Dan Menzel - Newsletter 2009

DAN MENZEL
When is The Best Time to Practice Tai Chi?
quietrivertaichi.com

Having been prompted to teach tai chi this year at The Tai Chi Center of Chicago has opened many gates for me to pass through. I will try to offer a few of my insights into this side of it. Perhaps "side of it" is a poor choice of words, as "the whole" of our Tai Chi training grows with each step we take. I have found it to be true, that teaching forces one to look upon each posture; with a keener sense of the intent, through our focus of the foundations that Elizabeth continually instills within us.

As for myself, I find it my duty and it is my honor to have the opportunity to offer what I have come to understand about this beautiful way of life. I have also found that there is so much to learn through the eyes of the student. There are so many differnt ways to look upon the same thing, that I find I am constantly challenged by the answers themselves. I am forced to investigate what may be a hurdle for one of the students, identify it and help with the proper corrections to their form. In doing this, the recommendations I offer the students, have a direct correlation to my own form, thus making me a better Tai Chi practitioner as well. Full circle! as they say. This gift that has been offered to me, I am pleased to be allowed the chance to help others find their own path through education and social graces. A very fine thing indeed!

As far as my personal training in 2009:
In 2008 I had decided to bear all my focus on refining what I had learned so far, and the only way to do that was to step up the amount of time I would practice as well as spend as much time as I possibly could at the school. I immediately took full advantage of Tai Chi Center of Chicago's full curriculum including the beginning classes, the ongoing class, intermediate classes and of course some private direction as well, and whatever seminars that Elizabeth is/was offering.

Although I had been trained previously with some of the same weapons forms or martial styles, I found the refresher courses, well, for the sake of redundancy, I found them refreshing! One can never know too much about our own paths, can we?. This schedule of mine has rolled into 2009 as well and during this year I have noticed a marked improvement in my form as well as in my general physical fitness.

The nagging question I suppose for most everyone is "time". Which brings me to this question that I hope each of us must seriously ponder from time to time. When is the best time to practice Tai Chi? How does one find the time? Sure, all one needs is a pair of flat bottomed shoes and a will to move forward, but this hustle and bustle lifestyle we lead in order to tend to our families and the whole "bringing home the bacon bits". The answer may be closer and easier than we all thought. Time, that darn time! The answer may be as simple as 1-2-3. Time, pesky time! Perhaps a closer study of The Tai Chi Center of Chicago (TCC) website may have the answer, perhaps...it's right inside of you....perhaps its...about time to investigate.

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Tracy Von Kaenel - Newsletter 2009

TRACY VON KAENEL
Yoga With Tracy Von Kaenel

What a wonderful year of yoga we have had at the Tai Chi Center of Chicago. This year felt as if we really inhabited the space with full energy and vibration. There were some new and wonderful happenings in the Yoga program. Some of the highlights include:

1) The New Year brought several new students, each one wowed by the beauty of the space and the positive teachings going on there.

2) The summer schedule expanded to include many specialty classes which students enjoyed greatly. Some of those included Sensory Practice (blindfolded), Gong Bath (a vibrational shift of awareness), Exploring the Chakras (an introduction to the role the energy centers of the body play), and Inversion Focus (looking at the world upside down), Partner Yoga (so much fun to share) plus many, many more. All the students who sampled these classes came away with fresh perspectives and a renewed sense of openness about their practice.

3) This year we had our first Yoga Dance/Yoga Discussion/Yoga Potluck. We sweated through a free form style of yoga and dance that loosened up our bodies and minds, then calmed down with a philosophical discussion about yoga, and finished with a scrumptious vegetarian pot luck dinner. It was a wonderful evening.

4) New on the schedule this year was Private Yoga Lessons... including Yogassage (a soothing, therapeutic form of passive stretching) Several students took advantage of these valuable one on one lessons.

5) At this years Ravenswood Arts Walk, myself and the yoga students put on an impressive yoga demo that really inspired the viewing public. Everyone did such a wonderful job and had a great time.

