Kokoro – The Origin Story

I have been practicing various Martial arts, Dance, Theatre, Movement and Holistic/Wellness Methodologies for over 50 years now, and teaching them for over 40.

Over the course of years, I realised two things – that to become really proficient at any one of the above, one needs a lifetime commitment and single-minded focus. Obviously, most of the folks I worked with over the years and taught – don’t have either that kind of time or commitment because they have so many other priorities that they have to cater to. And yet, most people do want to become healthier, happier and more wholesome!

The pressures of day to day living, work, family, society…place an inexorable weight on most people. And it becomes even more stark and obvious in an organisation where you have deadlines, the numbers crunch, the targets to meet, schedules to be met and adhered to etc. It’s like an assembly line and all that matters is the end result!

So, for me it became a real challenge to be able to come up with a methodology wherein I could work with a group or organisation, within a very limited time frame and attempt to impart the following…

• A reorientation of the self in terms of physicality and emotional receptivity.
• Actual tools at hand that one could use.
• Simple, easy to practices methods that had a visible and tangible effect.
• Exercises and techniques that genuinely and visibly made a difference.
• Methods of relaxing, breathing to take away and ease the stress and pressure of work orientation.
• A methodology of sensing, understanding and becoming more receptive and comfortable with one’s own body, physicality.
• And lastly to realise – that the keys to becoming, better, stronger, more wholesome, more productive and, more potent – lie within us and not outside.

So, after a whole series of trials and errors, over a period of 15 odd years, I created Kokoro – a combination of Chi Gong, Tai Chi Chuan and Dance your Senses/The 5 Rhythms.

Photos are from a Kokoro workshop conducted for the India Sensed program run by Direct Create for the students of the winter travel semester class of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) on January 11, 2025, in Delhi

About Kokoro

‘The organic heart’ or ‘The heart of stillness’ or ‘The heart Of things’ (Having Heart).

To be still, to be silent, to slow down when life’s frenetic pace just about seems to overwhelm and suffocate one. Here, stillness and to quieten down doesn’t mean loss of productivity, on the contrary it actually means increasing productivity. To be able to realise one’s core strengths and attributes and, to strengthen those aspects that are lagging or needed in one’s repertoire – can actually only be done in quietness, not in chaos.

Kokoro does primarily that – it allows one to see the pathways to a stronger, more balanced and productive life – on all levels. Various aspects of the disciplines that Kokoro draws upon from – nourish, teach, realign, strengthen, rejuvenate, build upon all these aspects -biologically, physiologically, neurologically, intellectually and emotionally. To be able to live well, holistically, potently, gently with strength, both personally and professionally.

Using Tai Chi Chuan, Chi Gong and Dance Your Senses/The 5 Rhythms (Flow, Staccato, Chaos, Lightness and Stillness), is how the Kokoro methodology works – infusing one with a new sense of energy, balance and calm, rejuvenating the senses and the body.

Photos are from a Kokoro workshop conducted for the India Sensed program run by Direct Create for the students of the winter travel semester class of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) on January 11, 2025, in Delhi

So, if you, your teams, or the larger organisation, are experiencing stress and burn out, or simply feeling the need for ‘stillness’, reach out to us at syngrity@syngrity.com and let us help you find your ‘inner calmness’.

Rashid Ansari is a practitioner and teacher of performing arts, martial arts and various mind-body Wellness integrated disciplines for over 45 years. He is an international master instructor in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean martial arts as well as a contemporary and modern dance instructor and choreographer and has delved deeply into Physical Theatre and Theatre Movement. Rashid is associated with Syngrity as a Master Facilitator and conducts our signature wellness program for stress management – Kokoro

For time immemorial, there has been this deep desire to be superhuman; have para normal abilities, mostly uncultivated. There has been a constant desire to conquer nature. People from across the world, for their few moments of bravado, claim how they beat nature or survived its wrath.

