The Vital Force Archive

Jessica Lewis pushes back on the claim that only specialists can teach Veterans, giving three reasons T'ai Chi Chih suits students with PTSD and advising class-wide suggestions rather than individual corrections.

Nine new teachers were accredited by April Leffler in Leavenworth, Kansas, and candidates including Gilbert Pagat, Barbara Starke and Roksan Biktimir recount refinements, presentation nerves, PTSD healing and long delays.

Mary Wichmann describes leading twelve widows of fallen servicemen in one hour of T'ai Chi Chih on a deck at Holbrook Farms Retreat, with minimal instruction and no goal beyond peace and joy.

Jessica Lewis recounts how a painful condition in three right toes converted her from dismissing seated TCC as "TCC light," and argues for starting all students, especially veterans, in a chair and adding seated training to accreditation week.

Mary Wichmann, who teaches just four one-hour classes a year for Survivors of the Fallen in Minnesota, questioned whether she belonged at the 50th anniversary conference in Albuquerque, then found connection and renewed interest in Seijaku.

Jessica Lewis passes on a disabled Army veteran's account of going medication-free since 2018 and keeping his temper with his teenage son, then records her own sensations after their one-on-one Seijaku session.

JJ Johnson quotes a line from a 2007 Carmen Brocklehurst article to a frustrated veteran student, then cannot find the sentence anywhere in the text; with Pyramid Poems by Johnnie Lee Marquez.

Jessica Lewis credits a painful summer of toe trouble with converting her to seated T'ai Chi Chih, and lists why she now starts every student in the chair, including her VA-referred veterans.

Jessica Lewis, who teaches veterans in chronic pain for the Federal T'ai Chi for Veterans program, describes using very few words in a first class so students discover the Chi themselves.

Judy Chancey describes T'ai Chi at the Sea, a class she built for veterans with PTSD in a program that forbids instruction-based teaching, using sea imagery, grounding and wave rhythm instead of verbal cues.

Suzanne Roady-Ross recounts Judy Chancey's conference presentation on teaching veterans in the ocean, waist or chest deep, replacing familiar imagery with waves, sinking sand, porpoises and frisbees.

Jessica Lewis describes moving her Delaware classes to Zoom after the March 12 state of emergency, the marketing language she now uses to promote TCC, and the T'ai Chi for Veterans program's shift when VA activities halted.

Judy Chancey lists the practical steps to take while awaiting TC4VETS certification, from offering pro bono VA volunteer classes and meeting VFW commanders to practicing cues without left and right.

Linda Jones, who incorporated the Foundation and co-drafted its bylaws, argues that Justin's wish for TCC not to be an organization was semantic, and calls for a larger, geographically diverse Board.

Jessica Lewis recounts a 90-minute virtual meeting with David-Dorian Ross and TaijiFit instructors about the Free T'ai Chi for Veterans program, the Fang Song principle, and how teaching Vets with few words changed her view of other T'ai Chi styles.

Linda Jones lays out the teaching rules for David-Dorian Ross's Tai Chi for Vets program: verbal safety cues and humor are welcome, but no individual corrections, no detailed demonstration and no expectation that veterans memorize the movements.

Eliza Fulton describes her twice-monthly seated classes, called "Move Free," with Alzheimer's residents at a Colorado veterans nursing home, using paper towel rolls and nerf footballs as props.

Jessica Lewis describes launching veterans-only classes through Taijifit and the VA Community Care Network, with a roadmap for letters of introduction, meetup listings, flyers and befriending local VA staff.

Jessica Lewis reports on a T'ai Chi Chih Foundation grant that paid for 1000 flyers and a banner promoting Free T'ai Chi for Veterans, distributed at Stand Down and to Delaware realtors.

Margery Erickson walks teachers through the TaijiFit veterans application at taijifit.net/vets, from the 150-hour training requirement and new acronyms like Vairkko and CANVAS to networking locally and teaching free, volunteer classes.

Kathleen McAllister describes the frustrating sign-up process for David Dorian Ross's Free T'ai Chi for Veterans program, and decides patience and softness are the way to meet it.

Pam Towne, accredited in 1984 and present at every conference since 1985, recounts the Minnesota gathering: the Veterans Administration T'ai Chi program, brain research on bilateral rhythmic movement and PTSD, and Sandy McAlister's grounded closing practice.

Nancy Jo Bleier recounts the 2019 Minnesota conference, from Dr. Ehlinger's guitar-accompanied public health talk and tribute to his late wife Sally to breakout sessions on props and on veterans with PTSD.

A preview of the 2019 Teacher Conference sessions, including Sheila Leonard on awakening energy, Bruce Eisenmenger on PTSD and veterans, Dr. Edward Ehlinger on public health, plus grounding, props and scholarship auctions.

Andrea Skillman recounts teaching T'ai Chi Chih to long-term care residents, veterans at fall risk, and more than a decade of early morning classes for the American Holistic Nurse Association's national conference, with student evaluations included.

Andrea Skillman's biweekly class for in-patient PTSD veterans in North Chicago pairs tapping and guided meditation with TCC; 67 participants reported drops in pain, racing thoughts, anger, anxiety and agitation.

Meg Scinto's flight home from the 2017 conference seated her beside a man whose nephew took his life after Afghanistan, strengthening her plan to start a class for veterans.

Julie Heryet previews her conference presentation on teaching at Folsom State Prison, describing the noise and stress inmates face and giving practical steps for approaching a correctional facility about a moving meditation class.

Jeneth Rundle, a new teacher and stem cell donor for her brother dying of multiple myeloma, recounts the disabled veteran and her caregiving sister who walked into class and healed her.

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.