Tai Chi Easy Practice Leader Certification

The Tai Chi Easy Practice Leader Certification is a six-day tai chi and qigong training at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Led by Brian Trzaskos and Elizabeth Borge, it teaches the Tai Chi Easy method developed by Dr. Roger Jahnke, author of The Healer Within, so that you can lead gentle mind-body practice for others. It suits beginners, yoga teachers, and anyone drawn to the practice for personal development, with no prior tai chi or qigong experience required.

What to Expect

Tai Chi Easy simplifies traditional tai chi movements and medical qigong into a method designed for all ages and fitness levels. Throughout the week you experience, practice, and lead the work yourself, learning its evidence-based benefits, which include stress reduction, improved focus, and enhanced overall well-being.

The material covers four threads:

- Gentle movements: simplified forms that promote healing, balance, flexibility, and relaxation.
- Breathing techniques: synchronizing breath with movement to support energy flow and calm the mind.
- Mindfulness and meditation: the meditative side of tai chi, for inner peace and presence.
- Self-applied massage: easing tension and supporting circulation.

The easiest portions of the practice can be done standing, sitting, or lying down, and it grows into an accessible entry to a simple tai chi walking form. You come away prepared to lead 30- to 60-minute sessions for people of all abilities, in communities, schools, faith institutions, hospitals, social service agencies, military programs, and the Veteran's Administration. Many yoga teachers weave Tai Chi Easy into their yoga and meditation classes.

The days follow a steady rhythm. Opening day begins with check-in at 2:00 pm, a Kripalu Yoga class, dinner, and an evening program session from 7:30 to 9:00. The middle days start with yoga at 6:30 am, a short early session at 7:00, silent breakfast, then program sessions from 9:00 to 11:30 and again from 1:30 to 4:00, with lunch between them. A late-afternoon yoga class and dinner close each day. On the final morning there is yoga, silent breakfast, and a last session from 9:00 to 11:30, followed by lunch and departure.

About the Teachers

Brian Trzaskos and Elizabeth Borge lead the training, teaching the method developed by Dr. Roger Jahnke and disseminated widely by the Institute of Integral Qigong and Tai Chi.

The Setting

Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health sits in Stockbridge, in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. Accommodations are intentionally simple, designed to help you unplug: private rooms for solitude, community-style dorms for connection, and other room types at different price points. Rooms are ready by 4:00 pm, and a luggage room is available if you arrive earlier. Check-out on the last day is 10:00 am, though you may stay on campus and take part in workshops until 2:00 pm.

Three meals are served daily, with breakfast taken in silence. Daily yoga classes and access to the Kripalu grounds are part of your stay.

Before You Go

No experience is needed; the program builds from the foundations and is taught in English. Participants with a yoga or movement background will find added depth. Tuition covers six days of instruction in Tai Chi Easy and teaching techniques, and you receive access to a web-based portal with teaching resources and reference materials after the training. Dr. Jahnke's books The Healing Promise of Qi and The Healer Within are recommended reading.

Healing Arts sessions and items from the Kripalu Shop and Cafe are available separately. Advanced tai chi forms beyond the Tai Chi Easy framework are not part of the program.