Cooking with Chef Sandy

Intensive with Sandy McAlister in Santa Barbara, CA; June 21-25, 2009

By Tony Johansen, Santa Barbara, CA

This year’s event was born out of the ashes of last November’s Tea Fire at Mount Calvary Retreat Center. Using the miracle that we were able to gather at all – and the ingredients of hard working teachers, teacher candidates, and serious students – Chef Sandy McAlister took her own recipe and produced a fine meal of refined T’ai Chi Chih practice and renewed enthusiasm. This mix, seasoned with attention, focus, caring for others, and an outrageous sense of humor produced incredible growth and too much fun. Chef Sandy’s ability to chop and dice the moves enabled us to focus on what is important and allowed us to deepen our practice and flavor it with a new sense of dedication. Teachers carried back a better understanding of what it takes to develop their own recipe for moving students to the next level. The beautiful retreat center, filled with the staff’s dedication to serving and offering a place for stillness and reflection, provided the spiritual kitchen in which this could take place. Best of all, we did not gain weight from this feast (the incredible food at La Casa is another story). We actually returned home with lightness in our step and enthusiasm to face the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Thank you, Pam Towne, for joining us for the last day and being part of the dessert.