The Mark Divine BLOG: Earn Your Trident Every Day

The SEALs say that you must “earn your Trident every day.” The Trident is their symbol of commitment to excellence and they proudly wear it on their uniform shirt near the heart. Everyone in the Military recognizes and honors the symbol for the quality of the individual behind it, the training they endure, and the ethos they represent. “Self-mastery in service to humanity” is how I would sum that training and ethos up. The development of such an ethos requires that we sharpen our sword of excellence daily, which, incidentally, is the meaning of the term earn your trident every day.

The simplest way to look at sharpening the sword is by examining what a daily disciplined physical training and practice would look like for someone committed to excellence. In training countless successful SEAL candidates at SEALFIT HQ, I have distilled essential practices for inner strength into a warrior development system called Kokoro Yoga. This is a new approach to training that integrates body, mind and spirit and the best of modern and ancient methods.

Yoga is the oldest personal development discipline known to mankind. For thousands of years, yoga has been an open source project to develop the mind and spirit of a steady stream of dedicated practitioners. But the true essence of yoga has been distorted into a fitness system in modern times. It is a mission of mine to bring Yoga back to its developmental roots. Practicing yoga offers a unique and time-proven approach to sharpening the sword daily, earning your personal trident of excellence.

The Japanese concept of “Kokoro” speaks to the warrior spirit aspect of our version of this powerful training. Kokoro translates as merging heart and mind into action, or more succinctly the whole mind. Kokoro Yoga practice will awaken you to your heart-mind, and unlock a developmental process leading to higher stages of consciousness and awareness. The practice achieves this by opening up your spine, increasing energy through powerful breathing techniques and recharging your physical capacity through mindful functional movements. The methods will renew your energy and give you a confidence that urges you to continue the self-perpetuating upward spiral of growth.

Where does all this lead? Ultimately, the mind gets clear, the heart opens, and you develop a connection to a part of you that is unfettered by the negative aspects of life, a crucial part that lies in a state of present, positive awareness ready to support your every intention. This connection to your essential nature allows the passion, purpose, and principles of your unique personal ethos to be known and integrated. In this manner, a dedicated commitment to daily practice accelerates growth in a direction meant explicitly for you. An unwavering commitment to the new personal vision radiates outward to attract a team of warriors who support you in a mission to co-create a better world.

We are in the midst of our first Kokoro Yoga Teacher Training and gearing up for our Kokoro Yoga Workshop in September. The vision for a new warrior development system is coming together, the timing of which couldn’t be more perfect. When change becomes overwhelming – at a personal, organizational or social level, the warrior must step into the breach to help restore order. The world needs this training, and I hope you can be on our team to bring it. Hooyah!

–Mark Divine