T'ai Chi Chih is a series of 19 movements and 1 pose that together make up a moving meditation that balances the vital energy within us, which the Chinese call chi.

T'ai Chi Chih is easy to learn. Beginners generally learn all 19 movements and the one pose in an eight-week series of classes and the movements can be done by people of all ages and all ability levels, including those in wheelchairs.

Developed in 1974 by Justin Stone, a now-90-year-old living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, T'ai Chi Chih has spread mostly through word-of-mouth in a grassroots fashion among students enthusiastic about its extraordinary benefits. In the past 30+ years, more than 2,200 teachers have been accredited and now practice throughout the United States, Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and other countries. Tens of thousands more have been students.

Stone explains the health improvements in both physical and metaphysical terms. “With the accumulation of chi through T'ai Chi Chih, permanent changes in the metabolism and the thinking process take place,” he says. “The renewed energy conditions the whole way of life and joy becomes our natural heritage.”

Justin Stone continues, “Softness and continuity are the Essence of T'ai Chi Chih. It is the soft water that wears away the hard rock; the tongue outlasts the teeth. Hardness and confrontation are brittle and destructive; softness and a gentle manner of thinking are life-enriching.”

T'ai Chi Chih is not a short form of T'ai Chi Ch'uan.

For more information about T'ai Chi Chih (including finding teachers in your area), please visit www.taichichih.org