Yoga Guide to Women’s Self Defense
Physical Self defense as a Yogi
Yoga Guide to Women Self Defense is nonviolent and I feel safe, Physical Self defense as a Yogi, I created this guide for how to react in non violent ways
I am Rose, and I teach self confidence, centering, and flexibility yoga meditation and tarot to students with anxiety fears, inflexibility, and the desire for a longer attention span.
MANY OF MY FOLLOWERS AND STUDENTS ARE WOMEN.
And I’m a woman, too.
As a yoga professional, part of my mission is uplifting my fellow ladies out of anxiety induced subjugation. We have wisdom we can teach each other, so lets do it.
invite your sister, your mother, your aunt, your cousin, your co worker, your best lady friends, and especially your teenaged family to read this post. It could save a life, and it could help you from acting violently before you absolutely have to.
I am not going to mention men very much.
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I asked my followers what their mother taught them about self defense
A lot of mothers took their daughter’s to tai kwon do. Some mothers taught their kids to fight. Some mothers even went to extreme lengths to teach their child that life is painful and how to endure. Some mothers did nothing. Some told their kids to hide, or to run.
Some of the stories shook me.
And a few people said their father was the person to teach them to guard themselves. This makes sense, given the role of physical protector and now that women are as equal as men our daddies aren’t keeping these powers to the man club. Love you guys, modern men.
But I am interested in the mothers.
I want to emphasize something before I go ahead and diatribe. I don’t think most men are dangerous. I don’t think most women are dangerous either. I think the reason why we can easily become fearful of #allmen or #psychostacy is because of a small few of repeat offenders. Because there are 3 billion people in the world, that small percentage can create a lot of trauma for all who suffer. on a giant scale.
Society is only as good as our worst, just as your house is only as clean as when you decide to tidy up.
My mother taught me this in middle school when my self-defense classes began. I can trust people but be perceptive to troubled men.
Unfortunately, I did still get hurt at the very fear we all have for one another. You know. What happened to me is too gross to say. I leave it at that. I knew a lot but I was destined to have to live out the very reason my mom began teaching me this stuff.
I digress.
Self Defense Advice
Take care of youself:
self care including eating healthy foods, adding some kind of movement into your routine, strength training, and keep yourself clean: Im adding this because if you are relaxed, there will be less percieved danger. one great self care routing is a bath soak. You can read here about how I bring baths into my self care routine and how to make it specially for you. click here to read the whole guide
Get an alarm button and carry it on you.
- This is my number one recommendation for a self defense weapon. I’m confident that no one is going to try to hassle me when they hear this button. It is no longer a covert interaction. And no one gets hurt. It can also be good for if you get lost in the woods or something.
SCREAM as loud as you can. Not ‘help,’ though
- My mom says, if you scream help no one will come. If you scream Fire they are more likely to help.
Take a self defense class and you will be confident to potentially:
- There are tons of styles to choose from. I took Tun Tsu Do, a ceremonial style so I never even had to fight anyone while training. I still haven’t needed to, now that I think of it.
- Kick the genitals and poke the eyes
- Fight dirty if you are fighting for your life.. this should be a last resort
- Palm to nose HARD
- Another way to stun like #3
- Block
- This takes some practice, but any self defense class will cover blocking.
- How to get out of some holds
- This is so important! There are habitual ways in which someone can grapple you. Getting out of a hold like this could save your life.
- How to kick & punch
Weapon wielding can hurt myself as much as another person
- I don’t advocate for traditional edge or fire weapons in any situation. I consider carrying these weapons dangerous and it is a line I won’t cross. An IMPROVIZED WEAPON however, is a mark of a respectable hero journey.This is another reason to practice yoga. You become more aware, and more likely to see a potential life saving rock or candle stick holder. As seen in the game, Clue.
The power of kindness
- Sometimes a perceived predator is just a person having a really bad day. I have escaped terror through the power of my kindness. It won’t work in every situation, but its got to be in your tool box if you want to avoid having to hurt someone. It’s not easy, but through yoga I keep it in my practice. Stetch that kindness muscle.
Have emergency contacts
- Memorize at least 2 phone numbers other than your own
- Keep an emergency contact form somewhere easily accessible and easy to find. In the cloud seems like a good idea to me
Let someone know where you are going
- I am so bad at this, but it’s the most basic advice out there.
Look everyone you pass in the eye. I say ‘hello!’ and keep walking
- Yup, I say hi to everyone I pass. If I need to ID someone who was a baddy, I will have practice noticing the people around me when I’m not in a dire situation. Also its friendly so I make a lot of friends.
- Part of it is the confidence walk too, don’t stop to talk, say hi and keep going. Since I started walking this way I haven’t had anyone sexually harass me. Acknowledging first helps you stay in control, shows you are not someone worth messing with. And its graceful
MY DOG KEEPS ME SAFE
I say this in the most loving way towards everying. my dog is a rescue and she has… Issues:
My dog hates men, she hates women, she hates white people and people with head scarves. she hates kids on bikes, she hates tall people. No one is going to fuck with me. Statistically, people with dogs are less likely to be harassed.
It doesn’t exactly make us look friendly, but it does show a huge boundary.
I took a lot of effort to train her to heel, and to stay by me… but she looks like a terror!
Click here to read more about how my dog has helped me in reshaping my life
predators look for easy offenses. The more high maintenance you look the less likely you’ll be bothered.
