Number 26Summer 2006

Special Edition Newsletter

Focus:Paul LindenCreator, Being In Movement®

AIKIEXTENSIONS

Aiki Extensions Newsletter #262

In 1999, I had the good fortune of attending the first AE conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Amidst all the excellent presenters, two in particular stood out as cutting-edge. One was Wendy Palmer, the other Paul Linden. While most Aiki people are familiar with Wendy’s insights, fewer seem to know about Paul’s ground-breaking work. Luckily, Paul lives only about 2.5 hours away from me, so after AE #1, I arranged to train with Paul in both Aikido and in his bodymind approach called Be-ing In Movement®, or BIM. I soon saw the power of Paul’s work at several levels. As an Aikidoka, I valued Paul’s powerful technical ability and non-dogmatic teaching style. As a clinical counselor, I appreciated his body-based approach to trauma. As a writer, I admired Paul’s logical precision and clarity. When Don Levine recently asked me to guest edit this newsletter focusing on Paul’s work, I jumped at the chance. While I have been unable to train with Paul recently, his work continues to deeply influence my day-to-day work with clients. We begin this special edition AE newsletter with Reflections, an interesting recollection by AE member Richard Strozzi-Heckler, another pioneer in “off the mat” applications of Aikido. Paul willingly submitted to a Q & A session with yours truly. AE members Zach Smith and Ted Braude kindly provided essays on Paul’s impact on their Aikido. Having recently passed his shodan exam, Steve Kotev shares the experience of having been a student of Paul’s. Finally, we’ll close with an examination of Paul’s extensive writings. So without further adieu, welcome to this special AE newsletter! If you are already familiar with Paul’s work, I invite you to reacquaint yourself. If you are not familiar with Paul’s work, then you’re in for a treat!

Paul Linden:AE’s Own

by Tim Warneka, AE Guest Editor

Renaissance Man

AE member Tim Warneka is the author of Leading People the Black Belt Way: Conquering the Five Core Problems Facing Leaders Today. A clini-cal counselor and organizational consultant, Tim uses Aikido principles with individuals, families, groups, teams & organizations. With a home dojo at the Cleveland Aikikai in Cleveland, Ohio, Tim trains with Paul whenever he can. Visit Tim on-line at www.blackbeltconsultants.com

Paul Linden At a Glance

Co-founder: Columbus Center for Movement Studies

Chief Instructor: Aikido of Columbus

Rank: 6th dan, Aikido 1st dan, Shotokan karate

Creator: Being In Movement® Mindbody Training

Degrees: Ph.D., Physical Education, Ohio State Univ. B.A., Philosophy, Reed College

Certificates: Instructor, Feldenkrais Method®

Website: http://www.being-in-movement.com

“I am astounded at Paul’s ability to read the significance of the smallest body response. When I received mind/body

work from him, he guided my at-tention in a way that resulted in deep insight and healing for me. I would like others to learn Paul’s system and use it in their teach-

ing and therapeutic work.”- Mary Heiny Sensei

Special Edition: Paul Linden’s Work �

ity was not loud and ostenta-tious but rather an unflinching commitment to teach and help whoever was interested in an uncomplicated and straight for-ward manner. In his TAB workshops we participants watched as individuals from war torn coun-tries transformed in front of our eyes by engaging in Paul’s practices to heal trauma and deal with stress. With a deeply centered countenance and genuine care, Paul took a highly charged area and was able to bring awareness to deeply held contractions so these indi-viduals could open to life and energy. Paul is an exemplar of someone who has taken the deepest principles of Aikido and combined them with other discourses—Feldenkrais and Somatics—to make a major social contribution to healing from trauma. He has published profusely and leads workshops here and abroad. For those interested in healing and well being I highly recommend his work.

A sixth dan in Aikido, AE member Richard Strozzi-Heckler holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and is co-founder and President of Strozzi Institute in Petaluma, CA. The author of five books, including In Search of the Warrior Spirit [my personal favorite! - Ed.], The Anatomy of Change, Holding the Center, The Mind/Body Interface, and Aikido and the New Warrior, Richard has taught at the University of Chicago, Harvard University, Sonoma State University, Esalen Institute, Lone Mountain College, Naropa Institute, and the University of Munich. Visit Richard online at www.ranchostrozzi.com.

