Sennin Foundation Blog: May 2012

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation

Great news! Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation is back in print with a new publisher. Michi Publishing is starting to release new copies of this landmark book to the public, and you should be able to order a special signed edition from www.senninfoundation.com very soon.

The Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts is scheduled to receive Japanese Yoga on June 11, 2012. Check the website after this date to order your own personal copy of this meditation classic. Paypal and major credit cards will be accepted, and international orders are encouraged.

Based on the eclectic Western-Eastern teachings of Nakamura Tempu Sensei, this step-by-step introduction to Japanese yoga (Shin-shin-toitsu-do) presents stretching, healing, and meditation exercises designed for mind/body integration. It is the only book in English to detail the life and teachings of Mr. Nakamura. In Japanese yoga, which is based on mind and body unification principles, the ultimate goal is enhanced concentration, calmness, and willpower for a longer, healthier, and fuller life. Author H. E. Davey Sensei also shows how Japanese yoga relates to various classical Japanese arts as part of a tradition of spiritual practice with spiritual and aesthetic roots in

India

Japan

, and the West.

Developed by Nakamura Tempu Sensei in the early 1900s from Indian Raja yoga, Japanese martial arts and meditation practices, as well as Western medicine and psychotherapy, Japanese yoga offers a new approach to experienced yoga students and a natural methodology that newcomers will find easy to learn. After a brief history of Shin-shin-toitsu-do, H. E. Davey Sensei presents Mr. Nakamura's Four Basic Principles to Unify Mind and Body. These principles relate the meditative experience to the movement of everyday living and thus make it a "dynamic meditation." Each of the Four Basic Principles is illustrated with step-by-step explanations of practical experiments.

Readers are then introduced to different forms of seated and moving meditation, health exercises, and self-healing arts. All these are linked back to the Four Basic Principles and can enhance performance in art, music, business, sports, and other activities. Readers learn to use Japanese yoga techniques throughout the day, without having to sit on the floor or seek out a quiet space.

Included at the end of the book are simple but effective stretching exercises, information about ongoing practice, and a glossary and reference section. Amply illustrated and cogently presented, Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation belongs on every mind/body/spirit reading list.

Japanese Yoga was initially published in 2001, and it was the first and only English language book on the mind and body unification teachings of Nakamura Sensei. It still is, and Mr. Davey will personally sign your copy of this milestone work. Drop by www.senninfoundation.com after June 11 and order Japanese Yoga for yourself or your friends.

"Will make many yogis feel right at home...

Davey's readable, friendly guide is definitely worth a look." - Yoga Journal

Sunday, May 13, 2012

May Workshop for Kids

Special Sennin Foundation Workshop for Kids
On Saturday, May 19 the Sennin Foundation Center will present a special workshop for children. The workshop will take place at our dojo at 1053 San Pablo Ave. from 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM. It will feature instruction in Japanese yoga and Saigo Ryu tanto dori, which are Saigo Ryu knife disarming techniques. Students will learn coordination of mind and body, as well as calmness in action, by using a tanto (a wooden knife), which you can buy from us.

Both Japanese yoga and martial arts require ongoing repetition of fundamentals. Over many years of training, this repetition allows practitioners to develop remarkable levels of concentration, willpower, and perseverance. Young students, however, often initially have short attention spans, and boredom can set it when they study any serious discipline. Periodic special workshops featuring topics not covered in regular classes are one method we use to maintain enthusiasm among the children in our dojo. These workshops also allow us to go beyond what is covered in our regular classes. For this reason, they can be thought of as “extra credit” that frequently allows workshop participants to receive higher martial arts ranks more quickly.

Parents: Please return the registration form you received via e-mail ASAP. We look forward to seeing you at this unique event. All fees submitted are nonrefundable.

Date: Saturday, May 19. 2012
Time: 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM
What: Japanese yoga & martial arts
Who: Sennin Foundation members ages 5 to 14.
Costs: $15 per child, $7.86 per tanto (tax included)

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Kindness

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again. ~Og Mandino

Order the Sennin Foundation Meditation CD

The Sennin Foundation Center is now offering a new Anjo Daza Ho Meditation CD for just $8.95 (plus $3.00 U.S. shipping, $6.00 international). This unique CD is only sold by us, and it features the soothing sound of a classic Japanese meditation bell, timed at particular intervals, which can be used for Anjo Daza Ho meditation (as described in H. E. Davey Sensei's book Japanese Yoga). These kane, Japanese bowl-shaped bells, aren't widely available outside of Japan, and Anjo Daza Ho uses this sound to powerfully focus the mind for meditation. A special buzzer can also be used to effectively concentrate the mind, and this distinctive hum is included in our new CD as well. Click on the image above to order your CD today.

Order "The Japanese Way of the Artist"

Click on the image above to order your copy of The Japanese Way of the Artist. Including extensive illustrations and an all-new introduction by the author, The Japanese Way of the Artist (Stone Bridge Press, September 2007) anthologizes three complete, out-of-print works by the Director of the Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts. With penetrating insight into the universe of Japanese spiritual, artistic, and martial traditions, H. E. Davey explores everything from karate to calligraphy, ikebana to tea, demonstrating how all traditional Japanese arts share the same spiritual goals: serenity, mind/body harmony, awareness, and a sense of connection to the universe.

The Sennin Foundation Center for Japanese Cultural Arts has been offering instruction in traditional Japanese arts under experienced, certified teachers since 1981. Established in California by H. E. Davey Sensei, it presents separate training in Japanese systems of yoga, healing arts, martial arts, and fine arts. Ongoing classes are available to people of all ages and levels of health, including classes for children ages five and up. Members of the Sennin Foundation Center have access to the rich traditions of Japan's cultural arts through practice in the group's classical dojo (literally, "training hall of the Way"). Much more than simply a school or studio, an authentic dojo is a gateway into the timeless realm of Asian art and personal development, allowing members of the Sennin Foundation Center to realize vibrant well-being and longevity. In fact, the word "Sennin" describes the ancient Japanese equivalent of a yogi. The Sennin were known for their high degree of enlightenment, splendid health, and according to some ancient myths, their ability to attain immortality. This same emphasis on spiritual realization and physical fitness is stressed by the Sennin Foundation, thus the use of the term Sennin.