thaddeus

i did on the way home..really nice..

why is chocolate getting such a bad rap? cocoa is actually good for you...yeah milk chocolate is generally loaded with sugar and sometimes worse..hydrogenated oils..but alot of chocolate now has a high cocoa content and is actually more healthy than red wine. cocoa butter does not adversely affect your lipid profile, in fact, research suggests it will make it better. One thing for sure, it's a nitric oxide releaser..which means..great for your arteries, great for your brain and great for the bedroom..even modulates inflammation..so..enjoy it. t

i did a little google and apparantly this is correct! but it lowers it in a bad way, the alcohol temporarily disrupts the ability of the liver to process sugar, so the sugar can drop..big problem for diabetics esp. if they are on insulin.. T

After viewing the quantum edition of what the bleep do we know..(it's 6 CDs, btw) and I just saw 1! and it seems different from the original. I didn't focus too much on this part last time because I was more interested in the reality ideas, however, part of the video talks about how we are basically addicts. We are addicted to certain habitual emotions, such as being in love, being victimized, depression, etc. because of the rush of chemicals they provide in our bodies. In fact, when our cells are deprived of these chemicals, we start to invent situations to get the chemicals back. Really explains people with the 'why is this always happening to me' mentality and people who are always falling in love. The more we indulge in these chemicals, the more receptors our cells create when they divide to absorb these chemicals..so not only do we need more and more, but less receptors for beneficial activities are available (such as absorbing vitamins or excreting wastes). This to me is one fascinating area of study..what chemicals are you addicted to?? Is this cool or what.. T

I think she's featured in the movie..thanks for the tip!

you're going to have some kind of rebound effect if you go cold turkey...replace the sugar with harder to digest sugars that will balance your blood sugar..lot's of fiber to bring you back to balance slowly.. anyway, with these TCM doctors you need to ask them what to do..no one really knows what he/she might mean by too much sugar..for pete's sake, everything else is abstract and indirect, what makes you think sugar mean sugar.. T where does one get this idea that alcohol will lower blood sugar? it doesn't even mesh with common sense..it's all simple sugars..think grape juice..

I like this approach and have heard other meditation masters mention the same thing. The important part is the remembering to get back..whether is mindfulness, mantra, a candle, god, etc. So getting lost is a good thing so that you can remember to come back. On a physical level, this is what Taichichuan is all about as well, you get lost (unbalanced) and come back to center (wuji)..the act of coming back to center is taiji movement. T

funny you're talking about this stuff, i bought the quantum edition of 'what the bleep do we know' and started watching it again last night..this edition has something like 6 hours of interviews on this stuff. was just thinking about this stuff and manifesting this morning. one guy was saying the reason why we don't really get what we imagine is that we simply are not holding on to the thought long enough..but lots of cool explanations on the QM stuff that wasn't in the original edition..esp. very simple explanations of what's going on with the particle wave dynamics.. T

do you think that was setup? reason i ask is the guy with the camera for some reason starts to film the monk and then zooms in on the laptop or whatever he was holding before the guy stole it...

I think the genious of the internal martial arts is that they are both the same. Healthy movement turns out to also be martial. Unhealthy movement is not martial. If you study applying your martial art, it turns out that it helps your form too. You can't neutralize a force without a root and you certainly can't express any kind of force without the same body mechanics that makes your chi flow. My personal take on the visualizations of ichuan is that when properly done, they force the proper body mechanics. But you have to really feel it, not just imagine it. Mind and body are truly one in that sense. Other martial arts have weapons work that also force proper body mechanics such as the long pole and heavy guando. Without the proper extension and foundation you will just get hurt. Doing the weapons work teaches your body how to move. In these systems, visualizations are not emphasized as much. They still have them, but it's not that necessary..that's just my observations. Also, Matt, when you look at this guys breathing exercise to breathe from the bottom of the feet and make the chi to the top of the head, my take is that if you really do the visualization, you will automatically do a reverse breath, in order to draw energy upwards..can't get the same feeling with a regular abdominal breath.. T

I think this type of instruction is why you don't see many 'westerners' with any skills to speak of. I know Fong Ha is a big proponent of the 'just stand there, you're already an expert approach, etc.' but it doesn't seem to doing much for people. No disrespect intended, just saying as a whole there aren't very many greats that were born from simply standing. Wang became great by training really really hard in Xing Yi. So if one wants to be like him, it follows one should train like he did. And there is alot of breath training and 'doing' in that system. my two cents, T

The problem with this advice is what does 'naturally' mean. Some may think it means abdominal breathing, sometimes natural is really reverse breathing. Sometimes people have no idea what it means to take a deep breath because of restrictions in the torso and repressed emotions. If i'm exerting force, I *naturally* pressurize my abdomen. So when someone says breathe naturally...it doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means, so one could be completely off the mark as far as training is concerned. The point is you have to really question, study and test your knowledge to get to the point where you understand what naturally means. Personally, I think Wang Xiang Zhai did alot more with his breath than he's letting on with that statement.. T

Really good point on the water thing.. On the tiger..I googled for a tiger image too..that's how I found it! T

I'm not sure how to make my point without using the g word..god..but at times we connect with god and listen to 'him'. Other times we hear our own voice or something else because we got lost and stopped listening. The weird stuff is when someone who is connected stops listening and gets caught up in whatever they are caught up in. That's my take on the subject..and hence religious doctrine is born, and strange stuff about how 'white men can't jump or do magic'. my two cents T

Interesting your name is 'thirstytraveler'..or is this a joke? water water everywhere..and not a drop to drink! T

I got a 6 fire with 0 water..and my dream is to live in a desert area..very attracted to it. All my life however, I've lived near the ocean. Life circumstances keeps me from the southwest, but would love to go there..can you ask about that..? Thanks T

not sure how comfortable you are posting your data, but one of us can run the chart for you..

