Many students report seeing a man doing Tai Chi in front of the Union building on pleasant spring mornings, and we’re here to let you that you weren’t suffering from spring fever: this guy’s real. William Parkinson became a certified teacher of Tai Chi Chuari and Hatha/Raja Yoga early in his life and received the title of Yogi Viirishwara in 1974 after graduating from the U’s Department of Philosophy two years earlier. He was the first to create college courses in Tai Chi and Yoga at Westminster College and taught them alongside Theatre and Modern Dance at the U. Parkinson also offered workshops on and off campus and because of his sponsorship, World Tai Chi Day is now a recognized state holiday. Perhaps the most interesting of Parkinson’s achievements is the class he now teaches: Tai Chi and Yoga Movement in Theater. This course integrates balance, meditation and other aspects of Tai Chi and Yoga into dance forms and stage experience, uniting to create a class almost as interesting as its instructor.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Utah chapter.