In the 1980s and 90s, I was a big fan of the movie "Karate Kid" and the two sequels to the series with Pat Morita as Mr. Myagi and Ralph Macchio as "Daniel-san" (I'm still a fan of it 😀 today).
"Apply! Polish!" refers to the first lesson Daniel learns from Mr. Myagi in his karate training.
Daniel learns another lesson when everything in his teenage life seems to fall apart once again.
"If you feel that life is going out of focus, always return to the basis of life," says Mr. Myagi. "What, pray?" asks Daniel.
"Breathe. No breath, no life," Myagi-san answers.
And then Mr. Myagi shows Daniel a little exercise to help Daniel regain his focus.
Here she is:
- Place the palms of your hands together, hands at chest height.
- Inhale while slowly moving your hands away from your body and forward. The palms of the hands remain together.
- Exhale and bring your hands back in front of your chest.
- The next time you inhale, bring your hands up above your head with your palms together.
- As you exhale, bring your hands back in front of your chest.
Repeat the entire movement for as long as it feels good for you and you realize that you have regained your focus.
Of course, as always, the exercise is even more beautiful when you can do it in nature!