Ai Imawa Training Package
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"How you do anything is how you do everything ..." These 12 Ancient Taoist Yoga Postures Will Strengthen Your Weaknesses, Balance Your Energies ... and Add Agility, Grace, and Serenity to Your Workouts, Your Athletic Competitions, and Your Life Save $7 by getting all three Ai Imawa products together in one complete training package! "When you experience your wisdom and the power of things as they are, together, as one, then you have access to tremendous vision and power in the world. You find that you are inherently connected to your own being. That is discovering magic." - Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche A Package Deal! I'm completely stoked to share with you this complete package of all my Ai Imawa learning tools: the book, the DVD, the Flip Chart, and the bonus poster. With them, you (or a lucky friend or relative) will be able to embark on a three-step journey of inner power development. No equipment needed. All ages, all abilities can enjoy immediate benefit. Here's all you have to do: 1) Read the Ai Imawa book. 2) Watch the Ai Imawa DVD. 3) Practice the postures (using the poster and the flip-chart). As an old Taoist saying puts it, "See first with the mind. Then with the eyes. Only then with the body." What is Ai Imawa? Most athletes suffer from a dichotomy between their sport performance and their daily life. As you know, in Wholistic Fitness®, we try to blur the lines between the two. We do so by taking an integrated approach combining inner and outer work for a synergistic effect. Admittedly, I didn't come up with this idea. Martial artists have been bridging the gap between the external (yang) and internal (yin) approaches for centuries. These days, many athletes in other sports have embraced the idea too, and supplement their "real" athletic pursuits with internal practices like yoga and meditation. But most miss the point: it's all the same thing! I was introduced to chi (inner power in harmony with nature) development many years ago by Sensei Kaoru Kishiyama, my Go Ju Kido Karate instructor. He'd have us warm up before class with a series of gentle fluid movements he called "the postures." (We didn't quite understand why we had to do these…we just wanted to start sparring!) Sensei would tell us, "It is important to practice the postures." So I did. I still do too (and have been for more than 20 years). I've been teaching Sensei Kishiyama's postures to my students for decades. They're called the "Ai Imawa" postures. "Ai Imawa" can be understood as "Harmony Now!" Because Ai Imawa relies on principles instead of specifics, the practice of these postures will unify your life experience in much the same way a brilliant sunset colors not only the sky but the landscape as well! To be fair, there are many effective methods of chi development. For me? My Path toward chi development using the body is through Ai Imawa ... which is why it has long been a Practice for my closest students. About the Book To provide some background for my students who wanted ever more depth about these fantastic postures, I wrote a book about them in the early 1990s. Ai Imawa: The Postures and Practice of Inner Harmony is spiral bound, and 55 pages long. Inside, you'll learn: Why Ai Imawa is the best channel for chi (inner power) development that I know of. Why just doing the postures themselves is not the point (hint: the trick that makes any practice transpersonal is to realize that all is one). Why how you do anything is how you do everything. How in Wholistic Fitness, the Ai Imawa postures use our body as the generator for spiritual, emotional, and mental well-being. Why Ai Imawa concentrates on posture and breath for inner power development. How Ai Imawa strengthens spinal integrity (and why the Ai Imawa postures are the easiest and most rapid way of reconnecting with posture as an awareness discipline). Why you will acheive more success learning chi development through a body-centered practice like Ai Imawa than by relying on mental imagery techniques (like chakra mediations). How Ai Imawa transforms anger by teaching you to "Sense the dragon." How Ai Imawa helps you acknowledge, cherish, and strengthen your weaker qualities. How these simple "silly" postures can heal very real imbalances in your energetic flow. How these postures have finite inroads into a rich history of Asiatic healing arts. Why inner power and spiritual intensification are usually only focused on by martial artists (and not other athletes). The basics of chi development: chi flow and blockages, how chi nourishes the organs, how chi protects the outer surface of the body, how difficult life circumstances tend to block chi flow and what happens as a result, sexual chi, food intake and chi, and more! You'll also learn the core Ai Imawa principles upon which you'll build your own Ai Imawa practice: Common Touch (using Ai Imawa as a tool to tone and strengthen your awareness and appreciation of life) Easy Intent (how to retain the residual effects of the practice in everyday life) Consequences of Practice (the benefits you can expect to experience almost immediately) Dojo is Everywhere (you can practice Ai Imawa anywhere) Stones Can Cause Ripples of Different Sizes (everyone progresses at a different rate) Stormy Weather (don't be alarmed by physical symptoms that arise as a result of your practice ... they are manifestations of inner healing) Snake Medicine (this is a powerful practice, so don't be alarmed by evidence of transformation) Dissolving into Divinity (be patient, have trust, and relax ...) When you're ready to begin your own Ai Imawa practice, you'll appreciate knowing: When