by Dr. Chris Johnson | Dec 1, 2020 | Consciousness, Mindfulness, Resilience
Prior to COVID-19 descending last spring, our lives were so oriented around time that we were hard-pressed to leave home without our posse of electronic devices strapped on, tucked in and gripped by our hands. We’d learned to live our lives by the clock, allowing...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | May 1, 2020 | Consciousness, Practice, Resilience
What are you practicing these days? Whether practice makes perfect (my first-grade teacher said so) or if practice simply makes better (my aikido sensei teaches this), it makes good sense to know what we’re practicing. In fact, as human beings we’re incapable of not...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Nov 5, 2019 | Consciousness, Learning, Mindfulness, Practice, Purpose, Resilience
Packaged up in savory smells, crisp autumn air and bright orange pumpkins, gratefulness is where we turn our attentions as Thanksgiving approaches. Gratefulness is good, and it’s good for you! Yet, there can be a rub. First, the good news. Practicing gratefulness...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Aug 1, 2019 | Learning, Practice, Purpose, Resilience
Ah, August! A prime month for stress-busting summer getaways. Yet, prepping for that relaxing vacation can turn up tension levels for the best of us: bags to be packed, last-minute bills to be paid, late-night laundry to fluff and fold, a schedule to keep. I know it...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Jun 1, 2019 | Learning, Practice, Purpose, Resilience
Rifling through old pictures at my mom’s house recently, I had to smile. Grainy images captured our vacation to Washington DC when I was 14, and the college visit out west that landed us in rural Idaho (I thought I wanted to be a forest ranger). Another photo showed...
by Dr. Chris Johnson | Mar 1, 2019 | Attention, Learning, Practice, Resilience |
With searing pain and teary eyes, my knotted calf screamed out in pain. At the aikido dojo, while practicing a move on my knees, I persisted in sitting back on my haunches and not being up on my toes; something all aikido students know as essential for successful...