Have TCC, Will Travel

My first chance encounter with T’ai Chi Chih was at a Women’s Health Fair in York, Pennsylvania, in March 2001. I signed up and walked into a room filled with people whose arms were outstretched and moving Around the Platter. I loved it instantly, and felt a melting of stress from my bones, muscles and nerves just watching them move. A month later, I was enrolled and practiced everywhere I went. In 2006, I was accredited with a stellar group of teachers under the guidance of Antonia and Pam. That year, freed from parenting duties, I took my TCC practice on the road.

The week prior to accreditation, I was pet-sitting in Woodstock, New York, next to a glorious waterfall. It was there I learned something about TCC and animals. I had been warned about the two cats in my charge: Tiger was friendly, but Ollie would probably not come near me for several days if at all. It turned out exactly that way the first day. For my first practice I chose a flat spot on a little bridge facing the cascading waters; when I started Working the Pulley I imagined myself in sync with the waterfall. Day two was raining and I found a covered patio area outside the house. Aloof and untrusting, Ollie was peeking around a corner as I did the movements. When I uttered the Six Healing Sounds, Ollie could not contain his curiosity and put himself in full view, as if to say, “awesome.” That night and all the rest of my time there, Ollie slept at the foot of my bed.

During teacher training in May 2006, I created a mock demo for my cohort of candidates. After some feedback and refinement, that demonstration was given shortly after in Taos, New Mexico, where I had my first tiny class. It was fun and invigorating to rise at 6am for a 6:30 practice at the Mabel Luhan House where I was participating in a course called “Appreciative Inquiry and Spirit.” I recall the wonderful stone patios and earthen floors and walls; as I put my focus on the soles of my feet, I substituted the slate and earth for the bubbling springs. I pulled in the energy of the fragrant sagebrush and clear sky surrounding me.

In the summer and fall of that year, I lived in Texas where I led a twice-weekly drop-in class as part of the program of the Crossings at Austin. I also gave an eight-week course at Unity of the Hills. At that time there were no accredited teachers in the Austin area. Living in the southwest area of Austin, my favorite place to practice was in an evergreen wooded park with trails aligned with cedars and junipers. As I Carried the Ball to the Side, I helped myself to the bright blue juniper berries and allowed them to fall to the earth when it was time.

In 2007, I was called back to Florida where I lived in a 55-plus community with golf, tennis, state of the art fitness centers, swimming pools, and classes galore for the active retiree. Each of the six years I was at Solivita, I offered at least one TCC course. I partnered with the Solivita Zen Meditation Group and we donated proceeds to various area charities. While sand hill cranes sauntered and danced outside, we performed Bird Flaps its Wings. A photographer captured one of our classes and the photo graces the TCC community website on the “Health Benefits” page.

Thinking of my own eventual retirement, I began to visit Costa Rica in 2008 and increased the frequency and duration of my visits annually. On my birthday in 2011, I offered my first TCC class in Costa Rica. We advertised to the ex-pat community in the southern zone where we did Daughter in the Valley in the valley of the Rio General. Follow up classes later that year also drew English-speaking retirees looking for the health benefits our practice offers.

I wanted to give the gift of TCC to my Costa Rican neighbors who spoke Spanish. I am bilingual, but needed to learn to some new vocabulary to be able to teach completely in Spanish. To prepare, I purchased several copies of the photo workbook Spanish translation and studied it. I volunteered with a non-profit that promotes education and empowerment and launched my first TCC course for Costa Rican mountain villagers who had never seen or heard of anything like it. When we started with the La Mecedora (Rocking Motion), everyone relaxed; they loved it. I could see the facial tension dissolve and melt away. The community of Herradura de Rivas is located high up in the Talamanca Mountains, near the tallest peak in the country. I was not surprised when they chose La Hija en Cima de la Montaña (Daughter on the Mountaintop) as their favorite movement.

As I move into retirement and residency in Costa Rica this year, I continue to practice my beloved moving meditation to the sound of the rushing Rio Chirripo in the southern zone of Costa Rica. Here we use the greeting pura vida (pure life) to say hello and goodbye. Something astonishing happens when I do Passing Clouds in my pura vida garden: I am aware of the panorama of tropical trees bearing fruit, the delicate orchids, fragrant gardenias, and blooming hibiscus of every color… I see the hummingbirds fluttering closer and closer to me as we all share in Joy Through Movement.