T'ai Chi Chih

World T'ai Chi and Qigong Day Celebration AIMS -Greeley -

Panoramic view of a group of people in fitness studio for World T'ai Chi Day celebration.

OUR Celebration 2023

Thirty-five in-person and twenty-seven ZOOM attendees united in breath and movement to celebrate the healing art of T'ai Chi Chih, T'ai Chi and Qigong on the beautiful campus of AIMS - Greeley. The celebration's hosts genuinely appreciate the campus supporting this community event. Our deepest appreciation goes to each person who showed up to celebrate "One breath - One World" with us.

For more information contact any of the co-hosts listed below.
JoEtta Heck: 812-371-2092/joetta@dietforbalancedhealth.com—Greeley/Windsor

Marie Dotts: 970-412-9955/mcdotts@hotmail.com—Windsor/Fort Collins/Greeley/Loveland

Rebecca Paulson: 307-413-1325/rebeccapaulsontcc@gmail.com—Loveland/Evans/Fort Collins

Lisa Stroyan: 970-481-9733/lstroyan@gmail.com—Fort Collins/ZOOM Coordinator for event

2021 - Grounded on Earth Day through T'ai Chi Chih®

Our intention for this 2021 Earth Day Celebration:

May we

Discover the calming benefits of connecting to our Earth by

Integrating the mind body practice of T’ai Chi Chih® into our daily practice and be

Empowered to soften our thoughts, action and words so,

Together we can create a joyful world grounded in appreciation, love and peace.

Celebrate our grounding connection to Earth through the teaching of T'ai Chi Chih®. Instruction includes four moves and one pose.

Softness: A Principle of Movement

Softness is the key to letting go

When we talk about "how to move" as we practice T'ai Chi Chih, the quality of softness is encouraged. Yet, how does one practice softness? Softness is a state of being. It cannot be taught. It is an allowance to flow with an openness to what is.

As you are instructed on the movements of T'ai Chi Chih, listen to the words of your instructor for how to move your body and imagine the movement in your mind' s eye first. This visioning allows you to be free to move through that heavy air in the manner described. As you repeat this process, you feel the movement as it's performed in the manner described.

Now, begin to perform the movement with your body. You will notice it may feel difficult. The body is conditioned from all the past experiences that you have had throughout your lifetime. These are physical experiences as well as emotional. Often, the experiences of the past create a stickiness in the body felt in its cells and tissues impacting the way you move. This stickiness is a result of conditioned habits and include the conditioned habits of the mind. The way to breakdown all stickiness is through awareness. After all, we cannot change what we are not aware of.

Awareness is where meaning happens. If you want change, awareness must be present. Awareness is magical. It is the most powerful invisible force in your body. Awareness seems to do nothing, yet moves energy within the body. Awareness is transformational. It changes unhealthy energy into healthy energy, dark energy into light energy and stagnant energy into energy that flows. (1)

Awareness is empowered through our sense of sight. As we gaze out into our world, we become aware of something that wants to be known. The awareness of one speaks to the awareness of another and brings about unexpected changes in the body and the brain. As we engage in our world through sight, we exchange energy. When we consciously choose to see with life-enhancing qualities like acceptance, understanding, love and tolerance, our conditioning shifts. Old habits of conditioning that create stuck energy have the qualities of being hard, sticky and rigid. Softness has the opposite qualities. When we begin to move with the qualities of softness, the stuck energy and its qualities begin to dissolve. You know you are moving with softness when you feel the qualities of openness, relaxation and receptiveness. Your life flows and so does your body. You feel the T'ai Chi Chih movements flow through heavy air and the stickiness that once was is released. (1)

As stated by Deepak Chopra in his book titled, Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul - How to Create a New You, "By moving stuck energy, the free flow of consciousness is restored, which is enough to bring the body back into a healthy state." This happens energetically through expanded awareness. He goes on to say, "...awareness and energy are the most powerful healers in existence." This is my belief, too. Allow awareness which is the root of the T'ai Chi Chih practice to move your stuck energy. -- JoEtta Heck

(1) Chopra, Deepak. Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul - How to Create a New You. paperback edition. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2009: 51-72

Empower Yourself with T'ai Chi Chih®

A Mindful Movement Practice

T’ai Chi Chih® is a mindful movement practice that anyone can do anywhere to achieve an expanded feeling of calmness in both the mind and body. It is based on activating, circulating and balancing the intrinsic energy that exists in each of us. As we connect our body and mind, we expand our self-awareness. Sustained well-being and balance are rooted in self-awareness.

JoEtta taught T'ai Chi Chih® in person on the Aims Community College Campus in Greely. She began teaching in this educational setting in January 2022. The mind body studio where she taught has mirrors on all walls which helps student observe their posture and assess their movement. Currently in 2024, JoEtta is taking a temporary hiatus with in person classes on the AIMS campus due to personal scheduling conflicts.

Potential students click here for a lesson on grounding and a few T'ai Chi Chih movements.

Students find handouts mentioned in class here

Students click here for the Winter Solstice practice with moves from week one.

Students learn how to pull taffy here with written instructions.

Students find Your Practice Videos Here