thelerner

Acting.. imagination.. the physical act of a smile with lips and crinkling the eyes. Feeling sunshine on your face entering the 3rd eye, appreciating what is good, the sound of hAaahh exhaling from your heart area. Here is how Minke De Vos of Silent Grounds starts her guided meditation called Deep Body Smile. breathing up to your head, relax the muscles around your eyes, infront of you envision a golden sun, that connects us with the light of our interbeing; the light of unconditional love that shines on all beings equally. Basking in the warm golden light. Breath it in to your third eye. Lightening up the center of your head like a internal star, enlivening your master glands. Shining into your senses and awakening your ability to see, feel and touch inside. Allow a serene smile to spread across your face, lifting the lips, cheeks and corners of your eyes upwards. Like turning on a light switch. another trick/skill is laughing meditation. Where you laugh and laugh on cue. Its a worthwhile skill to have.

Perseid Meteor Shower Expected To Peak This Week http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/perseid-meteor-shower-peak_55c8b1cde4b0f73b20b9e03c?utm_hp_ref=chicago&ir=Chicago&section=chicago&kvcommref=mostpopular The celestial display promises to be especially spectacular. Steven Hoffer Senior Editor, The Huffington PostPosted: 08/10/2015 12:17 PM EDTThe annual Perseid meteor shower is set to make a dazzling late summer appearance this week. Stargazers are especially excited because this year marks the first time since 2010 that the meteor shower aligns with a new moon, making for ideal dark skies, according to CNN. Even better, there's no need to run out and purchase an expensive telescope to witness the light show. All that's required to enjoy this wonder of nature is a clear night and a view from the Northern Hemisphere. The celestial display is expected to peak during the overnight hours of Aug. 12 into the morning of Aug. 13. Meteors will be visible starting around 10 p.m., but the best time to catch a glimpse will be around 4 a.m. Eastern Time, "when up to 100 meteors per hour may be visible from a dark sky," according to NASA.

Nice website. The way it reviews games, giving you indepth analysis of strategic moves, while showing the board is a wonderful learning tool.

How do we 'play' with intensity? I assume its by lowering the stance or holding the arms at a more difficult angle? Or is it something less tangible? A sharper mental awareness? Like Soaring Crane alludes to in post #6. Or is it a combination of the two?

Welcome, honored to have you here. I look forward to your contributions. I notice you posted the same introduction in two other forums on the same day. Which could be a good time saving technique. Like many here I enjoy reading first hand accounts of peoples travel meeting and learning from Eastern masters. Sincerely Michael

Nice name .

Ah, the ones who want to improve the lives of the working poor are the evil vampires and those who'd cut social welfare programs and lower taxes on the rich (who've done incredibly well during the recovery) are the good guys? I'm not saying they're the bad guys, thats not an accurate way to put economic ideas, but clearly the solution of stripping resources to the poor whose income has mostly stagnated (or up 10 or 14% in the past 10 years) and give tax breaks to those who's networth has doubled or tripled in that time, seems backwards. Unless you're living in an Ayn Rand novel. I think the conspiracy theory that Leftist are doing it in order to control the masses is crap sold by Faux news and ditto heads. The desire to help people at the bottom and middle class, provide opportunity and stronger social net is a noble one. The U.S is rich enough to do it. You don't have to fall into over regulation or even European style socialism to achieve it. There is a sweet spot and we're not hitting it. I don't buy the 'when the economy is healthy enough' problems will be solved. I think its a myth. The U.S economy has been in a slow but steady increase for the past 5 1/2 years. Yet we are still a nation that has been seeing an increasing separation between have's and have nots for the past 2 decades. It dangerous. If we can reduce regulations and government without compromising safety that'll be part of the solution. Likewise reducing military spending from a level which is greater then the next 20 countries combined will also free up countless billions that can be used to improve general welfare. Modern progressive societies (except the U.S) have generally come up with a health care as a basic human right. Moving to a single health payer system could move us from the country that spends more then any other on health care and has results lower then majority of first world countries to one saving billions and having much better results. There are probably billions that can be diverted to provide better lifes. Matter of fact in most metrics we're lower then other first world countries. Mostly because our poor (and middle class) are so much closer to third world standards. (Our mean/average is skewed by having so many super rich) We probably need to work both angles to improve the situation. Increasing 'Capitalist' measures while improving education and opportunities and basic living conditions for the poor and middle class.

