Pain lessens, balance improves for grateful elderly T’ai Chi Chih student

I haven’t been going to Sandy McAlister’s T’ai Chi Chih class very long, and although I’m less than fond of exercise, I would rather miss my first cup of tea in the morning than miss her class. And being English and over 70, that’s saying a lot.

I have osteoporosis, and after several compression fractures of my vertebrae, mobility was becoming quite a problem. After my first class, I felt as if I’d been run over by a truck. I got the message loud and clear: “use it or lose it.”

Before I started T’ai Chi Chih practice, I used to be a little nervous and very careful about stepping into and using my shower. The walls are far apart and I’d cling to them as I’d turn around. I do have a grab bar but didn’t feel inclined to install two more and make it look like a store display for grab bars.

After I started Sandy’s class, I would go over in my mind something she had been saying each week: “Focus on the soles of your feet.” “Be aware of where your weight is.” “Soft Knees.”

After a couple of weeks I not only noticed I no longer felt as if I’d had an appointment with a truck and needed an extra pain pill, but even more noticeable was that I no longer nervously clung to the shower walls.

To a healthy person this would hardly mean a thing, but to someone who has pain most of the time and has lost so much mobility, the sense of independence this has given me is wonderful. I still have relapses if I don’t pay attention, but if I just tune in to Sandy’s words about awareness on the soles of the feet, and softness, and evenness of movement, I can feel more like the me of the past.

The class looks so deceptively easy and low key, but the results are enormously beneficial.

I’m so very thankful that I found Sandy and her T’ai Chi Chih class. I have passed along the data to my osteoporosis doctor and just about anyone else I can pin down and warn of the perils ahead if one doesn’t put something back instead of just taking one’s health for granted.

– Bernice Wilkinson
Student of Sandy McAlister

NOTE FROM HER TEACHER:

And I am so very thankful to be able to share the gift of T’ai Chi Chih, Joy Thru Movement. For the “joy” truly does burst forth during movement and also in the realization of changes which are a direct result of practicing the T’ai Chi Chih form.

– Sandy McAlister