The progress of the dedicated students has been amazing. I have seen so much more connection to the physical body and a deeper awareness of spirit. In some way, every student has made significant strides in their practice.

Looking to the future I hope to continue to bring the joy of Yoga to even more students, and further the depth of those continuing their path. We will once again have thought provoking, challenging and fun specialty classes in the summer, and another Yoga Dance Party. Also on the queue for next year is the making of a Yoga DVD, which I hope some of my students will participate in. I look forward to a great year of Yoga in 2010.

Namaste,
Tracy Von Kaenel

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Don Tomei - Newsletter 2009

DON TOMEI
Wellness Qigong Program Director

2010 will begin my fourth year of teaching qigong at the Tai Chi Center of Chicago. I’ve now had three years to explore and experience this profound and elusive art, and that, on top of my 15 years of tai chi, seems to me like a good beginning. Hopefully, in another 5-10 years, I’ll have it figured out. They weren’t kidding when they called it “gong.” It takes commitment; it takes time; it takes focus. And it takes a willingness to suspend your sense of “reality” and immerse yourself in your own energy.

An ancient text called “The Jade Pendant Inscription on Qigong” states: In promoting and consolidating chi, depth promises storage; storage promises extension; extension promises descent; descent promises stability; stability promises solidity; solidity promises germination; germination promises growth; growth promises retreat; retreat leads to heaven. Heavenly qi functions from above; earthly qi functions from below. Conformity to this leads to life while adverseness to this leads to death.

So there it is for me in a nutshell:

Depth → Storage → Extension → Descent → Stability → Solidity → Germination → Growth → Retreat → Heaven.

Heaven above; earth below.
Life or death, your choice.

And all you have to do is practice every day with focus and a sense of purpose.

Simple enough. I choose life.

And so, another year of teaching and practicing Qigong.

Health, happiness and long life to you all.

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Sharon Fierro - Newsletter 2009

SHARON FIERRO
Wellness Qigong

In the fall of 2008, The Tai Chi Center added a Saturday morning qigong class to the schedule. Elizabeth and Don offered me this wonderful opportunity and their support. This event launched my qigong teaching career. It was not the first time I found myself in the role of teacher, mentor, coach and guide. As a university faculty member and in my corporate finance career, I had fulfilled this role for many years. However, never had I been required to fully and creatively express myself in so many ways in subjects and areas so very new to me. Quickly, I realized the challenges and joys of self expression and communication with movement, words and heart in an extraordinarily open way.

Motivated by the beauty and health benefits of eastern exercise practices and this challenging teaching responsibility, I simultaneously began six months of intensive study to become certified as a personal trainer. My goal was to have an educational and practical foundation in western exercise science and nutrition to support my qigong practice/teaching and to provide custom-designed fitness programs to clients based on their health and mind/body fitness needs. I believe the qigong class experience for my students was enhanced, as the breadth and depth of my knowledge expanded and my teaching skills improved.

We have a core group of 5 committed students who have been practicing Qigong on Saturday mornings for the last year. It has been my great privilege and pleasure to see the progression of their individual and group practice. I am touched, moved and inspired by their commitment to this practice. Over the last few months, we have 5 or so new students who have also embraced the practice. Our core group welcomed the expansion of our community by extending their kindness and the generosity of spirit that is inherent in the qigong practice. Together, we are building a peaceful, healthy community, with ties to the overall Tai Chi center community, based on mutual caring, trust and respect. Internally, we have seen ourselves in each other as both students and teachers with our fears, strengths and weaknesses revealed, faced and accepted. Our separateness is dissolving as we are present to one another and as we learn, grow, heal and practice these ancient healing arts together.

