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Serving a community of private individuals and professionals
who have the desire to cultivate a life of clarity, compassion,
and creativity. Your feedback is encouraged. Please contact
us at THIS address: seishindo@seishindo.org,
and not the address that the newsletters come from, which
is a "send only" address.
THIS ISSUE IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY FRIEND GARY BUCKWALD,
A GOOD MAN WHO DIED MUCH TOO SOON.
1. Starting Line
In our previous issue I talked about "Energy,
Spirit and Mind" and introduced how these terms are used
in Seishindo. In this issue I am going to talk about how to
cultivate "ki" the energy that is the source of all life.
If this is the first issue of our newsletter you are reading,
you might want to first read our previous
issue, so you have a better understanding of how we think
about "ki" in Seshindo.
No one has absolute knowledge (except through faith) of where
ki originates from and no one knows where our personal ki
goes to after we die. Ki springs from the depth of the universe
as well as from the depth of our soul. The way of ki is a
gigantic and fascinating mystery, and one that is well worth
exploring. In studying ki we can come to a deeper understanding
of ourselves, our relationships, and the world we live in.
Our study of ki can help to liberate us as we become better
attuned to the music and poetry of our heart and soul.
Having an experiential understanding of the nature of ki leads
us to encounter a natural, creative intelligence, that far
transcends the abilities and powers of any one human being.
Ki is the common denominator we share with all of life. I
believe that ki is essentially, expansive, mutable, and supportive
of life, and that it can adapt to an endless variety of forms
and functions depending on how it is received, shaped, and
utilized by our system.
I wrote above that ki is "supportive of life" and I want to
explain this a bit more here. Ki supports life when our system
is able to let it flow unimpeded, like when when our immune
system spontaneously heal wounds or illnesses. Ki also has
the potential to be destructive in nature when it's flow becomes
either stagnant or blocked, as in the case of the body being
ravaged by cancer. Noguchi Sensei, the man that developed
"Noguchi Sei Tai" (a Japanese system of health management)
used to say "Illness is due to excess energy being trapped
in the body. The stronger the illness, the more energy there
is trapped." One of the main purposes of Noguchi Sei Tai is
to facilitate the release of excess energy held in the body
so that the body can operate freely, and without impediment.
This is also one of the main functions of Seishindo. When
the body is stable and able to move freely, our thoughts patterns
and emotions will be stable and flowing, and health and emotional
balance will be fostered. In my first newsletter I wrote "The
quality of our life is not dependent on the circumstances
we encounter. The quality of our life is dependent on what
we learn from the circumstances we encounter." In this issue
I will say, "The quality of our life is not dependant on the
quantity of ki available to us. The quality of our life is
dependent on our capacity to maintain a free flow of ki throughout
our system." Our belief system, as well as the way we facilitate
the generation and flow of ki within our system are the major
determinants of the quality of our life. Free flowing ki energizes
and nourishes the body. Blocked ki can damage us and weaken
our ability to adapt. The cultivation of free flowing ki is
thus an important activity to explore because the manner in
which we cultivate, use, and expend ki, is what determines
our health and well being, and who and what we become over
time.
One of the main functions of Seishindo is to help people cultivate
the ability to be calm, fully present, and feeling one's emotions
and bodily sensations, without the need for internal dialogue.
When we are at one with our self and our experience there
is no need for internal dialogue, for there is no "other one"
to talk to. Present in one's body, present in one's brain,
and aware of and connected to one's emotions and the environment,
but not requiring or engaging in internal dialogue. This is
a very special way of being. A way of being that can help
us to fully actualize our self in the world. This is a way
of being that can help us to deeply connect to our ability
to respect, love, and heal, self, other, and the world around
us.
2. Main course
At every moment in time the ki within your system speaks
to you via a somatic language that is as refined, systematic,
and complete as your verbal language. This transformation
of ki into somatic language is the basis of the non-cognitive
wisdom that we call "intuition." Becoming fluent in this language
can help you maintain your health and well-being, foster more
heartfelt relationships, and assist you in expressing your
creative and healing gifts when working with others in various
contexts. When you do "just enough" and nothing more or less,
you will create the context for your body to be structurally
balanced, flexible, and free to move. This is the way you
are designed to be, and at such times your ki flows freely.
Structurally balanced, flexible, and free to move and change,
mentally, emotionally, and physically.
We have a chemical-electrical-muscular response to events,
other people, circumstances, and the intake of energy via
food, sunlight, water, and other sources. People further react
to: presently occurring events, thoughts about possible future
events, memories of past events, and internal dialogue. To
a large extent, the responses we have to the energy we encounter
and generate are dependent on 1.
The way we use our body (structure, movement, flow). 2.
Our system of beliefs, and 3.
The default neuromuscular biochemical pathways that we have
developed over time due to a tendency towards habitual reactions.
