A Zen-inspired “physical education” program for martial arts practitioners and anyone interested in mind-body transformation

Using simple, clear language to demystify the Zen mindset, Ralston draws on more than three decades of experience teaching students and apprentices worldwide who have applied his body-being approach.

More of a transformative guide than a specific list of exercises devoted to any particular physical approach, Zen Body-Being explains how to create a state of mental control, enhanced feeling-awareness, correct structural alignment, increased spatial acuity, and even a greater interactive presence.

Exercises are simple, often involving feeling-imagery and meditative awareness, which have a profound and sometimes instant effect. Areas of exploration include:

• Beginner’s Body-Being
• Three aspects of body awareness
• Five principles for an effortlessly effective body
• Opening a door—five steps to transformation
• Fourteen points on structural alignment

Where similar guides teach readers what to do, this book teaches readers how to be.