taiji & qigong testimonials

When I started qigong and tai chi classes eight years ago, I had no idea the impact it would have on my life. Initially, I was looking to help manage my stress (as well as try something new). I noticed how much better I felt after practicing qigong, even my husband noticed a change in me. With tai chi, I enjoyed the physical movement, though it was challenging at times, but the strength and confidence I felt made me want to continue with it and I soon found out that knowing the whole set wasn’t the end, it was only the beginning – and I love the journey it’s taking me on! Each class is so enlightening and leaves me wanting to learn more. It’s a process of self-discovery and I have learned for instance how and where I hold tension in my body, how the energy moves through me and so much more. I now look forward to practicing as it has become a part of my daily routine. If my energy is low, I practice and feel re-charged. If I need to get centered, I’ll do “standing in Wuji.” Tai chi helps keep me healthy, calm, focused and more mindful.
E.P.

The practice of tai chi over the last few months has been very rewarding. Aside from affording me the stress management benefit, I have found that practicing the movements exercises my mind and body in a disciplined way. There are new words and procedures that have broadened my awareness of the mind, body and spirit connection. Over the last few weeks I have found that my tai chi practice has affected other areas of my day-to-day activities. The development of my balance and weight distribution has helped with adjusting in my bowling form when faced with different factors of my approach, etc. I know I still have a lot to learn but my experience with tai chi up to now has been extremely helpful in terms of health and physical well-being. Thanks for your patience & expertise.
T.S.

After five years of working with Shoshanna, she continues to inspire and motivate me to further develop mind/body movement through tai chi. The movements are executed in a specific manner involving balance and alignment, although the routine flows as creatively as in the freedom of dance. Mindful body movement has provided a toolkit to manage stress and has provided much exercise, fun and joy when practiced alone or in a group!
B.C.

I first started tai chi lessons when I was 30 years old. I was extremely tense and restrained. My coordination was so poor that I could not reliably toss a wad of paper into a wastebasket one foot away. I was easily distracted and often lost in thought. Most of my responses were automatic. In society I had so little confidence in myself that I rarely looked anyone in the face. My first course of tai chi lasted for seven years. It improved my balance and coordination. After two years, I was able to do an unassisted headstand for the first time. Doing tai chi also raised my spirits and eased my interactions with others. After five years I married a beautiful and devoted woman, and we had two fine sons. This was beyond anything I had hoped for. In 2000 the company where I worked was collapsing. My wife had lost the use of her legs to multiple sclerosis. My troubles were overwhelming me. Our counselor suggested that I study tai chi again. This led me to Shoshanna, who accepted me as a student. Shoshanna’s teaching was more precise and profound than I was used to. I learned slowly and hesitantly. I persisted. Over the years, as my wife gradually sank into paralysis, I bore up well, supporting her and helping her live her life as normally and naturally as she could. I am now 70 years old. Though my habits are sedentary, my doctor told me that I have the heart and lungs of an athlete. Arthritis runs in my family; I do not have it. My hair has kept its color. I now have a sense of my own energy. Eleven years ago, tai chi began to restore my contact with the earth, an unforgettable experience. Over the past year I have started to connect with the heaven. This is enabling me to release the tensions and restraints that I have always imposed on myself. Whenever I practice, I make new discoveries about perception and movement. Tai chi has probably saved my life, and it is making my life richer and more whole.
G.S.

I came to tai chi at a critical point in my life; one where change was inevitable. I was aware of a long-held desire to be calmer and to quiet my busy mind. I wanted to be able to put some distance between me and everything else and to feel less buffeted and battered by the world. Immediately, it gave me the gift of one whole hour where I thought of nothing else and a discipline that I could access at any time – a sanctuary if you will. What continues to unfold is a calmer me that acts more in my own self-interest which leaves me more satisfied with my decisions which brings less second-guessing, less thought of pleasing and accommodating others at my own expense. I am able to end each day and be truly done with it and to greet the new day with gratitude, joy and happy anticipation. The things I enjoy I now enjoy more because I am truly experiencing them and the things that are problematic are less so because I engage constructively in resolving them and then I move on with the knowledge that I have done the best I could. I sleep more restfully, feel calmer and my internal conversations are most often positive and nurturing. I live my life with intention and I feel more present for myself and able to engage meaningfully with those that matter most to me. My gratitude is overflowing.
P.L.

