posture

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[Paula Lydon]

~~Greetings all! A few times a year I am in classes under Satome Shihan, who continually urges us all toward perfect posture...and when I correct my posture I really do feel the difference and superiority in my body integrity and execution of movement. What I've been looking at lately--with the aid of helpful sempei correcting me--is the connection between my mood and my posture.
~~Yes, everyone knows that there's a mental/physical relationship there, but when I'm feeling sad or depressed I know my posture slumps. When I feel anxiety I hunch over trying to hide; anger sends my energy into my chest. I try to correct my posture when I notice it's not (even) close to ideal, but I know it's a lie. My body yells at my mind and goes back to where it feels comfortable expressing my mood.
~~When I'm happy everything's peachy! But I'm not always there, more than I'd like to admit, so how do I integrate my mood with my training? Do I just try to fake it? Or is all this training about changing my mind? Yes, I know, project ki...but sometimes I'm butt tired and there's just no energy there. Do other people have some magic way of getting outside the truth of their immediate state (besides the endorphines training kicks in)? Does this question make any sense? Arrggggg!!

[Alfonso]

it sounds pretty cold when I think about it but..

fake it , emote it when it's not there.

it works anyway. in any case posture feeds back to attitude as well.. but you have to be willing to "role play". I increasingly find that this constant posture awareness lets me relax and so on..

the implication is slightly disturbing in my opinion, but only when I try to be moral about things.

does that make sense to you?

nice can of worms

[taras]

I try concentrating on my breath, then all thoughts go away and there is only breath. It is definitely connected with the mood and the emotional side. This way I don't need to fake anything, it just happenes. But you need a bit of mental discipline to start doing that.

[mj]

You already see the difference, just keep going.

[tedehara]

...Do other people have some magic way of getting outside the truth of their immediate state (besides the endorphines training kicks in)?...Yeah. They practice ki development. If you believe that aikido is mind and body training, then you should also practice mind stuff, like breathing exercises and meditation.

Alfonso's reply is much better than he gives credit. You should always keep a positive attitude.

[cindy perkins]

Weird thing. A recent psych study showed that people who "faked a grin" by holding a pencil in their teeth found silly pictures funnier than people who didn't. Likewise, people who deliberately put on a disgusted sneer and then looked at a picture of an overflowing garbage can found it more disgusting than those who didn't. The researchers suggested various evolutionary theories, but "why" isn't really that important. Take the time and effort to maintain energetic and alert posture, and hopefully energy and alertness will follow. (I've noticed that when I intentionally make my seiza more upright and correct, that I find myself more alert and respectful.)