AIKKI Mind Movement Magic

Yes friends, I have been off social media for a while and only recently came back on.

Some of you have noticed and sent me messages to ask how I am going - thank you - and you’ll know that I actually am very well.

My social media hiatus was brought about around late September by the fact that I felt the highest level of disconnection with myself and with life despite, or maybe directly because of the constant relentless bombardment of posts, stories and reels, not to mention sponsored content and recommendations.

I was questioning a lot about life, about my role in it and about YOUR roles in it and in mine.

Then, I started to feel a tug on my trousers to say, “hey, let’s just go an reconnect with nature!”

Just before I took off into the sunset, I felt that I was seeing ‘the same old sh*te’ everyday on Facebook: so-and-so has got a pretty dress on and going out; someone else is at the airport going somewhere; and another person has just done a PB at a race. (Sorry, if anyone feels like I am pointing fingers, I am merely using these as examples.) All these were also and still are in parallel to *this* latest technology to help you lose weight, *that* new programme to get control of your life, and *this* other gadget give you the opportunity to be your best version of you.

A large proportion of them are hoaxes or worst, scams.

I was very happy and relieved when I packed my metaphorical bags and left Facebook.

I felt *so* uncomfortable because I know for a fact that life exists outside the screen - always has and always will. I was returning to Life!

So I came away from social media and went away - deep into nature - with my trusty canine sidekicks, of course.

Armed with a notepad, my camera and phone, we went out everyday and we took pictures; we wrote (ok, I wrote, the dogs just hunted rodents). We stopped, stood in silence and listened; we put our noses up and we sniffed. We made friends! Lots of friends! Friends who are not on Facebook! Friends who have deep, meaningful essences instead of just an online profile.

Life became rich, filthy rich - in every sense of the word!

Mid to late October came and I didn’t once feel the need to come back on social media to ‘validate my existence’. So I knew I was on the right track.

Sorry if that phrase was offensive. I don’t know how to say it otherwise. Most truths hurt, don’t they? When I realised that that was what I was doing too - validating my existence - I accepted it and I decided to shake it off and move on.

Isn’t that what many of us do? It’s like the old style office punch cards back in the 80’s or something, to check-in and check-out of work.

I thought we had come away from that practice?

Since leaving Facebook, I still do not feel the need to come back. Please be assured that I am still living the same life as I did before - running, writing, camping, paddleboarding, etc. I’ve even taken up drawing and singing! Life is going well! Actually, it’s not just ‘well’ - it is more than before, or at least it’s felt like I am doing more and having a richer, more meaningful experience.

To be honest, I love connecting with people and I love people. We are quite an amazing and crazy bunch! People are awesome! Yes, some of us enjoy connecting on social media with posts, responses and comments… I like it too, but I can’t help but feel sucked away into the social media vortex whenever I am on it.

I do miss a select group of people on social media and I promise that we will maintain contact via other means. Just for now, please know that I am making a change to the way I use social media:

I will T.H.I.N.K before I post:

About pretty much anything and everything. For anything to come on my page, they must be things I believe to be 1. True, 2. Helpful, 3, Inspiring, 4. Necessary and 5. Kind to others. I will not post anything about me - things I’ve done, seen or achieved unless they meet ALL 5 criteria.

Similarly, I will not interact with posts that do not meet ALL 5 of the above for me and the life I want to build.

I will be selective. Very selective.

Life is too short to be frivolous about these little acts of checking social media are taking us all away from actually living - of experiencing nature and this beautiful planet, of cultivating ourselves and our environment, of expressing our own creativity in everything we touch.

I have wasted a lot of time on social media before… I am glad I don’t do it anymore.

I would like to encourage all of you to go into nature too. She is a beautiful energy to immerse in!

Feel free to comment below using this simple THINK criteria, if you think it’s worthwhile (pun fully intended! 😏) If anyone wants to connect deeper/closer, I am on messenger and WhatsApp. Always happy for a chat!!

I hope that whatever ways we connect from now on, they will be full of THINK!

(I haven’t add a photo to this post because a photo will not increase the THINK-value of my words)

Love and Blessings,
Kirsten

Not Mind, Movement or Magic but ALL OF THEM in just one noun:

Connection.