In the late spring of 2009, I began to study Tai Chi. After months of resistance, a trusted moment of listening and an open heart revealed the possibilities. Are these teachings proving to be a path to truth and my life’s purpose? Is this form of self-expression and this supportive environment allowing me to be vulnerable, let go, be humble, accept, find compassion and rediscover my true nature? Am I finding my voice, creativity, passion and courage? I am challenged on so many levels; however, experiencing personal growth and feeling inspired to action, compels me to continue. I am just now beginning to feel the positive impact of this practice on my deeper understanding of myself, my relationships and my teaching of qigong.

In the fall of 2009, we sponsored Qigong workshops with Dr. Aihan Kuhn, CMD and Tai Chi and Qigong Master. The events were open to the public, as well as current qigong, tai chi and yoga students. Many of us attended the 8 Brocade Qigong workshop in anticipation of offering classes in this new form in the future. The weekend proved to be successful in building awareness and providing further education and training to The Tai Chi center teachers and students.

Looking forward to 2010, I hope to continue to foster a peaceful/healing class and personal practice. My goal, in concert with Don and Elizabeth, is to contribute significantly to the enhancement and expansion of the qigong class offerings/program. My intent is to build awareness in our community of the many benefits of the practice of qigong and tai chi through as many avenues as practical. By reaching out through the Tai Chi Center, The Tai Chi and Qigong Healing Institute and my Mindful Body Conditioning practice, I hope to expand the number of people we serve. With careful listening and attention to the voices and needs of our community, I will focus on more formal methods of information sharing and communication. Continuing education in both eastern and western exercise, wellness and spiritual practices will continue to serve as a cornerstone of my life. I look forward to sharing, giving and receiving the gifts of qigong and tai chi, while keeping a smile in my heart.

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Christine Wallers - Newsletter 2009

CHRISTINE WALLERS
Artist in Residence

This year for me has been about loss and being brave in the face of it. I've stood before walls movable and immovable. I have stood before walls that have collapsed...and walls impenetrable, conquering neither. At the end of this very long year I have learned what is left once I've tired of using all this force is to let go.

Above: 4,000 (3,000 short of completion) lines of filament nearly pull the east wall down. A years worth of work and all had to be cut down. Below: 1,000 lines, what the wall could take.

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Kipling Swehla - Newsletter 2009

KIPLING SWEHLA
Meditation Program

I have a confession. The first groggily mumbled words out of my mouth every sunday morning are, "I don't feel like going to meditation today…" It's become an on going joke because it's always followed a couple hours later by my proclamation, "WOW do I feel great! I'm so glad I went to meditation." and my girlfriend gives me her weekly response of an eye roll.

I know, as Eastern religions have known for thousands of years, that meditation energizes and invigorates the body and mind, but it seems that recently the media has come to the same conclusion through interviews with Western scientists and medical experts who use clinical studies and scientific research to offer logical explanations to validate a hypothesis that meditation is beneficial.

One recent interview with a psychologist described meditation as the leading approach in psycho therapy because there is a connection between emotions and breathing patterns. The Fight or Flight response is physiologically triggered by rapid shallow breaths. This is an innate message to the brain to prep the body for imminent danger which when you live in a densely populated urban environment can be problematic. Anxiety and anger are just as contagious subliminally as a yawn, but through routinely practiced meditation, you become aware of your breath, your consciousness, and your environment and are able to respond appropriately to situations.

In an interview with Dorris Taylor on NPR's Speaking of Faith, after discussing the endless possibilities and profound benefits of stem cells, she discussed studies which show that meditation actually increases the number of stem cells in your body. This evidence implies that through meditation, you can reverse the aging process. I can just hear Lao Tsu's response, "You don't say…"

During meditation, I find it usually takes me about 15 to 20 minutes for my mind to get fully settled in. Doing Tai Chi prior to sitting is the perfect primer and allows for the full 40 minutes of meditation to be an optimal experience. I look forward to practicing the Tai Chi form twice through prior to meditation beginning this sunday.

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Lisa Hish - Newsletter 2009

LISA HISH
Health & Sustainable Lifestyle

This was a quiet year for the health department at the school.