I first met Paul Linden in the mid-seventies during the early days of Aikido of San Francisco. I believe he

had been training with Robert Nadeau Sensei at Aikido of Mt. View and the Unitarian Church before the San Francisco dojo was es-tablished. I remember Paul as a sincere, quiet training partner who was very committed to the deeper aspects

of the art. At coffee shop keiko after practice he was a respectful listener to the conversations, especially when sensei spoke, and his input always contained a keenness of observation and insight. When Paul moved to Ohio he sporadically came

by Richard Strozzi-Heckler

Reflections

“Paul is an exemplar of some-one who has taken the deepest

principles of Aikido and combined them with other

discourses...to make a major social contribution...”

to my attention as he began to weave his Feldenkrais work and Aikido more closely together. I also read a few of his articles on trauma which were clearly break-ing new ground. So it was a great pleasure when I saw him again at the Training Across Borders (TAB) in Cyprus in 2004. At TAB, I recognized the same reflective, attentive demeanor—now coupled with a passion about the discourse he was building around trauma and stress. What stood out the most for me was Paul’s generosity as well as his ability to take a complex issue and make it simple and operational for everyone. His generos-

Special Edition: Paul Linden’s Work 4

I caught up with Paul recently and he readily agreed to answer a few questions for the AE community.

Q: Can you please describe Being In Movement® (BIM) mindbody training for us?

PL: BIM is form of bodywork that focuses on helping people develop body awareness and experience how intention operates to shape posture and movement. A key feature of BIM is a systematic way of linking structural/func-tional bodywork with psycho-spiritual change. The emphasis is on integrating power and compassion in the body as a foundation for effectiveness in daily life. I have applied BIM with clients in areas such as com-puter use, sports, and music. My primary focus has been on the areas of abuse recovery and peacemaking.

Q. Why Aikido? What is it about Aikido that makes it fit so well into your BIM framework?

PL: That’s a good question, but it’s backwards. I started Aikido in 1969 as a result of seeing a video-tape of O’Sensei. I was captivated by seeing O’Sensei move. As I practiced, I came to a halting realization that something was missing in me, and it was prevent-ing me from executing the Aikido techniques at all well. Now I’d say that I wasn’t aware of my body. I started to make up experiments to study the effects of thought on movement. For example, I spent about a year observing the effects on my walking gait if I

sent my attention in various different directions. The experiments I did were suggested by the various things I had trouble with in Aikido. When I started teach-ing outside the context of Aikido the processes I’d

by Tim Warneka, editor

Q & A with Paul Linden

“Aikido is a marvelous practice for developing body awareness, if it is

done with that as a specific emphasis.”

developed, that became BIM. BIM comes out of the laboratory of Aikido, so it’s no wonder that Aikido fits well with BIM.

Q: If someone wanted to begin developing body awareness, what advice would you give them?

PL: I wouldn’t give them any advice. I’d give them exercises to play with. For example, as you read this, take a moment to let your tongue get soft and relaxed. What does that do to your breathing? Can you devote some attention as you go through your days to no-ticing whether and when your tongue is tensed? Of course, Aikido is a marvelous practice for developing body awareness, if it is done with that as a specific emphasis.

I’d suggest they get my free book Reach Out or any of my other books. Other than that, I’d suggest that the person seek out teachers of the various body aware-ness modalities. A good place to start learning about the various modalities would be with Mirka Knaster’s book Discovering the Body’s Wisdom.

Q: As a writer myself, I’m amazed at how prolific you are. Any secrets?

PL: I love writing. Wrestling words and ideas into a clear, aesthetic form feels just like Aikido on a good day. The other thing is that I am irked by the amount of discomfort in the world. I have developed some tools for self-awareness that are modular, concrete, ef-

Aiki Extensions Newsletter #265

fective and rapid, and I want to get them out. Writing seems like a good way to do that. In particular, what I write comes directly out of my teaching experience, so I know what I wish to say, and it’s just a matter of writing it down. The best secret I can give you is to keep a pen and paper with you at all times, and whenever you have a thought that should go into an article or a book, jot it down. When your box is full of scraps of paper, take the scraps out, physically organize them into an outline, and then start writing. Use a laptop computer: you can keep it with you and put in ten minutes of writing here and there.