See what you can learn from seven years old Molly from Queensland, Australia.

Aikki Mind, Movement Magic has always been about making the connection. We have our daily practice not because we want to lose weight, build muscle or run a good race, etc. Those things are important and we shouldn’t neglect those aspects of your health but, our daily practice is to help us develop our sense of connection - to ourselves, to our environment and to our communities.

Keep at your daily practice! You will thrive beyond five!

How every child can thrive by five "What if I was to tell you that a game of peek-a-boo could change the world?" asks seven-year-old Molly Wright, one of the youngest-ever TED speakers. Breaking down the research-backed ways parents and caregivers can support children's healthy brain development, Wright highlights the benefits of pla...

Did you know that the ‘Magic’ part of Aikki Mind Movement Magic rests a lot on the creativity that we develop naturally when we move our minds and mind our movement.

This is a great article about creative thinking and creative people - the way they operate and the way they are able to get into diverging thinking!

Hope this article helps you as much as it has helped me embrace my creative brain! ;)

10 Scientific Facts About Creativity - Pinot's Palette Daydreaming. Horsing around. Aimless wandering. A sudden, traumatic loss. So many things that see...

How you start your day could impact on the rest of your day!

Successful individuals use the first golden hour on their day to prioritise themselves so that they are able to prioritise the things that matter most to them - their people, their work and careers and their passions!

Aikki is a leader in this area of self-improvement - making the first thing you do a thing you do for yourself.

It is easy to make excuses, like, ‘I’m too tired’ or ‘I’ve got a lot on at the moment’ but understand this:

‘Tiredness’ is a perception and a state of mind; ‘being overwhelmed’ is a also a perception and a state of mind.

Being active helps to diffuse the senses of tiredness. The fresh air, the increased circulation and the greater focus on your body and your mind, those are remedies for tiredness.

Putting time aside so that you can be *in you* instead of *in the noisy messy exterior of your head* - that is how to prevent yourself from getting overwhelmed.

So each morning we have a choice - start with an extra 20 minutes lie in or set the alarm for some ‘me time’ to stop allowing our perceptions to get in the way of our goals!

See you at 0700h!

DM for details! I’d love to guide you through a session of strength, courage and grace!

BOOST YOUR MORNINGS with AIKKI MIND MOVEMENT MAGIC!

We are now rolling out weekday classes from as little as £1.95 per class!

Monday to Friday, we are serving AIKKI classes at 7am! Come ready to get strong and moving well!

Newcomers get a special intro price of £27 (usual £39) for 5 days/week membership package!

Message us for more information!

I’ve been talking about making spaces in our bodies lately - in our joints, in our muscles, nerves, etc…

And today, I want to extend this idea of making space *in our minds*.

When we create space in our bodies, we will find that we will be able to create more and bigger, freer, more fluid movements.

When we create space in our minds, we will feel that we are able to perceive more and deeper, wider and maybe even more fleeting ideas that are seemingly hard to grasp.

And do you know what usually happens next?

THE WHOLE WORLD STARTS TO OPEN UP!

Yes! All of a sudden, your room will feel a thousand times bigger; your office no longer feels stifling and the class that you teach every fortnight elevates; or the group of friends you meet with every so often feel even more connected - they all start to expand and embrace you like a giant whirlpool or hurricane around you - you being the eye of the storm.

Opening up is a process that is part of nature’s process.

Nature abhors a vacuum. And if there is space for nature to occupy, it will.

Just as water evaporates into the atmosphere to take up space in a gaseous state; just as plants grow outwards into the space they occupy; just as the warmth of a sun’s ray can permeate into the shadow of a forest and warm the forest bed, our bodies and minds are capable

Blood vessels will find spaces to extend into so as to provide nourishment to tissues. Nerve endings are the same. Nutrients are actively absorbed into cells that require them. Similarly, waste product

And how about our minds?

It’s a bit trickier with our minds, seemingly, but I shall try to have a go at my personal understanding of how our minds also behave the way nature intended.

As children, we take in *so much* information - in the form of simple observations and perhaps more complicated relationships between observations - WE are constantly observing, perceiving and learning!