We discontinued both the monthly health class on seasonal living and physical care as well as the 5 element review included during most of Elizabeth’s seminars. We found that people are overwhelmed with scheduling obligations as the result of the changing economy. Even though there was no charge for this class for ongoing students, students’ schedules seemed full and attendance dropped. We will reinstitute this class when there is once again a demand.

Because the Health portion of the Sustainable Lifestyle was temporarily put on hold, this allowed us to focus our efforts elsewhere, and a new department was formed. We created an environmental arm to the school, which can be found under Sustainable Return on the website, divided into four categories: Water, Air, Land, and Lifestyle. It has a dual function of increasing awareness and creating a format for Tai Chi and Qigong students to jointly volunteer for environmental causes in the name of the school.

WATER
We formed a volunteer group of four in Chicago: Sas, Elizabeth, Christine and myself. In addition, we now have Rob Wittig as our Minnesota branch! Sas recently volunteered at the Alliance for the Great Lakes. For those of you who don’t know, water shortages will be one of our biggest concerns in the near future.

B.T.W. Elizabeth say's that the rain barrel went two weeks empty due to the lack of rainfall!

AIR
Elizabeth and 6 other Tai Chi’ers did a short video called 350 Breaths for 350.org, an organization focused on bringing awareness to global warming and the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, which is currently at 387ppm. 350ppm is what we need to return to in order to arrest global warming. That video was then re- posted on the 350.org website on October 24, 2009 as part of the International Day of Climate Action. A day where people came together during 5200 events in 181 countries for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. It was a documented protest with the goals of raising awareness and bringing pressure on the UN Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen taking place this month.

Elizabeth and Don Tomei also had a booth at Chicago’s Carbon Day where they promoted the low environmental impact that both Tai Chi and Qigong have on our planet. A video of that day will soon become available on our YouTube page.

LAND
My major contribution for the year was an experiment in Backyard Beekeeping. The hive(s) are currently kept on Grace Street, but are officially Tai Chi Center bees and may have pollinated the flowers on the Lexie Bruce patio garden this summer (see bee trail on the website). Did you know the little buggers travel 3 miles from their hive in search of pollen?

The remaining hive of sweet, Italian honeybees has been winterized and is ready for the cold. They are wind-sheltered (between the garage wall and 7 foot fence on two sides), insulated for warmth, and have a moisture-averting device to keep them from becoming damp from their own respiration.

From what I have read, they will attempt to form a small ball o’ bees, with the outside bees slowly migrating to the center, the inside bees migrating outward, and all of them flapping their wings to maintain a core temperature of 95 degrees near the queen (think penguins).

We left all of their honey in the hive (about 80 lbs), which they will pass along from bee to bee, choosing the type of honey based upon the medicinal needs of the bees. They still have access to the outdoors to fly on warmer days, giving them the opportunity to shake off any mites or illness they may have accumulated.

So we kicked off backyard farming with the bees. Next we will consider a bat house which will then cover both the day night pollinators. I have also begun research on chickens… Names being; Agnes, Fern, Gertrude, Hazel. Check out www.omelet.us and www.madcitychickens.com

Next upcoming event is a “burn” at Angelic Organics, date TBA, conducted by two Tai Chi’ers, Laurel Ross, and Stuart Goldman of the Field Museum, and coordinated by John Diversey, a Tai Chi alumnus, on his prairieland project at the farm.

LIFESTYLE
Elizabeth and I gave a lecture to the St. Ben’s Garden Club in February on Sustainable Gardening. OF course, we could not color in the lines, so we expanded it into “The Greening of St. Ben’s, a Sustainable Lifestyle.” In truth the two cannot be separated.

