Minding Our Minds

T’ai Chi Chih is a mindfulness moving meditation practice that’s easy to learn. The series of 19 movements and one pose helps circulate the Vital Energy, the Chi. Practitioners experience peace, improved health and many more benefits. Our free monthly e-newsletter offers inspiration between issues of the TCC quarterly journal, The Vital Force, in which teachers and students tell stories about ways they’ve benefitted from the practice.

Experience is subjective – each of us sees a situation slightly differently. How does our relationship to the Chi influence our perspective?

“For each state of mind there is a corresponding character of Chi and, in turn, each aspect of Chi influences the state of mind.” – Justin F. Stone, TCC Originator

Quotations from the most recent issue of The Vital Force

Discipline of Gratitude: “Five years ago my husband was recovering from surgery to save his life from cancer…. His recovery was short-lived, and he died three months later. I have been paying attention to my life’s new direction. I have three fabulous children married to wonderful people. I have four amazing grandchildren who fill me with joy. I am thankful for what I have in my life and that I continued to live. Now I have the opportunity to refocus, and live purposefully with a discipline of gratitude, finding the good in life. It’s my responsibility to bring light where there is darkness, healing where there is pain, and joy where there is sorrow.” – SB, Richfield, MN

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Effort of No Effort: “No thought, no mind, no problems. Focusing on the soles of the feet. Yinning and yanging, one leg in emptiness while the other leg full. Emptiness of weight. Weightlessness in the forward and back movements. Flowing from the tan t’ien. No effort, a slow steady swim through air.” – KL with DM, Wildwood, IL

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Empty Cup: “In Heightened Awareness, Justin Stone writes: ‘For one to follow the methods of the book in working toward heightened awareness … it is necessary to “empty the cup.” A full cup will hold no more.’ I considered what I’d like to remove from my cup (fear, worry, envy, resentment, anger, disappointment, busyness) to make room for gratitude, love, sharing. Then i realize my error. Again, my cup fills, this time with anticipation, expectation, a prelude to disappointment. By seeking, I may miss what (if anything) comes. Better to be empty.” – GG with DM, Wildwood, IL

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Interrelatedness: “It may be difficult for some to understand how the outer and the inner are related and how the circumstances of our lives can be affected by the quality of the Chi. But unless one feels that all life is an accident and all events coincidental and without cause, it would be relatively simple to comprehend..(how) all things are intertwined (and) the interrelatedness of all life.” – Justin F. Stone

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Where in the World? Visit our website for photos of TCC practice around the globe. Submit your own.

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Subscribe to The Vital Force. Our quarterly journal offers engaging stories, hints and insights from TCC teachers and students. We also highlight wisdom by, and photos rarely seen of, originator Justin Stone.