Tactile

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Everything posted by Tactile

  1. The effects of chi kung on musicianship...

    Interesting topic. As a semi-pro musician and an amateur cultivator, I have thought this a lot.. My musical life started with guitar and nowadays I'm mostly practicing the clarinet. I still have got a lot to do regarding breathing and force with my new instrument, but it's fascinating and I see a clear connection between energy development and music. One really good example of this was John Coltrane, who I see as an archetype of a spiritual musician (who got there!) He always was a really solid musician but also the development during his career is amazing. The musical development also coincides with his personal life. At one point he was drug addicted and found a way out through spirituality. At this point his music changed dramatically. In his early sixties recordings I get a strong feeling of heart chakra and emotion with all his lyricism and melodicism. The later stuff starts to be really out there (kundalini rising) and from some of his later recordings I just get this massive surge of third eye/crown type of energy which is very healing..
  2. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

    I would also check out some superfoods.. for example organic goji berries, raw chocolate beans, chia seeds, spirulina powder, virgin coconut oil, MSM powder / etc. Some of those maybe just what your body needs..
  3. Manual wheatgrass juicer recommendations

    http://www.zstarjuicer.com/index.asp This looks like what you're looking for?
  4. Meditation is boring and futile

    Maybe you should also try something more active? Like chi gong or yoga for example..
  5. Vegetarian diet and body building / hard training

    If you don't have anything against organic eggs I suggest eating a lot (6+ /day) of them. They're really healthy (claims about cholesterol in eggs being bad for you is total BS, if anything, eating eggs has been shown to improve blood lipids). Here's an idea for a meal: http://paynowlivelater.blogspot.com/2009/0...ampions-so.html If you get most of your protein from legumes, the problem is their antinutrients which reduce mineral absorption. This can be partly overcome by soaking/sprouting properly, but healthwise I'm not sure if it's that optimal. I don't know about protein shakes though. Even though the idea seems intuively a bit suspect, I could be wrong also..
  6. Huge Painful Hemorrhoid

    If you have digestive issues, cutting out wheat (and other grains), sugar and processed meat could be very good for you if you haven't done that already. And if you haven't tried low-carb I'd also recommend that.
  7. Marrow washing

    One for intuflow! Sounds perfect for what you describe (you can find everything up to the intermediate level on youtube) Also, what I briefly checked, Z-health material seemed very similar so make your pick..
  8. Raw meat

    I also have been interested in this lately, and reading about it stumbled onto this forum: www.rawpaleo.com some good recipes and general discussion
  9. Music and Tao

    Two very fascinating books which address this issue from improvised/jazz music viewpoint are Kenny Werner's "Effortless Mastery" and "Free Play" by Stephen Nachmanovitch. For musicians they are essential imo, but I can recommend them to everybody as the ideas presented in the books are relevant to any activity or pursuit and resonate with eastern thinking..
  10. Meat Eaters vs. Veggies

    Regarding the question if humans are herbivores/carnivores by nature.. I would say human body is very well adapted to eating meat. Etnological studies (check out http://www.westonaprice.org/ for example) indicate that those cultures that had the highest rate of animal product consumption were the healthiest (inuit and masai for example). That is not to say that vegetarian diet is not good: http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008...ic-islands.html a summary of a vegetarian culture which would be very healthy by any standards. So you can do it any way you like as long it's natural & not processed..
  11. Fast pulse after yoga

    Hello I suffer from fatigue which is mostly coming from my root/sacral chakra / kidney stuff with some amount depression thrown in. I've been looking through different types of practices regarding this to make my living more manageable and right now it seems the most effective way of feeling better for me is from astanga yoga. To summarize, it is a quite physical yoga with emphasis on fire breathing (from the throat) and bandhas (root lock and ltt lock) in conjuction with asanas and vinyasas. For a person with weak core/root energy / lethargy I think it's a good match. I've been trying out some other stuff lately but this is a practice I've known for a quite long time and is a part of me kind of so I think there is sense to return to this. I'm having some issues though, and I'm wondering if I could get some feedback here.. Two days ago I practiced astanga in the early day. In the evening I noticed my pulse was still abnormally high (around 100-120 and my normal pulse is around 65-70) from the yoga and it remained so until I went to bed. I felt fine otherwise. Should I be worried about this or does this fit into a normal cleansing pattern? I have a few energy patterns to break through so I think the process has to be at least somewhat dramatic. But of course too dramatic is aways too dramatic.. This was my first session in a while also so that may also have an effect. But my main worry is that even though I really feel normal after astanga, which is something I can't say for a lot of practices, I'm thinking how do I know I'm not overdoing it. It's like playing with fire (literally ) and one TCMish guy told me that because of my weakish kidneys I should be careful to not to dry them up too much, which is what fire breathing can do in his opinion. Was it just his bias (because we all have those) or was there a point? Anybody here experienced with astanga/similar forms of yoga? J
  12. Root chakra ?-)

    http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2008/12/20/Enz...94631229818480/
  13. fermentation