Q: How has Aiki Extensions helped you develop your work?

PL: It has helped me a great deal by giving me a home, a community of people who are working on taking Aiki off the mat and into their lives in various ways. I feel honored that AE values my work enough to devote an issue of the newsletter to it.

Q: In the past several years, you’ve given a num-ber of presentations internationally. Can you tell us a little about the where’s and what’s? What have you learned most from presenting at an in-ternational level?

PL: I’ve taught Aikido (infused with BIM) for Peter Schettgen’s and Bertram Wohak’s dojos near Munich. I’ve presented workshops on BIM methods of trauma recovery in Munich, Berlin, and Buenos Aires, and of course, at the wonderful AE TAB seminar in Cyprus. I am struck by how universal body and movement processes are. They cut across borders and cultures.

Q: Finally, any thoughts you’d like to share with the AE community?

PL: Yes, two things. I have been thinking about the Aikido practice of learning to take the attack as a gift. It is a profound teaching, applicable to all of life. It may be more important than the self-defense function of Aikido. It starts with learning to take the attack calmly, it goes on to extending kindness to the attacker, and I think perhaps it goes in the direction of feeling gratitude as one faces the attack. I was

diagnosed a couple of years ago with Parkinson’s Dis-ease. (With all my Aikido and body awareness train-ing, I have been less affected than I otherwise might have been. I’m still doing Aikido.) It took me a few months of breath-ing meditation to

stop feeling the terror of this particular “attack.” And just in the past few days, I’ve begun to experience that it may be possible for me to meet this attack with gratitude.

Second, I think that Aikido is too profound to easily change the world. Aikido takes too much time and effort to learn. What we need is an Aiki method that can be broken down into chunks that can be learned in a few hours and then used or taught to others right away. I have tried to design BIM to fill that need, and I have been hearing success stories about its use. Aiki-doka could incorporate BIM exercises in their regular Aikido training. Or they could offer no falling/no throwing Aikido classes utilizing the BIM exercises to teach Aiki, which would open the doors of Aiki to large numbers of people who would never train in regular Aikido. It would be great fun to do a profes-sional training in BIM for Aikido brown and black belts. I’d love to hear from Aikidoka who would be interested in adding a somatic education modality to their teaching expertise.

Q: Thanks for your time, Paul.

PL: You’re quite welcome.

Aiki Extensions Newsletter #266

“From Aiki principles to healing modalities and back again, Paul has created a fantastic two way street for people to travel on. I

very much respect Paul’s efforts as a leader in the Aiki

community.”- Charlie Badenhop

AE member, originator of the human potential discipline of Seishindo (www.seishindo.org)

Transforming a Bad Day:A Life Changing Encounter with Paul Linden

by Zach SmithEarly in my Aikido training I had an experience with Paul Linden that started me off on my own journey of taking Aikido “off the mat”. One cold Decem-ber evening I arrived at the dojo after a hectic day of Christmas season customer-service, looking forward to a good workout to wash away the day’s frustrations. When class began, however, my techniques seemed even less effective than usual. Although I didn’t know it at the time, my body had stored up tension and an-ger from my work day. While I had hoped to leave my hectic day behind me, it had followed me into the dojo and was affecting my practice. Somehow, Paul saw this. In the middle of yet another ineffective technique, Paul stopped me and asked permission to make an adjustment on me. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but agreed—

mostly out of curiosity. What happened next was amazing. Paul placed his hands on my lower back and my stomach. Suddenly I felt like someone had cracked an egg inside my back. I distinctly re-member the sensation of warm liquid running down my back and into

my right leg. Feeling as if I could start laughing or cry-ing at any moment, I stood as released energy flowed through my body. Paul asked, “How’s that?” While I don’t remember my answer, what I do remember is that everything seemed a little brighter. I had a great night on the mat. From that night, I changed the way I thought about and practiced Aikido—it became more than just a physical practice. My experience with Paul also influ-enced a number of life choices I have made, including my decision to come to Japan almost nine years ago, my use of Aikido “off the mat”, joining AE and even writing this article. Thanks Paul!

