Kotsu Kotsu

Remaining calm under stress is part of our training in Kokikai Aikido . In self defense, calmness is essential in order to react quickly and effectively.  Calming the mind can help widen your perspective, allowing you to see additional ways to handle the situation.  The ability to find c almness also has great benefits in daily life. Even if you don't think you are typically anxious or "stressed out," practicing some simple techniques to find calmness can help you make better decisions and act in more effective ways. Of course, many people live with stress and anxiety that's caused by issues that are not in their control. Finding calmness may not help those issues themselves, but it can help change the way you approach them, and that can make a big difference. How to Practice Finding Calmness Some exercises, like focusing , are best practiced when you are already calm. But I suggest practicing calmness when you are not feeling particularly calm. I...

My one and only childbirth was not the drug-free, fully natural experience I planned. Despite 6 weeks of Lamaze training and a very caring delivery nurse, I ended up with an epidural, an oxygen mask (because of my low blood pressure) and an episiotomy. The fact that my son weighed 9 lbs. 3 oz. at birth explains much. But something the delivery nurse said (before she went off shift, leaving me in the hands of a much less motherly person) has stayed with me for these last 24 years. In between the contractions, you need to relax. The inability to relax between the contractions is the source of a lot of our problems, isn't it? When traumatic events happen its very difficult to let go of the them. Our minds relive the experience, churning and churning with visual images, emotions, and imagined conversations. And our bodies retain the tension, becoming cramped and immobile. These patterns are unfortunately reinforced by physiological changes. A substance called myelin acts like Tefl...