Aikido and emotional intelligence

I had the immense pleasure of speaking with yet another board member of Aiki Extensions, Susan Dutton Sensei, Chief Instructor at Aiseishinkan dojo in Green Bay, Wisconsin.If there’s one theme that’s continually revealed itself throughout this podcast’s first year of taking shape, it’s the phenomenal potential of Aikido to transcend boundaries beyond physical training.Susan Dutton Sensei’s fascinating background, expertise, and dedication to applying Aikido principles make her work wonderfully unique and highly impactful, particularly in the realm of emotional and psychological well-being.Eq-do (her own brilliant portmanteau) is the term she’s coined for her coaching practice, bridging the philosophical depth of Aikido with contemporary somatic/psychological science and applying these integrated principles to facilitate healing.According to Susan Sensei, a fundamental insight of EQ-do is that by using the physical body to teach emotional concepts, they stick at a much deeper level than purely cognitive information.A great example she uses is teaching emotional distancing by demonstrating that once students learn to take hanmi and feel their power to not be affected by a gentle push, they realize they are responsible for their own balance, not the actions of another.Susan Sensei’s practice is many-layered, drawing on principles that go beyond simple technique, incorporating mental and spiritual intention:One particularly fascinating facet of her work involves the practice and teaching of TRE (Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises), a sequence of exercises designed to facilitate the release of deep tension through body tremors. These neurogenic tremors are a natural way to reset the body when the nervous system is locked in fight or flight mode, thereby freeing the mind to access higher wisdom.It’s really incredible stuff.Pretty much blew my mind.But I don’t want to give too much away…Because I want you to listen to the episode!Don’t forget to check out all the amazing things going on at Aiki Extensions. They’re genuinely trying to make the world a better place. I cherish every conversation I’ve had with them so far and hope to do my part to spread the word far and wide. Get full access to Ki to the City at kitothecity.substack.com/subscribe