Faulk TaiChi

Learn the beautiful, flowing movements for health and relaxation.

New Book Underway!

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Signs of spring abound — flowering bushes, new shimmering green leaves popping out on trees, longer hours of daylight and hints of warmer temperatures filling our days. Out my door walking down my lovely city block, I snapped pictures of nature displaying its magic rebirth in Chicago after a long winter.

I love this time of year because it brings new energy, new possibilities, new ideas. We feel it in our bones. In Tai Chi classes we root our legs and feet into the ground, connect with the rich nutrients and energy of the soil and bring up that energy to nourish our bodies. Like the trees. Our arms are like the branches and our hands and fingers resemble the flowering, the new leaves that are the result of moving earth energy throughout the our entire body. It is refreshing, calming, and energizing at the same time.


This new energy resonates with me in a big way right now. I just submitted a completed manuscript to my publisher and had a first meeting with my project manager to discuss the process, the steps ahead to publish my new book. My new book!! How exciting to be at this point, about to make my words, my ideas come alive and go out into the world.

Details to unfold. I’ll keep you posted and share my progress. Spring — the perfect time of year to have a new project spring forth and flower!

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.

about Tai Chi

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?

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?

Almost Spring

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Exciting signs that spring is near — more sunlight in our days, little buds and leaves on the trees, a touch of warmer weather and lighter jackets on our backs. Yes, those of us who live in climates where winter seems to linger, anticipate and talk about the promise of spring. It is close at hand and we anticipate what is coming by paying attention when we’re outside by trees, near the soil with seedlings, listening to the joy of birds singing their springtime songs.

Scott Street, Chicago

In Tai Chi class we often visualize rooting our legs and feet like a tree, feeling the rich soil filled with nutrients and energy. Like the trees and plants, we bring that earth energy up through our bodies to nourish and refresh us. We let go of tension, relax. We connect with the natural flow of nature and the universe.

Taking time to watch the growth and blossoming of the trees, bushes and flowers start to show their colors is a good antidote to all the negative news and turmoil that keep trying to monopolize our attention. Put the phone away the minute before you walk out the door and while you’re outside, notice. . . every living thing around you. Smile and say hello as you pass someone on the sidewalk. Stop to look at the trees in your neighborhood. Maybe you can say hello to them, too. They will answer soon with a glorious display of bright green leaves, beautiful blossoms, and when we pay attention, bring a smile to our face.

Photos from Chicago, West Des Moines, and Wilmette

Spring Equinox

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This year the day of Spring Equinox was extra special. At the very hour when that point of equinox occurred, we were moving our energy in a Tai Chi class, focusing on balancing our Yin and Yang. We noted that bringing intention and attention to our balance at the moment of balance between of dark and light, felt so relaxing, put us so in the moment. A moment of letting go, a moment of lightness of being.

Tai Chi at Heartwood —- Evanston, Il 3/20/23

Without the dark, we can’t see the light. We honored that and also felt joy that it was evening and still light outside, admitted we were looking forward to longer minutes and hours of sunlight in our days.

This is a great time to focus on our balance, physical and emotional. Are our days filled with doing and achieving, and then wondering where the time went? Are we taking some time to stop, reflect and just be? Are we paying attention to the trees, the birds, noticing what’s around us in nature? And, are we breathing, taking time to intentionally breathe?

Focused and relaxed

Tai Chi gives us the opportunity to balance, to move our energy together and feel our Yin and Yang as equal energy forces. We are very grateful.

Ahhh . . .floating clouds

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Clouds in the sky. One of the most calming images in nature, these puffy clouds on a beautiful day.

It’s been such a busy time with details on my book, which will be published in late February. It seems that things are speeding up as we get closer to launch date.

To take a break and a breath, I decided to look at puffy, cumulus clouds floating through the sky. Only problem was it was cloudy outside, grey with heavy-hanging clouds, not the ones that I wanted to comfort me.

So, I went to my photos and stared at these clouds, very slowly in motion, yet seeming so still and calm. Looking at them right now makes me calm, makes me stop for a moment to connect with nature.

No wonder a move called “Waving Hands Like a Cloud” is part of many Tai Chi forms. When I do this move, I visualize myself like these clouds, still, relaxed with intent to just be right where they are supposed to be.

What in nature causes you to stop, be still and just be?

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