Holistic Human Development
The Temple of Movement is a health and wellness space located in Chelsea, New York City. We offer classes in various kinds of movement meditation, including tai chi, qigong, sound healing, and other forms of Taoist yoga and “body-mind” training.
You can make an appointment or ask questions by emailing us at MyNinja@TrainDeep.com.
Read on below to learn more about the Temple of Movement!
Your ninja of health,
Jonathan
10 Essential Life Skills Humans Develop Through Movement
Of course, movement is a worthwhile pursuit in and of itself. It should be celebrated because it is natural and an essential aspect of being human!
But here are 10 good reasons why movement should be put front and center of human development:
- Confidence. If you’re strong and confident in your body, you’re strong and confident in your mind. Because remember, the mind and body are actually the two sides of the same coin. Facing physical fears that are real makes us more self-assured in general.
- Imagination and Creativity. Movement gives kids a way to express their creativity and imagination. They create their own games, add or adjust rules and use their imagination to turn a big log into a troll cave or a tall tree into a magical giant. And as Einstein said, “Imagination is the highest form of intelligence”.
- Engagement. “Kids learn through sensory experience, the more senses they engage, the more they learn.”says Adam Bienenstock, who designs natural playgrounds for kids.And that means they’ll be more motivated in school and absent less.
- Risk Management. Giving kids the opportunity to develop themselves through physical play, especially in nature and on natural playgrounds, has been proven to develop their ability to assess risk. “The more interpretive and natural the element, the higher the cognitive engagement. More cognitive engagement means less risk.” Adam Bienenstock
- Perceptual Awareness and Focus. You know that’s a good life skill to have, being aware of what the hell is going on around you. Man, if people just had that skill, so much suffering would be prevented. And how many of us struggle with focus and multi-task our days away unproductively. That just isn’t an option when you’re balancing on an obstacle suspended 5 feet off the ground.
- Perseverance. Falling and failing are absolutely essential, because they teach you how to get back up and give it another shot. And when you do finally succeed, all the struggle you endured in the process only makes the victory that much more satisfying. Since physical activity is physical, it involves falling. Duh.
- Intelligence. Yup. Exercise makes your brain work better. For many reasons. It’s that simple. Read “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” if you want to learn more.
- Collaboration and Empathy. The language of movement is written in feeling, so any movement done consciously develops our ability to feel. Furthermore, many physical games require high levels of social awareness in order for them to be fun, which helps kids connect to each other in various meaningful ways and develop their emotional intelligence.
- Goal Setting. Did you know that only 8% of people achieve their new year’s resolution? People don’t know how to set goals that are meaningful and achievable. Exercise goals are a highly measurable way to teach people – and kids – about the power of mastering goal-setting.
- Joy. Dare I say it, it’s actually joyful to move. The body heals itself through movement so it’s built into our design through millions of years of evolution. Many of us, sadly, have been traumatized by our earliest movement experiences at school and have created an identity out of that trauma. It’s become an excuse to remain sedentary and deny who we actually are.
Embracing Obstacles: The Ninja Temple of Movement
The larger vision is to open up a larger wellness space that can also include ninja warrior obstacles! Through my own commitment to competing on American Ninja Warrior, I’ve learned personally about how powerful it is to embrace obstacles as opportunities for growth.
People love obstacle training, but truly the most important obstacles are the ones that come from within.
Welcome home 🙂