Seated TCC: Exploring Limitless Within Limits

From the Lotus Sutra Justin quotes about the limitless of one’s life as “filling the Universe … a life without limit.” Yet when you struggle with limitations from aging and illnesses, you discover that a life without limits might diminish with the confines of a wheelchair.

Working as a retirement community chaplain, I have witnessed struggles that come with health issues and the gloom of sinking into confinement and limitation. As one ages, losses may come from many directions, continually downsizing one’s life.

Finding the expanse that lies within then becomes of paramount importance. Building a sense of awareness of one’s deeper interior life is something one can build up over time and through practice. Even if one comes to this late in life, there is still value in finding practices that explore life’s intrinsic vastness through the practice of joy in movement. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,” David wrote in Psalm 23. I have witnessed these blessings available in the midst of painful loss and struggle.

Seated TCC is a meaningful practice that invites people who are struggling with lost capabilities into a deeper life without limits. Through the subtleties of movement a practitioner can experience deeper awareness of the Chi in yinning and yanging. The gentle rhythm can aid in regaining strength and body awareness. As one moves from the tan t’ien gently in their chair, the practitioner can experience the movement of Chi within, bringing an experience of the vital force of life as still vital and limitless.

It is possible to rediscover wellbeing even when it seems hard to find. The practice of seated TCC is one such avenue to wellbeing and a “life without limit.”