Following The Chi At Menninger Clinic

I started T’ai Chi Chih practice in 2001 in Houston, Texas, after going to the Cenacle Retreat Center looking for increased spirituality, where one wall was covered with information about different activities. I was drawn to the TCC brochure by Carletta LaCour, and I loved the classes from the very beginning. For the next 10 years I took every class she offered. After eight years she asked me why I was not becoming a teacher. From that moment, I practiced full sessions daily for two years and became certified in March 2011.

I started teaching immediately, happily filling in for Carletta. I am also a Psychiatric Registered Nurse and work at the Menninger Clinic in Houston on the Adolescent Unit and have worked with teens for 30 years. Since offering a TCC presentation at the clinic in the summer of 2011, I have been teaching adolescents TCC weekly.

During the 30-minute class, we learn three to five movements and we practice. I give a brief evaluation before they are discharged to see how TCC has helped them; I have collected evaluations since 2011 and am processing the conclusions. (Adolescents always state that they feel calmer and more focused when they finish their practice.) Some continue taking TCC classes when they leave the clinic. I also give the adolescents written handouts about TCC and include www.taichichih.org for more information.