| :: Chris’ Corner As I went to read my most "recent" newsletter I noticed it was dated May of 2007. I realized it was about that time when the "wheels started coming off the bus" for our family. The first part of 07 was great. We added new classes, started our Meet Up website, increased our student base and were preparing for our best World Tai Chi & Qigong Event to date. Master Chen Bing had invited Fayne and I to host his first EVER trip to Dallas and it was all a great success. Once the dust settled from the workshops we started preparing for a busy summer when Fayne came to me with the news that she had found a suspicious lump in her breast. Needless to say all attention focused on finding out if it was cancer. Because currently we only can afford catastrophic insurance we had to depend on the blessings of friends and our extended network to help us find free / discount health services. 15 weeks later (yes, 15 weeks later) we found out that is was NOT cancer. We would not want to wish this "adventure" on anyone, yet we know people go through it everyday. May God Bless each of them and their families. Each day we work with students who are in one way or another affected by cancer and this year we lost one of our dear students (Karen Eller) on June 24th to this terrible disease. Fayne's beloved grandmother fell very ill in August and was later diagnosed with cancer; she passed away in October four days after Kamin's Bar Mitzvah. These events made my volunteer workshops at Baylor Sammons Cancer Center this year even more special.
Whether from arthritis, cancer, recent joint replacements, strokes, fall recovery or one of many other issues, each day we help people use Tai Chi and Qigong to manage chronic or acute pain. In early November, as a result of a motorcycle accident, it was now my turn to practice what I preach. READ ABOUT IT HERE I am glad to say that other than some deep, deep bruising and scrapes I am now fine but still a bit tender to the touch on the right hip. My training helped me to manage the pain and stabilize the hip joint without having to miss any class time with my students; although at times I was moving VERY slowly.
On a brighter note, Kamin had his Bar Mitzvah in October and it was amazing. We are very proud of the young man he is becoming right before our eyes. In November, we were invited to present a Stress Management Seminar to the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services - Adult Protective Services Division at their North Texas Regional Conference. We had a lot of fun and were blessed to meet some special people who manage to perform a very difficult, often painful, job with a smile in their hearts.
:: On Tap for 2008... As we move into the new year there are already some things brewing. :: January NBC5i Health Fit EXPO - Tai Chi demonstrations
Saturday January 26th - 1:00 pm on the Demonstration Stage
Sunday January 27th - 11:30 am on the Demonstration Stage :: April 10th Anniversary Celebration of World Tai Chi and Qigong Day Saturday April 26th - 10 am to 1 pm Aaron Family Jewish Community Center 7900 Northaven Road Dallas, Texas 75230 CLICK HERE for a link to the pictures from our 2007 World Tai Chi & Qigong Day event :: May / June
Master Chen Bing returns to Dallas!
Time / date and location information TBD CLICK HERE To see pictures of our 2007 Chen Bing Workshops
Sign up for our SimplyAware Newsletter and / or stay connected through our Dallas Tai Chi and Qigong Meet Up Group
:: A Tai Chi Instructors Blog I originally began the Tai Chi Blog as a way to motivate myself to write each week for my own documentation and training as well providing students with a little more insight into the topics covered in classes. In October I reached my 1 YEAR milestone and now have 59 entries! The most exciting thing is that I have readers from all over the world including North and South America, Europe, Asia, Indonesia, India and Australia! I even had one visitor from Greenland! Try doing Tai Chi up there in the winter...BRRRR
Look for more rantings of a Tai Chi Instructor in 2008 as I work towards my goal of eventually writing a book.
Here are some links to the most recent articles in the Blog archives:
:: NEW Tai Chi Classes for 2008 We are working to add a few classes to our already busy schedule in the first quarter of 2008. Specifically, we are talking with locations in Frisco, Plano and North Dallas. If you have a location that you think would like to have a quality Tai Chi program please send us the contact information and we will follow up with them. :: Website Updates As soon as this End of Year Newsletter makes into your inbox I will already be hard at work on our new website which, based on student feedback, will have many new and revised features that should make it even more user friendly and informative. My hope to to launch it within the first quarter of 2008. Wish me luck!
:: NEW Amazon SimplyAware eStore – FACELIFT! We have set up SimplyAware.com so that you can do all your Amazon.com Shopping through our website. Each time you click through to Amazon.com from our website (and buy something) we get a percentage of the sale. This affiliate program helps us to donate our time and resources to community programs such as Camp Joint Adventure, Scottish Rite Hospital for Children and The Arthritis Foundation. Please consider using this link, it costs you nothing extra and helps us, help others.
:: A special holiday message...
Finally, Fayne and I are very grateful to everyone who has supported us in our passion to make SimplyAware a "viable business venture with a heart" as we work to support our family. Please visit the front page of our website for a special holiday message.
PSSST. You may want to run your mouse pointer over the picture to get a surprise.
Thank you for your continued support! Chris and Fayne We respect your privacy and will never share your contact information without your expressed written permission. If you wish to be removed from this newsletter mailing, please use this Unsubscribe link. Please note we have had some issues with long email addresses not being removed through this automated link. If you are unable to get your email removed from this list, please contact me directly and I will promptly remove it manually. | 