A nidan in Aikido, AE member Zach Smith is an Organization Development consultant and trainer living in Tokyo, Japan. Zach began his study of Aikido with Paul Linden over 10 years ago. Zach can be reached at: zsmith@gol.com.

Discovering Paul Linden

By Ted BraudeI was introduced to Paul Linden by a magazine. Read-ing the Letters section of an old issue of Aikido Today Magazine, I discovered that a guy named Paul Lin-den had written a book called Winning Is Healing that received a poor review in a previous issue. The letter writers challenged the review and my response was “Wow! I want to know more about this guy.” I went straight to Google which led me to Paul’s website. We became email friends and colleagues. Paul invited me to Chicago for a seminar to raise funds for Training Across Borders (TAB). I attended, met and trained with Paul and joined Aiki-Extensions. I probably speak universally in describing Paul as an extraordinarily gifted observer and teacher. Paul pays attention to the details: the minute movements, the smallest subtleties, the nano-nuances which reveal the state of the embodied soul in a human being. In recognizing these particularities, Paul can (with grace and grit) guide someone to a fuller and healthier ex-pression of himself or herself. In Paul I found a colleague/friend who speaks a common language: an understanding of power and love as two sides of the same coin. From Paul, I’ve received the generous gifts of his works, his gracious efforts to include me, and his humble requests for feedback and input. I have only one regret: failing to spend more time with him. I hope to change that in the future.

A nidan in Aikido, AE member Ted Braude is a psychologist in private practice and is the Director of BoysWork™. Visit Ted online at www.tedbraude.com.

Special Edition: Paul Linden’s Work �

“Soften your tummy, relax your throat, and let the movement emanate from your hips.” “Now open your breathing and allow your center to expand.” “Let the tension out of your shoulders.” These phrases bring back fond memories of training with Paul Linden. I began training with Paul in October of 1998 after attending one of his public workshops. During the course of his presentation Paul emphasized the neces-sity of understanding the physical dynamics of con-flict in addition to mental and emotional factors. As a Conflict Resolution professional, I had been exposed to extensive verbal training. I was well aware of the conceptual ways of dealing with conflict and stress. Paul’s comments struck me with biblical force. I had never considered how stress and fight-or-flight re-sponses affected my performance in resolving conflict. I realized that many in my field were completely oblivi-ous to this concept. With this revelation I realized that Paul was on to something and decided to check out his Aikido classes. Training with Paul was never boring or dull. He—like his former teacher Robert Nadeau—is willing to make his own path and never look back. Paul would combine his medical knowledge of the body with concepts from Be-ing-In-Movement® and Feldenkrais movement disci-plines to create a truly unique experience. We would learn how our iliacus and pso-as muscles helped facilitate proper seiza and posture and how poor breathing and stress-based contraction

that is inherent within Aikido. He has dedicated his life to illustrating the connection between Aikido prin-ciples and concepts and everyday life. As I work to develop my own practice I feel very fortunate to have had Paul as my first Aikido teacher. He is an excellent example of how to maintain per-sonal integrity and illustrate nascent links between divergent disciplines. Thank you Paul for your dedica-tion and commitment, I believe that your actions have truly made the world a better place.

AE member Stephen Kotev is a former student of Paul Linden and a newly minted Shodan (hooray!) currently training at Capital Aikikai under Clyde Takegu-chi Shihan. He is a Deputy Program Manager with the Dispute Resolution Section of the American Bar Association. Contact Steve at kotev@hotmail.com.

Memories from a Former Student

by Stephen Kotev

“Through all of my training with Paul I was

struck by the sincerity of his motivations.”

inhibits our movement and randori. Through all of my training with Paul I was struck by the sincerity of his motiva-tions. Paul has clearly dedi-cated his life to helping others. Through the Co-lumbus Center for Movement Studies work with survivors of abuse and trauma or his copious written works; Paul is genu-inely committed to making the world a better place. He truly cares about his students and clients. I believe Paul embodies the true spirit of Aiki Extensions as he strives to demonstrate the compassion and discipline

Special Edition: Paul Linden’s Work 8

www.being-in-movement.com

Other Books by Paul Linden

This is only a partial list of Paul’s works. Computer in Comfort is available through Amazon.com and other on-line retailers. All other books are e-books and are available (along with other free articles) through Paul’s website at: www.being-in-movement.com

Winning is Healing: Body Awareness and Empowerment for Abuse SurvivorsA self-help book for abuse survivors and a resource for professionals based on the understanding that powerlessness is the core trauma wound and that growth and healing must be anchored by tangible experience of success. Focuses on practical, step-by-step exercises to develop body awareness, power, love, and safety. Includes extensive case stud-ies and a valuable explanation of the theory underlying the work.

