Change in leadership at Taoist Tai Chi group

Taoist Tai Chi is going strong in Creemore but instructor and location leader Laura Walton is taking a break, leaving the group in the hands of instructor Diana Wiiszniewska.
Walton has been teaching Tai Chi locally for 12 years. She is taking a 10-month sabbatical to recharge her batteries, and spend time with family, or in her own words be “footloose and fancy free.”
Tai Chi is a moving meditation during which participants move through a 108-move set that can take 15 minutes or more. It is a mind-body-spirit that improves balance, strength and flexibility in people of all ages. It is done twice per week at Station on the Green, and has a dedicated group, some of whom have been attending classes from the beginning.
The effort to bring Tai Chi to Creemore began in 2006. Instructors in Collingwood were willing to come down for a few years to teach, until Creemore could establish its own instructors.
Although the position is volunteer, it is quite time consuming with mandatory meetings, weeklong retreats, administrative and council obligations, in addition to weekly classes.
“Our first few years as newbies we did rather haphazard tai chi,” said Walton. “But at this point in time we have several people with over 10 years experience and a large number of people with 5-10 years of experience. When a newcomer arrives, they are surrounded by experienced people and they can relax and play ‘follow the leader’ as they do the set. Mistakes are made, but one of the things we learn early on is to relax and be willing to let go and laugh when we make a mistake.”
Walton said, in Creemore, they have cultivated a supportive environment, made up of a close and chatty group who really enjoy the breaks – with tea and cookies! But when it is time to do tai chi, the set is done in total silence.
“These days we come out of the silence with contented sighs and big smiles,” said Walton. “As a continuing instructor it has been a joy to watch the transformation from the haphazard tai chi of our early days to the beautiful tai chi sets we do today.”
Creemore is affiliated with the Collingwood chapter of Fung Loy Kok Institute of Taoism, so their continuing instructors will be around to help out.
“Without the support of instructors in Collingwood to get us started, without the support and encouragement of experienced tai chiers in Creemore to help newcomers along, without all the teaching assistants, corners and beginner instructors who have supported me as a continuing instructor, tai chi would not have lasted in Creemore.”
During her sabbatical, Walton is planning a number of road trips with husband Clive VanderBurgh, to spend more time with their children and grandchildren in Alberta and Halifax, as well as time with extended family up north. She is also planning to research her own family history, but first, she has set aside some time to do absolutely nothing.