September 2026 Newsletter

Dear friends,

When we say the body can heal, most of us picture the tissue changing back. The disc returns to its place. The narrowing opens. The scan looks different.

That is usually not what happens, and it is not what we are waiting for. In our randomized trial, published last year, we taught for twelve weeks and then we stopped. A month later, with no classes at all, participants were still improving in pain, in daily function, in sleep, and in quality of life. We were not in the room. Their bodies were doing the healing.

Our work is to give the body the conditions it needs. One longtime member of our Saturday class put it better than I can.

"The pain is gone. What has not changed is my spine. I did not cure my spine. I learned to live in harmony with my bones, joints, muscles, tendons, and nerves, and the pain went away."

This is the idea Spine 7 is built on, and it is the idea behind our Cannon Fist training as well, where the same slow attention becomes speed and power. Bob Parker, a fine teacher in his own right with a deep and hard won knowledge of taiji, has studied with me for about thirty years. He wrote about what that class has been like for him. His article is further down.

With warm regards,

Yang Yang, PhD

We have rebuilt this program six times since 2020, learning from Chinese healing arts, from the science of back pain, and above all from what members of the Saturday class tell us.

Spine 7 keeps the structure you know. What is new is the teaching: each practice explained more clearly, and tied more closely to the everyday things you want back, standing at the sink, walking to the store, sleeping through the night.

If you are already in the Saturday class, you are already in Spine 7. There is nothing you need to do. Just come on Saturday.

If you are new, enrollment is open and you can join at any time.

"Master Yang emphasizes how muscle tension contributes to pain and how attention to it, with relaxation in mind, can help. I had doubts that this was something I could achieve. The other day I was walking and felt tension and pain developing in my lower back, a sign of worsening. I thought of what Master Yang had shown us. I stopped, sensed the problem, and tried to relax that area. As I continued my walk, instead of the pain worsening, I felt significant relief lasting the duration of my walk."

Lawrence Stern, MD

Cannon Fist, Fall 2026, Begins Sunday, September 13

Eight classes, live online, for intermediate and advanced students

A note from Master Yang: Cannon Fist, pao chui, was codified as the second routine of Chen Tai Chi roughly two hundred years ago. It is faster than the first routine and its martial applications sit close to the surface, which is exactly why it teaches so much about where power comes from. I learned this form from Grandmaster Feng Zhiqiang and from my other teachers, each with his own interpretation and his own emphasis.

I asked Bob Parker to describe the class. Bob has studied with me for about thirty years, has attended most of our summer camps, and teaches taiji himself.

"I have been studying with Master Yang for about thirty years and have attended most of his summer taiji camps. The online classes add another option, and for me the best thing about the course is the ability to watch the class as many times as I want, any time, any place.

My favorite part of the class is the introduction and practice of new forms. Master Yang demonstrates the form many times, talks about the internal energies in each posture, and shows the martial applications. Studying the pao chui form in this class has given me a deeper understanding of the form and the energies that are embedded in it. The martial applications of this form are very powerful and out front, and that has given me a greater understanding and respect for taiji as a serious martial art."

Bob Parker

Kripalu, November 20 to 22, 2026

Tai Chi and Qigong for Back Pain and Beyond.
In person, Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Three days in the Berkshires with Dr. Roger Härtl, Weill Cornell and Och Spine at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and senior author of our back pain trial. A weekend of practice, rest, and a conversation between Chinese healing arts and modern spine medicine that we do not often get to have out loud.

Our randomized controlled trial of a virtually delivered tai chi, qigong, and meditation program for low back pain is published in the North American Spine Society Journal, and it is open access, so anyone can read it in full.

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