As living organisms with great propensities for different forms of perceptive abilities, we constantly make use every tool we have to collect information about ourselves and the world around us!

Somehow, as we get older, sometimes we actively choose to avoid taking on more information. Maybe it’s because we are tired, or maybe it’s because we didn’t enjoy what we had previously learnt about certain things, or maybe we unknowingly closed off parts of ourselves so we do not even *open ourselves up* to information that is right before us.

I’m sure you have felt it from time to time - Some days, you feel like everything is more colourful and you are taking in everything everywhere all at once 😜; other days you feel like nothing’s moving, everything looks like it is in a 60’s TV show; or worse, some days you just feel disconnected to everything around you.

The mind’s job is to perceive, organise and synthesize information. And like it or not, it will do it one way or another; BUT, you do know that you have full autonomy as to how you want your mind to function - on its own accord or guided by your openness to things.

This topic probably requires a book to properly expound the various ideas and sub-ideas of openness in the mind, and I hope that this burst of ramblings has helped you to have a think about opening your mind - to find ways to open your mind - so that your immediate world starts to open up as well!

Can you imagine all of us opening all the little worlds that we are all in? Can you imagine the impact that would have on the wider world - the world that we all share?

Have a beautiful *open* day, everyone!

Love and Blessings,
Kirsten Koh

As per usual, my classes are in the mornings! DM me for Zoom details 🙂 The price of a class is perhaps cheaper than your afternoon cuppa coffee in town 💛☕️💛

As the saying goes, ‘Practice makes perfect’.

And then another saying goes, ‘Perfect practice makes perfect’.

It is pedantics, really!

If we are so focused on making every single practice perfect so that we become ‘perfect’, we will have allowed ourselves to fixate on the idea of perfection.

So, what is perfection?

Something that is flawless and complete, absolutely without fault or defect. That’s perfection - 10/10.

We grade our skills according to a scale, say 1-10 maybe. And we aim for a 10 because that’s where we should all be aiming for!

Is it?

Is a 9.5 so much worse that a 10? Is a 7 really just ‘average’? Is a 3 really so bad that it deserves a ‘Fail’?

In a world that is increasingly focused on being ’the best’, being number 1 and being ‘perfect’, we are losing sight of the fact that all these terms are essentially imposed *by others*. And while we shouldn’t live simply to our own standards only, we also shouldn’t allow the judgment of another to colour our self-image.

There is no real ‘perfect’ because one person’s view of a performance could be 10/10 but another person might see it as 8/10. So who is right?

The real question here is: Has the performer given his/her best in the performance? While the practice might not be ‘perfect’, was the attitude of simply trying and giving one’s best there?

The act of trying and trying again - that process - that’s perfect! Faultless and complete immersion of oneself into a task in the hope that one finds flow and effortlessness in one’s attempt.

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

Whatever you have repeated everyday this week, keep repeating them because that in itself is perfect and sublime! 💜

How we stand on our legs - with our entire body - affects everything we do both on and off our feet.

I totally love this relationship between the physical foundation our body provides and everything that this foundation supports. Whether it is cognitive or physical effort, this vessel we call our body contains all the infrastructure and processes we need to help us achieve our goals.

Using running as an analogy (simply because it is one that is easily visualised), let’s talk about the requirements of running to appreciate the invaluable support we receive from a good physical foundation.

Running
/ (r Noun
The action of rapidly propelling forward on foot. In running, there is a moment where both feet are OFF the ground, unlike walking where there is a moment where both feet are ON the ground simultaneously, hence making running a high-impact activity.

When I coach my runners, I often stress that we RUN ON OUR LEGS but we RUN WITH OUR ARMS* (or the top half of the body).

Many people mistakenly think that to improve their running they have to run lots, run fast and run on hills to get stronger and more powerful.

They are not entirely wrong BUT running requires the body to synchronise every single segment down to the nanosecond and to do it repeatedly for however long the session takes. It also requires, within each synchronisation, to absorb shock throughout the body from toes to the first vertebral joint just under your skull. If you think that’s where it ends, think again!