to practice, including the most powerful times (and when NOT to practice). The benefits of ritual. Why sharing Ai Imawa with others is always an interesting experience. The 3 types of Ai Imawa practice (Static, Fluid, and Specific). A sample daily Ai Imawa program integrating all three types of practice. Why you should keep the breath low and controlled while you practice the postures. Why it's important for your head to remain buoyant as you move through the postures. How to increase the benefits of Ai Imawa by staying relaxed. How to welcome the inflow of energy with "soft eyes." How to "smile into calmness" and why. Why pressing the tongue to the palate makes Ai Imawa even more beneficial (and why not doing so could be detrimental). How and why to keep your hips loose as you practice. Why you must practice the principles of Ai Imawa everywhere, all the time, in order to grow from them. How martial arts training bridges the gap between sport and fitness performance and daily life. Additionally, you'll discover: Why I've long used martial arts philosophy as an internal catalyst to enhance and/or harmonize the motivational drive of my students. How the Ai Imawa postures perfectly traverse the sacred ground of ethical martial arts instruction by using athletic training as the common thread. How the practice of these postures unifies your life experience by relying on principles, not specifics. How Ai Imawa can teach you an essential lesson of the martial arts for athletes: that the only way to win is to make it okay to lose! The specific physical and spiritual benefits of each posture (listed in a "Postural Healing Chart"). Some of my favorite books on chi development (listed in a bibliography). All that said, the bulk of the book focuses on the 12 Ai Imawa postures themselves. You'll find an extensive background discussion on each posture, a description of it, instructions on how to do it, and a photo for visual reference. There's also a section on the Ai Imawa "Sitting Kata," an easy seated series of postures valuable for everyone (and especially for people confined to a wheelchair or a bed). It's also a great ritual to prepare the mind, breath, and posture for seated mediation! About the DVD Sensei Kishiyama taught me the Ai Imawa postures without many words, by demonstrating them. So while meditating recently I realized it was time for me to make a companion DVD to go along with the book! Ai Imawa: The Postures and Practice of Inner Harmony is a 33 minute long DVD, filmed on location in Arches National Park. Whereas the Ai Imawa book is instructional in nature, the DVD is more inspirational. It's a visual celebration of Ai Imawa. Slide it into your DVD player ... and you'll see all the theory and words spring to life. (Whenever my formal students see me perform the Ai Imawa postures during private intensives or group retreats, they always mention how valuable it is to actually see the "flow" live and in person. Now you can too ...) Included are: Inspirational photos and footage of people who have been practicing Ai Imawa for years performing the postures. Practice Guidelines. Color photos of me practicing each posture (while I explain what you're seeing). Footage of me doing a slow flow of the postures (you'll want to watch this part again and again, as it's where all the static postures merge into a flowing essence of the practice). A short yet powerful conversation with a former Wholistic Fitness instructor and elite runner who uses Ai Imawa combined with running to help him "catch the spirit of the earth itself" and actually prevent epic situations in the backcountry before they happen! On the DVD, you'll see me practicing all 12 postures (plus the opening and close): Traditional Opening (establishes your "space" for the practice) Awakening the Spirit (gently coerces your inner power to awaken in the moment) Touching Soul of Tree (teaches you the quality of compassion) Touching Far Away Things With Our Minds (opens you to receive presence from other planes (a great posture to hold while mentally rehearsing physical activity) East West (helps you honor and unify the directions within your life) Holding Up Moon (a posture for inner reflection) The Foundation (teaches you that without a strong physical foundation, all of your efforts at spiritual growth are feeble and will eventually waiver) Mother Earth/Father Sky (returns you to that vibrational plane on which your natural connection to nature is obvious) Meeting the Dragon (teaches you to be courageous during fearful circumstances) Calming the Dragon (teaches patience, and relaxation under stress) Walking the Dragon (teaches perseverance, balance, and the acceptance of difficulty) Four Directions (teaches you to appreciate life, and helps you increase your natural state of joy and sensitivity to all things) One With the Universe (trains you to simply be aware, so you can connect with what's really valuable) Traditional Closing (collects your chi and prepares you to walk forward into life with breath and postural awareness) About the Flip Chart Book This is an 8.5 x 11 inch spiral bound booklet presenting the 12 postures so you can lay it in front of you while learning the poses. Two color photos of me doing each posture are placed on each page to minimize page turning while maximizing viewing. Short Zen coaching hints accompany each photo to accelerate your learning. Bonus Poster! An 8.5 x 11 inch color poster of all the Ai Imawa postures is included with each Ai Imawa product for easy reference. Order your Ai Imawa package today! If you already have one of the Ai Imawa products in this package, you can order the others separately: Ai Imawa Book Ai Imawa DVD Ai Imawa Flip Chart Book