Body awareness
Developing body awareness is one of the most accessible steps towards shaping the awareness of our life and our whole being. Our relationship with the physical body, the way we use our body, clearly indicates what is going on inside us. It shows our personality, the structure of our mind, our relation to the world.
Therefore, developing and refining our movements is about much more than learning a new form of movement.
By the art of JIAIDO, using the body, we work on our inner world, in the depths of our subconscious, which is invisible to most people throughout their lives and very difficult to access without help.
Our body shows us in a visible way which qualities and abilities we need to develop. Since we are holistic beings, the area where we perceive difficulty on a physical level, be it coordination, sense of balance, harmony of movements, or extended attention to different body parts, is almost certainly an area where we also find difficulty on the mental and emotional levels.
If we cannot focus on the movements or the breathing, we must find it difficult to guide our attention in everyday life.
If we can't stand still, we are constantly moving and moving, then it is not possible to simply stay quiet or rest at any other time.
If we can't find the direction we need to go while we are moving, we probably have difficulty finding our way around in life as well.
If we cannot perform the movements for a long time, it is probably difficult to carry out a task in our lives.
If we cannot physically let go, it is not easy for us to relax during other activities either.
If we can't stretch our muscles, it may be difficult for us to throw ourselves into everyday tasks with greater strength and vitality, or we may not be able to stand up for ourselves in the right situation.
And the line is endless.
The most important realization is that the problem is not with our body, but with our connection to it. In childhood, we have a natural, healthy relationship with our body, but unfortunately we neglect this relationship throughout our lives. We don't notice the signals of our body, and we don't even try to control it, to direct it to a path where we ourselves want to go. We do not take advantage of your abilities and possibilities, but let them run free. We are not masters of our body, we do not know it and, unfortunately, very rarely love our body.
The first step in developing body awareness is to start communicating with the body. We let it know what we want to achieve, that is, we send impulses from the brain to different parts of our body, indicating what we expect from it. Regular exercise and movement programs, as well as continuous communication, activate certain neural pathways in our brain that we have not used until now. JIAIDO works in parallel and in coordination with the two hemispheres of the brain. As a result of all this practice, the process which is responsible for transformation and development in our lives starts. Modern science calls this process neuroplasticity.
The established connection between the body and the brain allows us to start coordinating movements and harmonizing the three main energy centers of the body. We get to know the axis and center of gravity of our body, we learn to move from our center of power. Through movement and the associated breathing, our endurance, muscle and lung capacity develop. We learn to breathe deeply, consciously, and to move in different rhythms in coordination with the breathing, to follow the movements with our attention. We develop the ability to concentrate and focus. We strengthen coordination and sense of balance, learn to tense and release our muscles, use our strength and voice, find directions, move in harmony with others. By working in pairs, we further deepen our ability to connect and communicate not only with our own body, but extend the connection to others as well.
The development of body awareness is the result of a long process, as we have to rebuild the relationship with our own body. However, we will feel its beneficial effects in everyday life from the very beginning, and not only on a physical level. As our breathing becomes conscious, so does our mind. Concentration and cognitive abilities are strengthened by the ability to expand attention. As a result, our thought processes become more clear, the flood of thoughts is tamed into a soft and smooth flow. As our abilities become stronger, a major transformation takes place in our lives on the mental and emotional levels. We experience greater harmony, balance and stability in our thoughts and emotions, we learn to remain quiet, observe, respond in time, make the right decisions and move in harmony with life.
Body awareness doesn't mean that we are not going to break anything, or that we become perfect physically. It means that we become aware of the patterns, conditions that were engraved in the body and the body doesn't run alone anymore. We have an influence on it, we command the body. Until now the body did what it wanted to do, what it got used to, it moved in the rhythm it got used to. But by communication we can integrate the body to the rhythm of life. These 4 rhythms, corresponding to the 4 elements, to the forces of nature, are the foundation for a balanced life. It means that we learn to swim in the river of life, instead of fighting it. We know that there is a force running us, but we always fight against it. Now is the time to move with the flow of life.