Apart from absorption of impact, the body then needs to synchronise the simultaneous contraction and elongation of various muscles to create movements that result in forward propulsion of the entire body. And if you think that’s the end of it, you know what? Yep, think again! 😉

Runners who are able to run at elite levels have one more thing: they have an innate ‘ability’ to maintain the required ‘healthy space’ within their joints, muscle fibres and nerve endings to sustain the activity, even outside of running.

THIS IS WHERE LEARNING HOW TO STAND comes in.

‘Standing’ is both a metaphor as well as a physical discipline that should be practised.

Standing as an activity is stationary, stable and most energetically efficient.

I feel that, as a society, we are becoming more and more averse to standing - to being stationary - like it is a reflection of a stagnant life or an inert mind. In fact, maintaining a standing posture is simply being at rest or at our utmost stable position while also being vertical. At rest, there is still a tonne of activity happening inside our body.

However, standing should use very little energy. The operative word in the last sentence being ‘should’.

IF done *correctly*, we shouldn’t need a lot of effort to stand because the human body is totally balanced on two feet.

Heck, even if we lost a leg, and arm or whatever combination of limbs, our bodies will find a new ‘balance point’. Do you get what I am trying to get at??

IF done correctly, most of our muscles are at their resting lengths and at their optimal tension level. At the resting lengths and tension levels, our joints and therefore ‘spaces’ within our body are also at their optimal ‘sizes’ - can you imagine that?

Having space means having more ‘freedoms’ to choose.

I believe that we can apply this principle of ‘Learning how to stand first’ to the different aspects of life - sporting, professional, personal or social - we will already give ourselves more options in so many different ways. When we are able to ‘stand’ well first - maintaining a stable internal environment to support our physical and emotional infrastructures - we will be able to build on taking this optimal state into a more demanding situation, like running, for example.

In my daily practice these days, I am learning to stand more and more - metaphorically and literally - so that I can run better, metaphorically and literally!

I hope this sparks something within you, my friends, to not be afraid to stand. In fact, it is so important to learn how to stand well - to be both stable and balanced.

Love and Blessings,
Kirsten

p.s. note that I used both ‘stable’ and ‘balanced’ there. They look like they should be the same thing, but they are not. Have a think about it and drop your comments below if this post sparked any thought or emotion in you! ;)

Blessed be the soul who has found herself enjoying what she does best, and that she is able to do it everyday to make a pleasurable life for herself (and others).

Indeed, a well lived life is simply this: To discover your strengths and to use them in ways that you enjoy, in ways that bring you joy and fulfilment.

In my experience, most of us find joy and fulfilment when we are able to help a fellow traveller out, in whatever ways we can think of, on this journey we call Life.

No man is an island and no man thrives on inflicting suffering onto others. We all have an innate desire to care and to be kind, and to be the reason behind a fellow human being’s smile.

And yet, no one is born a superhero or with special powers, but what we do have is this incredible time on earth where we get to discover our innate abilities - abilities that every single organism possess - and to use them to emerge as the best versions of ourselves.

Every morning, the Aikki Explorers come together to open up our bodies and minds. When we are open, we are also open to the possibilities of each and every single day.

I hope to see you there!

DM to register for your free trial into this new journey with AIKKI Mind Movement Magic.

Together, we’ll discover ourselves and support each other on our journeys!

Love and Blessings,
Kirsten Koh

We all have talents and gifts to contribute towards making this world a better place.

First, we have to work out what this world is - its nature, characteristics, laws and principles.

We have to observe its inner workings and relationships between parts.

Learn how it functions and feels - how it thrives and triumphs, and how it struggles and strives.

Then we can ask ourselves, ”How can I use my talents help to make it better?”

At AIKKI, we consistently start our days by thinking critically, setting an intention and then committing to make this intention infiltrate every thought, every action and every interaction throughout our day, no matter how small.

Change comes about from millions of tiny acts everyday; the ocean is a collection of drops of water.

Blessings 💛

More than ever, the world is in need of true leaders; individuals who are not trying to fill their own pockets but who see growing pockets of inequality where increasing number of people are ‘made to suffer’ because the system excludes them.

More than ever, the world needs us to wake up our ideas of a better system; a system that allows all children the same access to their dreams, whatever they may be - a system where children dream of a becoming fruitful members of their communities and societies.

