After a class this week, one of my tai chi students stopped to tell me that she would miss class when she was away on vacation the next couple of weeks. She said the last several months have been extremely stressful on many fronts.

She had studied with me about four years ago, then dropped out and I didn’t see her until eight months ago. She said she was back and hoped tai chi would help her. She had been going through some tests for a neurological problem that had not yet been diagnosed. Having been very active bicycling and walking, she could no longer do either. Some of her motor skills had decreased and it was all scary to her.

Very faithfully, she has come to class, now twice a week. When she stopped me the other night, she wanted me to know that she was facing new neurological tests when she returned. But, she added, her neurologist asked her recently what had changed. She was passing several tests in his office that she had previously been unable to do. He was amazed when she told him she was now walking three miles a day and riding her bicycle. She told him ‘tai chi’. That’s her change. That’s what she’s been doing.

She wanted me to know. She is grateful and said she’s going with tai chi for the long term.