T’ai Chi Chih Practice and Me

Newly-Accredited Teacher

I started T’ai Chi Chih practice on a whim. I saw a sign announcing TCC classes and said to myself, “Let’s give it a try.” Little did I know that I would continue to work toward accreditation.

After a few classes, I blurted out to my instructor, Marge Erickson, that I wanted to teach the TCC form. I surprised myself. I hadn’t thought of teaching until that moment. I hadn’t even learned all of the movements. I listened to that inner voice and have continued practicing for close to two years.

In the beginning, I let go and felt the chi. I had trouble with several movements due to severely damaged rotator cups. Initially, the pain was excruciating when I attempted Working the Pulley. I gave up trying to do it properly. That was when the healing began. Today, I have recovered about 90% of my shoulder movement and am almost totally pain free.

I contracted Lymes long before modern medicine discovered the disease. Having a degree in animal medicine, I gave my faith and trust to modern medicine. After innumerable misdiagnoses and treatments, I became nearly blind and crippled. I changed my perspective on Lymes disease and the available treatments. I studied alternative methods with a passion and ever so slowly brought myself back to a reasonable facsimile of relative normalcy.

TCC practice has brought me even further. I no longer wake up throughout the night with pain. My joints are more supple and flexible. My husband complains of the cold and I am dumbfounded. I have always been the cold one in the family. My energy level is amazing. Prior to TCC practice, I would push myself to be a normal active human being. Now, I am a normal active person. The many symptoms of Lymes disease seem to be fading away. I am looking forward to the time when all my symptoms disappear.

The past three years have been stressful to say the very least. A normal sane person would have had great difficulty getting through the times. Before TCC practice, I was barely treading water and wondering if the delicate balance between Lymes and normalcy would disintegrate. Since beginning TCC practice, life is much better. It’s not because the stress has disappeared. I simply have a different perspective and attitude. I am more centered and balanced. I feel I can sail through most any raging storm.

The impact T’ai Chi Chih Joy Thru Movement has had on my life is more encompassing than I could ever imagine. When I have faltered in my practice, I have felt the difference. My faltering is teaching me consistency of practice. I am looking forward to the many more benefits TCC practice has to offer. What will happen next? Only the chi knows!