Judit Torok
Tokyo Journal columnist Dr. Judit Torok is a philosopher, intercultural thinker and yoga instructor. She was born in Hungary and learned Japanese fluently at an early age. She has visited Japan many times and worked for a Japanese company for more than a decade. She received her doctorate degree in philosophy at the New School University and uses her intercultural background and education as a springboard to focus on theories of ethics, aesthetics and multicultural marginality. She is an energetic, creative and certified yoga instructor who promotes a holistic and healthy lifestyle for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, incorporating general wellness, alternative medicine and nutrition into her classes.
Mudras – Hand Seals for Happiness
Mudras – Hand Seals for Happiness
Let’s begin with an exercise. Either seated or standing, take one long, conscious breath–one deep inhale and exhale. Now, make a strong fist with both of your hands and hold it for a moment. Take a mental note as you squeeze your hands. How are you feeling? How is your breath? What feelings arise?
Yoga: A Wabi-sabi Contemplation
Yoga: A Wabi-sabi Contemplation
In today’s media-saturated world, we’re told that our bodies are not perfect. Everywhere we turn, we feel overwhelmed by the glorified ideals of male and female bodies. There is a sense that we need to live up to these deceiving expectations of beauty and this urges us to purchase more products and services to change our physical appearance or hide our supposed imperfections. It’s so easy to fall prey to this style of consumerism and targeted advertisements that it’s no wonder we get obsessed with looking young and perfect all the time.
Minds and Machines
Minds and Machines
OUR lives depend too much on technology. The theory of Moore’s Law tells us that computing power will continue to double every two years, meaning that technology will become ever more accessible and affordable to people. A result of relying too much on technology is that people tend to live on autopilot with only a dull awareness of even the most special moments in their lives. Tuning out real human connections and experiences brings feelings of isolation, depression and other physical, emotional and psychological dysfunctions, even toxic self-criticism. It’s no wonder that Internet addiction is now considered a legitimate medical disorder.
Relax with the Rangers
Relax with the Rangers
Yoga & Wellness Advocate Judit Torok
When recovering from a cold or flu, some might experience a lingering headache even if they’re no longer feverish and bed-ridden. If so, a person might consider doing some simple stretches to help relax their tense muscles and align their physical and mental states while focusing on breathing. Restorative yoga can provide a truly relaxed and restful healing through a gentle practice of simple poses.
Karma Yoga
Karma Yoga
Judit Torok
Have you ever wondered what you could do to make an impact in this world? Do you have a passion for a social issue that affects your community? While many people have the goodwill, they often lack the path and the time to take action. As an inspiration, I’d like to introduce the Melton Foundation. It is a 20-year-old organization devoted to making global citizenship tangible. The Melton Fellows from around the world work together to address global challenges. They define global citizenship as awareness of, and responsibility for, our actions as they can affect communities, and the world at large.
Warrior for Confidence
Yoga & Wellness Advocate
JUDIT TOROK
A regular visitor to Tokyo, New York City- based yoga instructor and interculturalist Judit Torok shares her techniques for alleviating big city stress.
Warrior for Confidence
Body language and non-verbal communication have a profound effect on not just how others perceive us, but on how we feel about ourselves.
I N a TED talk (a platform for discussing technology, entertainment and design), titled “Body Language Shapes Who You Are,” Amy Cuddy, a Harvard Business School associate professor and social psychologist, describes her research on the effects of physical poses for regulating our emotions. She claims that a person’s level of confidence, self-esteem and determination, all of which are closely linked with higher levels of testosterone (competition hormone) and lower levels of cortisol (stress hormone), depends on what body shape or posture a person habitually holds. The way we shape our bodies communicates non-verbally to others and, more importantly to ourselves, how we feel. Cuddy explains that holding a pose for as little as two minutes can radically change our self-perception and lead to significant life outcomes. So to feel more empowered, we should shape our body into a pose that promotes confidence. While it might be “pretend” at first, the more often we shape our bodies into powerful poses the more likely we will become confident people over time.
These ideas seem very powerful, but how do they relate to yoga?
Yoga & Wellness Advocate
Yoga & Wellness Advocate
JUDIT TOROK
A regular visitor to Tokyo, New York City- based yoga instructor and interculturalist Judit Torok shares her techniques for alleviating big city stress.
Fight Off Stress with Your Breath
Imagine you have an acquaintance, a person you've known for a long time - perhaps as long as you can remember. He comes to you house any time, uninvited, and stays for as long as he wants. Rude and inconsiderate, he imposes his presence on your life, makes a mess and doesn’t leave. You try to be nice at first and reason with him, but he only gets more annoying with time. You try to ignore him or even pick a fight, but he comes right back again and again. This unwelcome and annoying acquaintance is called stress.
Yoga Crosses Cultures
ON any given day I interact with people from around the world. I attend meetings with colleagues from France, the Philippines and Bangladesh. I write emails to Japan and make Skype calls to friends in Chile. My neighbors are Greek and my boss is from Egypt. In this diverse but connected world I face the challenges of intercultural communications every day.
A powerful technique in cross-cultural interactions is empathy. Cultivating an empathetic feeling as we interact with friends, colleagues and strangers whose thinking and values differ from our own, helps to widen our perspective on the world. But trying to understand other people’s thoughts and feelings can also have a destabilizing effect on us. Through cross-cultural communication, it’s possible to become vulnerable and get lost in a medley of conflicting values, customs and rules. Empathy needs a force to balance it out.
Yoga & Wellness Advocate
JUDIT TOROK
A regular visitor to Tokyo, New York City-based Yoga Instructor and Interculturalist Judit Torok shares her techniques for alleviating big city stress.
Bad Excuses
Obviously, these are bad and almost humorous excuses for not joining a beginner’s Spanish class. After all, not speaking a language is precisely the right reason to start learning a foreign language. Taking an introductory class is a safe and fun way to begin a journey toward understanding other cultures as well as learning about ourselves. A determined language learner also develops qualities such as persistence, willingness to make mistakes and overcoming self-consciousness.
YOGA ADVOCATE JUDIT TOROK
A regular visitor to Tokyo, New York City- based Yoga Instructor and Interculturalist Judit Torok shares her techniques for alleviating big city stress.
Yoga on the Go
Traveling can take a lot out of us, physically and mentally. Running from trains to taxis, carrying and lifting heavy bags, standing and waiting in long lines and being jammed into tight and uncomfortable spaces – these are common for travelers. And through all of this we often forget to take care of ourselves and instead accumulate anxiety and strain on our bodies that can have serious long-term consequences for our well-being.