Faulk TaiChi

Learn the beautiful, flowing movements for health and relaxation.

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?

Letting Go

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Is your mind swirling with a to-do list that keeps getting longer and longer? Are you fearful about the current climate of we vs. they and where it might lead? Is AI going to make you obsolete? Do you reach the end of the day and ask yourself “What have I accomplished?” and don’t like your answer.

Do you feel like this —

but would like to feel like this ^
First . . . Breathe. Stop whatever you’re doing and take 30 seconds to breathe. Inhale. . . Exhale. . . Again, inhale, then exhale. Inhale . . . Exhale. One more time. Inhale. . .Exhale.
It’s summer so take a walk outside. Wander through a farmers market. Attend a free outdoor concert.

To relax your mind and body you have to let go of what you’re already doing or thinking about. When you walk, focus on how it feels to put one foot forward, shift your weight to it. How marvelous that one leg can manage the weight of our entire body! How marvelous it is to be able to walk!


Tai Chi is a wonderful practice to help us relax and let go. We learn to let go of what is spinning in our heads, focus our bodies and minds on gentle, flowing movements. We are like the trees rooted into the earth, connected with nourishing energy that flows up through our bodies. Being in the moment. Letting go.

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.

New Green Leaves Spring Forth

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I absolutely love the first warm days of spring time when the green buds, turn into leaves on the trees and the light green color fills in all that space between the branches. It’s a predictable wonder of nature that new life has sprung forth.

Chicago tree showing new leaves
Chicago tree showing its new leaves

I remind my students to pay attention, to feel the energy of the tree bringing up earth energy and moisture through the trunk, branches and then flower into beautiful green. This is the essence of Tai Chi — we root our feet into the earth, bring up the energy, which moves through the legs, is commanded by the waist and hips, moves up through the arms and flowers and the hands and fingers. In every class, I begin with our standing in hip-width distance and visualize a tree. We are the tree, moving with the natural rhythms and harmony of nature.

bringing up tree energy
Bringing up earth energy like a tree

Be mindful of the glorious trees right now. Don’t just walk by. Stop, admire and maybe even say thank you for new life and possibilities.

something to look forward to

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Taste of Tai Chi class zoom
Tai Chi online 2020

A new chapter begins! This week I start teaching two Tai Chi classes, live and in person at the Heartwood Center in Evanston. This is significant as I’ve been only teaching Tai Chi online since March of 2020. I have a few butterflies in my stomach just like I had as a kid on the first day of school. Anticipation. Excitement. A little anxiety about the unknown.

We are not going back to class. We are going forward to a new paradigm, one with fully vaccinated students and the teacher wearing masks. I’m warmed by the concern and care my students have relayed to me that everybody be safe. All that said, we are ready, ready to move energy together in person.

What’s so important for our psyches and sense of community is to have something to look forward to, something that excites us because we know it will feel so good. Tai Chi is that something for each of us who will gather for class this week in the beautiful Skylight Room of Heartwood.

Tai Chi in the Skylight Room, Heartwood Center

If you aren’t physically close enough to come to a class this week, then think of something you can do or plan for that you will really look forward to. Let me and others readers know what that is. We all can use some good ideas of how to connect with others in a continuing time of physical distancing.