More than ever, the world needs the awakened to rise early, to rise up and to raise others along with them.

AIKKI aspires to become one of the early risers of society - identifying the needs of the global and local communities and working towards a change that will benefit future generations - and we plan to raise others to do the same.

Join us! Don’t believe, even for a moment, that you can’t change the world.

You can.
You must.
You will.

See you in the morning Aikki Risers!

Classic and ‘perfect looking’ cardiac drift!

Want more geekiness? Read on!

Below is a graph of my heart rate over a 5km run on the treadmill post bike class. The pace was kept the same though out the run and dropped as soon as I hit 5km. I stopped my HR monitoring at 5km as well so that I created a visual mark on the graph of when I completed the run @ 26’56”.

What is cardiac drift?

Our heart rate increases with increments in physical activity effort. It correlates to the amount of oxygen and energy our muscles require to perform the activity. Walking might increase your heart rate from rest to say about 60% of our max, while running might increase it to 75-80% of our maximum heart rate.

In this session, I kept the pace moderately high but uniform. I also tried to maintain my stride rate and technique - so no drills or overstriding!

Assuming that heart rate responds to exertion level, and I didn’t change the exertion parameters at all, one would assume the my heart rate should be stable over the course of the session.

Instead, it crept up. Gradually and reliably.

Starting from 145 bpm to 162 bpm in the last 5 mins, without any change in pace/effort, so why did my heart rate do that?

Simple physics will tell you:
1. Through sweating and respiration, my blood volume reduced over the course of the run. I do sweat like a pig sometimes! No offence to the pigs!
2. With unchanging requirement for muscle activity (burning of energy with oxygen), the heart has less and less blood volume over time to send around the body.
3. Solution: pump faster 🙂 and here we see an increase of heart rate by nearly 20 bpm!

Knowing this can help guide our training! Knowing how much fluids, salt and energy we need to replace, in order to maintain an optimal blood volume will help us stay in the right training zones for faster adaptations better!

Great for recovery after as well! 😉

We are going to start our AikkiRun Programme in March (5 or 10km). If you are keen to make running your thing or even if you want to run faster and stronger, keep your eyes peeled on this page!

Let’s get some legs turning over!

Love and Blessings!

Singapore - a city that is vibrant, progressive and always busy - knows its citizens as go-getting and hardworking individuals in some of the world’s most hectic working environments. In every Singaporean’s mind, tomorrow is worth fighting for TODAY!

What an amazing mindset!

Here at AIKKI, we know the pressures and stresses on our bodies undergo on a daily basis. These day-to-day stresses can also potentially lead to further longer term conditions that disrupt our plans and activities.

The good news is, we also hold the power to effect changes in how we think, feel and act! By simply taking a few minutes to learn how to manage stress and at the same time increase our vitality, we can SEIZE THE DAY every day!

AIKKI is proud and delighted to introduce our unique morning sessions into the colourful and energetic mornings of Singapore!

Come experience 30 minute sessions of mobility work, strength and conditioning and meditation to help set your day right so that you won’t allow the daily stresses to impact your health and well-being!

AIKKI’s aim is to help Singaporeans regain balance of body and mind so that more magic can be created in this magical city!

Join us for a free week’s trial next week! Zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4247533709?pwd=Q3NkbnYxMzc3MXk1MHVGa1pzVTlwZz09

We will meet at the colourful and energetic time of 05:55am in the morning!

No password will be required during this trial period! Take this opportunity to seize your day, meet other friendly, like-minded folk and give your body some AIKKI LOVIN’!

If you attend this trial period and want to join us for more sessions later, membership will only be SGD 19.50 per month for thrice weekly morning sessions!

Invite your friends along to this free trial next week!

I used to believe that I could work towards ‘Kirsten V2.0’. You know, better, bigger, stronger, etc… Now, I believe that Kirsten V1.0 is pretty darn cool and an amazing ray of f*cking sunshine!

Been a while since I spoke about my app. Update: It will come but I need it to be mine and not some pretentious copycat app that tries to be what it is not. Bear with me ;)

I love sunrises (and photographing these magical moments). The glorious bugle of a new day, a new start and a fresh beginning.

