HAPPY BODY, HAPPY MIND
For all the good things that today’s technology has brought us, we don’t seem to be getting happier.
Indeed, that very technology may be part of the problem.
The screens that fill our lives give us many things. They help us find our way to places. They tell us the news. They give us gossip, jokes, music, videos. They help us do our work (sometimes). Sometimes they are our work.
Even in the gym, we are often isolated, working alone on a treadmill or weights machine. Perhaps even watching yet another screen or cut off from the world by our ear buds.
Losing cognitive skills
But humans need more than that. For humans don’t live in a digital world. We are physical beings. And a life locked behind a screen is not a human life.
A recent article in the Guardian told of how many of us are giving up handwriting. It argued that the engagement with pen and paper gives us a very different feel from a keyboard.
Worse, people who handwrite less – or not at all – are measurably losing key cognitive skills. Maybe because keyboards are too easy. As it says, “It’s easier to send a message to the other side of the world than it is to tie your own shoe lace.”
Engagement with the physical world is important. If nothing else, it gives a greater sense of satisfaction, when we do it right. We have manipulated a bit of the real world and succeeded.
Even when we fail, we learn. We lose a bit of ego. Gain strength.
A safe space
A martial art like Aikido brings us face to face with the real world. A technique that might look great in theory has to withstand contact with another human being.
It gives us a rare opportunity to make physical contact with others in a safe space. For this reason, it works wonders with people who want to overcome their fears. But touching has been proved to have psychological benefits in many other ways too.
It’s also fun. How often can we roll around on the floor like we did as children, practise mock attacks and defences in the physical world, feel our bodies working to protect us?
Learning to trust ourselves
The sad truth is that much of society works to make us mistrust our bodies. Adverts, TV dramas, newspaper articles teach us that our bodies are fallible. They tell us we need to buy products to make our bodies better… or to save us from a myriad threats.
On the mat, though, we learn to trust our bodies as we did when we were growing up. To know that they can carry us away from danger. To recognise those quiet messages from inside. To enjoy the sheer fun of allowing our bodies to engage with the world.
No wonder that a well-taught martial art will promote health. Students at our dojo regularly report that their balance improves, both physically and emotionally. They grow fitter. Calmer. More confident. They learn self-defence, but so much more than that.
No surprise that the organisation we belong to is called Aikido for Daily Life.
If you’re ready to try – or ready to come back – check out an Aikido dojo near you. If you’re near us, then we offer a free class to anyone who wants to try for the first time – or wants to try returning to the mat.
We also have bursaries – we never turn anyone away for lack of money to pay.
Book in now. Come and experience the real world again. And get happy doing it.
Read more
Signature moves: are we losing the ability to write by hand?