We covered:
Pollinators: Day pollinators: bees; night pollinators: bats
Colony Collapse Disorder: The negative effects of dryer sheet use
Dark Skies: Light pollution and its negative effect on bat populations, wildlife, plant life and human health
Soil nourishment: Biodynamic, organic nourishment of the soil (instead of fertilizer use)
Pesticides and genetically engineered plants: Trees providing our oxygen needs
Global Warming: Basics including the breaking apart of the Arctic shelf
Moss: A lawn alternative that holds both moisture and topsoil
Winter sidewalk management: Sand vs. salt

We asked them to consider doing one thing differently in their gardening this year and now ask the same of you!

Be well,
Lisa

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Om Madi Madme Hum - Ravenswood ArtWalk 2009

Grandmaster Hsu's new Grandson!

WLS-Ch. 7 anchor Judy Hsu gives birth on the Ike

WLS-Ch. 7 morning news anchor Judy Hsu gave birth this morning to a baby boy as she and her husband rushed to the hospital on the inbound Eisenhower Expressway, the station reported.

"We were heading down the Eisenhower," Hsu said during the station's 11 a.m. news broadcast. "At a pretty fast speed."

"I said, 'Do you need to pull over?' Judy said, 'I don't know!' " Tracy, her husband, said.

"I didn't know. I think I was in denial the whole time. I did not want to pull over on the side of the expressway. But the time came, and I knew the baby couldn't wait. I said, 'OK, I think we better pull over and call 911,' " Hsu said.

The couple's baby came into the world at about 3 a.m. near the Cicero Avenue exit. They named him Alexander James but -- fittingly -- his nickname will be "Ike."

As of this afternoon mother and baby were doing fine, according to the station.

Tracy helped his wife give birth in the front seat of the car. He said he remembered a news story about a woman who gave birth on the side of the road and her husband used his shoelaces to tie off the umbilical cord. Tracy tried that too and it worked.

Paramedics soon arrived and took them to the hospital.

"Can you believe it?" Hsu told the station. "It's so wild. It's stuff we read about in the news, and I never, ever thought would happen to me. It just went so fast. It was pretty incredible."

-- Staff report

Taichi performance breaks Guinness World Record CCTV-International

Taichi performance breaks Guinness World Record CCTV-International

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The Ancient Daoist Guqin

Stephen C. Walker will perform Saturday 12:30-1:00pm on October 3rd., 2009 at the Tai Chi Center of Chicago as part of the Ravenswood ArtWalk. Don't miss your chance to see this ancient Guqin instrument played by an exceptionally gifted musician.

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Ravenswood ArtWalk @ Tai Chi Center of Chicago

2009 Special Events - 8th Annual Ravenswood ArtWalk
October 3rd & 4th

Demonstrating Master Instructors of the Tai Chi Center of Chicago:
Elizabeth Wenscott - Tai Chi Sword, Tai Chi Knife
Chris Zalek - Tong Bei Chuan, Xing Yi, San Shou.
Sas Stark - Tong Bei Chuan, Xing Yi, San Shou
Don Tomei & Sharon Fierro - Qigong
Tracy Von Kaenel - Yoga

Exhibiting artist:
Artist in Residence, Christine Wallers - Projected Video Stills and Installations
Steven Leavitt - Painting
Kipling Swehla - Photography
Stephen C. Walker - Guqin ( ancient stringed Chinese instrument !!! )
Sangeet Gupta - Ceramics


This years schedule of events.
Saturday
11:00am - 12:00pm - Tai Chi Introductory - (Participation Welcome)
12:30pm - 1:00pm - Stephen C. Walker - Guqin Musical Performance
1:15pm - 2:00pm - Qigong - Instructor Don Tomei - (Participation Welcome)
2:00pm - 3:00pm - Demonstrations lead by master instructors, along with members of the TC3
3:00pm - 6:00pm - Art Opening

Sunday
11:00am - 12:00pm - School Open House - Art Viewing
12:00 - 1:00 - Yoga with Tracy Von Kaenel (details forthcoming)
3:00pm - 6:00pm - School Open House - Art Viewing

Visit for more information and to SHARE event details with family and friends.