thelerner

Any suggestions for some interesting practice, hard but doable thing to learn, while the Virus rages on outside? mental or physical practice. I'm feeling both bored and unmotivated. Need some fire..

Welcome aboard, fascinating stuff. For better or worse, early on I got influenced by a Japanese Zen tradition. Which, in my translation means ignoring most such energy/dimensional happenings. If you see or feel thing while meditating, you ignore'em, you're busy doing something important. While its got advantages, I'm sure I miss alot.

Feel better. You know how they say The sun shines on the just and injust. These days w/ the virus, quarantine and whatnot, The crap is falling on.. just about everyone. So the strategy is to out wait it, let it turn to fertilizer. Thanks for giving the sword of power to Trunk the wise. I'm sure people will respect it, or fall to it. Be well and don't be a stranger. Community and friendly chatter are medicine, as well as a pleasant way to pass the time.

Yeah, doing lots of walking for 1 to 3 hours a day. Maybe I could get out the golf club and some balls, shag some at a nearby tree then raise the club above my head, shake it and yell at nearby children 'Get offa my Park'. That might be fun. I've been seeing a few duffers hitting balls in the park. Lightly.

My understanding is Straw dogs are important. Serving roles during certain temple holidays. They are not worthless, nor are they long lasting. People and things, wither, change comes, the new inevitably rises. During their time, treat worldly things and people with due respect, they all play a role. After their role, the old straw dogs are discarded and the cycle moves on. The universe doesn't hold on tight, neither should we.

In Aikido, we'd do a simple massage after class. I think it was called Thumping. Mostly on the shoulders. You'd raise your hand a 6 or 7 inches above the seated person shoulder and relaxed but with follow through, drop it so the hand 'Thumps' the shoulder. Its a loud sound and a fair amount of force, but one thats distributed over a wide space. We'd start above the elbow, move towards the neck, switch sides and slowly, loudly Thump, to the other elbow. Because you drop the whole arm, only making contact with the flat of the hand, its surprisingly powerful and relaxing. I haven't done it in a while. The Wim Hof breathing I'm doing these days is 30 Deep fast Ins, letting it go. At the 30th there's a breath hold after exhaling, for as long as is comfortable. Indepth description on the net and various real time instruction on some Youtubes.

-.. "Government’s testing chief admits none of 3.5m coronavirus antibody … The UK government’s new testing chief has admitted that none of the 3.5 million antibody tests ordered from China are fit for widespread use. Professor John Newton, who was appointed by health independent.co.uk"- That is awful. As things begin to normalize, I suppose we'll be dividing society into those who had it, thus immune and can go to work and those who are vulnerable. There might be a sizeable population that has had it and doesn't know. A test showing they have immunity would be important. And the question of, do they have immunity or is Covid19 more like the cold & flu, a constantly evolving threat.

Virapocalypse Day X Went to Trader Joes today. Tried to. Its being rationed. There was a line out the door and you can only enter if somebody leaves. It was like Disney world, only no rides and you pay to get out. I noticed at times more entering then leaving. A quick count of people in the store confirmed my suspicion. More were coming in, then leaving. They were also the only grocery store with ground beef. I saw a man heading to a backroom marked Washrooms; I tried calling out to him 'Don't go in th..' but it was to late, he'd gone in. I never saw him again. $5.99 organic beef indeed. I shopped quickly and left. My son, who's had a cough for 3 days, took off this morning on a 16 mile jog to the Botanical Gardens and back. Its 48 degrees out, he had no jacket. <note was 13.1 miles and he did it in 2 hrs 1 minute> Wondering what to cook tonight. Maybe pasta with homemade sauce, use up some cheap ground beef purchased at TJ's. ** This thread is for members to record there adventures during the Virapocalypse. So that whatever survives will know our story and that we had, a good sense of humor.

I've found his Sadhguru's videos insightful. Though since he's asked questions on virtually every subject, at times, when outside of his expertise he'll be.. less.. accurate, but within the sphere of spirituality and human dynamics his lessons are excellent. <though they are most often through an Indian cultural lens> <note haven't seen the video in OP yet. The picture in the video does not fill me with confidence, ie its not one I'd play because its not something I care about, ie on a very strange subject, corpses walking? I'll get to it, for now, A walk in the sunshine, cause we're all pent up and touchier then normal.>

Its pretty much up to her. There's a mindset of 'hold on, maybe I can do better' that is not always healthy. I was reading a travel blog on a woman who left New York City for a town in France. She said NYC was rotten with that mentality. Almost every meeting, every date had that conditionality, 'Yes, unless I can do better'. She found it an insidious poison, that sapped happiness. Can I Do Better, can i do better? It tended to be the enemy of contentment now. Do we really know if the man's better and can give her more happiness? Probably not, it could be our insecurity speaking. I wouldn't make the sacrifice, but I might lay out the choice.

