"Warriorship: The art and science of refining your own being."

When John walked into my office I could pretty well guess what his list of problems would be - do enough counseling and coaching and you're bound to be able to predict things pretty accurately... John's pretty typical of our society - male, age 42, anxious, border-line depression, relationships in a shambles, overweight, smoker, life out of control... But to give credit to him, John wasn't coming just to complain or find a shoulder to cry on. And he wasn't interested in a "magic pill" that would fix his life overnight while leaving his dysfunctional lifestyle in tact... NO... John came saying, "I know my life is in a tailspin, so I've determined that I'm going to quit smoking, lose weight, and get my life in order." It's so great when you find someone who's willing to admit where they're at, take responsibility for it and do something about it. Taking responsibility is the first step in warriorship. John lacked only one thing... something he was totally unaware of... I explained to him the basics of warriorship - the "Reader's Digest" version - as it's understood in the ancient world's spiritual, health and martial traditions. He got really enthusiastic about that, but clearly he needed a simple formula to hang on to. We all need something simple we can hang on to, something that serves as a guide-post, as a rule that separates the right path from the thousand wrong ones... So I gave him one: "John, from this day forth, you're going to say the following every day when you get up in the morning and every night before you go to bed: 'My body-mind organism is a precious gift. It's precious because it's an instrument. And refining this instrument to a high level of functioning is the only way that I can reach my full potential, find my true self, perfect my life, help others and ultimately know God. So from now on I will only do things that build up this instrument and will refrain from all things that harm it.' This is the common teaching of all traditions of life-transformation that really work. And it's the opposite of our Western understanding of who we are. We treat our brain, our thoughts, as our "self". And we treat the body as a transportation system for the brain. We have been consistently taught to separate our mind from our body every day we've been alive. Without acknowledging the meaning and purpose of the mind-body organism, and especially of the BODY part of that equation, John wouldn't get far. He would be constantly combating symptoms, like trying to find a way to lose weight, a way to quit smoking, and at the same time having to fight the tendencies in himself that caused these problems. That's often a losing proposition... You may have noticed that most people who try to lose weight or quit smoking don't succeed. But by shifting his awareness about his body, John has a much better chance of developing the inner resources to resist his own self-destructive tendencies. And he'll also more easily understand the Rock Solid Tranquility program I put him on to eliminate his stress and overcome his mind-body split - his dualistic approach to life. Treat your own body-mind organism as the PRECIOUS INSTRUMENT that it really is, and your own quality of life will increase immeasurably.
Best wishes,
Dr. Symeon Rodger
"The Warrior Coach"