Mountaineers post pictures at Mt Everest saying they captured the tallest mountain in the world. Deep sea divers rejoice at reaching great depths in free diving competitions. Cars are sent into space. Animals are used for testing. Viruses are produced in labs. There had to be a Pay back time. And that is what we are living, these days.

In the last few days, work has stopped, needs have diminished, time has reappeared. It has given me time to sit and do nothing. The influx of social media meandering about the Corona virus and the pandemic has driven me away from social media. I find that my screen time has drastically reduced. I have this inherent need to protect myself, not only from the virus, but also the barrage of information that is going around town. I do not want to talk about the virus. I do not want to talk about our fate by the end of this pandemic. I want to sit and observe.

I am sharing some of these observations.

The air is cleaner, for sure.

I was walking my dogs on a 50 meter stretch of road just outside my house, at night, two days back. There is a tree just next to a street light at the end of the lane. For the last 4-5 years, I have observed these tiny particles in the air that become visible with the street light. Sometimes these particulate matter is so dense that the leaves of the tree appeared hazy. Not any more. In Delhi, the AQI levels are ranging from 70 – 120 past these days. As I write this, the AQI is 67. Living in Delhi, these numbers almost sound unreal. We are used to the range of 250 – 999. Plus there is no construction and there is less/no traffic.

I wake up to the constant chattering of the birds.

From my balcony, you can observe various species of birds like the Black Drongo, Pigeons, Common Mynahs, Pariah Kites, tones of Rose Ringed Parrots, Indian Rollers, Laughing Doves, Koels and an occasional Shikra. It’s such a pleasure to wake up to this chitter chatter. With all the infrasouds in the atmosphere and human involvement, one hardly gets to hear a cacophony of birds, any more. Try identifying the bird calls that you can hear.

The animals are out.

Whilst my two beagles can’t get over the fact that I am at home, all the time, the dolphins have returned in Mumbai waters, the swans returned in Italy, the Neelgai is seen in Noida; sometimes I feel that they are thanking us for remaining inside so they can roam around freely. The waters are cleaner for the fish to swim. There is lesser pollution everywhere and animals are just rejoicing. They seem the happiest. The cats are a different story.

It’s such an irony.

The only way we can enjoy this beautiful dance of nature is by staying inside and not interfering. We are the only species that have spoiled everything we have touched. Our human involvement can be compared to Midas’s touch: gone completely wrong.

We are scared

We are scared of getting infected, infecting our loved ones, loss of income or loss of meaning; loss of safety both at a micro and a macro level. This loss of safety is what we are going through in the form of anticipatory grief. And as a community, and more over as a world community, we have not experienced grief, ever before, collectively. Elisabeth Kubler Ross first identified the five stages in her book, On Death and Dying published in 1969.

There are 5 stages that Elisabeth Kubler Ross wrote about, and we might be going through all of some or one of them:

We get to spend much needed time with our family.

We have become oblivious to connection. If an employee devotes 20 hours of his or her life for the company, then it has to definitely take a toll on their personal lives. The breakup of 20 hours is ( 10 hours work, 2 hours travel, 8 hours of sleep), incase you were wondering. During this crises, we are at home with our families or with friends. I see videos and posts of families posting photographs, singing and dancing together. There is a connection; a reignited one and is such a joy to watch. I often see a young kid living across me whose parents are working professionals. I haven’t seen the parents more than 5 times. Today morning, for the 20th time, I saw them talking and playing together.

We are forced to spend time with ourselves.

We have stopped. In order to realign ourselves, this is required. Even if you are living with other people at home, this period is also forcing us to spend time with ourselves to conserve our energy and also refuel ourselves. This can be tricky for people who are Extraverts (not extroverts). Extraverts need the outside world to replenish their energies and refuel themselves. Intraverts need to go within. Whilst, these are extraordinary times, even the intraverts would be feeling a need to spend their replenished energies, extraverts are finding it tough.

A lot of people are being thrown off their ivory tower.

There is no one to control. The designations don’t matter as of today. Most paths of knowledge systems that executives bank on, for their daily functioning, are for normal course of days. Even if there is fire fighting required, it is for most manageable situations. This time is extraordinary. Our minds were not really geared for an international shut down. Humans are under duress. Processes fail without people. A lot of people who were always “unavailable” are now “available”.