So how can we figure out what it all means??? me: Year: Wood Dragon Month: Fire Rabbit Day: Metal Snake Hour: Fire Rooster Inner Element: Earth Constellation: Griffon Elements: Wood/2, Fire/6,Earth1,Metal/3,Water 0 (ouch!)

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I think doing anything consistently like this with your intention deserves recognition in and of itself..it's a great achievement and an inspiration! T

Thanks Craig, maybe I will write this stuff up in a small e-book. I'll post some good links to NO. So Dragon herbs seems to be a hit..i'm curious with the he shou wu, ( i noticed an increase of horniness when i drank shou wu ji regularly) but how about hair..did you notice any effect on your hair growth/grayness/ or anything? He Shou Wu was shown to increase SOD levels which has a positive effect on NO, which accounts for the stronger morning wood and hair growth.. I tried catuaba extract and although the effects aren't quick, the morning wood problem becomes a problem, i woke up several times in the night from almost painful ones. So it disrupts sleep, but like a good foot massage the pain feels awesome. But I have this theory about that..I wonder if we took something like that regularly..would it make your 'johnson' grow because of the stretching from the inside? If you think about it, it happens 4-6 times a night in our sleep...so I wonder if we can all get careers as john holmes stand-ins.. (anyway, gotta be careful about the words I choose due to our firewalls, etc.--that's why it sounds so damn corny) T

This hits a nerve for me because I feel there is a dark side to this attitude. First is the obvious--it's hard to find a decent herbal shop in nyc that isn't a.)selling inferior cheap BS herbs b.) outright ripping 'tourists' off. I once pointed out to an herbal shop owner the difference between 'alrodeer pills' and 'alrodear pills'. She kept insisting one had deerhorn in it and was getting annoyed with the 'guilo' acting like I knew something. I finally made her read the ingredients and she brushed me off angrily when she realized she was just plain wrong. I can't tell you how many times stuff is mislabeled and the owners are saying 'very good' 'very strong' not caring the least about the adage 'do no harm'. Yes, there must be reputable acupuncturists and herbal shop owners, I'm not saying they are all bad. But for the most part, they are really banking on the placebo effect, because most of the stuff is garbage. I hope you're not taking this the wrong way, 'cause I don't really know how you found this guy and what your background, knowledge, etc. Maybe I'm insulting your intelligence. I'm really just sounding off because this attitude really annoys me. People in the healing professions have a responsibility to their 'partners' in healing. My feeling is if he can't respect you enough to answer your questions or communicate with you, how do you know he's really paying any attention at all. The placebo effect is extremely strong. But the placebo effect doesn't work well with inquiring minds. And if you have an inquiring mind, it's pretty difficult to slip into 'dumb' mode and swallow a pill and accept 'very strong, very good' with the thumb in air... If you read this far, thanks for indulging my rant.. T

Even as kid before I ever heard about any of this stuff, I noticed a general tiredness the next day, like I needed a little more sleep. Then when I got my first girlfriend, I noticed there wasn't that tired feeling the next day, so intuitively I sensed there was something going on. Scientfically, one can probably say the exchange of fluids must somehow restore that substance, or Jing, hormone whatever. Someone involved in energy work would say the partner balanced my energy somewhat. Ever since that i've been very curious about the loss of energy. I really think there is something to choosing the right partner. If you read the bedroom chamber book, the description of the ideal partner for a man seems to describe a woman with an abundance of estrogen. There really are some partners that make you feel like a million bucks the next day and some where you feel like a mack truck hit you. T

Couple thoughts..first on the jing..i know this is what we've been 'taught' regarding TCM and our taoist practices..but I'll be darned..I know more than a few guys that are spending jing daily and you know what, they are not weak at all, so part of me thinks this is just an old wives tale. Now, some of us, including myself, do feel a 'loss' after spending jing, but it's not that bad, and maybe it's all in my head and maybe i'm thinking i could just get used to like I did weight training and eventually become stronger. At least one of my friends has a firm belief that it makes him stronger to keep doing it and it seems to work for him. He'll often do it three times a day and feels weak if he doesn't do it. So I don't know.. I'm always on the lookout for jing restoratives, so far haven't found anything that works consistently. I have maca root at home, but never really got into it. It's just a potato and the Peruvians don't seem to be super specimens of health, longevity and sexuality..so not sure..tell me more about your experiences with it. T

hi dan, there are no 'new' herbals. i would have to question your guy's integrity or naivete (sp?). the problem with these pills in the herb shops is they don't list the prescription drugs in them, so not only is it illegal, but there are potential serious health ramifications..first there is possible contamination with poisons like metals and other things becuase it's not regulated, then there are dosage problems again cause it's not regulated, and there are issues with interactions with other things you might be taking that you are not aware of because you don't know what's in there. it might not be as simple as V or C, it could have chemicals that affect your dopamine levels--which can mess up anti-depressants, interactions with alcohol, etc. etc. So, that's why this stuff should not be willy nilly passed off by reputable 'doctors'. If he compounded the extracts himself, then maybe you can trust his assertion that it's 'all natural'..otherwise just be careful, that's all. and if you can get a chinese friend or your acupuncturist to list the herbs, that would be cool to see in any case.. T