The Lighter Side (July 2004)

After TCC class at the retirement community, I did a little Reiki (energy healing) on Margaret, a delightful lady with a playful sense of humor. Before I started, I said, “I have to be quiet for a minute.” To which she replied, “I know that’s a great sacrifice!”

– Sharon Sirkus
Columbia, MD

I recently finished reading the book, Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff, by Richard Carlson, for the Radio Reading Network of MD, books-on-tape for the blind. One of the sections was titled, “Take up Yoga.” The line I was supposed to read was, “While you are stretching, you are also concentrating, focusing your attention on what you are doing.” It was everything I could do to keep from blurting out, “…focusing your attention on the soles of the feet.” Ah, such habits!

– Sharon

One of my college students, Matt, stayed after TCC class for the second day in a row to tell me the same thing. He placed his hands on his dantienne and said with a big grin, “My tummy feels happy.”

– Sharon

As always, during the last college TCC class, we play show and tell. Here are a few cute ones:

Leslie brought in a picture of her kids. She said, “My kid is light, and I’m light with my moves. My kid has big feet, and when I buy him shoes, I’m reminded to put my attention in the soles of the feet. And, my kids both originated from my dantienne!”

Ilija brought in a Magic Eight-Ball. He said, “Before I was uncertain about the future, and now I feel like I have more control of my destiny.” Without missing a beat, I asked, “So, speaking of destiny, should everyone pass this class?” He shakes the ball, laughs, and reads, “It is certain.”

– Sharon

Ten of us have been taking Intermediate T’ai Chi Chih classes together for the past three years. Because we had been together for so long and had experience in the practice, our instructor felt we could benefit from learning some elements of the Maximum Chi Program. After a few weeks of journaling, we went on to the massages. The teacher demonstrated, and then we practiced. At one point, after finishing a massage, our teacher bent over to look at her notes on the floor. We thought this was part of the program, so the entire class bowed low in unison. Seeing this response, the teacher broke into peels of laughter. Two weeks later, the class was asked how the massages were going. One massage, similar to lightly tapping the teeth together, led a senior member to comment, “Fine, but you have to remember to put your teeth in before you do it; otherwise, it’s hard on the gums.”

– Nancy Lecraw and Bobbie Weichman
Chicago, IL

Sometimes my classes at the juvenile detention center just spin out of control. And no wonder. Most of them have Attention Deficit Disorder and none seems to have any impulse control. So why should I have been surprised when at “Working the Pulley” the kid leading the move said, “Think of the ocean, and you’ve never seen the ocean, think of a bathtub.” For some reason, this just set them off. “Yo, Rubber Ducky, get down!” one of them hooted. “I’m crossing the ocean of delusion,” another crooned, swimming mightily. I asked another, spinning his arms like a motorboat rudder, what ever could he be doing?! “I’m hurrying to get to the other side,” he panted. When I think about it, they had some pretty good insights there. Light at the Top of the Head, as usual, calmed them and brought them onto the shore.

– Kathy Grassel
Albuquerque, NM

I always take a few moments from one of my classes to talk about the literature available about T’ai Chi Chih. I was passing around several of Justin’s philosophical works, and then showed some past issues of the Vital Force Journal. One elderly gentleman in my class seemed very intent on part of one issue (I later saw it was page 34 of the January 2004 issue, where Justin is surrounded by several adoring disciples). At length he asked me, “THIS is Justin Stone?” Yes, I affirmed, it is. He gazed thoughtfully for a long moment, then observed, “He looks like the Hugh Hefner of the Pure!”

– Rodney Anderson
Roseville MN