Our dojo will be celebrating its 20 year anniversary in June.  Over the years thousands of children have come through our programs.  The children who step on to our mat today are significantly different than those who preceded the many technological advancements of today's culture.  The line from an old Bob Dylan song comes to mind, "The times, they are a changin'."  I'm frequently saddened and very concerned about the well being of our precious children

Many of today's kids seem to lack a joyous, spontaneous relationship to their own bodies.  Years ago we had to reign in many of our kids from their overly confident desire of taking on physical challenges beyond their abilities.  One of the favorite activities was setting up obstacle courses where the kids would roll over large exercise balls and stacked up meditation cushions.  We'd have to keep a very close eye on even our youngest kids since most of them would be attempting to keep up with the their older classmates.  And, all of the children would be enthusiastically lobbying for making the obstacles higher and higher.  Many of the kids could float over stacks of cushions nearly as tall as they were.  Yes, we also had children who were physically timid yet they were few.  Today we rarely set up such an obstacle course and when we do the challenges are far less demanding.  Many of the kids are fearful and overly concerned about embarrassing themselves.

It's fairly obvious that many kids today lack physical coordination and confidence basically due to the lack of physical activity in their lives.  Many spend far too much time on computers, play stations, etc.  Parents, recognizing their children's need for exercise, do enroll their children in activities such as aikido, dance and sports.  However I'm not fully convinced that organized activities equate with the joyful physical activity known as "playing".  In "playing" a child (and even an adult) has the opportunity to explore his/her body through one's imagination.  I believe that when a being, be it human or animal, is "playing" an alchemical benefit takes place uniting the individual's inner world with the physical body.

In today's highly technological world we need to stay alert in keeping our inner life, our bodies and our worldly responsibilities in balance.  Without such sensitivity we are doomed to spending our days managing stress related illnesses - physical and mental.

A founding member of our dojo, Diane Dreher, recently had a piece published in 'Psychology Today' called, "How to Raise Healthy Children in our Fast-Paced Media Age." It's a wonderful article that is sure to get you thinking!  Thank you Diane and we all miss you on the mat!

Posted by Skys Sensei.