What Is It That Resists?

Intensive with Sandy in Albuquerque, NM; May 31 – June 3

By Ann Rutherford, Co-host

As always happens during Intensives, many participants were surprised by the event’s depth. Intensives require tremendous commitment and concentration. Sandy and Justin sought to re-mold, in three days, some aspects of the participants’ practice that were inhibiting the flow of Chi. Deepening the understanding of TCC can be a painful process. Sandy said, “Know that this process can be uncomfortable and filled with tears and emotion. It’s all part of letting go.”

Justin and Sandy stressed the need to move from a state of emptiness, openness, and fluidity: mentally, emotionally, and physically. The invitation to let go was difficult for most participants. Habit patterns – whether mental, emotional, or physical – are stubborn. Letting go of patterns inhibiting the circulation and balancing of the Chi is the essential core of TCC practice. Others, who came with an attitude of playfulness, let go easily. As I watched, I asked myself, “What/Who is it that resists the letting go?”

When I went through teacher training in 1998, there were no Intensives, so I had to go through the re-molding process during the training. I resisted. I arrived thinking, “I already know the moves, what are we going to do for five days?” Then on the second day, my ego loomed before me, like Jabba the Hutt in Star Wars. It was big and ugly. So this was what was keeping me from being open and receptive to change. It was so shocking, that I went up to Ed Altman, the [then] teacher trainer, and said, “I don’t belong here.” He said, “Yes, you do because now you’ve had the breakthrough that you needed to have to understand TCC.” I stayed.

Some participants encountered deeply repressed fears, to which Sandy said, “Moving the Chi gets you in touch with your deeper core. It will let you see yourself. Once you see it, you can let it go. There’s no need for analysis.”

The most common source of resistance sprang from muscle tension, caused by participants trying to think their way through the movements. Justin said, “There’s a line of differentiation between knowing the movements mentally and knowing them from the heart.” He stressed over and over: “The most important element is how to move, not what to move. Do it softly with the feeling of flowing. The weight shift is moving the hands.”

Many Intensive participants had never met Justin. I imagine they will remember his words concerning the origin of TCC: “I feel TCC was given to me as a divinely guided practice.” Seen in this light, there truly is nothing to resist.

Tip of the Iceberg

Retreat in June; Renewal in July with Dan Pienciak in Newfoundland

By Sheila Leonard, PBVM, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

My favorite t-shirt reads “T’ai Chi Chih In Harmony with Nature” and pictures a yin yang mirror reflection of a tree, with birds hovering where the two dots would be. It speaks of how T’ai Chi Chih brings us into deeper harmony with Nature and with our own nature.

Our June Retreat on Virginia Lake was the perfect venue for a wonder-full day. Feelings of serenity, calm, gratitude, awe, and blessedness bound us together. Amidst joy and wonder we celebrated our oneness with the world T’ai Chi Chih Community and with all that exists. All came eager and then longed to stay simply to delight in the Chi and in one another.

We returned in July to sink into the essence of T’ai Chi Chih and Seijaku with Dan. It allowed the Chi to take us to new depths of our true essence in our practice. For Dan, the hospitality, warmth and friendliness of the students was a welcome embrace. Their dedication to T’ai Chi Chih was apparent, and their enthusiasm and desire to learn was an inspiration, with Sheila spreading the great “secret of life” and planting seeds for more new teachers. One student spoke for all when she wrote of Dan as “a blessing, grateful for his coming, for his presence has shown what it means to live in the essence.”

Participants described their experience as wonderful, exhilarating, amazing, healing, transforming, pivotal, deeply spiritual. They went away feeling awed, enriched, hungry for more. One noted, “My world was rich before but now it is exquisite for I have found serenity within.” For another it was “an experience in humility in seeing that I have a distance to go, but I am willing.” Another added, “Blessings and wonders keep coming; I have begun to trust the Universe at last.” We touched what TCC is all about.

We are just touching the tip of the iceberg with T’ai Chi Chih in Newfoundland and Labrador – more “new-found-land” awaits our discovery. Thank you, Justin!