Faces and Places: Michele Cullen-Russell (Canada)

Welcome all. Finally, a post! There are as many different stories as there are styles of tai chi. My friend Michele is an artist who lives in Canada. Michele has been practising tai chi for 7 to 8 years and finds it helps her with her multiple sclerosis (MS). Michele practises both sitting and standing styles. As you'll see, tai chi inspires her artwork as well as her daily life.

I practice Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi.  It is a very internal art which doesn’t require a lot of external movement from me, but I can feel my body working.  It has not taken away my MS issues but... it has somehow showed me how to find my balance and work with what I have. I feel very centered and stable when I take the time to finish each move before going to the next move.  The advantage for me is that I have a very narrow/small spot where I am totally balanced on my legs/feet so I need to find my center all the time or I start to fall over. I am usually very stable and enjoy the feeling of having some control over how my body moves. As soon as I stop and just ‘walk ‘, my MS legs are back. 

Michele enjoying tai chi

I have also been shown how to practice walking normally again by my instructors – just making sure I place the heel down first and then the toes -  but this doesn’t come naturally and most of the time I just want to get from A to B without thinking about how my foot lands... but I do practice.  

Hold The Ball by Michele Cullen-Russell

It is really all about balance and being centered, being open, relaxed, and feeling the connection from the ground up which is exactly what I feel when I am in that right spot. This form of tai chi seems to have an emphasis on the rotation of the spine, and this is where my MS lesions are located.  My feeling is that it is helping to slow down my MS progression. 

Sweet Spot by Michele Cullen-Russell

The tai chi community is also so very supportive, and I just love getting together to do tai chi with them. I was introduced to this form of tai chi by starting in a chair as well as using parallel bars. A year later I had to start walking with two canes and incorporated them into my tai chi so that I could find balance. Now, I practice free-standing tai chi most of the time but still enjoy my practice in a chair or with my two canes when my body is needing the extra help. The versatility of this tai chi made it possible for me to slowly understand how to compensate and work with what I have. Anyone, with or without health issues, can practice and receive the health benefits it offers, and this is why I love it so much.  

Cocoon by Michelle Cullen-Russell

So, I would say that the tai chi helps me physically and mentally. It has improved my quality of life. It is a tool I can use to work with my MS. I am not just giving in to my disease but working alongside it with the help of tai chi. I have a great team of doctors, but they can do nothing for me now other than to monitor my condition. They have been curious and are watching and have noticed how tai chi has really helped me.

Self Portrait in Water by Michele Cullen-Russell

Finally, I can see how tai chi has also influenced my paintings over the years.  I feel fortunate and grateful to have it in my life. 



Michele Cullen-Russell

Faces & Places: Bob Ivett & U3A (Australia)

Everybody's Tai Chi is about people enjoying tai chi in their daily lives. I dedicate today's post to my dear friend Bob Ivett who continues to be an inspiration to me.

Tai Chi Celebrations

Bob teaches tai chi at U3A at Chinderah. One of his students from Pottsville made this FANTASTIC cake for their end of term party. What an amazing creation, with tiny Bob complete with glasses and uniform. I am wondering what pose Bob is performing on the top of the cake? Is it Grasp the bird's tail or Snake creeps down or something completely different?

The U3A group meet each week and practice Yang and Sun style forms, the fan, broadsword, straight sword and an Australian Brolga qigong. This is always accompanied by good times, laughs and smiles all round. I am amazed at how much the group has learned under Bob's tutelage over the past 4 years and the enthusiasm that abounds in each meeting. 

Tai chi can help with a range of ailments including arthritis, balance issues, back problems, etc. The positivity of a tai chi group also helps lift up dragging spirits and chase away any blue feelings.

However, it is in the doing and "playing" tai chi that makes a lasting difference in one's life. Here in Bob's own words are his thoughts and feelings about tai chi/ taiji ...

Taiji is my greatest metaphor for life.

We all remember moments when “time stood still”; timeless moments, eternal moments. Examples from my own life abound; some that come immediately to mind are - looking into a baby’s face and having that look returned deeply; being still, in a canoe on flat water with reflections going beyond forever; sailing a dinghy when the ocean, waves, wind, boat and me merge into one; each an endless moment when time disappears, when an eternity of spaciousness is all around.

When I yield to the freedom that is Taiji, I venture beyond form into the eternal field of now; into eternal spaciousness.

When I bring this with me into my everyday life, I am free from reaction, resistance, hardness and fear and I enter the timeless spaciousness behind all form, the eternal moment.

Taiji is a regular practice that brings me home. It brings me back from the future, back from the past into the eternal now.

Taiji is a portal into eternal spaciousness.

What a gift.





By the way, Bob is not only a well loved tai chi teacher, he also sews his own tai chi outfits including braiding the Chinese clasps. Amazing. This outfit is inspired by the uniforms worn by Wudang Taoist masters and students.

Clear Vision and Moving Forward

Do you notice when it rains people become chaotic? On roads, other drivers act insanely - overtaking absurdly, cutting you off, people out at the shops are on edge. 

Why is that?  People seem to be panicked because their vision is blocked or blurred. For most people, it's only when their glasses fog up or they've had an eye injury or procedure done that they feel uncomfortable, out of focus There is another type of vision - peripheral vision. That’s what we use in tai chi.  With tai chi you must always move with your chin up, head straight, eyes looking ahead. This keeps your spine and head aligned and locks your gaze on what’s approaching in front of you as well as  where you are going to move next. In martial arts, this is also a way of  watching your opponent to anticipate their next move.

Don't panic, look at the horizon while being aware of your what's happening around you

"Looking ahead" is also a useful practice for everyday life. It’s not that I am expecting someone is going to attack me at any moment, but I am more mindful of the space I am moving into. Also, as I step I know, or rather my mind knows, where my foot is stepping rather than not thinking and basically plodding along. When I do tai chi, my body is more aware of each limb, foot and hand so it becomes part of my movement in daily life. Older friends  (in their seventies) have said, there are times when they've thought they were going to have a bad fall but to their surprise they've caught themselves and come out of it unscathed. They've attributed that to doing tai chi regularly.

To be honest, I did have a tumble a couple of years ago. I wasn't concentrating when checking the letterbox and was standing at an odd angle. My house is built on a slope so, you guessed it, I turned quickly without thinking and went head over heels. To my surprise, I didn't tense up in fear but relaxed and fell softly onto my bottom. I sat there not quite sure how that happened. I think my body automatically adjusted itself as I didn't have time to calculate what was going on and I'm not a gymnast. I think when you do tai chi your body and senses become sensitised to variations in balance so it's like a personal protection system.

Looking ahead: head and spine in alignment

Moving with awareness, moving with balance is ingrained when you do tai chi. It is so automatic you don’t even know this awareness is there. Amazingly, I once saw a tai chi master from Wudang Mountain do a tai chi demonstration with his eyes closed the entire time (guessing maybe 15 - 20 minutes). Moving and weaving around the room, calm and sightless was so incredible. It made me acknowledge seeing in a completely different way.

Be aware of the direction you are going and stay straight. (Master Chen Shiyu and students.)

So keep your eyes on the horizon and keep practising.