The Beginning of the beginning
(This is a restart of this newsletter on LinkedIn, as I did not previously understand the publishing process here. If you like what you read, please do share this newsletter with others in your network. Charlie)
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?What follows are the foundational concepts that played an important role in the development of the human potential movement known as Seishindo, plus a WIDE range of thoughts and ideas that we have found to be of interest.?
The impetus for creating Seishindo came from my disappointment and disillusionment with how I perceived psychology and therapy developing in the 1970s. During this time period it seeemed that most professionals in the fields of psychology and therapy were focusing on what was wrong with people, rather than exploring the magnificence people generate when they are fully supported and appreciated. As the theories of Sigmund Freud came to be well accepted starting in the 1930s and 40s psychotherapy professionals found it important, if not imperative, to be conversant in every possible psychological malady a client might possibly be suffering from. Indeed, the “Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” was the authoritative guide for the diagnosis of mental disorders, and some professionals called it “The Bible”. It served as a lens for outlining every possible symptom and other criteria, for diagnosing mental disorders. A lens that only focused on what might be “wrong” with people. ?A lens that gave no hint of what might be possible if professionals instead focused on the strong points and strengths of clients. So this manual, and Skinnerian psychology in general were two of the main impetuses for beginning the development of Seishindo.
?Seishindo began with nine key points in mind:
1.?? Our task is to help people reach ever closer to their full potential. A task that we know will never be fully completed.
2.?? Each and every human being is highly capable of living an emotionally fulfilling, “successful” life, even though we might need some help in defining/redefining what “success” means.
3.?? We all have the potential to enjoy life fully, and successfully navigate its ups and downs. Nature made us perfectly, and along the way it is common for people to lose touch with their deeper experience, their core identity, their perfection….In Seishindo we like to say that “you are perfectly imperfect, just as you are.”
4.?? Each person is born highly intelligent, with a psyche that functions perfectly. We each have a natural capacity to be healthy, to survive, and thrive, and are excellent learners.
5.?? We are each naturally compassionate, and we have an innate wisdom and resilience, along with a highly evolved self-healing capacity. even though we might have lost touch with these deeper aspects of our self over time.
6.?? The way the body is used in the course of everyday life plays a key role in determining the emotional state of each and every person, be they happy and successful, or experiencing a good deal of stress, and negative feelings.
7.?? The body is? a “system built for learning” and we strive to help people regain control over their posture, hormonal flow, breathing process, and nerve activity.
8.?? The memories the body maintains are stored in the muscle tissue, and thus movement helps facilitate memory.
9.?? The human soul does not need? to be advised, fixed, or saved. It simply yearns to be nourished.
So let’s start with these nine points in mind and see where we get to!
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Starting out- Here is our guarantee…
Whenever you are feeling stuck, we can guarantee that you have been engaged in limiting your overall awareness. The narrower your field of awareness becomes, the more likely it is that your challenges morph into problems, and your new found problems will often appear to become bigger and bigger.
But don’t give up, because we also offer you a second guarantee! When you tap into your capacity to expand your awareness while concurrently training your attention on whatever appears to be most important in the moment, we can assure you that you will experience yourself as being solution oriented, capable, and kind. Guaranteed!
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Disciplines that informed the thinking and development of Seishindo?
(In chronological order of when I first encountered each)
Gestalt Therapy/Psychology
Involves the study of perception, and posits that the whole of anything is greater than its parts. One’s experience “in the moment” is considered of great importance. What I found to be most exceptional is learning that everything we experience and perceive is altered by, and or dependent on, our model of the world and our perception of self.
Feldenkrais Method
The Feldenkrais Method is a form of “somatic education,” which uses movement and real-time awareness of one’s bodily sensations to guide people towards the positive changes they seek in their body, and in their life.
Alexander Technique
A method to help people rediscover their natual balance and poise when moving.
Cranial Sacral Therapy/Osteopathy
A form of alternative medicine that uses gentle touch to interact with the rhythmic pulsing of the skull's bones and the dural membrane, leading to various physical and emotional benefits. ?