The changes that take place in our body and brain are highly
systematic in nature, and these changes determine the quality
of our emotional responses, and our ability to think in a
creative manner. Something occurs, and we spontaneously feel,
think, and react in a specific manner, all of which leads
to our somatic-emotional experience. For the most part we
have limited awareness and understanding of what actually
changes within our system, to cause a change in our somatic-emotional
experience. We generalize the "feeling tone" of our experience
and we give these generalized feelings rather unspecific verbal
labels such as "happy" "in love" "ill" "hungry" "depressed."
You can think of our various somatic-emotional reactions to
life as "recipes". Increase the blood pressure ever so much,
restrict the flow of blood to the extremities a certain amount,
increase the speed of your heartbeat, induce certain chemicals
into the bloodstream, breathe more shallowly, and think about
what could go wrong, and you have created the recipe for "fear."
We each create these somatic-emotional recipes outside of
our conscious awareness, and without the conscious knowledge
of what the "contents" of each recipe are. Most of this activity
is coordinated by what in Seishindo we call "somatic intelligence,"
the intelligence of the mobile brain within the body. The
task we face when wanting to live a balanced creative life,
is to heighten our ability to sense the components that make
up our various somatic-emotional recipes, so that we can continue
to adapt and maintain a system that is expansive, balanced,
and free flowing. When our system facilitates the free flow
of ki, we maintain a state of health, well being, and creativity.
1. There is a dynamic life force
(ki) which pulsates through each of us. Most people have developed
a tendency to inhibit the flow of energy and movement created
by ki when presented with challenging situations. When the
natural flow of ki is inhibited, the natural flow of information
available (images, sounds, feelings, and "solutions") is also
inhibited. Allowing a free flow of energy and movement throughout
our system facilitates a free flow of information and thus
high quality learning and adaptation.
2. Ki flows best in a system that is balanced in structure,
porous, flexible, expansive, and well oxygenated. Therefore
in Seishindo we suggest any and all physical exercises and
mindfulness training that helps you to accomplish just such
a state. This is the kind of state that increases your resilience,
adaptive and healing powers, and energy flow. Aikido, Yoga,
Tai Chi, Pilates, Gyrontonics, and various Seishindo practices
are excellent for this. The idea in all of these practices
is to increase your awareness of what is taking place in the
moment, while entering into an experience where you "stop
stopping" yourself, and your thoughts and reactions transcend
the limitations of your habituated "everyday" pace and rhythm.
When we use more of all of our self and less of any one part
of our self, our system will tend to be healthy and highly
responsive.
3. Breath moves ki and delivers
oxygen to the system. Oxygen and ki are highly supportive
of health, well being, and the formulations of solutions.
Every thought we have and every emotion we experience, affects
the flow of breath and thus ki, within our system. When we
are able to maintain a relaxed breathing process appropriate
to the situation at hand, we maintain a free flow of ki, our
emotions tend to be balanced, and our thinking tends to be
solution oriented. There are many different disciplines that
offer various breathing exercises. Any well conceived breathing
exercise will be extremely helpful in "training" you to maintain
sufficient amounts of oxygen in your system. For example,
in the last issue of our newsletter I presented the Heartbeat
Breathing practice.
4. Under normal life conditions,
when a system receives a "shock" it adapts and rebalances.
Extreme life conditions such as trauma result in extreme adaptations,
and quite often the rebalancing part of our recovery does
not take place. Usually during times of trauma the person's
energy, musculature, and thought patterns "lock" part way
through the cycle of experience, and the natural and necessary
rebalancing back to center, does not occur. When we block
the natural flow of ki in our system, we block the flow of
the "river of life." Meaningful and lasting change requires
shifts in the autonomic, peripheral, and enteric nervous systems,
to occur. Such change requires a provoking of the natural
wisdom of the body and its capacity to re-balance so that
we release the locking of our musculature, and a new higher
level of systemwide organization can be allowed to unfold.
The Noguchi Sei Tai exercise of "Katsugen Undo" offers an
excellent method to help release the system so that you can
once again open up to the possibilities of life, and facilitate
the free flow of ki within your system. (More on this later.)
5. The response of "dissociation"
or numbing our ability to feel can be quite helpful as an
anesthetic under conditions of pain and extreme helplessness.
Such responses however become detrimental to our overall health
and well being when they are adopted as a generalized response
to potentially painful or frightening situations.
It is natural for our system to release the anesthetic of
an operation after and hour or so, as our system comes "back
to life." It is also natural to release the dissociative patterns
learned when feeling helpless or in pain, so that we can enter
back into a life of pain AND pleasure, sorrow AND joy. We
need to discover a path for entering back into the flow of
life so we can regain access to the full range of emotions
that are available to a healthy emotionally balanced individual.
