According with Impermanence (aka Adapting to Change)

Justin Stone spoke often of the importance of “according with impermanence.” To me this has come to mean making peace with the fact that in the external world, the only constant is change, and learning how to adapt to it. My T’ai Chi Chih practice and especially Seijaku have served me well in dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two weeks into the shutdown, it became apparent that it was not going to end anytime soon, and that if I wanted to be part of the solution instead of the problem, I needed to teach TCC online.

That was easier said than done. It required setting up a new computer and router, getting a Zoom account, and persistently calling my internet service provider until they corrected the problem causing my internet to drop while teaching on Zoom.

Most of all it required my willingness to adapt, to step outside my comfort zone into technology and learn how to teach on Zoom. I started with a weekly practice for my ongoing students, then added a class for beginners.

These gave me the confidence to adapt the annual TCC springtime retreat in Prescott, Arizona, to an online Zoom retreat. I called it a TCC Virtual Retreat, but now know that is a misnomer. It was an actual retreat, in the safety and comfort of our own homes, with technology to connect us.

The Chi operates outside of time and space, so is not limited by them. This proved to be true as we practiced TCC together over four days and felt very connected. We felt a stronger flow of Chi than when practicing alone.

By connecting my computer to a big TV with an HDMI cable and having attendees turn sideways to the camera at times, I saw everyone well enough to offer individual feedback while we were moving. That was important since there were six teacher candidates who especially wanted feedback.

The toughest was getting used to the mirror image on the screen. That and all the moving images was mind boggling at first. I felt more tired than usual and slept 10 hours a night on the retreat, also unusual. Yet for several days afterward, I felt full of energy and exhilarated at what we had accomplished with our first online TCC retreat. It will not be the last.