Feeling Aikido: Body Awareness Training as a Foundation for Aikido PracticeA practical manual showing how body and movement awareness exercises can enhance the effectiveness of Aikido techniques and deepen Aikido practice as a meditative and spiritual process. Focuses on intentionality as the foundation for posture, coordination, and love. Emphasizes improving the defender’s mind/body functioning as well the ability to perceive attackers’ imbalances and utilize them in controlling the attack.

Reach Out: Body Awareness Training for Peacemaking—Five Easy LessonsThough peacefulness is usually thought of as a psychological or spiritual state, it is—first and foremost—a body state. This book teaches five simple and practical lessons which show how develop kindness, inner strength, and a peaceful attitude. FREE DOWNLOAD.

Comfort at Your Computer: Body Aware-ness Training for Pain-free Computer Use.If you own a computer, you should own this book! A comprehensive approach to simple and effective ways for computer uses to pro-tect themselves from repetitive-stress injuries that computers cause. Best of all, because this approach focuses on proper body mechanics and optimal body use, there’s no expensive equipment or furniture that you have to buy.

“Part and parcel of teaching children to feel their own bodies is teaching them to think for themselves.”

Designed for teaching embodied non-violence concepts to children from six to thirteen, in Teaching Children Embodied Peace-making: Body Awareness, Self Regulation and Conflict Resolution Paul Linden has done a wonderful job distilling his BIM principles to working with children.

Teaching Children is an 80-page book that consists of eight lessons and thirty-three engaging somatic exercises such as Throwing Tis-sues, Mouth Marbles and Samurai Patty Cake (my personal favorite). The beauty of all of these exercises is that they can be used equally well with child, teen and adult audiences, making this book a valuable resource for anyone who takes Aikido principles off the mat. Drawing on his 37+ years of somatic research, Paul skillfully and sensitively covers the important topics of: Posture, Kindness, Spaciousness, Sensitivity, Yielding, and Conflicts.

With a specific Notes to Parents and Teachers chapter and with teach-ing suggestions liberally sprinkled throughout the book, Teaching Children Embodied Peacemaking: Body Awareness, Self Regulation and Conflict Resolution is highly recommended for anyone teaching Aikido to children as well as for counselors, teachers, social work-ers, psychologists, physical therapists and other professionals who work with children.- Tim Warneka

Special Offer from Paul Linden to AE members:I would like to donate to AE all proceeds from sales of Teaching Children Embodied Peacemaking through the AE affiliate program for a period of two weeks after the newsletter comes out.

To take advantage of this offer, etc., etc.....

Teaching Children Embodied Peacemaking: Body Awareness, Self-Regulation and Conflict Resolution

New from Paul Linden!

Aiki Extensions NewsletterFor comments, information or submissions, write Dan Kimmel at dan@aiki-extensions.org.

Special Edition Guest Editor/Graphic Designer: Tim Warneka. Contact Tim at Tim@blackbeltconsultants.com.Editor’s note: As there seems to be some difference of opinion on the capitalization of the word Aikido, I have consciously chosen to spell the word with a capital “A” throughout this newsletter. For me, doing so feels more respectful of this profound art.

Photo Credits: Cover: Paul teaching in Germany, Paul Linden; Page 3: Aiki Hands, Patrick Warneka; Shihonage, Paul Linden; Page 4: Paul Linden; Page 5: both photos: Paul Linden, graphic design: Tim Warneka; Page 6: Ikkyo, Patrick Warneka; Page 7: Yin/Yang Throw, Patrick Warneka; Paul by Paul Linden, graphic design: Tim Warneka.

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