White Magnolia Instructors Miriam Marsolais, Peter Binkley and Julio Kaplan teach Chi Gung and Tai Chi as volunteers at San Quentin State Prison under the supervision of Fr. George Williams, SJ, Catholic Chaplain.\u00a0 More advanced inmate students are beginning to assist, teaching newer students and supporting practice between classes.\u00a0 Miriam integrates understanding gained through her work as a psychologist with trauma survivors in her teaching.\u00a0 In this way, Chi Kung\/ Tai Chi practice becomes a pathway towards reconciliation and growth inside the prison walls.<\/p>\n
Dear Tai Chi Teacher,<\/em><\/p>\n I want to start by saying thank you.\u00a0 This is two simple words I wierdly use and mean it too.\u00a0 It might sound harsh and perceive me as deceiving character.\u00a0 The reason is that I was feeling the whole world had done me wrong, for the misfortune and suffering I face in life.\u00a0 I believe we all shape by our life experience and environment.\u00a0 Few will ever understand what's like to grow up in prison starting at sixteen.\u00a0 By the time I was eighteen, I found myself in one of America's most dangerous prison, Pelican Bay.\u00a0 It's sink or swim for me? I must learn quick.\u00a0\u00a0 In order to survive this harsh environment, a choice has to be made, be a predator or be the prey?\u00a0 Like an animal in the jungle I quickly adopted into this dog eat dog world.\u00a0 As a youngster I learned fast, to master this jungle.\u00a0 I had no time or the luxury to think of right or wrong.\u00a0 I became someone else, I put on a mask.\u00a0 Let go some of the most precious quality as a human being.<\/em><\/p>\n Among those are compassion, fear, hate, love, trust, optimism, sadness..........etc.\u00a0 If you have any emotions don't show it.\u00a0 I must not show any weakness, and keep my emotional feeling to myself.\u00a0 It became an instinct and stay with me.\u00a0 For years I hide my moral consciousness.\u00a0 In this environment moral became a burden, being righteous is bad for your health.\u00a0 Knowing this fact, I did what I had to do. Never think of whom I hurt or who got hurt.\u00a0 As long as not me.\u00a0 Survival brings out the worst in mankind.\u00a0 As I learn the skills to play this game, I excel within the walls.\u00a0 I gain respect and alliance.\u00a0 I use my social, business and political skills to climb to the top of the food chain, made life easier for me and my friends.\u00a0 Without the physical ability to dominate like a lion in the wild.\u00a0 I turn myself into a hyena, an Animal I despite.<\/em><\/p>\n I think I was smart to done all those, not realize I had made a deal with the \"devil.\"\u00a0 Unaware of the impact this had on my personality, slowly I'm losing my innocent.\u00a0 The very last thing I'm trying to preserve was slipping away before me, without my consent.\u00a0 Not realizing this changes.\u00a0 I had set my own trap!\u00a0 The same \"smart\" I use to survive also my downfall.\u00a0 Living in a invincible bubble, I can only see out.\u00a0 Never have the ability or calmness to look inward.\u00a0 I turn on survival mode and I didn't know how to turn it off.<\/em><\/p>\n I try soul searching in religions, desperately to find a way to regain control of my mind.\u00a0 I had very little faith of a mercyful god or any higher power, my life never give me a reason to have faith.\u00a0 I wish just a small reason will do the trick.\u00a0 I offen admire my friend whom can turn to religions for support, while my moral value slowly erode away in this madness.\u00a0 The line between good and bad become blurry.\u00a0 I use this blured lined to justify my actions, without the ability to realize this.\u00a0 I sunk deeper in this invincible prison I had build for myself.<\/em><\/p>\n Realization comes after weeks of learning Tai Chi.\u00a0 I was warn about intense emotional feeling might occur as a result from Tai Chi.\u00a0 Being arrogant, I think to myself, \"How?\u00a0 No way can Tai Chi trigger emotional response.\"\u00a0 I'm so wrong.\u00a0 After a few weeks of tai chi, emotional feeling start to surge, both good and bad emotions become so clear like never before.<\/em><\/p>\n I regain the ability to reflect on life with unbias perspective.\u00a0 The calmness and peace I gain through Tai Chi enable me to think clearly. Like waking from a nightmare, I start to realize the Impact prison had in my life.<\/em><\/p>\n Me and many of my convict friends only cares about getting out of our physical confinement.\u00a0 We never realize the inescapable invincible prison we Auto program in our brain.<\/em><\/p>\n Without the ability to delete this program we doom to return, and can never be truly free.\u00a0 We confine by our own \"instinct.\"\u00a0 You can take a monkey out of the jungle but you can't take the jungle out of the monkey.<\/em><\/p>\n Thank you for teaching me Tai Chi, an Amazing give of serenity, I had never experience.\u00a0 Through it, I can slowly delete the negative effects prison had on me.\u00a0 Using tai chi as a tool to stay calm, I gain better understanding of my condition, slowly let go of years of anger and bitterness.\u00a0 With my new found insight, I'm making positive changes in my lifestyle, attitude and decision making, hopefully one day I can regain what I lost in prison.\u00a0 I can't imagine going through life without the clear mind and still heart tai chi bring to my world.<\/em><\/p>\n Like a drowning man receiving a life saver. I'm so grateful.\u00a0 Thanks to you, Peter and Miriam, for spenting your valuable time to\u00a0 be in prison with us.\u00a0 To show my gratitude I'll try my best to be a better student and a nicer man.\u00a0 I'm making improvements of the problems I fell to realize in the past.\u00a0 No matter where I go in this life, I'll take this give of serenity with me.<\/em><\/p>\n THANK YOU!<\/em><\/p>\n Sincerely your student,<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" White Magnolia Instructors Miriam Marsolais, Peter Binkley and Julio Kaplan teach Chi Gung and Tai Chi as volunteers at San Quentin State Prison under the supervision of Fr. George Williams, ...continue reading \"Tai Chi at San Quentin\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":16,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P7nfpu-7J","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/whitemagnoliataichi.com\/wm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/479"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/whitemagnoliataichi.com\/wm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/whitemagnoliataichi.com\/wm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/whitemagnoliataichi.com\/wm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/whitemagnoliataichi.com\/wm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/whitemagnoliataichi.com\/wm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654,"href":"http:\/\/whitemagnoliataichi.com\/wm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/479\/revisions\/654"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/whitemagnoliataichi.com\/wm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/whitemagnoliataichi.com\/wm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}