Still Mind Aikido — dojo

What is Wellness?

Not Being
Miserable

Happiness is hard to define, but all would agree, happiness is not having a toothache.

Wellness or
Disease?

Why Are We So Miserable?

“The wellness framework aimed to help people take control of their lives, capitalizing on their strengths, abilities, and personal aspirations so they could take on and fulfill the life roles they find meaningful...I hope now, that healthcare systems and our larger society will collectively focus on wellness, rather than on problems and pathology.”

Creator of the Wellness Concept

A Bad Trend Got Much Worse

Social isolation epidemic

In recent times, mental health professionals explain we are facing an epidemic of loneliness, isolation and despair in an atomized society. Isolation is no longer a problem of old age, it is mainstream and particularly bad with children.

These charts show a destructive trend in social isolation for many years. In 2020, however, the trends reached much more serious levels and research suggests this increase in isolation has been sustained afterwards.

In the 2023 report from the Surgeon General, some factors cited for these long-term trends and recent surge were mental and physical health, household structure, empathy, time spent outdoors, work/school environment, community organizations/activities, use of technology such as social media, etc.

He further remarks, “Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling—it harms both individual and societal health. It is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death...And the harmful consequences of a society that lacks social connection can be felt in our schools, workplaces, and civic organizations, where performance, productivity, and engagement are diminished.”

Our focus on technology and improvements in efficiency push us in front of computer screens and further away from our birthright - human interaction, physical activity and engagement with nature. Children in particular will be most vulnerable to these trends as they don't know of any other way of living. The charts above illustrate our lifestyle was on an unsustainable course, badly in need of a correction. The events since 2020 exacerbated the trend with no course correction in sight.

Your Choice
Misery or Happiness

“Although wishing to be rid of misery,
They run towards misery itself.
Although wishing to have happiness,
Like an enemy they ignorantly destroy it.”

Shantideva
Martial Arts to Wellness

Transforming "Unwellness

In stark contrast with these trends, Dr Swarbrick introduced the wellness model to rethink how we solve our problems and engage with life. Rather than being swept along aimlessly with the current of modern society, the idea is to start with a balanced approach to building a happy and productive lifestyle. It seems ironic that he "discovered" what the traditional martial arts have been teaching for centuries.

As we will see, the structure of our society is designed to create isolation. Then to deal with the negative consequences, we focus on them as part of the "disease model." It is entirely possible that people who have difficulty with an "atomized lifestyle" are not the ones who have an illness. But with our disease model, we medicate the symptoms down to a level tolerated by society, leaving the cause of the illness intact.

Consider below how our lifestyle has contributed to our unhappiness in the context of the dimensions of wellness, and how our programs reverse the process.

Original Wellness Model

Wellness Model

Dimensions of Wellness
Wellness
Wellness Dimension Modern Society Traditional Martial Arts
Physical Monotonous physical movements in the gym for exercise with no meaningful purpose besides fitness. Stimulating study of functional movements to maximize efficiency to defend oneself and others.
Spiritual None: mind = brain, so we only die and then disappear. What's the point? With or without organized religion, find purpose and meaning in benefitting others and society.
Social Substitute social media for social engagement. Work alone from home. Little human contact. Engage with others beneficially and grow through constructive conflict resolution.
Intellectual Watch TV for hours. Shows employ violence and amoral heroes. News is laced with subtle deceit, breeding anger. Rigorously study ethics and examine a path to happiness to improve your own life and then others.
Emotional Mental health professionals label disease states to treat with drugs to accept a miserable world rather than transform it. Learn emotional hygiene. Understand where emotions arise, build positive emotions, and cut off negative ones.
Occupational Suffer most of your life working to make money for yourself. Get ahead by pushing others down. Move from stress-based fear/survival to thriving based on altruistic motivation. A rising tide lifts all boats.
Environmental Ignore your environment. Do not engage with nature. Choose your social circles, work, and living space to produce constructive effects.
Financial Greed-based and short term — maximize your dollars today, do not worry about tomorrow. Focus on long-term fiscal responsibility. Take proper care of yourself first, then focus on helping others.
Process is more important than outcome. Here, the process of our modern society which we all admire is a step-by-step guide to create misery. To approach happiness, we need to reverse this process while living constructively in this society. There is a better way to engage with our world.
Aikido Founder's Perspective

True Victory
Is Victory Over the Self

“Whatever joy there is in this world
All comes from desiring others to be happy,
And whatever suffering there is in this world
All comes from desiring myself to be happy. ”

Shantideva

Paradoxically, the term martial art implies a wartime activity, but in response to the trauma of war, martial arts evolved to focus entirely upon teaching peace. For example, the Founder of Aikido lived in Japan during World War II. He disagreed with Japanese involvement in the war, and watched two atomic bombs dropped on his people. In reponse to this great destructive power and concern that we might destroy ourselves, he propagated aikido as "the Way of Peace" so we can learn to get along with each other.

He taught that the enemy is not the other person, but the true enemy is the element within ourselves that obstructs us from finding peace and happiness, the element that inspires us to always pursue selfish gain indiscriminantly at the expense of others. He ultimately dedicated his efforts to benefit all of humanity. Long before the wellness model was developed, martial arts and the wisdom traditions were already using the approach.

As a result of his lifestyle, he did not suffer from the sort of malaise that has overwhelmed so many in our society.

FAQ

Can Martial Arts Improve Wellness and Overall Happiness?

The recent study of wellness has divided sources of happiness into a number of categories, ranging from health and finances through to social and spritual benefits. Martial arts training is a much older tradition that naturally incorporates all of these aspects into a unified appraoch. The full article explores these differences in greater depth.

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