Birch

I read that very fast and read 'treat it like bacon':-)

I've wondered about this too. But I'm still at the stage of wondering about it. Certainly it doesn't feel to me to be something 'I' do. I do however subscribe to the 'no separation' idea, so 'matter' is just the 'same' as everything else, whatever that might be. So there's no 'inert' anything either. There might be (I'm leaning this way from personal contemplation) a change of state which by comparison leads to differentiation.

They're not going to do it in mine:-)

Thanks Spotless. Very much what I was looking for. The book is http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-Dangers-Meditation-And-Yoga/dp/0971767637 and I also did not pay 500$ (FTW?) for it.

Now that's funny. I didn't much get the language but I figured I understood what you were talking about (always a danger for me, however). Anyway, a while back during practice I got this idea about gravity and how it was related to the heart/love. I didn't get any further with it and couldn't explain further if I tried but I wonder if it fits somewhere in what you're talking about.

PythagoreanFL. I wouldn't assume that:-)

Thanks SB. Here's a link to an interesting paper http://cess.nyu.edu/caplin/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Dopamine-Reward-Prediction-Error-and-Economics.pdf DOPAMINE, REWARD PREDICTION ERROR, AND ECONOMICS∗

Why should it be either this or that? Technology is not neutral (as someone I can't recall offhand said) but it should be possible to subject it to people's will and not the reverse. How related the following is is up for grabs but I've read some research about information technology use producing dopamine spikes in users. ---2cts--

I only have acupuncture as a go-to but you said you weren't going to. I'd add massage and psychotherapy as having had most effective health results for me. I don't eat much crap, don't particularly abuse my body in any way except for stress/overwork on occasion.

Everything I do is crap.

I 'met' her while half asleep one evening. Black Kali in full regalia. Flippin scary. No sex.

Here is something I truly (currently) lose at. No 'idea' why (although I still have a bunch of ideas why...) Looking at my Bazi was very helpful in this respect:-) --etc--

Some interesting questions NAJA: "Am i at fault for being emotionally imbalanced?" "Did i choose this life?" I've wondered about 'fault', 'choice' and 'blame' and 'responsability' quite some over the past few years. And it has only really been the last few years where I've noticed this 'choice' and 'responsability' thing getting amplified both for me and what I'd call the 'wider society' I live in. My take is it depends on who's telling me this stuff and why they're telling me (or why I'm telling myself, but that's a bit of a problem IMO/IME). Anyway, I think I've 'grokked' that fault lies somewhere (and I certainly know where that is, no bones) and responsability is at my feet. ---opinion etc--

I'd agree. Same goes for any meditation technique. There are points in the process where a person can become extremely willing and open to influence, especially if when meditation brings up more difficult material. --2cts--

The spring phase had a lot of liver chi in it.

I dunno that it's as clearly articulated as all that JB. I really wanted to be in favour of 'the market' as a self-organizing principle and at one point I imbued it with much more wisdom than now seems warranted but I can't at this point. I'd like a discussion on the time at which 'pure' capitalism was actually in effect.

This part made my ears prick up. Are there examples of capitalism where there have been no departures? I'm not arguing any specific direction, it's more out of curiosity as to whether it's acceptable for a term to refer to a set of conditions that never actually happen.

I had one today (a bath). I do mudras in the bath. More than anywhere else. I think it's just because my elbows come up to the right height if I lean them on the edges. That's quite a bad reason to do them in the bath I guess. I like baths when it's cold out and showers when it's hot out. You can put things in baths you can't in showers (like salt). Also, many shower stalls are too small to feel comfortable in. I have often banged my elbows in shower stalls that are too small.

"everything connected ... everything inter-connected ... good way to view things I think " This one has my personal preference.

Thank you Donald, very helpful indeed! At one point during practice I (misunderstood, I now think) the concept of 'Gates' to be specific points at which Shen/qi/jing - or as I sort if had it (yes I know wrongly but I didn't bother differentiating 'mind' from the larger consciouness it's in) 'mind/body' had more effective flow between them. The emphasis (too much) I was putting on the mind affecting organs was running me ragged. You, know, since 'stress' now seems to cause everything, I was getting stressed about being too stressed out hahaha.

I keep getting reminded of Madison. To paraphrase (badly maul:-)) his quote about government. It's just a way of underwriting power relationships.

Welcome!

That was an excellent post Donald. Thank you very much for it. As a sort of an example that I hope illustrates something like what you're referring to, I sometimes wake up in the morning with some amount of anxiety feelings and if I don't take the time to settle myself before getting up, it can really affect the day that follows on a mental level. I will think different things. Reasons for being anxious. I noticed that on days I let myself go back to sleep, I'd wake up the second time in much less anxious state. And if I just sleep in altogether and get up late then no anxiety at all. Nice chill day:-) So the other thread about cortisol got me curious. I looked about for information on cortisol levels upon awakening and it does seem to suggest they are higher very early in the morning. There's other stuff about blood-glucose being an issue at the same time (because you've basically fasted for several hours). I've been trying quite hard to better understand the directions of influence of mind/body. It seems our current setup promotes 'mind over matter' more often than the reverse. So someone might have adverse mental events due to undetected diabetes (which was what sprung to mind when I thought of the person the OP was talking about) but current psychological treatment would miss it entirely. ---opinion etc--

From previous post. So here's what the book says: "The colors red and orange should not be used on any chakra in the head or on the heart and spleen chakras. Green and violet colors are safe, but light hues only." "If you practice martial arts or a yogic breathing and exercise method that awakens the lower chakras, plus the upper centres are not as active and developed as the lower chakras, there is a danger of lopsided development of the lower nature or attitudes. Red energy is 'grosser'. "Tends to block the meridians and exacerbate these over-heating conditions". "Feeling of Exhaustion and Weakening of the Body One of the reasons for these symptoms in meditators and yogis is congestion or excess energy that overwhelms the body. After long hours of meditation in a yogic posture, there's a tremendous increase of energy in the different auras. If this excess energy turns into congestion in the whole body for a long time like a day, the practitioner will feel tired or fatigued. Then because of this symptom, s/he will meditate more thinking it will improve the condition. What usually happens is that the more s/he meditates, the worse it gets. Why? Because there's more congestion, especially if a person is eating meat and meditating heavily. S/ he will become even more congested" The blue colour was also a suggestion in this same book.

Welcome!