A Warrior's Guide to Battling Illness

LESSON ONE

So here is your first exercise and your first step in developing a warrior’s spirit. You can do this sitting down if you like. I have adapted all the exercises so you can continue to train during times when your disease is active. Let’s begin. Relax your arms at your sides. Now stretch your arms out from your sides forming an arc over your head, palms facing front. As your hands meet let your index fingers and thumbs touch forming a triangle between your two hands. Hold this position for just a few seconds, just long enough to view the resulting triangle. Bring your palms together and bring your arms down in front of you about chest high. Now simply reverse the exercise. Bring your arms back over your head and open your hands, palms out, forming the triangle with your thumb and forefinger. Hold this position for just a few seconds. Now let your arms retrace their original arc back to your sides. When your hands reach your sides lower your body in a bow. Once you return to an upright position, smile.

Very, good! If you tried this exercise and you were not able to bring your arms over your head, that’s OK. Simply bring them as high as you can. If you can only bring them to your chest, you are still doing the exercise. Remember, our goal is to train your mind to think like a warrior, not compete in the Olympics.

In the martial arts every move has a purpose, every purpose has a nuance, and every nuance reveals a secret. This is especially true in this first exercise. What we have done with this exercise is test your range of motion. This is your starting point. Whatever you were able to do is great. We have also rotated the joints of the shoulders. That was the physical purpose of this exercise.

Now for the mental training of this exercise. Remember I asked you to look at the triangle you made with your fingers and thumbs. The points of the triangle represent FAITH, KNOWLEDGE, RESPECT, and the base of the triangle represents COURAGE. By forming ourselves in these virtues we are able to connect to the positive energies that surround us. Positive virtues and emotions bring energy into our lives. Negative virtues or emotions bring us into conflict and robs us of energy. Conflict within us or with others leaves you tired and emotionally drained. During a doctor’s visit when you received troubling news did you notice how tired you felt? If you spend time dwelling on your disease do you notice the inability to accomplish other important tasks? This lack of accomplishment only makes you feel even more tired. So, how do we keep ourselves free from conflict? The honest answer is you don’t. But what you can do is fight back. Remember doing battle against your disease puts you in control, no longer the victim. We will look at each of the virtues later in the book.

Now let’s do the exercise one more time. As you bring your arms up over your head speak the word FAITH in a normal voice. When you bring the arms down in front of you speak the word KNOWLEDGE, reverse the motion and when the fingers form the triangle speak the word RESPECT. Bring your hands back to your sides while speaking the word COURAGE. Now remember the end of the exercise is to bow.