I love soaking up the atmosphere, the emotions and the messages I receive as I focus on various things around me:

The rays of the sun sometimes say things like, “Rise and shine!”, “Time to shine!”, or maybe even “You are most welcome!”

The trees tell me to remain steadfast and unwavering, and the birds, oh how I love the birds, they join in to tell me that everything’s going to be alright!

Sunrises are not just a lightening of the sky where things become apparent to your eyes - they were always there; it is not just the end of darkness - it will give way to darkness again; and it is most certainly not just a prelude to the ‘main show’.

IT IS THE MAIN SHOW.

Which is why I love spending time with it.

Together, the moment when the sun ray’s hit the part of the earth we are standing, revitalises and reminds me that I am just so lucky to have another go at this thing we call ’Life’!

Is there a more important reminder?

While we wait for the new Aikki App to be approved and available on the App stores, I hope you will continue to enjoy your main shows every morning!

Love and Blessings,

Your Kirsten

☀️💛☀️💛☀️💛☀️💛☀️💛☀️💛☀️💛☀️💛☀️💛☀️💛☀️💛☀️

Did you know that ‘Aikki’ was born out of a dark time during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Inspired by the practice of Aikido, where ‘Ai’ means Harmony, Love and Peace, and ‘Ki’ meaning Energy, the double k’s distinguishes Aikki members as individuals whose love, harmony and peace energies are kickstarted every morning and permeate every aspect of their own personal practice of Life.

Coincidentally, ‘Aik’ in Armenian also means ‘Morning’, which made the name ‘Aikki’ even more appropriate!

Fark!!!!! App is getting there… exciting and scary at the same time!

Launch date is set for 7th November! Hoping the the App Store accepts my submission!

With all the upheaval that is happening around us and sometimes inside of us, it is so important to remember to STICk TO WHAT IS GOOD AND TRUE.

What do you know in your life is GOOD and TRUE?

Are they things like what is happening in the Social Media world? What the latest trends are? How the latest government budget is going to affect you? (Ok, maybe the last one is a bit too close to the bone for some of us.)

We are constantly surrounded by whirlwinds and whirlpools of information, sometimes good and positive and sometimes seemingly dumbfoundingly worrying. Life happens. It is a process that we go through every moment and there is no real good or bad. It just is - LIFE.

What is important though, is that we must do our hardest to hang on to what we know as true and good. We all have that wisdom, so go to is.

Do your hardest to eat well, move well, rest well. Go out of your way to ensure that you are creating positive change to the people around you. If you have the ability to buy good whole foods that are sustainably grown and manufactured, hang on to it.

I am talking about the economic instability that seems impending and inextricably linked to the ways some of our global leaders are ’leading’. Whatever they may choose to impose on us, on you and me, we must stand firm in our promise to ourselves to lead strong, unwavering lives that stem from and promote what is GOOD and TRUE.

In a couple of weeks, I will be rolling out our signature morning sessions. (Yes, say hello to my smiley-sometimes sweaty-sometimes-stretchy morning sessions!)

This is what I believe to be GOOD and TRUE to me and to anyone who is seeking to journey through this potentially tumultuous time ahead armoured with the mental strength and the emotional resilience of their own GOODNESS and TRUTH.

I hope to see you there!

Love and Blessings,
Kirsten

Got trusty tennis ball, will travel in comfort!
Any long haul travel arrangements need a tennis ball! Stick it in your back, your bum or under your thighs and feet - get relief from lack of movement! You increase circulation, release tension and reduce any fatigues from sitting!
You are welcome :)

Four days of banana honey on toast because we had sh*tloads of banana and bread post-race 🙈

Day 1: Regular Banana honey and Marg on Toast, topped with coffee granules Mmmm 😋

Day 2: Same as above but with clover and lime honey - the hint of lime in the banana went well with the bitterness of the coffee granules!

Day 3: As Day 1 but topped with cinnamon sugar - yummm 😋

Day 4: Used maple syrup instead of honey and topped with cinnamon sugar - could have used more maple syrup.

Who knew banana and toast could be so exciting!