I wonder if dropping the Eastern esoteric paradigm for awhile might help. ie forgetting chi and original chi, and starting a steady gradual exercise program which built endurance and strength? Find a program that connects with you, be faithful, eat clean and you might find yourself a world better in a few months or year. Let the body take care of the mind.

I remember being thirstier, and Santiago telling us to drink more water.

For more information on which available cloth may block the virus best, read here: https://www.businessinsider.com/homemade-mask-using-hydro-knit-shop-towel-filters-better-2020-4 Without a profession/medical grade mask, though, we have to turn to available, make-able and imperfect. <By catching our coughing, sneezing & wheezing, these are better at protecting others from us, then they may be from protecting us against airborne germs. Still some protection is better then none. And countries with wide spread mask use have 'flattened' the virus sooner. > I liked this video on how to make a face mask. Fast and simple, no sewing needed. Masks are increasingly important. Not perfect, but helpful. Here's another video. I like the simplicity of #4 and #5.

Sadly, this might become relevant to some members. First, without testing you don't know, but self quarantine to be safe and protect others. That may also mean, having a healthy family member or friend, cautiously get you some groceries and long term food (while staying away from you taking care of what they touch) cause you may be there for awhile. The treatment generally is similar to the flu. Rest, liquids (gatorade and drinks with electrolytes good). Since it attacks the lungs I wonder if keeping somewhat propped up, at an angle, even when in bed helps, keep the lungs clearer. I don't know, that's just a guess. I bought some Zinc lozenges w/ C. I hear taking them as soon as you feel any symptom coming on can help. As can taking your C and D vitamins. Don't know about mega dosing, but a decent amount. Taomeow's Batshit Sane thread has some more things that can be taken. Should probably bring those posts over here, as they're a great resource, but may be hard to find in the pages of other aspects of virus. In the US getting tested at the moment is hard. We're supposed to call our doctor. If we're younger, <55 and healthy they're most likely to tell us stay home. The vast majority of cases are mild, over > 60 it gets progressively more serious/life threatening. From what I've heard, some 'mild' includes some hellish bouts of body aches and trouble breathing. Other advice, you guys have for people who suspect they're coming down with it? <<Himalayan salt inhalers were recommended by Taomeow. One's on sale at Amazon. It got good reviews. Maybe breathing some salt air does the lungs good? In any case for $19 thought I'd add it to the arsenal. I ordered the Mockins one, 4.5 stars and a pound of pink salt >>

In 'Merica, people talk on the phone, tell others what to do In Russia, Phones talk to people, it tells Them what to do.

I'm sure you guys are right, but I like to live dangerously.. and conveniently. I'll still use it to warm up leftovers.

To OP question, Several.

Some dark humour from Taomeow's thread- "Coronavirus testing kits heading to the UK found to be contaminated with Covid-19" https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-test-kits-contaminated-covid-19-a4403021.html Ah, this game called life. Nobody gets out alive.

He came in like a wrecking ball. Knocked out the admin and moderators. Swept away the Trump dump and is now MIA. Which would be fine, if it wasn't for the lack of someone to welcome new members and some slight modicum of moderation. Its easy to take the boards longevity for granted, but forums come and go. Survival requires the right Zen-ish touch.

Maybe I'm naive but I'm more optimistic about Government restrictions. Where I am, in the States, Illinois, its Shelter In Place. You can go out for walks, but non-essential businesses, including restaurants and stores other then groceries and hardware types are closed. Sadly so is the lake front, beaches and trails. I may be testing that soon, to see what happens. In the face of this virus such restrictions, the shelter in place may be needed, and the wisest course. It's in the US governments benefit, everybodies, to end this as soon as safely possible to get the economy, paychecks moving again. The longer it goes on the more everyone suffers. Thus you had Trump thinking of pulling the plug in 15 days and medical experts convincing him to keep it going through April. We will see. What is the word Kombucha here? I'm a fan, having a few drinks of it a week. Probably healthier then booze, at this point. ?

Spotless, thanks so much for the insights. My son has been coughing for 2 days. He feels fine, no temperature, has been working out.. Having been told that info, my walking partner has walked out on me. One of my sisters expressed disappointed that I have a walking friend whom I walk within 6 feet of, a few days a week, until now. Hard not to be a little paranoid, every time I hear him cough. I'm taking 2 or 3 zinc lozenges a day. I'd like to get him on them. Maybe the next week will tell if he has it. If he does, I wonder how likely it is all 5 in the family has it? Just talked to my very conservative neighbor, who was a emergency room doctor, who lectured about the hoax-like nature of the virus and how its being overblown by the media.. sigh.. Helped him put up some trellis for flowers this spring. Flowers.. Gods way of telling us the world is beautiful and will go on.. along with hay fever, allergies and what nots.

As the others were saying- Falun Dafa has more baggage/controversy then most.