I worked in law enforcement for forty years and tai chi classes with Shoshanna have been life enhancing. As an officer, I was trained in the letter and spirit of the law. These strategies were complimented by the structure and flow of tai chi principles. Also, being in class with others offers a sense of team and support. I will have friends from this experience that will last a lifetime. After breast cancer surgery, tai chi assisted in my recovery. The flow of movements is gentle. Classes helped me return to a peaceful sense of body, mind and spirit. I am cancer free for over three years. Shoshanna is a patient and knowledgeable tai chi teacher who reminds me to embrace being a beginner, as master of the “class of life.” I am thankful to be in attendance.
E.E.

I began practicing tai chi a year and a half ago after experiencing a period of physical, emotional and spiritual exhaustion. After nearly a year of extreme self-care, which included, among others, diet reset, acupuncture and tai chi, I began running three miles two-three times a week, hiking mountains and losing 25 pounds of extra weight. Tai chi has been invaluable in my return to health as the practice helped me to reconnect to what was going on within myself emotionally, psychologically and spiritually, and how each aspect affects the physical. Deeper awareness and knowledge of how to achieve and maintain this integration has been essential to my ongoing healing. From this inner tai chi foundation: I move differently, aware of how movement radiates from my dantian (core) instead of upper body; I have greater confidence in my strength, flexibility and power; I am less swayed by the daily interaction and happenings of others. I am deeply grateful for being led to Shoshanna.
D.G.

At first the benefits of tai chi were not noticed by me, but my son Mike saw it right away. In my 80’s I am able to take care of the house, yard, garden, a bit slower of course, but still. I am never sick, I sing in a choir, play handbells, in a recorder ensemble and knit, crochet and do decoupage. Tai chi seems to create a life force in me that affects all areas of my life. I am happy to be alive and thankful for every moment. I am profoundly thankful for Shoshanna, who shares her gifts so generously.
C.S.

I began taking tai chi in the hopes that it would improve my memory and balance. It has, indeed, improved my memory. I also find the classes very calming and relaxing. Perhaps in time my balance might improve as well. You must expect that it takes years to learn and perfect the many tai chi moves. The more you practice, the more skillful you will become.
P.J.

Tai chi has enabled me to restore flexibility and taught me to move in a way that I could effectively protect myself.
L.S.

I was reaching out for help, mentally falling apart, smoking two to four packs of cigarettes a day when I was 25 – I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I was waking up more tired than when I went to sleep. And lying on the floor was a small newspaper with a one-line ad for tai chi. I called and started spilling my guts to a stranger, that’s how far I was gone. I know in hind sight tai chi has saved my life more than three times. I was so locked up with issues starting right in the beginning during childhood. My life took even more bizarre twists that induced a lot of stress. At one point, I lost everything and was on unemployment. I was obsessed about my tai chi in the beginning - always on my case, saying: “why don’t I get it, how come I don’t get it?” I kept reminding myself how difficult it is to do something perfectly, especially when never done before. Fortunately, after the first five years of physical effort, I “broke the horse” from running. Tai chi gave my mind alternatives, freedom from the ruts and patterns; it gave my body freedom from being too tense. It made my mind healthier, go figure. When I was younger, I used the piano to escape sometimes for eight hours a day. I remember later in life when the piano sounded better because I applied some principles of tai chi. Ah, and as I wound up in one of many confrontations – I had a place where my mind and body could go while remaining present that was not pure tension. Like when handling billions of dollars in equipment making split second decisions, or taking care of over 14,000 people on a base, arguing with colonels or de-briefing two-star generals at work. And having one on one conversations with “underworld” figures without back-up; including that time the police had me walking heel to toe – yes, I passed, hah. And that other time the gang member approached me at 6:50 am on Fulton Street (NYC), no one else was around; crazy kid. I had something none of them had, something internal, something that gave my mind and body an alternative, a distraction that was beneficial to my health too. This art gave me stability I never had, my will power increased and I even know how – all from doing the development. Tai chi has given me focus and something to do in every encounter without getting caught up in a situation, which is a great thing in dealing with problems in life. I’d rather be centered first so I can see an issue from the outside in lieu of being caught up in it. This is what I mean by always having something that other people didn’t have in my encounters – and it has to be developed through practice. There are many things to learn through tai chi. Even today, 30+ years later, on this path to saving myself there is something to keep me occupied and interested called “subtle energy.” Qi is a real tangible feeling, it requires developing your senses and focus, but it is there, it was always there. My background is mechanical engineering, you’d think someone in my profession would not believe in qi – I mean they don’t teach “qi” in engineering - I proved myself wrong - and it opened up a healthier world. The benefit today is that I carry the integration gained from tai chi throughout the entire day as my primary focus - never to leave the mind, the breathing and the proper state. Then from there I can communicate and deal with other people, but always keep my center first, my health. I am grateful to be learning the Guang Ping form. It provides me with something I can keep developing and it takes a lot of rote learning, but so does every concert piano piece. No one is going to play Chopin’s First Concerto without learning it by rote first. Anyway, I have had quite a few turns in the barrel and am happy to say I’m still here thanks to tai chi. I would say now at 58 I am healthier mentally and physically than I have ever been in life.
F.O.

