Adrienne joins the podcast while visiting Mount Soma! Links will be arriving soon.
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Internal Arts in a nutshell: “Stability born of rigidity feels strong. Stability born of shared load is strong. On the path of evolution: learning to let the Earth move through you
“Power and ease are not opposites.”
I started the school — our organization — in 1994. Though I was, and am, the leader, my leadership style has never been typical. In talks I’ve given over the years, I’ve described it as “leading while following.”
I try to feel the pulse of the time and the people within it. I ask for opinions, listen carefully, and do my best to filter out irrationality and anything inconsistent with our purpose. That process is not as easy as it may sound.
Now, after more than thirty years of this way of working, I am on a much-needed partial sabbatical, which I plan to continue until spring. It has given me the opportunity to rejuvenate — mentally, emotionally, and physically — and, perhaps most importantly, the space to reflect quietly.
I’ve noticed that the people around me don’t quite know how to respond to this shift. But I’m certain it’s good — not only for me, but for us, for our organization, and for our purpose.
What follows are my personal reflections on this process.
What I realized recently feels important — and very real.
What’s happening isn’t a mood, or a belief, or a story I’m telling myself. It feels like a genuine physiological and identity-level unwinding.
And interestingly—fascinatingly—enough, Dhanur Veda — specifically the art of archery in the form of sumo — is facilitating it.
For decades, being a leader required something specific from my body, not just my mind.
I had to stay upright when others leaned.
Absorb uncertainty without losing myself to it.
Make decisions while containing doubt.
Hold responsibility in my body, not just in thought.
That doesn’t live only as ideas.
It lives as chronic muscular tone.
Subtle breath restriction.
Readiness without rest.
A nervous system that never fully stands down.
Over time, that becomes a posture of self.
Not fake.
Not wrong.
Just held.
What I’m noticing now is that sumo, of all things, is undoing that pattern.
Sumo is unusual among strength practices because it doesn’t reward bracing.
It asks for grounding instead of tension.
Downward permission instead of upward striving.
Load transfer through geometry rather than will.
Trust in structure rather than identity.
When it’s done correctly, the body learns something quietly radical:
“I don’t have to hold myself up.
The ground is doing that.”
That’s not metaphorical.
That’s proprioceptive.
And once the body learns that under real load, it begins to ask another question:
“Then why am I still holding this elsewhere?”
So things begin to let go, which is described in Dhanur Veda as well as the ancient Chinese texts as a cultivation of the internal arts.
That letting go feels both destabilizing and relieving.
It can show up as fatigue.
Softness.
Emotional permeability.
Needing bread and butter instead of discipline.
Strength going quiet for a while.
That doesn’t mean leadership is disappearing.
It means leadership is moving from effort to organization.
From
“I must hold.”
to
“I am held.”
That transition always feels vulnerable — because the old pattern worked.
Here’s the quiet truth I keep coming back to:
I’m not becoming less capable.
I’m becoming less armored.
And armor, once it relaxes, always reveals how heavy it was.
This doesn’t feel like collapse.
It isn’t regression.
It isn’t abdication.
It feels like redistribution of load.
The same principle I’ve learned in the lift applies here too:
When geometry is correct, force distributes.
No single joint has to suffer.
Strength increases because effort decreases.
My life seems to be doing that now.
The line I keep returning to is this:
“I’m not letting go of responsibility.
I’m letting go of bracing.”
It is, rather, a sort of embodiment.
Or, as the ancient masters might say: you do not pull up the bar, you do not aim the arrow — the Earth does that through you.
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Live not to reach the rare. Live so that the rare can reach you.
I am on a partial sabbatical until springtime
Dhanur Veda: Life, Pu erh tea, archery, sumo, … it is all the same.
First minute or so of the YouTube video makes the point: Yi Jin Jing: The 5 Second Trick to HEAL Your FASCIA Instantly
Structure, containment, permission: In life, deliberate creates stable field structure and stable field in motion gives containment. the physiology gives permission. Impulsive creates leaks.
Most of life’s richness is chased—money, max lifts, rare teas, expensive things. Yet the real art is quieter. Dhanurveda, archery of the Veda, teaches aim without bracing. Tea teaches steeping without forcing. Training teaches lifting without leaks. The coherent field isn’t something you build by tightening; it’s something you notice when you stop bracing long enough to feel it.
I learned that the descent is part of the ascent. The field leaks when the pelvis isn’t contained. The pot muddies when the pour is delayed. Ritual doesn’t dictate direction; it seasons recognition. Recognition seasons ritual. Practice shapes preference; preference shapes practice. It goes both ways.