I collect guided meditations thought I'd link to some that may help people: a 28 minute meditation on healing from flu and colds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK7Y6mTjtrc Here's an hour long one that drops you into sleep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCTeTeIiC9s&t=27s Are these miraculous cures. No. But try them with an open mind. I feel they can help. Lay down set your phone to them. Or if your fancy you can try to make them into mp3's. For fun- When I'm up very early, 4 or 5am, this is fun one to listen too Lucid Dreaming to become your own superhero. Also by Unlock Your Life. Its 45 minutes. It doesn't tend to make me lucid, it does bring out fun superhero dreams. Therapeutically it also has a section on watching your mind as 3rd party. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Depwrh-PR8A&t=421s

Lately I'm reading this sober article- https://medium.com/@jasonwbae/what-the-covid-19-death-toll-tells-us-about-the-next-2-weeks-224a2203ff4b "On Thursday, March 26th, the U.S. overtook China and Italy as the country with the highest number of COVID-19 cases, at more than 85,000 cases. Today, there are more than 100,000 confirmed cases in the U.S. While these are significant milestones, the number of confirmed cases in the U.S. tells us very little about the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic in this country. I discussed in my previous article that, because of (1) the lag between infection and reporting and (2) a high prevalence of untested and unreported cases, the confirmed case number drastically underestimates the extent of the pandemic in the U.S. today. The number of active infections in the U.S. is estimated to be ~100 times or more of what is confirmed today, likely in millions to tens of millions. You may be wondering, “if the confirmed case number is not a helpful measure of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., what else should we pay attention to?” The number of COVID-19 deaths remains the most reliable indicator of the pandemic. The death toll number, unlike the confirmed case number, does not depend on the availability of testing, therefore is a more reliable signal for the severity of the pandemic (we will assume here that a negligible number of COVID-19 deaths goes unreported). Yet, the death toll number still suffers from the same issue of delay as the confirmed case number. Given that COVID-19 victims die on average 18 days after they experience their first symptom and a typical incubation period for COVID-19 is 5 days, the death figure lags the number of infections by 23 days. In other words, the cumulative death toll represents where we were in the spread of this pandemic approximately 3 weeks ago (*I will use 3 weeks for both the infection-to-death lag and the intervention-to-impact-on-death lag going forward). So, what do the current and historical COVID-19 death numbers tell us about where we are in this pandemic and where we are headed in the near future? The cumulative death toll has been increasing by 31% each day, or doubling every 2.6 days Social interventions did not start until March 10th, therefore, we will continue to see the cumulative death number double at the current rate until March 31st. The U.S. did not take COVID-19 seriously until mid-March. On March 10th, “social distancing” and “flatten the curve” started trending on social media. On March 13th, Trump declared a national emergency. California was the first state to announce the statewide shelter-in-place on March 19th. Other states followed with their shelter-in-place orders between March 21st and 25th. Based on the events above, I use the following parameters for my projection: Death numbers continue to rise at the doubling time of 2.6 days (daily increase rate of 31%) as it has been. On March 31st — 3 weeks after the March 10th social media campaign — we begin to see the infection transmission slow down to a 5.2 day doubling time (daily increase rate of 14%). Cumulative death numbers are projected to exceed 4,500 by the end of March, and 20,000 by Easter Sunday, April 12th. Compare these death numbers to the current (March 27, 5PM EDT) death toll of 1,581 in the U.S., 3296 in China, and 9,134 in Italy . Lower bound of estimate assumes the doubling times of 5.2 days between March 26-April 1, and 7.8 days thereafter. Upper bound of estimate assumes the doubling times of 2.6 days between March 26-April 5, and 5.2 days thereafter. This exponential growth in deaths does NOT mean social distancing and shelter-in-place are not working. It simply means that it is too early for the impact of these social interventions to be reflected in the death toll number due to the ~3 week lag. So what now? We must all prepare for the incoming tsunami of COVID-19 patients. My alma mater Yale University has converted its gym into a hospital floor to care for COVID-19 patients. On March 26th, Governor Cuomo of New York approved a single ventilator to be shared by two patients. Obviously the mismatch between the demand and the supply of hospital resources including hospital beds, ICU beds, and ventilators, as well as the estimated times of peak demand will vary by state as seen below." Scary stuff.

hmnn, not really. Alcohol, fragrance(?), glycol tri-somethings. Smells minty and kills germs and mold. <may I recommend we keep the conversation on OP's subject of sleep and environment> I guess sleep breaks down into mental game, environment, and physical factors. Goldleaf seems to be more focused on environment so changing those variables should be tried. Trying to sleep in another room, heck sometimes even on the floor can help me. But keep in mind it could be a mental or physical factor. Sleeping well can be a tough nut to crack. So try things and give them an honest chance to work. My latest find is a wedge pillow (7 1/2") used to knock out my snoring. Took awhile to get used to it but it works well. For me it works best when I sleep half way up it, and use my pillow vertically instead of horizontally. What I'm getting at is, this takes experimentation. Keep a log, and start experimenting. Slow and steady.