About Us

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Guide of T'ai Chi Chih (July 26 - Present)

Accredited T'ai Chi Chih Teacher (1998)

From the moment I stepped into my first T’ai Chi Chih class, I knew I was HOME. The soft, graceful but powerful movements spoke deeply to my soul. They spoke of the possibility of moving and flowing through life from a center of stillness, strength, love and joy. The calling to the contemplative journey, a journey of awakening to a true center within and flowing through life from that center has been a passion throughout my whole life. It has been a passion even as I have journeyed as a Licensed Practical Nurse, a Software Engineer for Hewlett Packard, a mother of three boys, and a CNA for Pathways Hospice.

I have been an accredited T’ai Chi Chih teacher since 1998. I spent my first years teaching in the wonderful T’ai Chi Chih community in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Our family relocated to Northern Colorado in 2007. At that time there were no other T’ai Chi Chih teachers in the area. Knowing how important community is especially with T’ai Chi Chih I felt deeply called to not just teach T’ai Chi Chih but to help create a growing community of teachers and students. Northern Colorado now has a thriving T’ai Chi Chih community. I continue to teach here and mentor teacher candidates. I am also very much looking forward to supporting the larger community of T’ai Chi Chih as Guide in its mission of spreading this powerfully healing and loving practice with the world.

See more about Marie Dotts at https://taichichih.org/teacher/marie-dotts/

T'ai Chi Chih Guide (November 2013 – July 2025)

T'ai Chi Chih Teacher Trainer (2001)   

Accredited T'ai Chi Chih Teacher (1985)

Life before T’ai Chi Chih® and life after are very different for me. I took a T’ai Chi Chih class in 1983 to bring some peace into my life as I struggled through the process of ending a relationship. It helped tremendously to cut the mind-chatter and allow me to sleep. After two years of practice my teacher suggested I take the teacher training course. I was most emphatic that I did not want to become a teacher. The idea of standing in front of a group of people and being in charge was beyond my realm of imagining. But at that time that was the only way to receive training from the Originator, Justin Stone. So, I completed the Teacher Training course in April 1985 with Mr. Stone, and much to my amazement I have been teaching continuously since 1986. No more secretarial and office jobs for me!

I am often asked, “what has TCC done for you?” Considering the direction my life has taken since learning T’ai Chi Chih I think the most precious gift I have received is a stronger sense of who I am. More confidence to say “yes.”

I attended University from 1988 to 1992 receiving my BA in Social Work with a minor in Gerontology allowing me to work for several school district in their Older Adult programs.

I accepted the challenge of becoming a T’ai Chi Chih Teacher Trainer in 2001 under the guidance of Justin Stone, the Originator of T’ai Chi Chih and Ed Altman who was then Head of T’ai Chi Chih.  

When asked to take on the role of Guide of the T’ai Chi Chih Community I accepted, serving from 2013 – 2025.

Considering back in 1985 I did not want to take on the responsibility of being a teacher, of being in front of people, taking charge, I know this willingness to do so now is a direct result of my T’ai Chi Chih practice. It is a tool for self-exploration, a tool for peace of mind, a tool for connecting in a cosmic way with all life.

There are so many joys that have come into my life through the practice of T’ai Chi Chih; the wonderful open-hearted people that are drawn to the practice, seeing the benefits received by myself and others who practice, the serenity of connecting to “the greater”, and the joy of discovery when a new understanding or awareness about the practice unfolds.

While there may be only 19 movements and one pose, a lifetime could be spent delving into the depths of the practice – feeling the texture and flow of the movements, and discovering the aliveness resting within the stillness.

See more about Sandy McAlister at

https://taichichih.org/teacher/sandy-mcalister/

Seijaku Teacher Trainer (2004) 

T'ai Chi Chih Teacher Trainer (2001-Present)

Accredited T'ai Chi Chih Teacher (1984)

Pam Towne is an accredited T’ai Chi Chih teacher, one of the International T’ai Chi Chih Teacher Trainers and the sole Seijaku Teacher Trainer.  Accredited in 1984 by Justin Stone,  Pam has been teaching this moving meditation ever since. A teacher at heart, she has a Lifetime Secondary Teaching Credential in California and over 40 years teaching experience.