The online world

These days, the online world has become the epicentre of meeting each other. It’s like the city centre. In old times, whenever anything needed to be announced, it used to be done at city centres and in villages, under the Banyan tree. Today Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram and other social media have become the Banyan trees for everyone.

Compassion in abundance

Compassion exists in this world and we get to experience and see this now. It’s so overwhelming to see how people are coming forward to help in every possible way especially towards the lesser privileged. In the security company that I also run, a lot of clients came forward to help the security personnel guarding their offices and residences. They have provided accommodation to the guards, they provide them meals. Some of our clients have told the guards to not come for duty but promise to pay their salaries. People are offering help for the elderly, online consultations for people with anxiety and other mental health issues, food for the poor, food and water for birds and animals; the list goes on. These are some wonderful examples of how people are supporting and helping each other; being compassionate towards the existence of another living being.

Vikram Badhwar, CEO, Syngrity, is a communications coach, an experiential educator, and an artist trying to bridge the gap between the creative and the analytical side of our brain. He consults individuals and teams in the space of learning & development to enable transformations at a personal, professional and organizational level.

In our journey of understanding the Anxiety Disorder, we have discussed Anxiety and it’s several symptoms in detail. This blog is also about the next symptom of anxiety disorder, which is very common among children and adults. Separation anxiety is a normal stage of development for infants and toddlers. Young children often experience a period of separation anxiety, but most children outgrow separation anxiety by about 3 years of age. In some children, separation anxiety is a sign of a more serious condition known as separation anxiety disorder, starting as early as preschool age. Separation Anxiety is also associated with adults as well. Children 7 years old or older who show signs of being distressed when apart from their caregivers may be diagnosed with separation anxiety.

An adult’s separation anxiety can stem from a parent, partner, or a child who moves away. Their anxiety may also be related to another underlying mental health condition. These may include delusions from psychotic disorders or fear of change relating to an autism spectrum disorder. On occasion, people may categorize an adult with a separation anxiety disorder as being controlling or overprotective. However, their actions are often an adult’s way of expressing their fears in regard to separation.

What Causes Separation Anxiety Disorder?

Separation anxiety often develops after a significant stressful or traumatic event in the child’s life, such as a stay in the hospital, the death of a loved one or pet, or a change in environment (such as moving to another house or a change of schools). Children whose parents are over-protective may be more prone to separation anxiety. In fact, it may not necessarily be a disease of the child but a manifestation of parental separation anxiety as well — parent and child can feed the other’s anxiety. In addition, the fact that children with separation anxiety often have family members with anxiety or other mental disorders suggests that a vulnerability to the disorder may be inherited.

Symptoms

Separation anxiety disorder is diagnosed when symptoms are excessive for the developmental age and cause significant distress in daily functioning. Symptoms may include:

1. Recurrent and excessive distress about anticipating or being away from home or loved ones
2. Constant, excessive worry about losing a parent or other loved one to an illness or a disaster
3. The constant worry that something bad will happen, such as being lost or kidnapped, causing separation from parents or other loved ones
4. Refusing to be away from home because of fear of separation
5. Not wanting to be home alone and without a parent or other loved one in the house
6. Reluctance or refusing to sleep away from home without a parent or other loved one nearby
7. Repeated nightmares about separation
8. Frequent complaints of headaches, stomachaches or other symptoms when separation from a parent or other loved one is anticipated

Separation anxiety disorder may be associated with panic disorder and panic attacks ― repeated episodes of sudden feelings of intense anxiety and fear or terror that reach a peak within minutes.

Treatment and management options

References:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11460893
2. https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/separation-anxiety/related/separation-anxiety-statistics/
3. https://barendspsychology.com/adult-separation-anxiety/adult-separation-anxiety-2/
4. https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/separation-anxiety/#gref
5. https://www.visionpsychology.com/separation-anxiety-disorder-in-children/