The Lighter Side (November 2020)

Grounding is the first thing I do with students at the beginning of T’ai Chi Chih class. I often sound like a broken record, mentioning it during and after class as well. One morning, I arrived late, as there was a bus accident and traffic was backed up for miles. I was stressed about being late, worrying about my students waiting for me. When I finally arrived, Ruth, 75 and spry, picked up on my hurried state of mind. She said, “Take your time… Get yourself grounded.” This cracked me up and definitely helped calm me down.

~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One playful TCC class decided to make up their own Six Healing Sounds:

OY!, ARG!, UGH!, EWW!, ACK!, PHEW!

~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the last TCC class, I play Show and Tell, where students think about the best thing they’ve gotten from class, and then bring in an item that demonstrates it, and then tell how it relates to TCC. Howard brought in a jigsaw puzzle. He opened up the box, picked up many pieces and let them drop back into the box. He said that those pieces were like his thoughts, scattered and stressful. Then he put the lid back on the box to reveal the beautiful puzzle picture, and said that after TCC practice, he sees the big picture: “I relax more and see how things fit together.”