Think for Yourself – Aloud

Do you ever feel lost?  Or like you’re just going through the motions of your life, but not feeling really present in that life?  I believe we all are meant to feel incredibly powerful and fullfilled, just as we are.  Without trying to be anything or do anything that might be expected of us first!

It’s like the poem, “She Let Go” by Rev. Saphire Rose.  It’s a simple, beautiful message about the power of our internal decisions.  I think there is a voice inside of us that knows how to do this, more often than we may realize.  I mean that, even when we are thinking and scheming and trying to figure out how to step into our full potential, there is a part of us that really already knows how to simply let go, right here in this moment, without any fanfare.

But we can be terrified of doing it.  It is certainly safer not to listen to the deepest knowing inside of us – not to mention speaking up for it or acting on it!  It is certainly safer to stay with the current, to do what has been getting us by, and what we know others are okay with.

But I think to deny what matters most to us is a good way to slowly wither inside.   Coco Chanel once said, “The most courageous act is still to think for yourself.  Aloud.”  This week I invite you to listen to yourself, allow the truth inside you to speak, and then to take action on it.  If you’re anything like me, it might take tremendous courage to do it.  But it must be done.  Once you know it what’s true for you, you have to speak it, do it, and live by it.  I think that is what it means to lead an authentic life.

Martial arts training is of course perfect, on so many levels, for the practice of standing up and taking action for ourselves.  This week in class, we will explore these concepts through the following techniques:

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri
Ukemi	Review Break Falls All Directions		Review Rolls All Directions
Technique 1	KIDS: Chudan Uke Block and Boshi Ken from Jumonji ADULTS AND ADV. KIDS: Sweeping throw		KIDS: Jumonji no Kata (most kids without partners) ADULTS AND ADV. KIDS: Kicking out legs to throw
Technique 2	Learn a New Escape! ADULTS: Also do Ura Gyaku		Work on New Escape ADULTS: Also do Ura Gyaku Tsuki
Technique 3	Tanto Strikes and Basic Defense (BudoKids – from snake strikes)

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Thanks for reading and I’ll see you in the dojo!

~Sensei Nesta