Self Defense advice for Public places
When I worked at the Henry Ford I went to tons of safety protocol seminars since it is a public space. I’ve heard it about 4 times, once a year but the most recent time I heard the lecture I took notes.
- RUN and hide if you can AND HIDE if you cant run
- Don’t be a hero
- If you must fight, fight dirty. Genitals and eyes.
- Stick together do not separate if you find another coworker
- Lock doors behind you
- Get off the property as fast as you can don’t look for a supervisor
What I learned from yoga
Because I’m obsessed with yoga and make everything about yoga
When I am in a warrior pose I embody the warrior virabadra. Virabadra was Vishnu’s pokemon.. Yes that’s what I call Vira, a pokemon. The OG pocket monster. I am a white girl from the Midwest so please accept my american appropriation. It helps me remember the story in my memory castle, again, Patanjali would love it.
Virabadra had 3 moves.
- Warrior 1: Jump up from within the earth
- Warrior 2: Sword
- Warrior 3: kick
These poses strengthened my legs, my core, my back, my glutes, my arms, and my neck. These asanas along with the sun salutation will exercise every part of your body from head to toe. They are called warrior poses (among other reasons) because they make you feel courageous and aware of your surroundings.
you can see all about the warrior poses at this blog I wrote about them
Feeling strong is all it takes to have the guts to stand up when attacked
Practicing yoga
keeps me strong
Keeps me flexible
helps me breathe through difficult moments
Helps me with my perception score
What is at stake
Your dignity, your money, your physical emotion health, the ideas can go on and on. There are so many ways of which a person can be taken advantage, so there must be a large range of self defense techniques. This is why it is so important to me to spread the word about the skills it takes to become self assured to live without fear.
And defenses don’t even stop with the body
Consider methods for you to defend yourself in the face of
Different kinds of self defenses
- Defense of your privacy
- Defense of your dignity
- Defense of your loved ones
- Defense of your lifestyle
- Defense of your property
- Defense of your physical body
- And so on and so on
I think starting with loving yourself is a good first start
When you extend your defenses to these other, softer parts of your life it is called setting boundaries. When you are walking in public, it is called self defense. Both can be soft, hard, both effective.
Some statistics about disappearances and media coverage
With commentary
https://www.statista.com/statistics/240387/number-of-missing-persons-files-in-the-us-by-age/
[quote] Number of missing persons files in the U.S. by age and gender 2020
Published by Statista Research Department, Mar 10, 2021
While the fear of being kidnapped may persist for one’s entire life, in 2020 the number of missing persons under the age of 21 was much higher than those 21 and over, with 209,375 females under 21 reported missing, and 59,369 females over the age of 21 reported missing.
Why people go missing
There are many reasons why people go missing; some are kidnapped, some purposefully go missing – in order to escape abuse, for example – and some, usually children, are runaways. What persists in the imagination when thinking of missing persons, however, are kidnapping victims, usually due to extensive media coverage of child kidnappings by the media.
Demographics of missing persons
While the number of missing persons in the United States fluctuates, in 2020, this number was at its lowest since 1990. Additionally, while it has been observed that there is more media coverage in the United States of white missing persons, almost half of the missing persons cases in 2020 were of minorities. [/quote]
- Women and girls are disproportionately affected by human trafficking, accounting for 71% of all victims. (ILO, 2017)
But surprisingly, most of the ways women and girls are groomed to traffickers is through some kind of mental coercion. So maybe walking alone at night with all self defenses exercised is less of a worry than answering your phone. Read more about the ways people become trafficked according to statsistc.com
I fearlessly walk alone
This is where I talk about me
I go on a walk every day with my dog. In the winter not as long, but the rest of the year I have been walking at least a mile and sometimes more. I live in a walkable area, with a park and convenience stores within less than a mile.
In the park sometimes people find bodies
On the road I could be hit
I talk to people who approach me
A desperate person might try to mug me
I talk to my neighbors and people at stores
I give out business cards to people I pass by. Personal information!!!
Any of them could have nefarious intentions. Any of them! And you hear on the news about women getting kidnapped, going missing, sex/human trafficked, all kinds of stuff.
How then, can I walk alone during the day, and during the night? Some people say I shouldn’t even go out at night. When I am out at night I have a flashlight on my head, reflective tape vest, my alarm bell and I live in a dense 1950s suburb.
The hell they gonna do with the most outlandishly dressed chihuahua walker when the entire neighborhood knows me.
Well, they know Tifa. And the dirty hippie that walks her! Ha. That’s my own projection.
I can kick an ass. Even if I never have.
I don’t even have to touch them.
I believe this, and it helps me walk tall, another way to prevent trouble.
Pacifist for life yo
I am concerned with stalking sometimes though
The bad stuff that happened
Look, I’ve been through some b a d stuff. Most of it went down with people who I knew intimately, and a nurse in an ER and she had me handcuffed to the bed soooooo I couldn’t exactly do anything. This kind of stuff can and does happen. It happens to lots of people.
But I don’t want to be afraid of my neighbors on the street anymore, it was so tiring.
I went through a phase where I was terrified, it lasted as long as it needed to. Walking around the neighborhood helped me escape from my agoraphobia and through yoga/meditation I can drive again. It was very tiring & expensive work.
Since I did the work and really did climb out of the pit, I’m hoping that my message can be sent to others. If you learn to protect yourself, you don’t have to worry about taking up space
You Got this! Stay Strong Sisters
Hello, I’m Rose. I am Yoga teacher, artist, entertainer, party planner, song writer, docent, craftsman, and a mental health peer support
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