Reflections from England

The joyous online gathering made up for not being able to attend the conference. The initial practice was wonderful. It never ceases to amaze me just how powerful the Chi feels when gathering on Zoom, across thousands of miles. In our breakout rooms we shared experiences of T’ai Chi Chih (TCC). And we found shared experiences of how TCC found us.

Most of us had no intent to teach TCC, but when we began to practice and found the personal benefits so valuable, we came to want to share it. We shared amazing stories of the impact TCC has had on our lives.

I shared how TCC had led me into communities I had no connection with prior to teaching TCC, and how it allowed me to broaden my skills through feedback from students. I will never forget working with a group recovering from strokes and paralysis. Some could communicate but many were nonverbal. I introduced them to TCC and then explained that if they couldn’t move as I was, then perhaps they could imagine they were moving with me. 

I was amazed and overjoyed when I saw that many of them had fluttering fingers even in that first session. Undoubtedly, they were in tune with the vibe. I continued to work with them and reintroduced myself and TCC again each week as several had memory impairment. Then we would do a few movements together, moving however they could, or imagining so. Feedback was universally positive. One young man actually began to get some movement and feeling back in an arm he hadn’t used for years. TCC is indeed a great life changing force for good. Thank you, Daniel, the TCC community, and of course, gratitude always to Justin.