Faulk TaiChi

Learn the beautiful, flowing movements for health and relaxation.

What Gives you Joy?

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With many hours of darkness in our winter days, it’s the time of year that many focus on light that will be coming in the weeks ahead. Whether or not you are part of a religious tradition that celebrates light that will come in the darkness, a common topic of conversation of many right now is counting the days until winter Solstice, knowing that point marks the day that dark and light balance and then slowly the light in our days will increase.

In these days of grey skies, cold temperatures and snow for those of us in northern U.S. climates , and for you in climates with sun and warmth, what gives you joy? Many of the non-political stories, music, ads, movies right now are light and play to our desire for cheer, friendship, traditions, baking seasonal treats, loving and feeling loved.

Hopefully, we are not so busy with our to-do lists that we miss the moments — twinkling lights, a grandchild’s performance, big, beautiful snowflakes, coffee with a friend, a colorful bird, working to provide meals for others.

Joy is often spontaneous, unexpected. We need to be open. If our minds are filled with lists, thinking about a past event that upset us, worrying how we will get everything done before company comes in a few days, we may miss our moment of joy. We need to take time to notice what is around us right now. Pay attention. Go look at the holiday lights. Be intentional.

In my Tai Chi classes, I ask students to try to keep their attention in the room as much as possible. Why? Our minds wander; chatter fills our heads and can take us miles away from the classroom we are standing in. I focus our gentle Tai Chi moves on relaxing and focusing on the moment, paying attention to where we are standing, how we are standing, feeling our body alignment come to a center point. When our minds wander, we miss the paying attention and likely can miss a wonderful moment of calmness and relaxation. I think those moments of joy come when we stop, focus on the moment and take in the wonderful feeling of joy. Volunteering our time to help others, with transportation to a medical appointment, feeding those in need, visiting a homebound friend, all allow us to focus on the moment when we forget ourselves in order to help others.

I feel joy in the midst of moving my energy with my students through Tai Chi. We are freely sharing with each other bringing calm to the moment and each other. A gift for which I am grateful.

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What gives us joy cannot be bought, bartered or manufactured. It comes to us, often unexpected. It’s an emotion and a gift that is part of the best of being human.

What has brought you joy recently?

Why Tai Chi – Why Now?

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Why not? Kids are returning to school. Summer outside activities are in full-swing but it won’t be long until we shift into an autumn mode and in many climates, more inside activities will predominate. Although decades have passed since I was that child looking forward to a new school year, so excited to shop for my school supplies, including paper, pencils, eraser and ruler (showing my age!), I still feel that anticipation of looking forward to starting the school year.

I hope as adults we can generate that excitement for ourselves, for new activities and new learning. It should never get old.

NOW is a good time. A good time to commit to new learning. A good time to bring nourishment to our bodies and clear out all the clutter and chatter in our heads. I’m partial to saying “now” to Tai Chi because I know first-hand how beneficial it is for relaxing, managing anxiety, chronic health conditions and improving balance.

Why Tai Chi now? Because putting off, saying ‘maybe later’ could easily lead to doing nothing at all. Gear up and say ‘yes’. You don’t need any equipment nor special clothing, just youself and an open mind. I have classes you can join now, or, if you aren’t physically close, look for a class or start with a YouTube video.

You can join these students who have said already said ‘yes’. Recommend a class to a friend or come together. I’d like to hear from you.

I’m making my plea for action because I’m in my 26th year of teaching Tai Chi and I’m passionate about Tai Chi. As a teacher I know the distance can be very long from saying you want to take a Tai Chi class and getting out the door to go to a class. So many people say they are interested in learning how to relax, do something positive for their health, take a class and don’t because something else comes up. Don’t let that be you.

Tai Chi – NOW is your time. NOW is our time.

Summer Light

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What is special about summer for you? Many of us are eager to be outside, go for long walks by a lake or in a park, enjoy a picnic with our family, stroll through our neighborhood farmer’s market, attend an outdoor concert or a movie night on our lawn chair at a community gathering, watch boats glide along Lake Superior.

What do you like the most? The freedom of walking out the door in shorts and sandals, taking binoculars and camera to watch and listen to the birds, relaxing outside with friends over a glass of wine. All good possibilities. We think mostly about “doing”, being active because we have a sense of freedom to move around and go places when we know it will be light well into the evening.