Calm doesn’t mean relaxed. Calm means organized. The field carries the release when the geometry is held without bracing. Over months and years, repetition seasons both vessel and practitioner, until the rare can meet you—at the floor, in the cup, or in the marketplace—without effort.
Coherence can be found in a walk, a warm bath, a quiet cup, or a lift held still during transitions. The ritual is personal. The field is universal. The teacher is recognition. You don’t chase the rare. You season the field so the rare can come to you.
“Ritual sculpts taste; taste sculpts ritual.”
A nice YouTube link: “The Art of Fascia Tensegrity: Moving Beyond Muscle in Tai Chi and Life” (for me, first two minutes felt enough). The mesh bag… fascia.
I am not an internal arts master. I am recognizing doors. Perhaps that is the most teachable stage of all. Ultimately, it is not about doors. It is about the room. But then, the doors are forgotten.
Recognition leads to no leaks.
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The art of movement through space and how to cultivate it.
why this is valuable for everyone if they exercise or not
being merging knowing and doing
Root → Align → Open → Drive
Dhanurveda: the Spanda phases
calm means organized
dr shen no such thing as chakras
learning how to move.
sumo [horse stance] then motion under weight is the true test.. can not fake it
geometry in motion under weight… multiple moves too soon put focus on external
dr wang on youtube.. question if it is even real?
long routines can be external training with minimal internal focus
cultivating CNS. fascia, muscle integration. proper exercise is not about the muscle but indirectly
CNS gives permission, Fascia [silk web] regulates the flow, muscle follows.
Dhanurveda: power arising when geometry is recognized as safe
life in the physical is the art of archery
silk reeling web… fascia
fascia snags… not muscle knots
reading… I remember Mantak Chia books showed spirals
microcosmic orbit as overlay
discover it… do not overlay it
hara “location”… pressure… place where fascia planes meet
all movement come through the hara—center of fascia planes
dan tien… first chakra
the doors are not the room
doors are just valuable gateways but forgotten once in the room
at age 75 realizing i needed another 20 years to finish Mt Soma
started working out watching diet lead to sumo. watched and listened to western dead lifters [Natasha Auguy, Stefi Cohen], realized mapping to internal arts while clarifying them via another angle [reality].
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Parasympathetic Reorganization
I have been studying the works of ancient internal arts masters. At first not as an area of interest but as a need for understanding of what was happening to me. This has become the topic of a book I am in the process of writing. I discuss it here not only because I need to for myself, but also to offer some insight particularly for those who are around me. I know they have been concerned and are wondering. They deserve some explanation.
This is not emotional processing. It is not a psychological revelation.
It is an ancient physiological art of unwinding that I am in the process of learning—of experiencing. The vehicle that I stumbled upon is Sumo. But the principles are universal and I believe essential for everyone.
I used to think calm meant relaxed.
What I’m learning is that calm means organized.
And when organization replaces bracing, there’s often a period where the old guard exits noisily.
Process / Phase
Parasympathetic reorganization
Autonomic rebalancing
Nervous system unwinding
Protective pattern release
Defensive tone dissolution
Baseline reset
System recalibration
What’s dissolving
Residual bracing
Chronic readiness
Guardedness
Stored vigilance
Latent fight-or-flight
Structural holding patterns
What it feels like
Edginess
Irritability without narrative
Rawness
Unbuffered sensation
Reduced emotional insulation
Heightened sensitivity
What’s actually happening
Pressure redistribution
Continuity re-establishing
Load sharing improving
CNS trust updating
Old safety strategies retiring
What replaces it
Quiet coherence
Structural confidence
Unforced strength
Baseline steadiness
Distributed support
Important clarifiers
Not emotional processing
Not catharsis
Not regression
Not instability
Not something to induce
Anchor phrases
“The system is reorganizing.”
“Old strategies are letting go.”
“The body is updating its sense of safety.”
“This is physiology, not psychology.”
“Calm is arriving through organization, not relaxation.”
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Let steady precision — not force — carry you.
Bruce Lee said, “Power comes from discipline.”
But where does discipline come from?
True discipline does not come from forcing yourself.
It comes from fascination.
Fascination is the engine that propels all of life.
It is the opposite of force.
The opposite of tension.
The opposite of doubt.
Fascination is love.
When you are fascinated by something, you are seeing the Divinity within it.
Fascination contains love, logic, power, commitment, steadfastness, vision, understanding, and purpose.
It is why we devote ourselves.
Why we build.
Why we endure.
Why we move forward, forward, always forward.
