What Resonates With You in Your TCC Practice?

Becky F: These are my most poignant awareness’s in T’ai Chi Chih:

• Working The Pulley: It’s like I’m climbing through clouds, and I make it. Softness is the key. I’ve learned to lighten my hand movements while still shifting my weight.

• Rocking Motion: Happiness feels like a teeter totter. This is the ideal preliminary movement for loosening me up and feeling the energy move with me.

• Passing Clouds: This motion makes me feel like I’m riding on a cloud. My sweep passes beyond the elbow and I’m lithe and light, releasing any sadness from my mind. It creates a clean slate.

Bonnie O: I’m feeling the energy move through my fingertips in Around the Platter and Platter Variation and Bass Drum. For Around the Platter, my arm coordination becomes vastly improved. Working The Pulley allows me to exercise muscles I don’t ordinarily use as it emphasizes the back-and-forth movements.

Lois S., palliative care patient: I’m now able to move muscles in ways I wouldn’t usually do. When I’m done with my practice, I feel more stable and flexible.

Tom O: Here’s what I’ve discovered with individual TCC movements:

• Light at the Top of the Head: Learning what I need to let go and then releasing it.

• Light at the Temple: Finding a space in my head for forgiving and being able to bring in new positive thoughts.

• Working the Pulley: Imagining swimming through thick air without getting tired. It’s reminiscent of waves carrying me in the waters off the Hawaiian and American Samoan beaches. This is my slow-motion relaxation mode.

• Joyous Breath: Practicing breathing to accept new things in life.

• Passing Clouds Letting go of worries, anxieties, and fears, and focusing on the weight shift and hand movements. The rhythm and flow have a spirit of their own.

A retired senior at Beaverton’s Creekside Village: With TCC I’m able to be more flexible in moving and can bend my knees and ankles more easily. Our practice instills a calmness in me, like my worries have disappeared. There’s a lightness in my body as I complete Cosmic Consciousness pose.

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