We are in the season of Yang energy – activity, blossoming trees and flowers, bright colors, heat, light. While we are out “doing” we want to pay attention, enjoy the moment. Take it all in.

Recently my sister and I went to Starved Rock State Park in northern Illinois. It’s amazing to drive across flat terrain, rich farmland filled with corn and soybeans and then. . . huge trees, winding roads going up, up, up to a natural filled park. Looking out over a panorama of green trees as far as our eyes could see, we listened to a variety of singing birds, felt a summer breeze, marveled at small red berries we happened to see because we were still and paying attention to everything around us.


The sun shining brightly highlighted the various shades of green on the thousands of leaves surrounding us. It was mesmerizing, the stillness and calm of those moments. The light outside and how nature took it in, made it beautiful and we, in our stillness took it all in and thoroughly enjoyed the moments.

What moments of summer have made you feel this way?

Celebrating Year of the Wood Snake

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People born in the Year of Snake are said to be resilient and courageous with strong interpersonal skills and leadership qualities. The wood element adds a layer of growth and creativity, because just as the Snake sheds its skin, this year represents the opportunity to renew oneself, embrace new possibilities and leave behind outdated ways.

What a fun, energizing afternoon Tai Chi students and friends had as we gathered on February 2 to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Come with us and feel our positive energy reach out to you.

We began by centering and cultivating positive energy with Michelle Bobier.

Letting go of our to-do lists we focused on standing in good alignment, breathing and stretching, moving our energy to enhance our physical and mental well-being. Ahhh. . .

Sarah Bernauer lead us in a discussion of opening chakras to enhance energy flow. We moved gently to feel the energy come up through our feet into our center and upper body. The image resonated because in Tai Chi we root our feet like a tree into the earth and bring up the nutrients and rich energy the earth provides.

Daniel Thatcher continued leading our energy movement with fundamental principles of Tai Chi — proper body alignment, methodically shifting our weight with intention, moving from our waist and hips rather than the upper body,

relaxing our knees as we stand with our weight equally distributed on our two legs. Look how centered and relaxed everyone is, focusing entirely on the moment and breathing.

In “The Movements of Magic – The Spirit of Tai Chi Ch’uan,” Bob Klein says: “Often in life, we are so caught up in concentrating on the past and future that we miss the present. And truly, the present is all that exists for us. We may think about the past or imagine the future but we can actually deal only with the present. In the present we have power.”

What a wonderful way to celebrate the 2025 Lunar New Year, breathing and moving in the present, being mindful of the moment.

Daniel, Sarah, Arlene, Michelle

A big thank you to Daniel, Sarah and Michelle!

Be Like Bamboo

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Our calendars have turned to a new year and we might be looking for some optimism, something to look forward to that will nourish our lives. The daily news hits us hard with natural disasters, ongoing wars, bird flu, and on and on.

I’ve been thinking about what I can do to make a difference, even in small ways, to positively impact my friends, family, my Tai Chi students and all those with whom I might interact. Maybe adopt a word for the year like kindness, patience, smile, listen. All good traits for us to share with people every day. Taking time to make a phone call, send a text, write a note, smile at a neighbor. Slowing down. Taking time for others.

However, I desire to have something to aspire to and it hit me in a flash, what that something could be. Bamboo. Be more like bamboo. Let’s consider together at that might look like.

Bamboo is a symbol for longevity. It always shows strength and grace, bends but does not break easily, is very versatile and flexible. It is a rapidly renewable resource. In Chinese philosophy, the straight stem of bamboo symbolized the path towards enlightenment, the segments of the stem being the steps along the way.

This artist’s painting of bamboo, shows the graceful nature of bamboo with its leaves a work of art, sprouting out from the stalks. The insides of bamboo are hollow, yet it can withstand rain and snow and grow with great vigor.

The uses of bamboo are numerous, from food for the pandas to creating paper from its pulp, to making furniture, flooring, clothing, bedding, fences, baskets and more. It’s versatility and flexibility are admirable.

So I want to be more like bamboo in 2025. Won’t you join me?