    I've been reading this blog of a neurobiologist who is interested in food.. one thing he has written about is fermentation and it's importance regarding to eating grains. Here's one quote He also has some nice recipes there which apply fermentation. Here's one I'm going to try next week: http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008...d-ix-idlis.html
  14. Good Beginers Qigong?

    Yeah I like WKK's qigong too.. the most important aspect of which is the state of chi flow. Meaning that when you have performed your pattern of choice, you enter in a state of release and allow your body move (or do whatever) how it wants. But you should get the book because it has proper instruction.
  15. Red palm oil

    Just wanna let you know. I just got some red palm oil (organic and cold pressed, one should choose only the best when it comes to fat). Then I cooked a wok of sweet potatoes, sesame seeds and spices.. Man, this is some good s*it. Very rich taste.. kind of fruity. Gives a bit the same vibe as rooibos when it comes to tea. Also, my other favourite cooking has been coconut oil (same specs as above). It's been a learning experience to notice how important good quality oil (and enough oil) is for the taste and enjoyment of the food. Third one I use is butter/ghee, when I want more neutral tasting effect, you can't use coconut/palm oil for everything..
  16. Red palm oil

    Actually, I'm quite certain you don't have to refrigerate it. At least mine says so and that has worked for me..
  17. Spiritual Adventure Tales

    Not sure if this matches 100% the requirements but.. have you read C. G. Jung's Dreams memories and Reflections? Oldie but goodie
  18. tooth regeneration

    http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/...le.php?id=30030 pm, I gather (see bottom of page)
  19. We all choose what to believe. I find Dr Campbell's argument "Every ounce of animal protein you bring in to your body is harmful" very hard to believe with all the contradicting evidence around. And the same regarding saturated fat. Also, never mind all the people who switch to low-carb/paleo diet and find their health improving dramatically. I'm not saying that people should eat meat (I don't eat it myself much), but animal products do have a critical place in a healthy diet at least in my experience. Regarding the above link, in my opinion Chris Masterton has valid points. Did you actually read the debate between them? At least I found Dr. Campbells arguments quite weak and CM adresses all the specific points in his reply..
  20. For criticism against the China study and Dr Campbell, you might want to read this.. http://www.cholesterol-and-health.com/China-Study.html I think I'm gonna stick to my morning omelette.
  21. Sounds really good, I have to check this out.. I think this topic is also very relevant for me as I've been suffering from post-ejaculation tiredness/depression (am young and healthy otherwise). I've also noticed that if I stimulate the prostate area properly, it doesn't only give much more intense orgasms but I also feel better afterwards. .
  22. Good Source of Fat

    I'd definately recommend coconut oil. Yummy and very healthy. It is also most suitable for cooking...
  23. Hello I recently stumbled across this site http://dangerofchi.org/ again. I remember running through it sometimes in the past & being a little confused because the author seemed well researched and most likely has done chi kung himself as he has said. ( actually a bit of googling turns his personal story http://www.thejinn.net/chi_jinn_my_story.htm ) http://www.thejinn.net/truth_about_spontaneous_chi.htm . Here is a more readable version of the original text. He comes from an islamic background and claims that chi = demons and that practicing chi kung (=yoga, meditation, whatever) is just a way of opening yourself up to demons so they can take hold. Not the most orginal idea to be honest.. but the presentation is kind of interesting as he doesn't appear to be your basic monotheistic nutcase and the arguments are quite logical provided that you accept his perspective. He lists the effects of chi kung and takes all of them at face value and also mentions the positive effects. Of course he also highlights the chi kung deviation syndrome (an official syndrome nowadays, also in the US I believe) which is only appropriate if you want to make a case for demonic possession. This aspect I feel he exaggerates which is only natural for a chi kung defamation article I guess .. I still feel a little confused about the article though.. one some level it almost seems like a clash between monotheistic and pantheistic energies. And it made me feel that both energies are quite real and at least in this case mutually exclusive. On the other hand I know that many christian&islamic people practice chi kung with good results and no apparent contradictions..
  24. An... um interesting site

    Man, that's a lot of text! Perused it somewhat and the flavour seems the same as in the islamic one. It's spiritual warfare, that's what it is!