Kishi Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 I hate that feeling, when you get a ton of sleep and it's still not enough. Quote Work like a farmer, train like an athlete, fight like a soldier. 2 Tim. 2:3-6 BATTLE! Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 Week 4: Day 2 Yesterday was, like, the worst ADHD day in forever. I sat down at 9am to work, and looked up after checking my mail and it was 7pm. I have no idea what happened. Anyway. That was yesterday, and this is today. Surely there must be, like, some sage advice-- --okay, thanks for that. I think some no-screen hours to start, trying to work on paper for a bit. Sort of a day for basics. I should also fit a couple of extra hours of sleep in there, because I'm sure it hasn't been helping that I'm not sleeping too well. Speaking of basics, I want to do some beginners bokken drills today: Workout - the regulation 30 minutes.Meditation, kinda. I should probably do another, I was tired.Rest - I need to make up two hours. I got 15 minutes of that. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Kishi Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 Basics are always good. Hope things get better. Sorry the ADHD got you so hard yesterday. Also, the integration of sword in aikido is always fun to watch. Quote Work like a farmer, train like an athlete, fight like a soldier. 2 Tim. 2:3-6 BATTLE! Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 Week 4: Day 3 Okay, pulling out of the ADHD slump. Not totally there, but improving. I picked up a fitness tracker to track movement and sleep. I seriously like data, and given the ADHD issues, I'm not the most reliable self-tracker of data, so I'm hoping a device that does it for me will help. (The one I picked also gives alerts when you've been sitting too long, which is a risk for a person with a desk job and some attention issues.) It's back-ordered, but I hope it will be awesome. Feedback and data are good. (The Kyoshi Warriors are awesome, and I say this not just because they're the bad-ass lady aikidoka of the Avatar world. Although that is most of the reason.) Speaking of rest, OH GOD I FAILED AT REST LAST NIGHT. Somewhere between 5.5 and 6 hours. Partly my fault, and partly not. Ugh, I hate winter. It can take its dry air and fuck off.Regulation 30-minute light workout. Man, nothing too demanding this challenge, which is a shame, but, hey, they're getting done according to challenge specs.[meditation goes here]Not enough. I bumped it up to about six hours, so I'm only two hours down. 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Kishi Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 ... huh. Never thought of the Kyoshi warriors as aikidoka, but now that you say it I can't not see it. Cool! Sorry the sleep went so sh!tty, though. Quote Work like a farmer, train like an athlete, fight like a soldier. 2 Tim. 2:3-6 BATTLE! Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2015 ... huh. Never thought of the Kyoshi warriors as aikidoka, but now that you say it I can't not see it. Cool! They totes are. They're the hakama-wearin', sword-totin', defensive-art ladies of the Avatar world. Everyone else practices a Chinese art, except for Kyoshi Island. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2015 Week 4: Day 4 There's been some carb creep in my diet lately. Pulling that back down again; might be worth formally putting it in the next challenge. 40 minutes light workout. Again, total letter-of-the-law stuff. But, hey, it's meeting my challenge requirements. That is good enough. It is getting done.Eight hours of sleep, really despite myself. This is a bad ADHD week, and that often leads to missing bedtimes by hours. Week 4: Day 5 I got my fitness tracker. It's apparently really hot on sleep tracking as well. Data, people! I will have data!Rest probably, I can't remember. Probably not enough.[meditation here][workout here] Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 Week 4: Day 6Regulation 30-minute light workout.Probably meditated, but I don't have my schedule diary in front of me.8 HOURS OF SLEEP. Amazing. I would never have guessed.Week 4: Day 7Regulation 30-minute light workout.7 hours of sleep.Maybe I will meditate on my way to bed. Maybe.I have an activity tracker. It is splendid, and tracks my sleep for me in useful ways. Sleep. It is the best. That is what I am going to look like in about 45 minutes. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Kishi Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 It's a good look on you. Suits you well. Quote Work like a farmer, train like an athlete, fight like a soldier. 2 Tim. 2:3-6 BATTLE! Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 It's a good look on you. Suits you well. I'm just lately realizing what a key habit sleep is for me. Even ten years after college, I was treating it as optional, and stealing two or three hours from it for, I dunno, extra relaxing after work. Which was probably pretty counter-productive. That was actually a huge reason I got an activity tracker (though now I realize it has another killer app). It makes it easier, but I can guesstimate my daily activity level, and I can track my workouts reasonably, but sleep... my sleep-addled brain makes terrible assessments of what's going on. "This must be the fifth time I've woken up tonight" is not necessarily true. And "Ugh, I don't wanna go to bed, I just lie awake for forever" is not true. There is an average time that is quantifiable, if you're not semi-unconscious at the time. And "I'll never catch up on my sleep", also not very true, if you have numbers. So now I have numbers. And it is much easier to get on board with good habits if you know you need to be in bed for X hours to get Y hours of sleep, because it takes you M minutes to fall asleep on average and you wake up for N minutes a night. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 Week 5: Day 1Almost enough sleep. 