When the sensation of flowing ki is anesthetized we lose our
ability to feel into the ebb and flow of our experience. Heartfelt
supportive relationships are of great benefit here in helping
us to trust that it can be safe to feel again.
6. Whatever we avoid, whatever
we are unable to feel and bring our awareness into, does not
change. When our system does not change, our ki becomes stagnant,
and our life force is weakened. When working to re-claim parts
of ourselves we have lost contact with we will do well to
begin by gently feeling each and every part of ourselves,
so that we can eventually come to know that we are whole.
Every part of our self is worthy of loving attention and when
we bring loving attention to injured or neglected parts of
our self, we foster the flow of ki, a softening of the body,
and the opening of our heart. Various mindfulness exercises
such as meditation, Tai Chi, Yoga, and Aikido, can be very
helpful in this regard.
The challenge of living a heartfelt healthy life is threefold:
1) Gain conscious awareness of
how you generate your somatic-emotional experience. 2)
Recognize the ingredients of the somatic-emotional "recipes"
you generate as a result of your experience. 3)
Change the recipes you create, and thus change your relationship
to your experience and your life "story". If you are able
to change the habituated and highly specific somatic-emotional
reactions you have to events you will transform the way you
express your emotions, think, and react.
In order to assist each person in being able to change their
consciousness we have developed various practices which I
explain one by one in our newsletter. These practices are
designed to make the transparent aspects of your experience
more obvious. The practices help you to notice and effect
changes in various aspects of your experience that were previously
outside of your conscious awareness. By taking part in these
practices you will learn how to intuit and react to the seed
somatic-emotional experience that forms the foundation of
your verbal explication of life. In order to cultivate ki,
cultivate mindfulness. In order to cultivate mindfulness cultivate
a love for all that lives, and all that you are and aren't.
Over a period of time by performing mindfulness practices,
you will also be more likely to understand how to help others
change their experience as well.
3. Practice
In regard to the Seishindo Practices in general, and the
theories espoused in the newsletters I feel that it is important
to say several things.
1. Each person's life is rich
and complex and I am not wanting to convey that any one practice
or exercise is "the answer" in regard to living life more
fully.
2. When I espouse various theories
relating to ki flow, I make such statements fully knowing
that we do not live in a vacuum and thus the manner in which
we relate to our environment and those around us, is always
of paramount importance as well. The degree to which we experience
happiness in life is only meaningful in relation to the happiness
we share with others.
3. Living one's life with greater
awareness and mindfulness is a gift onto itself. This is the
gift that I am hoping to offer in regard to the practices
and theories I espouse.
4. These are many valuable paths
for achieving what you want in life. What I present in this
newsletter is simply one of many ways.
Today's practice is "Katsugen Undo". Roughly translated from
the Japanese, Katsugen Undo means "Natural movement that renews
life at its root."
The basics for this exercise are taken from Haruchika Noguchi
Sensei and "Noguchi Sei Tai". "Sei Tai" basically means "properly
ordered body." Noguchi sensei used to say that the purpose
of Katsugen Undo is to create an orderly way to unconsciously
move the body, while affecting those parts of the body that
we cannot move voluntarily.
When we hold onto excess energy we inhibit our self from rebalancing,
and thus we inhibit our ability to remain physically, mentally,
and emotionally healthy. In terms of what we are exploring
together, the above means that we often tend to create a body
structure and a concurrent potential for movement that constricts
the flow of ki. The greater your ability to facilitate the
flow of ki, the greater your ability to facilitate a healthy
state of calmness and well being.
In order to access today's practice you will need to go to
the full description of Katsugen
Undo, as this practice is better viewed as a whole, by
itself.
4. Links
www.movingoncenter.org
Moving On Center-School of Participatory
Arts and Research
MOC offers an intensive training program bridging the
healing and performing arts for social change. They offer
3.5 month and 6-week certification programs in Professional
Somatic Movement Therapy Training, Participatory Arts, and
Massage. Co-directors Carol Swann, Martha Eddy, Peggy
Hackney.
Martha Eddy is a long time friend and colleague of mine. I
highly recommend any and all projects that she is involved
in.
5. Endnote and Invitation
We invite you to send in
a) Questions and comments
relating to what you read here.
b) Experiences that relate
to the "Practices" presented.
c) The names of books/music/services/products,
etc. you feel might be of interest to the Seishindo community.
Please include a short write-up about your selections. Let
us know whether or not it is OK to have your name appear with
the information you share. We will do our best to address
most if not all input. Please send all input to seishindo@seishindo.org.
6. Copyright | [un]Subscribe
Unless otherwise attributed, all material for the newsletter "Pure Heart,
Simple Mind"(tm) is written and edited by Charlie Badenhop ©. All rights reserved.
http://www.seishindo.org/newsletter.html
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