i actually studied aikido for a little while a about six months ago. i stopped because i could not find the time to devote so i could absorb the mentality completely. thank you though, it is a good reminder and maybe a mindframe that i should look into achieving again.
i found aikido to be a dance: an exchange of energy and connected motions. somehow i found a release of fear not in the effects of falling but in the initial act, leaping up and throwing my body gracefully towards the floor, trusting myself- knowing that i can recover through the flow of my body/energy->being. maybe this is what it means to fall softly.