Tuning In, Plugging In & Maintaining Connection

What is your role in sharing T’ai Chi Chih with the world? If you have a vision of a world where TCC instruction is available to everyone who wants it and opportunities for group practice abound, what are you doing to make that vision a reality?

Justin Stone entrusted the integrity, growth and future of TCC to every accredited teacher and serious student. Shared responsibility requires expansive visioning. Teachers and students might ask themselves: “Beyond teaching or taking classes, am I employing my skills and abilities in service of sharing TCC? Could I better support others’ efforts to share TCC?”

Yes, TCC is an individual meditation practice for health, wellbeing and spiritual development. Justin Stone saw it as that and so much more. He often reminded us: “T’ai Chi Chih is a service to humanity.” He loved connecting with other people through TCC. He created community wherever he went and encouraged us to stay connected.

Tuning in: paying attention. Are you aware of what others are doing to share TCC in the world? Do you know who is planning the teachers’ conference; who edits The Vital Force; who is hosting upcoming accreditation courses; who oversees the production and distribution of Justin’s books and music; who is offering upcoming workshops and retreats; who is blogging about TCC…?

Subscribing to The Vital Force Journal (VFJ) is a good indicator of your interest in what others are doing to bring TCC to their local communities and beyond. Writing for the VFJ demonstrates your interest in sharing TCC with the world. Are you helping others tune in? Do you encourage others to read and write for the VFJ? Have you shared information about the official TCC website (taichichih.org) and Facebook page (facebook.com/taichichih), the many local TCC Facebook pages, and the online calendar of TCC workshops and retreats? Tune in. Pay attention. Keep current. Share information.

Plugging in: building community in small and large ways. Do your students know each other’s names? Do you provide opportunities for them to get to know each other? Have you met and practiced with the accredited teachers within driving distance? Have you expressed your appreciation and gratitude to the people who are making things happen in the TCC community? Have you attended a retreat, workshop, intensive or teacher conference, or audited a teacher accreditation course lately? Have you kept in touch with the people you have met during your TCC journey? Have you ever contacted a contributor to the VFJ to let the writer know that you enjoyed her or his article? Have you thanked the teachers who have coached and mentored you? Plugging in means taking action and supporting the actions of others. Even small actions have a large impact.

Staying connected: Are we doing enough to stretch and grow, both for ourselves and for our community, and for the future of TCC? If you are thinking, “But I am so busy” or “I don’t really have any special skills beyond teaching/doing TCC,” please consider the multiplier effect that is achieved when we work together to achieve a goal. If you are a person who gets things done, think about how you might enlist others to join you in sharing TCC more broadly. Even if you don’t consider yourself a natural leader or visionary, please support someone else’s initiative to make TCC available to more people. Perhaps you are doing all you are able to do at the moment. But who knows what opportunities the future may bring? Will you be ready to lead or to help? Are we supporting each other’s efforts and celebrating accomplishments?

Let’s get concrete with some ideas for plugging in and maintaining connection, whether you are a teacher or a serious student.

If there is something that you think ought to be happening in the TCC community, contact a few teachers to discuss your ideas and enlist their input and support to bring it about.

Come up with a plan to bring TCC to under-served communities in your area; enlist others (fellow teachers and/or students) to help you make the necessary contacts.

Write an article for the VFJ, sharing news of the initiative you are taking or want to take. Enlist input and support.

Write an article about TCC and submit it to mainstream health and fitness or spiritual publications (print or online).

Reach out to offer coaching/mentoring to serious students seeking accreditation and to newly accredited teachers and to international teachers who are blazing a trail for TCC around the world.

Commit to attending the next TCC teacher conference. Contact all the teachers you know to personally encourage them to attend. Don’t wait until two weeks before the conference. Do it now.

Volunteer to serve on the conference committee for the next teacher conference. (You don’t have to live in physical proximity; a great deal of support can be provided from afar.)

These are just a few examples. I invite you to think of your own (and to post them on the TCC Facebook page.) Dare to dream of a future where everyone has the opportunity to learn TCC. Share your vision. Work with others. Stay connected.