A Wave that Nourishes the World....

As of 11:30 this morning another eight week session of T'ai Chi Chih classes is over, complete, done, finis, termino. I felt a bit sad last night as I prepared for this final class. I never know for certain that the next series of classes will fill with enough students to continue and so time after time I wonder, Will this be my last class with this group of students?

I don't agonize over the ending which is sure to come someday but focus instead on the blessings that have filled me through many years of practice with this special group. Though none of us do this practice perfectly we have managed, still, to benefit greatly from the gifts it offers to each one of us. Just as we were told at the TCC Teachers' Conference last week: We're not the same person since we encountered T'ai Chi Chih.

But what is it that we've become? During a phone conversation last year with Kim Grant, the person who manages T'ai Chi Chih communications through the Vital Force Journal, Good Karma Publishing, and our official website, I mentioned that the changes produced by regular practice of TCC can be so subtle. Or not, she replied.

It's true. Many of us who choose to become TCC teachers have found multiple benefits in our physical health, marked changes in stress levels, and deeper, more nourishing spiritual lives.

In my own students, many of whom do not practice daily, I observe the following: They've learned how to slow down their bodies and minds. They are more comfortable with silence. They breathe more deeply. They offer greater compassion to themselves and others. They go with the flow.

I am grateful for many things not the least of which are these: For each day of T'ai Chi Chih practice, for each class meeting, for each time I feel the Chi flowing through my body, and for each person who joins the ever-expanding circle of T'ai Chi Chih practitioners.

Perhaps one day we will embody the dream of one of our teachers at TCC Conference who hopes to see groups of people practicing T'ai Chi Chih Joy Thru Movement in parks throughout the country. Or another teacher's hope for a TCC future: From each of us the Chi will continue to grow as a wave that nourishes the world....