Over the years Pam has taught T’ai Chi Chih in adult education, corporations, parks and recreation departments, cancer centers, senior communities, churches, and spiritual retreats.

Pam has led T’ai Chi Chih Teacher Accreditations, Seijaku Teacher Accreditations, Intensives, Retreats and Workshops around the world, including at the 1993 Science of Mind Conference held just outside of Moscow, Russia.

She pioneered the TCC Intensive, leading its first two courses in 2003.  She also led the first online TCC Retreat, hosted the first online TCC Intensive, and led the first online TCC Teacher Accreditation in 2020. 

She was a founding member of the TCC International Foundation Board of Trustees and served on the Board for 12 years. 

Pam currently teaches Beginning, Deepening & Seijaku classes online. She leads in person TCC Retreats & hosts an annual TCC Teachers Retreat in Oceanside, California, where she resides.

Her mission is to improve the quality of people’s lives and to contribute to inner and outer peace through sharing T’ai Chi Chih. 

See more about Pam Towne at  https://taichichih.org/teacher/pam-towne/

T’ai Chi Chih Teacher Trainer (2012)

Accredited T'ai Chi Chih Teacher (1997)

I have found my journey with T'ai Chi Chih, and subsequently with the advanced form Seijaku, to be no less than life-changing in so many beneficial ways - physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually. It was a joy to find T'ai Chi Chih in 1995, and after becoming a Teacher in 1997, the mainstay of my livelihood and joyful focus of my teaching energy.

I learned so much since the year 2000, hosting T'ai Chi Chih Accreditations, Events, and by hosting post-Conference Seijaku courses with appointed Trainer Pam Towne since 2013.

It was especially enlightening to study Seijaku with T'ai Chi Chih's Originator, Justin Stone in 1998, in participating in his Meditation Retreats for 3 consecutive years, and continued to learn from him during visits to Albuquerque.

The most gratifying and informative experience of all has been serving the T'ai Chi Chih community as a Teacher Trainer since my appointment in 2012. It has been my joy to bring T'ai Chi Chih to so many people; people who then continue to learn more of this excellent practice as it enriches their minds, bodies, and spirits.

Prior to discovering T'ai Chi Chih:

Reiki Master (1995)

MDiv (Master of Divinity) St. Mary's Seminary & University, Baltimore, MD (1986)

BME - Bachelor of Music Education, Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ (1974)

Teacher of piano & vocal music for many years

See more about Daniel Pienciak at https://taichichih.org/teacher/daniel-pienciak/

T’ai Chi Chih Teacher Trainer (2022) 

Accredited T'ai Chi Chih Teacher (2000)

TCC found me in 1999 when I saw an ad for a ‘moving meditation’. This appealed to me because I had been described as having a mind like a racehorse-on steroids!Back then, I couldn’t imagine the idea of doing seated meditation, yet I knew I needed to find a way to quiet the racing thoughts. I was pleasantly surprised (shocked actually) to experience an absolutely quiet mind from the very first TCC class!

I continued taking classes and was accredited in 2000. The spiritual aspects of TCC and Justin’s writings have always appealed to me, so when Sandy McAlister reached out and asked me to consider hosting a TCC workshop for her with a ‘different’ slant in 2010, I suggested the idea of having a Prajna workshop. I’ve been hosting various TCC events consistently ever since.

When invited to travel to MS and CO and offer TCC workshops, I began facilitating Prajna, Heightened Awareness and most recently Cultivating Cosmic Consciousness programs.

I’ve  taught in numerous settings to a variety of populations e.g. elementary students 2nd-8th grade, college students, YMCA, outdoor arboretums, Zoom classes (for seated only and standing), library’s etc.