Before I sit down I'll stretch and shake a little to loosen up. After sitting I'll circle my body around a few times to find a good balance, usually a bit more forward lean to counter act my tendency to sit too far back. Then I'll go through a Vispassana saying, either a long version or short. The short being: I am not my thoughts I am not my body I am not my emotions.. past.. future.. possessions.. desires.. I am breath and awareness. The longer version would include reasons why I'm not those things.. ie not my thoughts- they are ephemeral, passing like clouds in the sky, they are a tool, best kept quiet. I am not my body- it is my vessel, a valued possession I'm intrusted with. I am not my emotions.. I acknowledge them and let them settle like ripples on a pond.. That kind of thing. I probably make up slightly different wordings each time. But its an important reminder to get into a proper state. When I was operated on last year and they were fiddling with tubes leading into my heart I heard the surgeon say 'Well this isn't going well' and because I've repeated 'I'm not my body' so many times I didn't particularly feel much fear. Course it could have been the drugs..

I tend to believe man is a rationalizing animal. And while theory sounds good, in real life it's.. less so. This can be rationalized as Pure Capitalism though 'the best' no longer exists anywhere because ..?.. it was too good and pure to live. Beyond theory, in our Reality the countries that seem to be providing the best life style in terms of education, freedom, health, longevity, and general prosperity are the Northern European countries like Sweden, Norway, Switzerland. Living there is a bit like hitting a lottery. They have, I believe hit a sweet spot. Not perfect but better then the U.S in most metrics. In the U.S we are pretty lucky, but if you live here and roll a 4 or lower on a 20 sided die, you're living a shorter, nastier, less healthy, impoverished (compared to the middle) kind of life. Whereas simple theory cannot adequately show this, a book like 'Nickel and Dimed, On Not Getting By in America' (http://www.amazon.com/Nickel-Dimed-Not-Getting-America/dp/0312626681) is a good read to get knowledge and empathy for the millions of working poor who are trapped. In the 18 and 19th century there were legal indentured servants, today there are millions of almost 'indentured servants' trapped by debts. They bear some, even most of the responsibility but there's also system in place that like a greased slide thats real easy to fall into. Even if you have 10's of thousand of dollars put away, millions, probably 10's of millions are an unlucky accident or illness away from it. Karl, you're bringing out the leftist in me. I need a radical, someone like InnerSoundQiGong to come in so I can swing back right. I've got a perfect line I'm waiting to use.. 'While fascism is out of fashion I ..'

video? addon> I see a few on youtube, pretty complex stuff. Looks like you'd need a teacher to do it right. ),

In theory no, in reality, there are only so many job openings and people have many debts and limited options; thus people stay with bad firms. Economic realities are the force. Good people are taken advantage of by bad companies because they have little choice. Note I don't mean to paint all or most businesses as bad. But enough bad ones exist to make life miserable for millions. I'll give you that business provide what people want, but not that they provide what the employees want or need. There is a problem in America of the working poor. For example, we have giant companies like Walmart which has thousands of employees that need food stamps. Thankfully that may be changing soon, but its been a bad decade for millions of workers here. I don't think there is an easy solution. Such ideas as the $15 an hour will have unintended consequences of lowering employment and putting some places out of business. Still it'll increase the living standards of millions. Even save the government the billions it spends subsidizing low paid workers. Solutions hard, and idolizing the 'Pure' Capitalism as perfect seems to me almost as foolish as those who idolize 'Pure' <never quite found> Communism as perfect. Real life is messy, resources and opportunities limited. You see negatives like greed and poverty injustice magically cured by unfettered capitalism. As do diehard Communists. I think you're closer to the truth, but belief in such an absolute is misplaced.

