What is the Awareness Connection?

Awareness is a key element of self-defense. It is also a basic tenet of being in the wild safely - awareness of conditions, of wildlife (and wildlife behavior), of weather - and of your own capabilities. Situational Awareness and Self-Awareness come together to provide the external and internal types of awareness that can serve an individual from a safety and security aspect as well as from a quality of life aspect.

Connection gets to how we relate to the world around us, from the natural world to the human created, including other humans - and to our inner selves through the mind-body connection. Awareness can inform and influence these connections.

I’m passionate about what self-defense training can do for an individual. I find that the physical aspects are 100% connected to the mental and emotional aspects. The mind-body connection. I myself am a physical person, and by learning physical techniques and ways to use and move my body allowed me to reconnect my physical body with my mental and emotional self, and understand beliefs, experiences and expectations in a different way.

Many people have lost this connection. Many women in particular are operating from their mind, disconnected from what their body is telling them. Fear has a particular feeling, worry has a different feeling. Experiencing and feeling this difference can contribute to self-defense. Being aware of what is actually happening versus worry of what could happen.

I believe we are meant to live in peace, to experience joy, and to seek awe as an every day way of being. Fear can be beneficial and protective, but overabundance of worry masquerading as fear is damaging and reduces quality of life. It saps creative energy, it saps time, and it can cause us to miss out and not experience what is happening exactly now - in the now.

The skills developed through self-defense training can influence more aspects of life than just how you feel walking down the street or through a parking garage. They can influence how you interact in relationships, how you express yourself, how you perform at work, how you show up as a parent, how you show up as a leader.

As your knowledge of self-defense increases your sense of awareness will develop - meaning you’ll feel a stronger connection (and belief) in your gut or intuition, you’ll notice and understand others body language, you’ll notice and understand others intent or motivation. Your internal awareness - self-awareness - will also develop. You’ll be aware of your own particular triggers, of when you might be most vulnerable (tired, hungry, sad, etc.), your own body language, your own particular sticky spots based on limiting self-beliefs or societal stories you’ve accepted as truth, you’ll develop skills to manage your breathing, to focus on the specific problem at hand and how to zoom in on the possible solutions. Additionally you’ll get a sense of how your verbal skills can be adjusted to deal with problematic situations.

Not all self-defense situations are dire life and death. In fact most are not, however your “self” is worth every opportunity to exist, to express ideas, to be seen and heard, to occupy space, to be able to stand with strength and belief behind the word “No”.

I hope this helps explain my thinking behind the title of this website “The Awareness Connection”.