7.5 hours. I am actually feeling tired today, so I may try to make up that extra half-hour later.Meditation: Done. Tiny but Fierce mini-challenge on today's hard task: doneToday I tried something new for meditation. Aikido has... look, there are vast differences of opinion on the subject of mystical shit within aikido. I come from a style that takes a very practical approach, and doesn't touch that stuff at all, so, y'know, I'm not totally comfortable getting into that territory. But there are schools out there with a lot of breath and meditative practices that they train as part of aikido. I have no idea how to fit them into either my mental framework of aikido, or my mental framework of traditional, tested meditative practice, but they're still interesting as the practices of experienced martial artists. I mean, traditional martial artists did sitting meditation, and then more sitting meditation. Like my dead martial arts boy-crush, Tesshu. But, hey, I need novelty. Like standing breathing exercises: That was pretty good. They've got another one I might try sometime. And if I get bored again, the most brutal of martial arts breathing meditations, the one set by Jeong Jeong: Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Kishi Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 Sounds like working that kind of thing in could be a challenge. I know, for me, it's hard to wrap my head around the value of kata, just like it was difficult for me to wrap my head around the value of meditation. But meditation did prove valuable, and if your art has a way to incorporate it in... well, maybe it's worth examining and attempting to incorporate. Quote Work like a farmer, train like an athlete, fight like a soldier. 2 Tim. 2:3-6 BATTLE! Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 Sounds like working that kind of thing in could be a challenge. I know, for me, it's hard to wrap my head around the value of kata, just like it was difficult for me to wrap my head around the value of meditation. But meditation did prove valuable, and if your art has a way to incorporate it in... well, maybe it's worth examining and attempting to incorporate. I would say it both is and isn't my art. All aikido is aikido, but all aikido is not the same aikido. If that makes sense. But yeah. Well, look, I don't romanticize historic practice, so modern practice could be great. I just don't understand it so well on a scientific or pedagogical level. I certainly don't believe in manipulating universal energy, although it gives a fun Jedi vibe to the proceedings, and it's hard to object to that. Having done them, what I can say is, it seems to have some physiological benefits from the breathing and the stretching, and results in some sort of mental centering, even if I don't know how it compares to more traditional meditation. Meditation and breathing practices do have a certain amount of history in my art, and the one definite benefit of trying to do meditation within the art is that it's very hard to beat a dojo mindset for a trained mental response. Most meditation is basically martial arts training for the mind. Brain kata. And if you've got enough martial arts training to slip into that dojo mindset when you start a meditative practice, that's a win. 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Week 5: Day 2Meditated.Regulation 30 minute workout.Approximately enough rest, could maybe use another half-hour.Did many difficult things, including a chunk of the one that's been freaking me out. Life is being a little dark-tunnellish this week, so I'd better keep this bit of advice where I can see it. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 Week 5: Day 3Regulation 30 minute workout, just light stuff.Plenty of sleep. Week 5: Day 4Gah, not quite enough sleep. Down an hour. Will have to try to make it up later.30 minute workout. It is spring. I was outdoors. It was great.It is nice having actual numbers for sleep that I don't manually keep. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
RisenPhoenix Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 Life is being a little dark-tunnellish this week, so I'd better keep this bit of advice where I can see it. I <3 Iroh. In the mean time, have some cactus juice! And then, we can have special friends like this: Quote RisenPhoenix, the Entish Aikidoka Challenge: RisenPhoenix Turns to Ash "The essence of koryu [...is] you offer your loyalty to something that you choose to regard as greater than yourself so that you will, someday, be able to offer service to something that truly is transcendent." ~ Ellis Amdur, Old School Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 In the mean time, have some cactus juice! Oh man, some nice quenching cactus juice would be the best! We should have a cactus juice party. Everyone 's Iroh. He is the best. And I bet he's got some good cactus juice. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
joedog Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 I'm sadly gifless at the moment but I'm totally here for the monk party to make your day better! Quote joedog, level 15 Monk Current Challenge Link to comment
Teirin Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 Woohoo for DATA! Hope it does help you to improve your sleep on a more consistent basis. Totally group hug time: 1 Quote Behave yourself, badly if necessary. Current Challenge Judo - Shodan My Character Link to comment
Mistr Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 I would say it both is and isn't my art. All aikido is aikido, but all aikido is not the same aikido. If that makes sense. But yeah. Well, look, I don't romanticize historic practice, so modern practice could be great. I just don't understand it so well on a scientific or pedagogical level. I certainly don't believe in manipulating universal energy, although it gives a fun Jedi vibe to the proceedings, and it's hard to object to that. Having done them, what I can say is, it seems to have some physiological benefits from the breathing and the stretching, and results in some sort of mental centering, even if I don't know how it compares to more traditional meditation. Meditation and breathing practices do have a certain amount of history in my art, and the one definite benefit of trying to do meditation within the art is that it's very hard to beat a dojo mindset for a trained mental response. Most meditation is basically martial arts training for the mind. Brain kata. And if you've got enough martial arts training to slip into that dojo mindset when you start a meditative practice, that's a win. Thanks for posting the standing breathing practice video. I've learned similar things at seminars. The one with the shoulder opening was new to me. Also the clapping. We typically do a simple breathing exercise followed by