I'm reading 'Gang Leader for a Day' and the book 'Outliers'. Gang Leader is a fascinating book, an interestingly sympathetic yet realistic look at gang life in Chicago. The story was first written up in short form in the book 'Freakonomics'. 'Outliers' reads a bit like Freakonomics, chapters explore the power of outliers. It digs into things that work unexpected well and tries to understand what makes for outliers in different fields.

nice graphics and layout.

When you get old enough you walk downstairs and find yourself staring at the fridge wondering 'why am I here?' Then you see a post it note saying Get Mustard. So you open the fridge, take out the almost empty mustard jar and bring it up to bed then wonder, 'Why the hell did I bring this up here'.

sorry I missed you.

Thank you for sharing. No guidance, only a question.. What (if anything) would you do differently, knowing what you now know?

imo if we went to 'pure' capitalism we'd inevitably end up back here or something more feudalistic. You don't think people take advantage of technology now? Thats silly, factories are being more automated and money saving devices are as or more sought after then ever. My problem with your simple scenario is you can't imagine the fisherman buying up the whole lake and turning other fisherman into low wage workers. You can't imagine him using his wealth to buy up the berry farm and doing the same. maybe worse and realistically (some) Businesses will cost cut until the lives of their employees, the public and environment is at risk. Thats the fact, Jack, and we need rules regulations to keep such crimes from happening. On the other hand, there are solid arguments that we have too many now, but to argue we should have none seems naive to me. You see unfettered capitalism as without sin. I see it as a mixed bag, something that needs controls because people can be pretty shitty to each other and there needs to safeguards installed for the good of society. As always its about finding the sweet spot and economically thats a moving target. The seeds of recession are planted by exuberance of prosperity.

Sounds like you've really found an art that connects with you. I certainly felt that way when I first started doing Aikido. A certain euphoria; I think many get this when they find the right art. As weeks turn to months I found the 'highs' leveled out. And as months turned to years to a decade plus.. I gained more perspective, seeing the good and bad. A mellowing out.

any youtubes showing good exercises to accomplish this? Actually that's open to everyone. I was thinking baoding balls (aka qigong balls) are good ways of keeping the hands supple and toned, especially for heavy mice users. Speaking of youtubes:

let me experiment here is me just writing down the url on the top of a youtube: here is me writing down the 'Share' lets see what happens when I hit Post. I think what'll happen is the cut and pasted url will work and the share will give me what I usually get, just an address. <later edit. Gotcha, I was doing too much work, thinking I needed to use Share, when all I needed was the URL address name at the very top [query] section, no Share required. Thanks.

I've heard that too. I think the reason was that it 'messes with your qi', which to me sounds kinda fuzzy. We had a heck of an electrical storm here a few days ago, I've never seen so much continuous lightning flashes. I didn't practice, but did grab a reclining beach chair, took it a nearby field and enjoyed watching the lightning. *note while it was an extreme storm, it wasn't raining where I was and it seemed like it was in the distance.

I disagree with the premise. You don't have to be prone to violence to get sex & intimacy. That may be more a teenager's style of thinking. Most people don't live in the fantasy world like Gor. We may do a lot to impress the opposite sex, but we rarely fight each other. Even in the past I don't think most cultures had death matches over mating rituals. Though perceived status undoubtedly plays a strong role. I might agree that civilization itself is man's attempt to impress the ladies. And while a gladiator may make a woman hot, they're not really the best to settle down with and marry. Same goes for a stripper. Normal people find and attract other normal regular people. In truth millionaires and movie stars are way more an aberration then the norm. Mankind commits atrocities but its usually not in the name of love (of woman). Also, strong or weak we protect our families, that's hard wired into us.

nice, emotional, dramatic.. makes me look up to see if there's a masked man in the rafters . forgive my lack of knowledge, but is this a rift on an earlier classic work?

So what's better, eating cooked edamame (soy beans) or tofu? I'm guessing that in moderation both are fine, least that's how I eat. I'll probably have a serving 2 or 3 times a week.