Safety First

I recently completed the Wilderness First Aid course with NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School). It was a total of 16 hours, 8 hrs a day for two-days, filled with book learning, lecture, hands-on training and practice and “live” scenarios. At the beginning of the class the Instructors asked everyone to share their name and why they were taking the class.

A few participants were scout leaders or worked as guides in an outdoor wilderness capacity, but the largest percent were people like me - people who enjoy being outdoors and want to be prepared in case something were to happen to them or someone they are with.

The real underlying reason for me is I don’t want to feel helpless.

I suspect that was true for others as well. I want to be able to improve a situation or at least not make a situation worse. I want to have a game plan or thought process to follow if things go bad.

This idea of having a game plan or a thought process to follow if things go bad ties in with “why learn self-defense” as well. We can find ourselves in situations that - through no fault of our own - we don’t have a game plan for. And lets face it, we humans don’t come into the world knowing everything about everything.

I’ve been reading more and listening to a few podcasts about fear and anxiety (fear being the outcome in a sense of entrenched anxiety) and the real impact this anxiety and fear can have on an individuals ability to either pursue their passions, change a situation or change a behavior. Our brains are powerful at building thought tracks that deepen with usage and if we’ve been operating from fear and anxiety it can be difficult to jump the track so to speak to a new way of thinking. It can be done however. Through mental exercises and physical too. The mind-body connection is a strong feedback loop.

I was talking about this with my massage therapist and she pointed out her chakras flags strung along the wall. And the first chakras, the “root'“ chakra at the base of the spine is about safety and security. It is the foundation upon which we build our lives. An imbalance here is related to fear and anxiety. Essentially, in order to move through the 7 chakras to the top of the head, we need a strong foundation. We need to put fear and anxiety in its proper place. Without a sense of safety and security we can spend so much energy protecting ourselves that we don’t have energy left put into our real purpose in life.

I see such value in individuals learning self-defense for personal reasons - to feel secure, to defend themselves or family members or friends should they need too. To develop a stronger, healthier, more balanced relationship with their bodies. To connect with their inner strength. I see the outcome of these impacts on the individual reflecting into the greater world. If someone can stand up for their space, for their boundaries, for their ideas, for their self-worth, then their impact on the world around them will be so much greater than if they felt the need to pull back, shrink and not rock the boat - even if it meant losing or hiding a part of themselves.

What a world this would be if more voices raised up with ideas, innovations or art. What a world this would be if all people could live with a sense of peace.