hand shaking after doing rowing exercise. One of our neighoring dojos is directly associated with Shingu, Japan. They do a more elaborate set of breathing exercises with rowing exercise. My understanding is that they got that practice directly from O-Sensei. Misogi breathing is part of aikido and other Japanese martial traditions. It trains stamina and focus. Comparing misogi breathing and yoga mediation with focus on the breath, they feel quite similar. Both are ways to train the mind to focus and shut up. On a simple practical level, Tasaka sensei taught us how to stand and focus correctly to receive an attack (at a seminar last summer). It involved a combination of posture, breath and mental focus. The difference in stability was amazing. I got to be one of the demonstration dummies for this. Very much in a "look, anyone can learn this" kind of way. When I was standing with my normal pretty decent posture and grounding he could push me sharply on both shoulders and make me lose my balance. When I corrected my stance as directed I was able to stand firm. I've seen quite a few senior instructors try to get these subtle points across at seminars. These small adjustments make the difference between "works once in a blue moon" and "works fairly often". For someone who is still working on where to move, the subtle points won't make much sense. You have to be close to doing a technique correctly for the polishing to make a difference. That said, the mental training gets you ready to apply it when you reach the advanced levels. You've reminded me that I still need to meditate today. Quote Level 71 Viking paladin My current challenge Battle log Link to comment
The Shogun Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 Hey! I'm here for the party! Am I too late!? Quote One shot, one life. Link to comment
Mistr Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 Here you go, meditation with canine assistance: Quote Level 71 Viking paladin My current challenge Battle log Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2015 I'm sadly gifless at the moment but I'm totally here for the monk party to make your day better! Thank you! It really did. Woohoo for DATA! Hope it does help you to improve your sleep on a more consistent basis. Totally group hug time: That is the best gif. If nothing else, it does seem to be that slight bit of extra motivation to get to bed on time, because I know it's going to be analysed and scored, and I want to see those numbers. I ignore the alarm on my computer, but I don't ignore the one on my wristband. And that's held pretty steady over a week. (I'm averaging 7.5 hours of sleep, and about 5 hours of it is deep sleep, which is awesome. And I'm sure that's better than my average before, because it's very easy to lose a couple of hours. Last night, man, I needed ALL the sleep. I got nine hours solid, and needed more.) Hey! I'm here for the party! Am I too late!? You are not too late for a monk party! ("Ain't no party like a Time Lord party, because Time Lord parties are not subject to temporal limitations, and thus do not stop"?) Here you go, meditation with canine assistance: How altruistic of that dog to help him achieve enlightenment in that fashion. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2015 Thanks for posting the standing breathing practice video. I've learned similar things at seminars. The one with the shoulder opening was new to me. Also the clapping. We typically do a simple breathing exercise followed by hand shaking after doing rowing exercise. One of our neighoring dojos is directly associated with Shingu, Japan. They do a more elaborate set of breathing exercises with rowing exercise. My understanding is that they got that practice directly from O-Sensei. Misogi breathing is part of aikido and other Japanese martial traditions. It trains stamina and focus. Comparing misogi breathing and yoga mediation with focus on the breath, they feel quite similar. Both are ways to train the mind to focus and shut up. You're absolutely right - I'm certain there are traditional breathing exercises that go along with aikido training, and I'm certain they were part of O-Sensei's practice. (Though there's a point where his practice becomes his personal religious devotions - intoning kotodama and some of the other forms of misogi purification he performed are probably not actually part of aikido, simply part of his aikido - but breathing exercises to train focus have a really long history in the martial arts.) My style doesn't do them, so I don't have a good way of telling those from the neologisms. (The phrase "paint the ki" raises my new-agey-addition flag.) Yoga is what they remind me of, too, a slightly more physical variation on breathing meditations. The shoulder openings may not be big on mental focus, but I really liked the physical effect of those. They're a nice stretch. The clapping strikes, especially as a closing action, me as reminiscent of Shinto practices, where clapping is part of bowing to the shrine, sort of a mental bringing things to a close. On a simple practical level, Tasaka sensei taught us how to stand and focus correctly to receive an attack (at a seminar last summer). It involved a combination of posture, breath and mental focus. The difference in stability was amazing. I got to be one of the demonstration dummies for this. Very much in a "look, anyone can learn this" kind of way. When I was standing with my normal pretty decent posture and grounding he could push me sharply on both shoulders and make me lose my balance. When I corrected my stance as directed I was able to stand firm. That sounds a lot like ki testing in our style, which is mostly posture and focus. We've never really done breath as a part of that. But we do a lot of that sort of training to test stability against forces in various places - shoulders are a big one, there's a test on the lower back, the arm. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted March 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2015 Week 5: Day 5 Nada. Week 5: Day 6 THE MOST EXCRUCIATING FOAM ROLLING EVER. Plenty of rest. Enough rest that I think maybe I'm getting sick... nine solid hours, and not rested when the alarm went off. That's sick hours for me. Workout maybe later. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
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