Give 100 Hours

Here’s a novel idea: Volunteer 100 hours a year teaching T’ai Chi Chih. A commitment like this deepens your understanding of the form and makes the world a better place. Plus, your life will be blessed by the people TCC touches. At the teacher conference in 2007, Peter Gregory (who had taught TCC to jail inmates) challenged me to teach TCC to folks in a 12-step recovery program. When I asked why, he quoted the 11th step: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out.” Peter said that “Most people know how to pray, but very few know how to meditate. As instructors, we are in a perfect position to teach movingmeditation to those in 12-step programs.”

Men and women in recovery programs typically try to live one day at a time, attend daily meetings and, because they may have recently hit rock bottom, often have no money. You might think that teaching those who are struggling, down and out and are often penniless would not be worth your time, but that’s not so.

The benefits of teaching TCC as a volunteer are many – both you and those in recovery. By regularly volunteering you’ll have ample time to test and tweak different teaching techniques. You’ll realize class time presents you with another opportunity to vary your teaching style, try out different instructions, even different lineups – teaching in straight lines and rows, from within the center of a circle or from within half-circles. Through frequent exposure, you will learn to quickly read your audience – adapting your presentations on the fly – to better hold their interest and increase participation.

Be persistent. Giving away 100 hours of TCC instruction might take time to cut through bureaucratic red tape. During 2007 and 2008 I tried to follow Peter’s path, asking to teach TCC in jail, but Mississippi jails are tough. I couldn’t break in. If a similar stone falls across your pathway to volunteering, flow around it another way to volunteer. In early 2009 I began volunteering inside NMHS Behavioral Health Center, teaching TCC to short-stay (1- to 4-week long) inpatients. Lessons are one hour and taught twice weekly before supper. It took six months of discussion with management before TCC was accepted and worked into their schedule. Was it worth it? Most definitely. Would you find it worthwhile? Commit to 100 hours and see for yourself.