I have dedicated my life to Mt Soma because it fascinates me — the idea of creating something that heals humanity, ends suffering, and brings fulfillment to all.
That is life’s ultimate purpose. Isn’t it?
And fascination is what gives us the strength to pursue it.
🎯 Dhanurveda: The Vedic Architecture of Strength
Dhanurveda — the Vedic science of archery — is not just about combat.
It is about life.
Life is archery.
Every action is an arrow.
The classical sequence is universal:
1. Root → Prithvi (Earth)
The archer first roots into the earth.
Stability, grounding, immovability.
Everything begins with connection to the ground. the earth, the essence, the Absolute, the Transcendent.
2. Align → Sushumnā (Central Channel)
Before drawing the bow, the warrior “straightens the inner channel.”
This is the vertical alignment of the spine and pranic current.
“the current rises upward”
3. Open → Hṛdaya (Heart Expansion)
Just before release, the chest and inner being must open, not contract.
Open = clarity, fluidity, non-resistance.
This is the internal “opening of the channel.”
4. Drive → Mokṣa (Release)
The release is effortless, committed, precise action.
Not forced, but unified.
This is your “Drive.”
Root → Align → Open → Drive — maps exactly onto:
Prithvi → Sushumnā → Hṛdaya → Mokṣa.
It is the energetic and biomechanical logic of classical archery, of perfect Sumo, and of life itself.
🧠 CNS Insight: The Real Barrier to Strength
Deep in the tendons live the Golgi Tendon Organs (GTOs).
These sensors shut down force output when tension spikes suddenly or when the pattern feels unsafe.
When GTOs trigger, they can take 48–72 hours to reset.
This is why a lift can feel smooth one moment and impossible the next.
The nervous system protects long before the mind understands.
Body (muscle): fear → locks up
Mind: doubt → blocks
Both stop movement.
Both stop life.
And both can be dissolved.
Closing Thought
True strength is not force.
It is fascination organized into precision.
When the root is stable, the channel aligned, the heart open, and the release clean — strength emerges effortlessly.
That is the architecture of strength — in the gym, in Dhanurveda, and in life.
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Overall Trend: Everything is Fine. Changing times are always scary. No worries
AI and the Crossbow
Transition: Inflation, hate, wars, all par for the course. Steady hand on rudder. Keep your eye on the ball.
Division is vogue these days.
Too much information, not enough knowledge
As the leader of Mount Soma, I have been working, with help from Chatgpt, on the following:
My Compass:
Central Principle
“Parasympathetic dominant — remaining steady, and even.”
“Mount Soma progresses through me, not by me.”
Physical
Grounded.
Act with precision, not force.
Let strength come from alignment and breath.
Mental
Attentive.
Observe more than react.
Presence before motion; rhythm before effort.
Emotional
Calm.
Serenity is strength.
Choose recovery over reactivity — in body and in life.
Spiritual
Conduit.
The work fulfills itself through clarity and surrender.
I am the vessel, the visionary, the architect — yet we manifest it as one.
Practical Reminder
Parasympathetic dominant in every act, breath, and conversation.
Breathe — Observe — Restore.
Guiding Mantras
Steadiness is strength.
Light gives form to the shadow — I need not fight the shadows.
Mount Soma will build itself through me, not from me.
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Spreading Out the Cards Face Up on the Table
We all from time to time get out of balance. Question is : What do you do about it.
how to move through hurt and evolve thinking
letting it go vs a healthy relationship with it
emotional maturity
Key to good councilor: be a kite on the tail.. good listener, understand, don’t overspend, merging is not colluding
work through it or hold on to it. Many hold on to it the rest of the rest of their lives.
What you are feeling within your body, psychodynamic centers, i.e. chakras
Physiology of the psyche
check out on youtube: Shocking prediction why 2026 will be humanities turning point Edgar Casey
Maharishi Patanjali on samskaras
Out of balance from time to time is normal. Questions are: how fast you come back into balance . What damage is done and what repairs are done .
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Projection, Perception, Gods, Immortals, and the enlightened. What do we actually ‘see’? Also, we are now on the threshold. The future is unimaginable. Witness it. Be a part of it from the ground floor.
Join in from the ground floor.
The entire world will not all be enlightened but many societies will be. The world will always have two poles to spin around.
Without projection there is no universe. Perception is what we actually do see, projections is what we think we see. When they become the same thing, the universe ceases to exist,
just as Lord Krishna predicted.
crop circles, ufos, physiological transformations, incredible longevity, AI, batteries, expanded awareness
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The Truth about Religion and Flatlining
