Pathway to recovery

T’ai chi chih put woman on road to renewed life

By Mary Duffy, Journal Staff Writer

Look at her flow! TCC teacher Jan Marshall-Thoreen and her T’ai Chi Chih practice and teaching was the front-page topic of the “Body & Mind” section of the April 20, 1999 Rapid City Journal (of South Dakota), reprinted here with permission.

When Jan Marshall-Thoreen plants her feet in a t’ai chi chih posture and looks up at a bright blue sky on a sunny day in the Spearfish City Park, she remembers when a black cloud of ill health prevented her from even standing on her own two feet.

Today, Marshall-Thoreen is an accredited instructor of t’ai chi chih (pronounced tie-chee-chuh) who credits the gentle, subtle exercise form with giving her back the good health and active lifestyle that chronic fatigue syndrome stole from her in 1992.

She was exposed to a nasty flu virus that year and, instead of a complete recovery from the usual fever, chills and body aches, she developed a chronic illness that left her so physically exhausted she had to quit her job as a speech therapist. As the mother of two young children, she would often collapse from the exertion of making lunch or a trip to the grocery store. Traditional Western medicine had no answers for Marshall-Thoreen’s pain and fatigue.

One day, she found herself sitting on the floor of a t’ai chi chih class, too weak to do anything but watch. Soon, she found that just five minutes of t’ai chi chih brought her some relief. Eventually, her t’ai chi chih practice helped return her to wellness, she says.

T’ai chi chih is a series of 19 gentle, easy-to-learn movements and one closing posture which, when practiced regularly, can improve physical and mental health. It’s a relatively new discipline that was developed over a 10-year period by a man named Justin Stone, who was at the time a master teacher of the martial art form t’ai chi chuan. T’ai chi chuan involves more than 100 complex movements that can take years to master and is very different from t’ai chi chih, Marshall-Thoreen says.

Like other ancient Eastern philosophies and exercise forms from which it developed, t’ai chi chih is based on the principle that the body’s internal energy flows along a system of pathways, or meridians. This energy needs to be in balance and harmony, and to circulate freely, for optimal health. Some students of t’ai chi chih may experience this flow of energy almost immediately, as she did, Marshall-Thoreen says, and others may simply be aware that t’ai chi chih releases tension and produces a relaxation that is centering and energizing. Students usually experience some positive effects within the first few sessions of practice, she says, but daily practice is necessary for ongoing bene- . . .

(Article continues on page C2 of the original newspaper; the continuation was not reprinted.)

Classes offered all year

T’ai chi chih instructor Jan Marshall-Thoreen offers classes, individual instruction, workplace programs and intensive workshops throughout the Black Hills, including an eight-session class that begins today in Rapid City at Calvary Lutheran Church.

Marshall-Thoreen teaches classes in the Spearfish City Park from May through October and at the Donald Young Sports and Fitness Center at Black Hills State University October through April. Cost is $50 for the eight-session classes that meet twice weekly for one hour. Three different intensive half-day workshops are offered at the All One Spirit Retreat Center in Piedmont. Cost is $50 for single workshop, $90 for two or $120 for all three. Call Calvary Lutheran to register for the Rapid City class, which continues through May 19. Individual instruction fees are from $35 to $50. Programs for children age 8-18 are offered during the summer in Spearfish.

For more information about her classes or about her employee wellness programs, contact Marshall-Thoreen or via