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?Cybernetics
Cybernetics can help us understand how a major part of the communicating people do is systematic in nature, yet outside of their conscious awareness. We improve our ability to communicate as we become more aware of our?habits and how to go about changing our habits.
?Ki Aikido (Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido)
“Shin Shin Toitsu” basically means, “the coordination of spirit and body.” This form of?Aikido was created by Koichi Tohei sensei, and outside of Japan this form of Aikido is usually called “Ki Society Aikido.” I was a student of Tohei sensei for 20 years, and also taught for him in Tokyo for about 20 years.
In Aikido class, the student is taught how to be strong without needing to be aggressive,?or combative. The practitioner learns that through the development of the coordinated activity of their body, brain, and spirit, most attacks can be neutralized or significantly?dampened, before they are launched. You come to realize that your own thoughts are often what elicit an attack from another, and the more you embody a life of compassionate strength, the more harmonious your relationships will tend to be. It is important to note that you can accomplish all of this without any loss of self, and?without the need to placate aggressive people by simply acceding to their demands.?
Another key concept of Aikido, is that we have the greatest strength and manifestation of?will, when we enter into a state of dynamic relaxation, and use 10% of 100% of our total self, rather than exerting excess effort with only a portion of our total self.
Furthermore, in Aikido we are taught to “think” with our breath and react from our “lower abdomen" more so than from our intellect.
Noguchi Seitai
Noguchi Seitai” was created by Haruchika Noguchi sensei. In Japanese, “Seitai” basically means “properly ordered body.”?
Noguchi Sensei used to say that the body is like a top: If it isn’t moving, you can’t realize?what it is meant for and how to use it. One of his main premises was that people tend to use unconsciously generated strategies to organize their body in such a way that they?hold onto excess energy in their system, and inhibit the body’s natural movements. It is this holding of excess energy and the concurrent inhibition of movement that causes illness and less than full health in general. When you release excess physical tension, you discover that your unconsciously generated body movements change, along with your?thoughts and your emotional state. Physical tension and emotional tension are realized as two sides of the same coin.
?A second premise of Noguchi sei tai is that you need to find a way to encourage and?allow the unconscious organization patterns of your body to release, with a minimum of direction from your conscious mind. In almost all instances attempting to consciously and?willfully change one’s posture and physical holding patterns rarely gets the results one would desire. The simple reason for this being that your intellect does not understand the?needs of the body and the emotional self.
?When we experience ourselves as the relationship between our intellect and our emotions,?and join this relationship to our interaction with the outside world, we are able to better generate a sense of health and well-being.
?There are two important exercises based on Noguchi sensei’s work, available on the Seishindo channel on YouTube. There are many other exercises on the Seishindo channel as well!
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NLP
Neuro Linguistic Programming combines theories, models and techniques from a range of scientific and esoteric fields, to create accessible, understandable tools/techniques which can be used by individuals and applied in a variety of contexts to improve outcomes/performance, support wellbeing and create positively oriented change.
Noam Chomsky
A world famous academic who espoused the theory of “universal grammar” which suggests that language is innate or inborn and is processed through the brain’s pre-existing mechanism.
The originators of NLP used his theories to develop what has become known as “the meta-model”. The meta-model assists practitioners in indentifying limiting beliefs, and incorrect /tainted descriptions of events, circumstances, and relationships.?
Ericksonian Psychology/Hypnosis
This discipline is an exquisite model for understanding how it is that each person?constructs, communicates, and believes in their own personal reality. This knowledge will be of great benefit in helping you to understand the logic and feelings of your?counterparts, and how it is each person structures their own unique version of reality.?
Self-relations Therapy
A form of psychotherapy originated by Stephen Gilligan PhD. It draws from and builds upon, the legacy of Milton Erickson. Self-relations emphasizes the positive aspects of problems and symptoms, and suggests we appreciate and respect all of our entire self, and all who we come in contact with.
This is it for today. Lot's more to come!!
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