When I was first introduced to tai chi I was living as a hologram completely disconnected from my body and the world around me. Illness and trauma had taken its toll and I could not imagine a future for myself at all, let alone a healthy one. In class I pushed my body to go through the motions as long as I could stand upright. Root, Center, Ground, Dantian, Yin, Yang were terms that swirled in the ether beyond me as I tried not to choke on the tension in my throat. Simply making it through a class was a victory. My state was such that it served only as means of temporary distraction from illness and isolation. But as it happened, tai chi transformed my relationship to life. With years of practice and healing, my physical body is becoming a more comfortable place to reside. At the start, I felt trapped and limited, in denial of my own physical existence. Moving through my resistance, I am beginning to tune in to my body’s alignment and structure. I feel my physical muscles re-awakening, infusing with energy as I shift awareness to them. I am gathering the pieces of myself once discarded in distress and am welcoming them back in tranquility, reassembling myself into a singular whole being. Tai chi is showing me the possibility and opportunity that only a human body affords. This newfound appreciation and love for my physical self is now the epicenter of my healing. My tai chi practice is fortifying my ability to meet suffering from a place of quiet strength in lieu of panicked desperation. It is teaching me how to move and flow and be with integrity and intent, to let go of tension and hone the natural power that comes from being alive. I am learning how it is possible to deflect undesirable on comings, be them physical or energetic, with soft diligence and without personal loss. I am learning how to empty and listen deeply with compassion while remaining strong and protected from unwanted outside influence. Simultaneously, I am learning how to navigate the inevitable permeation. Tai chi nourishes my innate abilities. As a filmmaker, I am becoming a more intuitive storyteller and a stronger director. I approach my productions with a calm clarity that enables me to flow with circumstance, better connect with my subjects, and compose a powerful influential end product. As an artist, my precision is improving. I find I can better unite my eyes, hands, and intent to manifest works as I see them in my mind. As a writer, my words are more deliberate and abundant in substance. Most of all tai chi has rehabilitated my relationship with myself. My anxious judgmental impatience is being replaced with compassionate acceptance. Confidence in potential is superseding fears of limitation. That which is superfluous is receding allowing space for growth, wellness, and joy. There is nowhere to hide in tai chi. Physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual imbalances relentlessly make themselves known. It is a mirror of awareness I at first met only with rigid obstinance. As I practice letting go of false perfection and allow my foundations to shift, I see my development ripple through every aspect of my life. After years of perpetual lateness, I am now always on time. Superficial success is no longer indicative of my self-worth. Tai chi is an ego neutralizer. I am prideful in my demonstration of a move only to discover yet a hundred more improvements to be implemented to that same move. Every step forward shines a light on the next ten steps ahead. As a child I often dreamed of touching Infinity. Tai chi to me is a physical manifestation of the infinite, the boundless bounded. It is a roadmap to infinite growth. At first tai chi was a means of filling a void in my life. Health struggles left me unable to progress in other areas of my life, so tai chi became my purpose and direction. It soon grew to be the unrelenting central axis of my new life. Learning the 64 movements has made me a vessel for this sacred ancient set. I feel at once a sense of humility and profound responsibility. The seed of ever-growing vitality has been planted within me. I bow my head in gratitude for the wisdom tai chi is bestowing upon me. Tai chi has not changed my life. It empowers me. It offers me a choice to connect with its teachings and change my life for myself. My hope is to live as a perpetual humble student, to nourish and heal my being, and ultimately to embody the principles of tai chi so that I may live a life of the purest earthly intent.
J.B.