Mental stress is much more serious, for when we are mentally stressed, adrenal glands are activated and adrenalin is pumped into our body, giving us continous energy. Unfortunately overworking adrenal glands due to constant mental pressure will, in long run, create a serious break down in your physical and mental health.

The following exercises aim to relax any physical tension and stress, they are simple exercises to do and will relax and calm you .

* First get your self comfortable, select something to lay on, make sure it is not to soft or hard, roll up three towels, place one under your knees, small of your back, make sure it is not to high and that it does not create an arch in your back, although it must give you support, and last towel is placed under your neck.

* Make sure room is quiet and warm, your clothes must be loose and comfortable. Now, take a deep breathe and while holding breathe in, tense every muscle in your body as hard and tight as you can, increase tension as much as you can, then breathing out, relax totally. Wait a few seconds, and repeat process, focus on words Let go, Relax. Do this up to four times.

This article is second in a three part series. In my first article in this series I talked about "Energy, Spirit and Mind" and introduced how these terms are used in Seishindo. In this article I am going to talk about how to cultivate "ki" energy that is source of all life. If this is first article in this series you are reading, you might want to first read my last article, so you have a better understanding of how we think about "ki" in Seshindo.

No one has absolute knowledge (except through faith) of where ki originates from and no one knows where our personal ki goes to after we die. Ki springs from depth of universe as well as from depth of our soul. The way of ki is a gigantic and fascinating mystery, and one that is well worth exploring. In studying ki we can come to a deeper understanding of ourselves, our relationships, and world we live in. Our study of ki can help to liberate us as we become better attuned to music and poetry of our heart and soul.

Having an experiential understanding of nature of ki leads us to encounter a natural, creative intelligence, that far transcends abilities and powers of any one human being. Ki is common denominator we share with all of life. I believe that ki is essentially, expansive, mutable, and supportive of life, and that it can adapt to an endless variety of forms and functions depending on how it is received, shaped, and utilized by our system.

I wrote above that ki is "supportive of life" and I want to explain this a bit more here. Ki supports life when our system is able to let it flow unimpeded, like when when our immune system spontaneously heal wounds or illnesses. Ki also has potential to be destructive in nature when it's flow becomes either stagnant or blocked, as in case of body being ravaged by cancer. Noguchi Sensei, man that developed "Noguchi Sei Tai" (a Japanese system of health management) used to say "Illness is due to excess energy being trapped in body. The stronger illness, more energy there is trapped." One of main purposes of Noguchi Sei Tai is to facilitate release of excess energy held in body so that body can operate freely, and without impediment. This is also one of main functions of Seishindo. When body is stable and able to move freely, our thoughts patterns and emotions will be stable and flowing, and health and emotional balance will be fostered. In my first article I wrote "The quality of our life is not dependent on circumstances we encounter. The quality of our life is dependent on what we learn from circumstances we encounter." In this issue I will say, "The quality of our life is not dependant on quantity of ki available to us. The quality of our life is dependent on our capacity to maintain a free flow of ki throughout our system." Our belief system, as well as way we facilitate generation and flow of ki within our system are major determinants of quality of our life. Free flowing ki energizes and nourishes body. Blocked ki can damage us and weaken our ability to adapt. The cultivation of free flowing ki is thus an important activity to explore because manner in which we cultivate, use, and expend ki, is what determines our health and well being, and who and what we become over time.

One of main functions of Seishindo is to help people cultivate ability to be calm, fully present, and feeling one's emotions and bodily sensations, without need for internal dialogue. When we are at one with our self and our experience there is no need for internal dialogue, for there is no "other one" to talk to. Present in one's body, present in one's brain, and aware of and connected to one's emotions and environment, but not requiring or engaging in internal dialogue. This is a very special way of being. A way of being that can help us to fully actualize our self in world. This is a way of being that can help us to deeply connect to our ability to respect, love, and heal, self, other, and world around us.

Main Course

At every moment in time ki within your system speaks to you via a somatic language that is as refined, systematic, and complete as your verbal language. This transformation of ki into somatic language is basis of non-cognitive wisdom that we call "intuition." Becoming fluent in this language can help you maintain your health and well-being, foster more heartfelt relationships, and assist you in expressing your creative and healing gifts when working with others in various contexts. When you do "just enough" and nothing more or less, you will create context for your body to be structurally balanced, flexible, and free to move. This is way you are designed to be, and at such times your ki flows freely. Structurally balanced, flexible, and free to move and change, mentally, emotionally, and physically.

We have a chemical-electrical-muscular response to events, other people, circumstances, and intake of energy via food, sunlight, water, and other sources. People further react to: presently occurring events, thoughts about possible future events, memories of past events, and internal dialogue. To a large extent, responses we have to energy we encounter and generate are dependent on: 1. The way we use our body (structure, movement, flow). 2. Our system of beliefs, and 3. The default neuromuscular biochemical pathways that we have developed over time due to a tendency towards habitual reactions.

The changes that take place in our body and brain are highly systematic in nature, and these changes determine quality of our emotional responses, and our ability to think in a creative manner. Something occurs, and we spontaneously feel, think, and react in a specific manner, all of which leads to our somatic-emotional experience. For most part we have limited awareness and understanding of what actually changes within our system, to cause a change in our somatic-emotional experience. We generalize "feeling tone" of our experience and we give these generalized feelings rather unspecific verbal labels such as "happy" "in love" "ill" "hungry" "depressed."