My teacher once told me about the triangle of learning or the three phases of study. The Warrior. The Scholar. The Healer. I learned it through studying and teaching martial arts but I have seen this same idea transcend art, style, and medium of self expression.  It is common in any practice that focuses on self mastery.

Warrior
The warrior is probably the path most taken; or at least it is where most people begin. This is where most of the physicality happens. If we look at it purely in terms of martial arts this is where punching, kicking, and technique all happen. Students learn to command the body in a way previously unknown to them. Sometime it is focus mitt drills and sometimes it's the animal forms of Kung Fu.

Often that's where the majority of the students' study happens and they may not seek to progress beyond that level. A solid understanding of the mechanics of the body will take a student a long way.

Viewed outside of martial arts, this is where some students first become aware of what their body is capable of. It is an important level of self-discovery that cannot be overlooked. This is where they'll build the strength to handle the second phase if they wish to take that step.

Scholar
The scholar is the gatherer of knowledge. Information is collected, sorted, and stored. Action is set aside often to ask the more esoteric or energetic questions: "What is the energy of that" and "let me feel when you do it." For a martial artist it comes down to understanding body state: understanding tension and relaxation; connecting the state of mind with action; connecting breath to motion. Many arts have a cultural history of metaphysical energy, including the study of concepts like qi, ki, or prana, and how these concepts effect our body and mind.

Some people start here in this energetic study, but it has been my experience that few people do. Over time students will transition from warrior to scholar in a search to understand what they do on a deeper level.

Each of these are lifetime studies, sometimes done together and sometimes independently. Either is fine. Sometimes being a Warrior is enough for people. Some people are Scholars right away, collecting the how/why and not concerned with the physicality until later.

Healer
The last phase few people truly reach: the Healer. The Healer has studied the human body to such a degree, both physically and energetically, that they can help people over their hurdles. This is truly walking the path of complete self-mastery. The depth of understanding both on the Scholar level and also on the Warrior level only comes from seeking mastery in both of these phases. It is the hardest path to walk. It a level of self-mastery that I personally seek.

As a true path of mastery it remains a path, not a destination. The closer you get to mastery the more you retread the Warrior and Scholar paths searching for the understanding missed the first time through. Thus the master becomes the novice again.

It is important to maintain perspective. The only masterful study is an honest reflective study. Drop all pretense and look at the study as at its core and find the value of every phase. A person truly cannot seek the highest level of understanding without all three paths: Warrior, Scholar, Healer.  And when you think you have it, start over and look again - there is always more to learn. 

~ Sifu David Mitchell

If you have never heard of Assisted Thai Yoga Bodywork, then you are missing out! 

Assisted Thai Yoga Bodywork is a unique healing system from Thailand, also called Nuad Boran, where the practitioner guides the client through a series of yoga postures, while palming and thumbing along the body's energy ('Sen') lines and pressure points. Imagine you are reaping the benefits of a yoga class, but the practitioner is doing all the work while you can sit back and relax. 

As you lay and relax into a meditative state, Hannah will gently guide you through yoga postures where all you have to do is breathe. Through this postures you will receive palming and thumbing on energy lines as well as working into deep tissues to get the maximum release of tension and stress. 

Benefits of Assisted Thai Yoga Bodywork:
• Quietening the mind
• Heightened energy levels
• Deep, Meditative relaxation 
• Improved circulation and lymphatic flow
• Improved range of motion
• Increased flexibility
• Rejuvenated body and mind
• Relief for pain and muscle tension

Click Here to Schedule Your Session With Hannah 
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