Raindancer

I did not mean that it was connected to my health, I simply meant that I view it in a certain way that has made me feel more connected to something, which meant removing a piece of it was like severing that bond.

I only realised this a while ago, but my hair has become like my "homage to nature". I've been growing it out for quite some time, about a year ago I was in a rot and decided to cut my hair, specifically my bangs. Afterwards I felt sick, physically sick. I never used to care about my hair before, but right at that time I knew that I had made a mistake, I felt like I had cut off a piece of me, a piece that connected me to the ground. I've not been able to cut my hair since, just one strand at a time if it got a split end. I will probably never cut it again, not more than the splits that I do now. It will grow and I won't intervene. Are there others who feel the same?

My hair is wavy and very shape-able, at shorter length there's no length to weight it down, so it will shape with my ears, with how I sleep... it looks a mess and I have to constantly care for it unless I want to look... well, let's say I do not fancy that look. It's also constantly in my face and eyes when it's shorter, putting it up is harder. Short short hair, the 2 cm hair, was not a good look on me, and required me washing it every morning in some way since it was flat on the side I slept on, you also got to cut it very often to keep it that length. With long hair my waves are visible, it always looks the same, I can easily put it out of the way with a hair stick, no need for an elastic that usually only hurts for me. The only thing that take more time now than before is detangling.

I bet it felt freeing. I've had very short hair before, not shaved, but about 2 cm long, and I liked how it felt, but nothing else. It did not feel like me and it was a hassle to care for. My hair is down to my hips and I will definitely not shave it off at this point, I'm letting it grow. My hair is less difficult to care for now than it was when it was short.

Thank you all for the answers, and that is indeed very beautiful hair! I personally don't know much about this topic, I just know what I feel, and I've never had a shaven head. But if I were to guess, I think it would probably feel lighter, as in closer to the sky rather than to the ground, to shave my head.

This might be a silly question, but the thought arose in me after a conversation I had with a person earlier today. In short this person advised me to practice taoism, and I replied saying that I in fact am a taoist. To that the person replied: "how strange, in my book a taoist does not want things". I had earlier talked about the future I was working towards, how I could see myself living my life, which involved the word (example "I want to have a garden where I can grow vegetables"). I do not agree with the person I spoke to, we're not all wise sages without fault, but it made me wonder, is there a consensus on when someone is a taoist? What should I have replied to that statement? All I did now was to say that I'm no sage, which, though obvious, might've been enough.

Alright, no worries!

Thank you for letting me know, it is getting rather late here so I was planning to look for it tomorrow. Oh, that would be very nice of you to do! I'll keep an eye out for your thread.

Alright! Thank you for all your help! I'll do just that.

Alright, thank you for the heads up! Then I'm afraid there are no teachers at all in this area, I guess there's no real harm in waiting for a few years before I start, but it's a bit unfortunate since I felt ready to start sooner. Can do Bagua from watching youtube videos? I'll make sure to take a good look around the forum to learn more about it

Thank you for your reply! I can see what you mean, and it makes perfect sense to me.

Thank you for all the advice once again! Looking closer at what I have to choose from in this city, there only seems to be one active teacher that teach Tai Chi (a type called 13 form), which he teach alongside Qigong, he seems to have learnt both from Mantac Chia and his students. Maybe it would be alright for now? (or rather, the autumn season, there's nothing now) Me moving won't happen until 2020 or 2021, and I'm not yet sure which city I'll be close to, but when I am sure, I'll make sure to ask here if anyone knows any good teacher to turn to! I've never heard of Bagua before, and I can't seem to find any teachers on that when I search on google.

Thank you for the advice, then I will focus on Tai Chi for now. I live in a relatively small town, I plan on moving (to the countryside but it will be close to a large city), but if I want in life lessons I can't choose the style of Tai Chi (I find a total of two places in my town, none of them mention Chen). I have noticed there being quite a few Tai Chi videos on youtube, I guess that is not ideal, but maybe it is good enough for now? Do you (or anyone else who might read this) know any good Tai Chi teachers who post on youtube?

I guess I used the wrong word before then, English isn't my native language so I apologize! I meant about Tao, I had felt that it existed, but had not been able to explain it, before I opened that book I have considered starting with Tai Chi and Qigong for quite some time, I'm not sure if I should do both, but I am interested in both, so far I've read Tao Te Ching again and again and reflected over my own life, but not much more. Thank you for explaining it, it is very interesting and makes a lot of sense to me!

I've tried to meditate many times before, but every time I've tried my mind won't clear, it might be quiet, but it doesn't clear. If anything, I might fall asleep (which has happened) or drift away into thoughts. I've tried with and without music, I've tried to think of nothing and think of specific things, nothing has really worked, up until now. I had placed some sound files on itunes with rain to calm me during studying some time back. Last week, while on the bus to work, I realised that I had the rain sound on my ipod, so I turned it on. I managed to do the best meditation I've ever done with the help of it. It was as if the sound of rain kept me centered. It didn't completely clear my mind as it put me in a very specific imaginary location, but there I was completely calm and at peace and nothing else was clogging my mind, all there was was me and the rain. I don't know what anyone reading this might get out of it, but it was such a revelation for me that I felt that I had to share it.

That I can see I don't think there's any magic to the rain either, it just happened to be something that lead me into the right path with meditation. I think it might take a while before I can meditate well without the sound, but I hope I'll get to that point one day.

Thank you for sharing that perspective, I didn't think as far in that moment. I indeed never 'wanted' to be a taoist, I opened a book and discovered that it was beliefs I already held and principles I had wanted to live by previously, but never put into words.

I guess that is true. Her remark wasn't a question, not something I had to answer, and on top of that, it came across as somewhat rude. Thank you for your reply!

I've done it several times after that time on the bus and it has worked wonderfully every time, so even if that was the moment it started working for me, it has continued to work for me. I'm just glad I found a way. I've never heard that before, but sounds nice

I do recall reading that bit about the sage, hence my reply to the person that I'm no sage. I'm definitely not on that level!

That sounds really nice, thank you for the tip, Fa Xin! I think I have done that multiple times in the past, not really thinking of it as meditation, I'll try to be a bit more conscious about it in the future to get the most out of it! I will try the rain bit whenever it happens to rain here again, it sounds lovely.

Haha! Well, I'm grateful for the replies I also thought it sounded a bit weird, because almost everything could be linked to a "want", I thought this person maybe meant desire, such as desire for riches or alike, because a want can be practically anything, how can it be "wrong" to want to live a peaceful life? I suppose the question is as deep as one makes it. Originally in my head it wasn't a deep thought deserving of a deep answer, but with all the replies I've gotten, I suppose it's more to it than I thought.

That's interesting, I wonder why it's not working like that for me. I find the sameness to make me slightly anxious, it feels unnatural and a bit as if I am watching a tv that's displaying the war of ants.

That was actually more enjoyable than the white noise! It sounds a bit like the wind, but I think I prefer noises that change, that you can hear the movements or slight shifts of.

It's a mystery how I never thought about meditating to the sound of rain considering how much adore it Meditating to a scent sound interesting, I'm unsure if it would work as well as rain does to me, but I might try it. I would like to meditate to real rain someday, and real rain does bring a scent with it so maybe that would make it even better.