Birth of a New TCC Program

Shortly after getting certified with 16 others by Pam Towne and Antonia•, I started a T’ai Chi Chih class in late 2009 at the Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, CT. The accreditation was a wonderful experience, deepened my practice and taught me how to impart this practice to others. Since starting the Middlesex class, 19 students have taken the course, which has been enhanced by the opening of the Wellness Room. This ideal setting has a music player with speakers wired into the ceiling, one wall made of a long mirror and lights that make the ceiling look like a blue sky with clouds.

At Dan’s suggestion I arranged the program so that each class is one hour long, but that students who have previously completed the class can join us half way through. At the end of the first hour the new students leave, and I stay for another half hour with the former students. It works out very well.

My dream is to build a community of TCC practitioners and hopefully produce more teachers from this pool. Currently I am the only teacher in Connecticut. As a new teacher, I am learning a great deal from my students. For some students even the simplest of movements is challenging. Most of the students are cancer patients or cancer survivors. One thing I have learned from them is that there is no hurry. The goals are simply the feel, softness and diminishing of tightness and old anxiety. If a student lowers his or her anxiety and tension through the practice of only one movement, I feel the program has been a success.

Of all the things I do as a hospital’s only chaplain, I most look forward to the weekly TCC class. My hope is that it continues to grow and provide students with increased physical, emotional and spiritual freedom that letting go through TCC teaches us.