“Type” is defined according to popular concepts of typing personality that we find in Myers-Briggs Type Indicator(r) or in Keirsey Temperament Theory. If you wonder what your “type” is, visit www.keirsey.com for a free self test.

Here are some examples from real life.

•If you love solitude and great outdoors, don’t get yourself stationed on a submarine.

•If you love confrontation, competition and running show don’t be a teacher or case worker.

•If you love children, soft moments, nurturing and intimacy don’t try being a litigation attorney.

Why do we try to be something we aren’t? It happens in a context of trying to please others – parents, teachers, religious leaders, spouses.

According to Dr. Katherine Benziger (www.benziger.org) short term cost of trying to be something you’re not is “increased irritability, headaches and difficulty in mastering a new task.”

The long term results include “exhaustion, depression, lack of joy, a homeostatic imbalance involving oxygen or pre-mature aging of brain and a vulnerability to illness.”

I have clients with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, insomnia, cancer, tumors, esophagitis, migraines, bleeding ulcers, chronic diarrhea, obesity, manic-depressive disorders, deep scarring acne, strokes, apnia, and drinking problems who still will not consider making a lifestyle change.

Could these people be healed? Yes, certainly. When they begin to shift over into who they really are, symptoms will disappear, sometimes dramatically.

If this solution is too simple, please ask yourself why things have to be so complicated in your life.

My special message today is for introverts. Our definition of ourselves has been controlled for most part by people who don’t understand us because majority of people in world, 70%, are extroverts.

We’re in process of reclaiming our right to be exactly way we are. Introverts need to spend at least half their time alone for good mental health. This has nothing to do with our love of people. We give energy to others and need time alone to fill up again.

Introverts, please be honest about your needs for time alone and other territorial issues. You can find some great resources for introverts at my website www.theintrovertzcoach.com .

For all people wanting to cut down on their stress, one of greatest services I can render is an astrology reading. Astrology is one of few places you can go in world where you will find someone holding up a clear mirror to who you really are.

Astrology is a paradigm that gives each person permission to be exactly who they are. We get as close as we can to “god’s eye view” of you. Astrologers recognize absolute uniqueness of each individual.

When you see an astrologer, we will say to you, “Let me tell you about wonderful person I see here in your astrology chart….” We are positive and supportive people.

If you have drifted so far from yourself, you can’t find your way back home, give an astrologer a call. We have map.

All change starts within. I hope I’ve given you some great things to think about on your road to good health. Please remember these three principles …

•#1 It is your health. •#2 Your physical health and your mental health are same thing. •#3 Be yourself.

Thought, body structure,and movement, shape flow of ki, into spirit/mind

Think of freely flowing water of a powerful river that comes upon a series of fairly large rocks spread out across river bed and extend up beyond water's surface. These rocks affect flow of river but they do not change nature of water itself. Ki flows through river bed of our brain and body. Our thoughts, body structure and movements, are like rocks in river bed. These are main elements that shape ki into individual mind, or spirit The flow of ki is uniquely transformed by each human being, but nature of ki itself, is not altered in process. Just as pattern of rocks spread out along river bed is never exactly duplicated in any other place on earth, pattern of our thoughts, body structure, and movement is also never exactly duplicated. All mind is similar, but no two minds are exactly alike.

A heartfelt understanding of nature of our spirit will help us to create a healthy alignment of our thoughts, body structure, movements, and actions. When every aspect of our self is fully aligned we have a much greater ability to think, feel, and act in accordance with what is best for us in any given moment. We are better able to adapt and change in a manner that is supports well being of our entire self and our surroundings.

The misnomers of "mind-body" and "mind and body"

A definition of "mind" that I often use it in my work, is following: "Mind is a dynamic, self-organizing, creative system, capable of overcoming physical and temporal constraints. Mind uses and manufactures energy in order to support self and one's surroundings, trade information, and adapt to change."

When considering this definition of mind, we can say that mind manifests equally in body and in brain in skull. Because of this I believe that terms "mind-body" or "mind and body" as used in Western world, are somewhat missing mark and tend to lead to a certain degree of misunderstanding. If you ask a Japanese person to point to their mind, usually they will point to area of their heart, or they will point to their lower abdomen. If you ask average Westerner to point to their mind they will point to their head. This is why I think terms "mind-body" and "mind and body" were developed in Western world. I believe that average Western person thinks of term "mind" in relation to "thinking" or "thought". Oriental philosophy considers "mind" to be immanent in both body and brain. In Aikido we say that we practice in order to calm mind, by coordinating our thoughts, actions of our body, and our breath. Or we say that we practice in order to further empower and actualize our mind by coordinating our thoughts, physical actions, breath, and spirit.

When looking to calm our mind we give our primary attention to calming our breath and our heart beat, which will tend to lead towards a relaxing of our musculature and a slowing down or cessation of our internal dialogue. If we calm our body we will tend to calm our cognitive thought processes. Calming mind can also be accomplished by giving primary attention to speed, rhythm, and tone of voice of our internal dialogue. If we calm our cognitive thought processes we will tend to calm body. When we calm both our cognitive thought processes and our body, then we calm our mind. Cognitive mind and somatic mind are part of a recursive feedback loop. You can't affect one without affecting other.

Practice

Would you like to try a Seishindo practice that relates to what you have been reading? If so please go to following URL: http://www.seishindo.org/practices/calming_breath.html and try our “Heartbeat Breath – Calming Breath” practice.