Page 6 - The EDGE Fall 2025

• Sleep disturbances: Difficulty falling asleep, you need to. Stop worrying about what could
staying asleep, or having a disruptive sleep happen, and focus on what needs to happen, or
cycle (insomnia) what is happening now. Spend as much effort as
• Weakened immune system: Getting sick more necessary to complete the task, but no more.
often wirh colds or the flu
• Changes in appetite or weight: Eating more or Principle 2:
less than normal Rooted yet fluid – The principle of rooted yet
fluid means you have a good stance, meaning
Behavioral Signs: you are strong and ‘rooted’ into the ground. You
• Decreased productivity: Difficulty when become very difficult to move out of the space
concentrating, making more mistakes, or you occupy, but not impossible! That is where the
struggling to complete tasks that were once fluid piece comes in. When there is a force that
easy is stronger than you trying to occupy your space,
• Increased absenteeism or 'presenteeism': you can become fluid and redirect the force away
Taking more sick days or being physically at from you. At the dojo, we affectionately refer
work but mentally disengaged to this as ‘opening the door’. Think of someone
• Social withdrawl: Isolating oneself from leaning on a door with their bodyweight. The
coworkers, friends, or family door is able to withstand their weight but what
• Procrastination: Difficulty starting the happens when someone opens the door from the
workday or tackling projects other side? The force that person was exerting on
• Using unhealthy coping mechanisms: Turning that door has suddenly moved somewhere else
to food, alcohol, or drugs to numb feelings or and the person is probably trying desperately to
feel better regain their balance.

Principles to Use The question again is how can you apply this
Principle 1: principle to the demands of the workplace? The
Selective Tension – Japanese Jujutsu is a martial important takeaway here is to know when you
art that focuses on energy conservation, that is need to ‘open the door’ and move the pressure past
why selective tension is so important. Try this… you. It is not always appropriate to withstand the
tense every muscle in your body right now. How pressure. When the pressure becomes too much,
long can you maintain this? Are you out of breath? you need to ‘open the door’. This can be by asking
I will tell you when I tried this, I was out of breath for help, renegotiating expectations or results, or
and tired. having a conversation with your supervisor about
the challenges you are experiencing.
Selective tension is the practice of discerning
and applying the appropriate amount of force or Principle 3:
muscle tension required for a specific situation or Protect your center line (what is important to you)
movement, rather than using maximum tension of – your center line contains everything that is
all actions. vital you. If you draw a line from the top of your
head to your feet, you have created your center
So how can you adapt this principle to workplace line. The principle of protecting your center line
burnout? This works by only focusing on what means that the only thing you need to focus on

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6 THE EDGE FALL 2025