A spring gathering in Edmonton

From April 2nd to 4th, students from across Alberta and Saskatchewan met to learn, share and experience T’ai Chi Chih in new and greater ways. To accomplish this we invited Carmen Brocklehurst to come and share her knowledge, insights, and experience, not only of the TCC movements themselves, but also of the nature and power of the energy contained within these simple movements. We were not disappointed!

Our weekend started with Carmen simply sitting with us and talking about the nature of T’ai Chi Chih: its circularity, the movement of the Chi, and the depth of this Chi down to the cellular level. We listened and shared our experiences and expectations for the weekend. Carmen promised we’d all be feeling and experiencing the flow of the Chi before the weekend was over, and she was true to her word.

Over the next day and a half Carmen took us through each movement. We worked at performing the movements correctly as well as experiencing the difference in energy when the movement was done incorrectly or without attention to the flow of the Chi. We learned that we were moving “through something that is actually substantial – it has life in it.” And that moving through this sea of life was more a matter of relaxing and letting go rather than simply a correct placement of hands and feet. Carmen encouraged us to feel the flow of the Chi in every movement: where it began, how it was directed through the movement and how it came back to rest in the T’an T’ien at Graceful Conclusion. We were encouraged to feel for this “life” with our hands and be aware of not scattering the energy or throwing it away. Many felt for the first time the difference between full and hollow movements. We also worked with the waist to let it direct the energy flow and move us rather than trying to move through the arms and shoulders. We practiced grounding and doing the Jing to store the energy. After all, as Carmen stated, “you worked hard for that energy, now make sure you keep it.”

Most of all we learned to relax and enjoy the simple pleasures TCC has to offer us. Indeed, as Carmen said, “Until you relax you’re not going to get to the deeper parts of yourself.” And is this not the true goal and great joy of our TCC practice? The weekend was over all too quickly, but I believe the effects will truly last a lifetime.