So You’d Like To Become An Instructor?

There’s a crack in the door…

“I am an accredited T’ai Chi Chih instructor.” This is how we were asked to introduce ourselves during the presentation phase of the TCC Teacher Accreditation Course. I let this sink into my being. It sounded foreign to my ears, yet I had planted and nurtured the seed to this moment. I found myself reflecting back over the last two-plus years.

TCC found me a short time after a separation from my marriage and home. While my world felt upside down, my spirit/soul/being was finding its place. While doing TCC, I was aware of the Chi and felt lovingly grounded and energized. TCC and I were “going steady” and the Chi was working tiny miracles in me each day.

My personality type is constantly looking towards the future, the shiny new penny, the next right thing. There are so many opportunities set before us at the buffet of life.

When I spoke to my teacher, Lisa, about wanting to become an instructor, she encouraged me but she did not inform me of the gravity and responsibilities of that decision. I continued attending classes faithfully and also took the Seijaku (advanced TCC) class Lisa offered. I felt I was experiencing Seijaku as I practiced in my mind throughout my day, and I practiced my Seijaku and TCC movements at home each night. Slowly, over time, I became aware of the expectations surrounding instructor certification.

I attended an intensive in Santa Barbara (which was indeed intense), where I found my second signature teacher, Dixie, who blessedly helped steady me as I crept onward.

The months leading up to accreditation became a blur of activity: weekly practice and meet-ups with Dixie (two hours to the north), developing my own personal practice, studying and reading Justin Stone’s books and articles, all while working full time as a cosmetologist. Lisa was off to India for two months and entrusted me to lead three of her weekly classes, after giving me the opportunity to co-lead them with her the month before her departure. The highlight of that experience was how much joy I felt standing before the students.

November soon arrived and I felt like a mess, wondering if I had made the right decision. But I did not give in to thoughts of postponing the final requirements. Then, on one “dark night of the soul,” I received confirmation from an Instagram influencer no less, assuring me that this mad mix of emotions was very common right before a big opportunity.

I breathed my way forward and crossed that finish line. The Chi and I are now united, the bond of trust forged. Doors are opening. There is light and life and growth after all the upheaval. “Clear eyes, full heart, can’t lose.”