TCC for Mental Health

I knew during my very first class in 2008 with Wendy Helms in Lamorinda, California, that I’d like to share T’ai Chi Chih (TCC) with people in the U.K. Under Wendy’s guidance, my mind immediately anchored in the soles of my feet. I felt such a relief to drop out of my upper body and focus on the tan t’ien and lower body, allowing the yinning and yanging in the legs to direct my body’s motion for the first time in my life. Also, I recognised how powerful the grounding effect of Justin’s gift was at calming my busy “monkey mind.” I had a feeling that focusing the mind on the soles of the feet and the soft, flowing, continuous circular movements might be helpful for others struggling with mental health issues.

We returned to the U.K. in 2008, and I practiced mostly with Justin’s DVD and trips to see Ev Hanson on the south coast to have any bad habits corrected. I became accredited in 2011 and volunteered to lead a TCC class for people attending a mental health charity (Restore) nearby in Oxford. Restore helps people recovering from mental illness gain skills and confidence to return to socialising and get back to work. Every Wednesday, I’d share the wonders of TCC. People shared that the practice helped them stand their ground and feel more confident when looking for jobs. Once they started work, some students wrote to thank me for the TCC self-help skills, which gave them a fast way to interrupt panic attacks and manage their mental health.

When the Oxfordshire Recovery College (ORC) was set up as part of Restore to offer educational mental health courses and wellbeing skills free of charge to anyone in our county, I knew this was an opportunity to share TCC across the region. Together with one of the Restore students, who was very enthusiastic about the benefits of TCC, we created a 3-hour course to introduce Justin’s work and the principles of how to move. There was plenty of time to experience seated and standing movements.

Ten years later, this course continues. We encourage students to set an intention to build TCC into a daily practice — formally (by building a short sequence to practice at a time of day which works best for them) or informally (by taking one movement, such as Rocking Motion and hooking it onto a daily habit such as brushing their teeth or by repeatedly practicing anchoring their mind in the soles of their feet, for example).

Students realise it is a resilience-building practice, to practice when not stressed, so they can tap into the mind-grounding skill when stress comes along. I’m grateful to Lesley Nell and Laurin McDonald, who, once accredited, kindly offered to help deliver the ORC course when I needed to take a break.

Below are some of the mental health benefits of TCC I’ve experienced, which some students have echoed. As a scientist, it is not my style to mention benefits which have not been tested in clinical trials. Many of these “aha” mental health insights have come because of cumulative practice and are purely qualitative personal experiences. Nevertheless, I thought practitioners might be interested in the revelations.