Even with ‘the same’ 19 moves and 1 pose, teaching TCC always feels, new, exciting and fresh.

In addition to TCC, I also LOVE African drumming, dogs, music (R&B) and Pickleball.

See more about April Leffler at https://taichichih.org/teacher/april-leffler/

T’ai Chi Chih Teacher Trainer (2025)

Accredited T'ai Chi Chih Teacher (1995)

“What beckons to me in this moment now through my T’ai Chi Chih practice as we, the chiand I, commune with one another?” is a question I often ask myself in the quiet early morning as I start my day. I and my humanity fall into a compassionate embrace; the gentle 19 movements and 1 pose welcome me home.

Teaching T’ai Chi Chih – Joy Thru Movement (whose name means “Knowledge of the Supreme Ultimate”) since 1995 to people of all ages, I take great delight in inviting students to experience for themselves what this joyous evidence-based mindfulness moving meditation has to offer. In my heart of hearts, I seek always to encourage the wordless essence of what I learned (and continue to learn) from my primary teacher Justin Stone, the originator of  T’ai Chi Chih, and what I feel all humans have access to through the wondrous practices he shared so generously with his students.

For me, the teacher-student relationship is a sacred one. My friend and first T’ai Chi Chih teacher, Amy Hackenberg, was a particular grace in my life. And I hold dear fellow meditator and teacher Carmen Brocklehurst as an incredible support to me in being able to go deeper in T’ai Chi Chih. In almost three decades of teaching, I have observed that T’ai Chi Chih has the ability to give each practitioner what is needed in a given moment whether it be physical, mental, emotional or the more elusive spiritual. As Justin says, our task in life is to uncover “Who and What we are.” With the aid of T’ai Chi Chih, we are joyously supported in this revealing, in ways that are unique to each one.

After 5 years of teaching T’ai Chi Chih in Evanston, IL, what revealed itself to me was a compelling passion to delve further into the mysterious “Supreme Ultimate.” Thus in 2000, I moved to Albuquerque to meditate and study with Justin directly. What a humbling and amazing gift.

Sitting at the feet of the master for twelve years, I warmed myself so that the inner flame of yearning I felt all my life could catch hold and burn unobscuredly. As best I could, I soaked in Justin’s teachings which are more alive to me now than ever. In a world longing  for connection, through our T’ai Chi Chih practice, we come to Know that we are exquisitely held and led by something bigger than ourselves. Justin knew this divinity or “Supreme Ultimate” was in everyone. “You must go inside and find it. You must do it yourself!” he encouraged us enthusiastically. Up until the final moment of his life, he taught us as we were able to receive. In fact, the last breath Justin took, a singular teaching which I feel contains all of T’ai Chi Chih within it, continues to evolve in me.

In addition to its myriad healing benefits, T’ai Chi Chih is known, too, for greatly enhancing creativity. I therefore credit T’ai Chi Chih for the surprising birthings that have emerged.

For two years, munching on carrots and peanuts for sustenance, dear friend Ann Rutherford and I worked on a project devoted to transcribing and editing Justin’s Eastern Philosophy lecture series. The resulting book, Gateway to Eastern Philosophy and Religion, was published in 2006. A blend of philosophy, religion and many of Justin’s personal stories, the book gives readers an intimate feeling for what it was like to spend time with Justin on Saturday nights at his home.

Less than a year after Justin died, in January 2013 along with three of my wonderful high school seniors, I had an opportunity to give a TEDx Talk on The Effects of T’ai Chi Chih on High School Students.

In 2019, a website tumbled forth dedicated to teaching and sharing T’ai Chi Chih so that others may benefit. The site includes writings published in our two T’ai Chi Chih community periodicals, The Vital Force and the T’ai Chi Chih News, as well as educational videos and information about local and national teaching offerings.

T’ai Chi Chih is for everyone. It is easy to learn and yields surprising benefits. “Drinking a bowl of green tea, I stopped the war,” said Justin’s great friend Paul Reps. I echo the sentiment and look forward to meeting you.