The barriers between us and our freedom and fulfillment often look and feel a lot like the exact things inside us that we do not want to face. We each have within us a compass of sorts, but it works backwards. Instead of pointing us toward our true north, it actually points us away from…
Tag: the path
Step Into Your True Self
As we go out into the world each day, perhaps even before, we will undoubtedly be challenged and it is how we face these challenges that determines the quality of our character. Within every step on the path lies a lesson, an opportunity to rise up and grow, to meet the day, to face the…
Through Resistance or Toward Regret (The Choice is Yours)
Taking the path of least resistance now leads to the path of greatest regret later. Avoiding difficulty does not, in fact, make our lives less difficult. It simply postpones the inevitable. This is especially true when we avoid difficult situations, conversations, or actions that we know, deep down, are what we want to, or must,…
Embodying the Art
“In order to understand the true essence of martial arts, you must have the rest of your life, your relationships, your money, and your health, in balance.” — Joe Sheya Ideally, martial arts teach us about more than just fighting. They teach us about all aspects of human interaction, from relational etiquette to posture, balance,…
Commit Forward (Then Pivot)
If we do not first commit to a relationship, we cannot pivot within that relationship and be taken seriously. In aikido, there are two fundamental concepts of movement. In the most general terms, the first is entering (irimi) and the second is pivoting or flanking (tenkan). Irimi is the act of moving in, on and…