Shadow Series: Opposite of WarriorShip

What is the opposite of being a warrior and are you willing to go there? I asked myself this question before I meditated the other day.

I felt prepared to answer the question in a very experiential way because I felt ready.

I felt my daily training and the training I received from Richard Miller at Kripalu had prepared me to drop into the shadows.

So I did.

I put myself into a relaxed state and examined the most horrifying aspects of my experience with war.

I put myself back into the moment of the IED blast and imagined a worse scenario than what really happened. I put myself back into situations of horror.

Why did I do this? I went into the shadows because the tools from my mindfulness training enable me to do so safely and because that's what I think warriors do. There are demons in my shadow and I don't want to be afraid of them.

If you decide to listen to the drop I encourage you to recognize what I did as a journey grounded in thousands of years of tradition. The techniques I employ during the experience are scientifically tested and repeatable.

All this to say that I was prepared. In other words, I encourage you to learn the protocol before going fully into the shadows like I have done.

To that end......I invite you to participate in another kind of drop taking place Memorial Day weekend.

On Sunday, May 26th, Weloo Parks, Armor Down's parent company, and volunteers will attempt to share 10,000 flyers with the Veterans, their families and their friends as they come to the National Mall for Rolling Thunder.

If you've never heard of Rolling Thunder it's a motorcycle rally take takes place every year to remind us of our nations past forays into the shadows and not to forget the ones that didn't come back.

As you can see from this map, Washington DC was designed a but like a star. You may notice the correlation between the location of Arlington Cemetery and the Armor Down Logo.

Believe it or not the AD logo just happened to turn out that way.

Anyway, I show you this map as an overview to help you get an idea about what is taking place on Sunday, May 26th.

As you can see from this more detailed map, volunteers will gather around two main points: Metro Center and L'Enfant Plaza.

From there volunteers will be sent out with doubled sided postcard flyers in the green areas.

The reason the mall is crossed off is because the park police don't let people hand out flyers on their grounds, but I have confirmed with DC police that passing out flyers under their jurisdiction is perfectly fine.

Come for an hour or two or until we get the job done. Come to either metro location and text me at 202-487-5734 or find the volunteers with the Armor Down T-Shirts.

If you can't come, but still want to participate, "like" the Armor Down Facebook page and share the flyers with anyone you think might have trouble sleeping. We are coordinating our on-the-ground drop with a social media campaign, so between Armor Down and our eight partners there will be plenty of time to click and share.

If you have any questions shoot me an email at ben@armordown.com or just comment on Facebook.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot to include the recording of my own drop.


Hope to see you Sunday the 26th.

This post was guided by the 62nd stanza of the Art of Peace, a book written by Morihei Ueshiba
Armor Down has a website. Check it out.

If you like the AD Facebook page and I'll email you the PDF of a book called "Mindfulness in Plain English".



Thrive as a civilian.