If you have an autoimmune disease, be like a ninja

“In ancient Japan there was an elite group of assassin fighters. They were called ninjas. The legends and reputation surrounding them were scary. It was said that they could turn into animals, that they could fly and jump over tall trees, that they could climb smooth walls like lizards. They did not practice any magic. Their secret was the most intense physical and mental training known.

The young fighter was trained as a child in jumping in the following way: he was given a grain of corn and told to plant it. As soon as the stem began to grow, the young fighter had to jump over it as many times as possible. Every day the stem grew; every day the child jumped. Soon the stem was taller than the child, but that didn’t stop him from jumping on. If it started to fail, because the stalk was too tall, he was given another grain and started all over again. Finally, there was no stem left that the young ninja couldn’t jump over.”

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Edison said that “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration”. I never liked this quote, because in my mind it implies effort, and I’m kind of lazy 😊. And I dislike the idea of ​​effort. I hate the idea of ​​having a clear target to aim for, regardless of sore knees, lost nights and discomfort, all in the name of success. I like the journey to the destination, not the destination itself. To go step by step, slowly and with attention on the inside and outside, not on the final goal. After you reach the target what happens? You’re happy for 1 minute, then you look for another target. All that hard work, all that bitterness… what for? I prefer ninja tactics, slowly, without seeming effort, and the results are amazing.

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When I first went into remission after 25 years of continuous ankylosing spondylitis flare, I was in heaven. That had been my goal for a long time, to stop hurting. It was my ultimate goal, to stop hurting. After reaching this goal, I was very proud of myself. I shouted to whoever would listen, what a great thing I had done. And it was a “great thing”, those with ankylosing spondylitis know what it’s like to be in debilitating pain all the time. Your whole Being revolves around pain, you can’t do anything if it doesn’t agree too. And it usually doesn’t agree with anything. It can’t stand any competition 😊.

Coming out of remission after 7 years was like a boomerang hit. It hit me right in the head. The boomerang always returns from where it was thrown, sooner or later. I had been given that respite to humble myself, not to brag about. My “ultimate goal” was actually just a stop on my life’s path. So, I got myself back into remission after that painful flare and hit the road again.

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Now I no longer have a specific target, but a path to follow. My “genius” doesn’t lie in sweat and effort, it’s more than that. Pain relief and reduced inflammation markers are only part of the journey. If I go into a flare again, I’ll know what to do. My path involves much more than the absence of pain. That pain was there to make up for something. When the pain disappeared, a big void remained, which, slowly, I began to fill with the “goodies” found along the way.

Everyone has their own path to follow. Physical pain is terrible, and it is normal for it to fill up a lot of space in our Being. It is normal for the first step to be to get rid of the pain and go into remission. But let’s be aware that it is only the first step. A big and important step, but only a step. Let’s not stop there, but continue on our way. Let’s not think that if we have gone into remission, that’s it, everything is perfect.

What does this path entail?

First of all, opening. Let’s understand that we need to change things in our life. Let’s understand with our soul, not just with our mind. Many of you tell me that you know exercise is good, but you also tell me that you don’t have time. You’re telling me that in your mind, getting off the bus 3 stops early, or leaving the car at home, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator, is a waste of time. Only when your soul understands the importance of movement, when you naturally include movement in the program, without effort, will you step on the path. The same applies to cooking at home, vegetables on your plate, thinking and speaking beautiful words, keeping an upright posture, and much more.

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Second, patience. Like the future child ninja, we start at the very bottom. Many of you tell me that you want quick results and are willing to make dramatic changes for it. How long will you be able to maintain those dramatic changes? At best, until the first results. There will be the excitement of the beginning, then the feeling that we are trying too hard will come. We will spend too much energy to maintain the results, and after the enthusiasm disappears, we will no longer be able to support the changes introduced by force. We need time, to make small and careful changes, to adjust them to our measure. Our body will know. It will ask for what it needs and reject what it doesn’t need, or what is too much effort for it. Yes, you can learn also to listen to your body 😊.

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Practice. Theory like theory, but in practice we still get stuck 😊. All my life I had a “wavy” posture, even before the onset of the first symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis. After the disease set in, it was very easy for me to blame my hump on it. Looking more closely at some pictures from my teenage years, it struck me: I had been hunchbacked ever since. No one had told me to stand up straight.

So, I started working on the posture, about 2 years ago. After I determined what correct posture meant to me, because I had no idea as long as I had been hunched over all my life, I began to practice this posture daily. At first just a few minutes a day. It was very hard and painful. But I continued.

Now I only hump when I’m really tired. I practice the correct posture daily. Yes, I still need to bring my attention to the posture, it doesn’t come naturally most of the time. I don’t consider this an effort, but a practice. Just as in the beginning I could only sit upright for a few minutes a day, and now, after 2 years, I have correct posture 80% of the time, I know the time will come when I will maintain my posture without bringing my attention there. Just like walking, we don’t think about walking, we do it automatically.

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It’s never too late. I persisted in victimization for many years. Like a true Capricorn, change came hard, in my forties. I’m headstrong like a mule 😊. But once I got going, I didn’t stop. Capricorn’s persistence in something is also good. And I’m not going to stop. I feel too good, physically and mentally, to stop. As I’ve been telling you lately, my well-being is the most important thing for me. Dear people around me have noticed that I have changed from a whining savage to a normal person who has compassion for others, who knows how to say “no” firmly, and who smiles almost all the time.

There would be a lot more to say, but I’ll leave it for another time. My corn stalk has not grown to its full height yet 😊.

The ninja fighter excerpt is from the book Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman.