Key beach in 1991 toward accreditation.

April Leffler introduces the ten teachers accredited in the fourth Zoom course with Pam Towne, with their mission statements and reflections on grief, letting go and finding softness during the week.

Judy Kistler-Robinson recounts Sandy McAlister's October 9 Zoom teacher practice, where Huang Wen-Shan's 1974 foreword led into the Great Circle Meditation, its variations across Justin's books, and tongue placement.

Mary Cerullo substituted for Sr. Christa's seated Zoom class at the Franciscan Spiritual Center in Aston, and found the familiar main room empty of spirit before the center closed in June 2021.

Mission statements from twelve teachers accredited in Daniel Pienciak's Zoom course hosted by April Leffler, plus Barbara McAnamy's account of finally understanding her front weight shift with Marie Dotts.

Sue Kenney recounts teaming up with George Manning and Linda Robinson to present on inclusiveness and seated students at the virtual 2021 conference, joining the Q&A from a nursing home wheelchair after two hip surgeries.

Anita Vestal recounts the 2021 conference, from Paul Ciske on lifting the Chi to Sue Kenny and George Manning's volunteer work in Sacramento mental health programs, then asks readers to join new outreach and Spanish-language groups.

Marcella Levie, Vanessa Petterson and Adam Lacey, all training with Lesley Nell in Europe, describe what the online student day gave them, from transition advice to seated practice during back injury recovery.

Mary Strom gathers teachers' takeaways from the March 2021 online retreat on transitions, including Judy Kistler-Robinson's discovery that the palms turn before the weight shift completes in Rocking Motion and Push Pull.

Host April Leffler collects participant accounts from Sandy McAlister's four-day Zoom intensive, including breakthroughs in the front and back weight shift, breakout group feedback, and one student's tearful Rocking Motion.

Susan A. Corey describes taking up Seijaku and Fast Track at the Zoom conference Continuing the Connection, likening her first Seijaku practice to falling gracefully into cool water.

Sandy McAlister announces that intensives become a prerequisite for accreditation, recalls Justin's change of mind about conference breakout sessions, and moves the Tuesday Zoom teacher practice to monthly Saturday discussions.

Daniel Pienciak recalls Justin Stone's rehab center sign, "Habit is the enemy of old age," and asks why so few students and teachers venture beyond their own teacher to conferences and intensives.

Gail Nieto describes how a walk in her garden brought the message "let it go," which grew into weekly Zoom discussions with students linking life lessons to TCC and into her conference presentation on five movements and concepts.

Lynne Roberts recounts saying yes to being master of ceremonies for the 2021 Zoom conference, which grew out of Lisa Stroyan's September 2020 email to an informal online practice group.

Daniel Pienciak found that a year of teaching on Zoom demanded keener focus and heightened awareness, and argues that according with impermanence, rather than clinging to the familiar, moves practice forward.

Jeneth Rundle expected Zoom teaching to fail and found it joyful, tracing how that surprise exposed a hidden belief that the Chi could not reach students remotely.

Marija Hillis recounts how COVID-19 closures pushed her new teaching from an uneven park to three friends' backyards, growing to four weekly classes and 24 masked, distanced students.

Laurin McDonald describes how Zoom sessions she and Lesley Nell run became a lifeline for isolated older UK students, and an anchor for her own bereavement after losing her husband in November 2020.

Sue Kenney traces two decades of the St Francis of Assisi practice group in Sacramento, its pairing of T'ai Chi Chih with the Wednesday Taize service, and its members' own accounts of finding the practice.

John Marquez describes how a Seijaku class on Zoom with Dan Pienciak, and the oft-heard instruction to feel your feet on the floor, finally brought the timing of the weight shift into focus.