Meditating In The Snow

[effilang]

How do you guys feel about meditating in winter? - Do you just stay inside?

We've got a bit of snow here now in Holland and it just looks so tempting.

 

I biked to a big park nearby in the morning and did two hours of SFQ and Zhan Zhuang the other day in front of a lake. Had my boots on, thick socks, a sweat shirt, a winter coat, some burton insulated gloves and a pair of fuzzy ear warmers .

 

I felt incredibly grounded, like a mountain. I feel extremely energetic before it begins to rain, while it rains and also while it snows and when there is snow everywhere.

 

Anyone else feel this way?

 

Edited December 17, 2009 by effilang

[C T]

Is that you? Very cool!!

[effilang]

Is that you? Very cool!!

 

I would probably freeze my kidneys off if that were me! - Not leaving out other important organs that come in pairs

[C T]

I would probably freeze my kidneys off if that were me! - Not leaving out other important organs that come in pairs

Yeah! I was gonna mention something similar but i decided to bite my finger instead!! LOL

 

Happy Holidays!!

[松永道]

Unless you're a tummo adept, don't try that one at home. Good way to mess up your knees among other things.

[soaring crane]

[Yuen Biao]

Interesting thread.

 

I remember the first time I trained in Beijing we visited in the winter months of November/December where the temperature was about minus six-ten degrees. Funny thing is though after one hour standing in Wu Ji stance you do not feel the cold once the energy is moving.

 

I remember hearing a story about Shi Ming's son who often would turn up at Black Bamboo Park in the cold of winter wearing flip-flops, shorts and t-shirt yet practising for hours oblivious to the cold. True Taijiquan mastery!

 

Personally whenever I practise outside whether cold or hot I always feel much more relaxed yet energised and powerful.

[Aetherous]

I love to practice outdoors, especially in the snow. But I prefer to bundle up.

 

[zazaza]

[Aetherous]

This is a good thing to discuss.

 

Is it actually unhealthy to expose the skin to cold? Especially if the interior is kept warm (like jumping in the snow after being in a sauna for a long time)?

 

It seems to me that if you're already warm, then a little bit of cold on the skin causes the blood to move...you turn red. This is a good thing, I think.

 

I'm interested in hearing what others think of this.

[thelerner]

Jumping from hot to cold is an age old custom in Russia and many Northern parts. An old fashioned resort spa I've been to has a very hot tub and frosty cold pool beside it. Its very invigorating.

 

Still decades ago a neighbor had a heart attack reputedly from such a dip so caveat emptor.

 

 

Michael

[Sloppy Zhang]

Not snowing where I am, but it's started to get a bit cold. After spending all day inside and sitting on the computer doing work or studying, I can't bring myself to meditate inside, even if it's away from my computer table. I want to go outside and meditate in nature, so I do.

 

I usually wear appropriate clothing, but after a little while of just breathing (focusing on dan tien breathing, at first), I start to warm up a lot, so much so that I'll roll up my sleeves or even take my jacket off.

 

People will be walking by me all bundled up and talking about how cold it is, and I feel fine. I don't feel cold, I don't feel super hot, I feel pretty much great. I don't see any problem with it as long as you feel fine. If you start feeling your body go from one serious extreme to another and it is throwing you off, I'd say doing it moderately if at all. But if you can stay feeling neutral in any temp, do whatever you want.

[voidisyinyang]

http://www.mindstudio.net/blog/?p=56

 

Have you heard about the Ice Man yet -- he was tested on some cable show....

 

Duh -- he's Dutch! haha.

 

 

How do you guys feel about meditating in winter? - Do you just stay inside?

We've got a bit of snow here now in Holland and it just looks so tempting.

 

I biked to a big park nearby in the morning and did two hours of SFQ and Zhan Zhuang the other day in front of a lake. Had my boots on, thick socks, a sweat shirt, a winter coat, some burton insulated gloves and a pair of fuzzy ear warmers .

 

I felt incredibly grounded, like a mountain. I feel extremely energetic before it begins to rain, while it rains and also while it snows and when there is snow everywhere.

 

Anyone else feel this way?

 

Edited December 17, 2009 by drewhempel

[zazaza]

This is a good thing to discuss.

 

Is it actually unhealthy to expose the skin to cold? Especially if the interior is kept warm (like jumping in the snow after being in a sauna for a long time)?

 

It seems to me that if you're already warm, then a little bit of cold on the skin causes the blood to move...you turn red. This is a good thing, I think.

 

I'm interested in hearing what others think of this.

when first the body is extremely hot and immediately afterwards it is extremely cold,

then the heart must pump unnaturally fast to adjust to an unnaturally quick change in temperature.

Its very invigorating.

So is sniffing a big line of methamphetamine,

but it is much healthier to slowly build up the heartrate rather than having it go very fast

in very little time.

[Aetherous]

I wonder about the difference in heart rate between jumping in the snow after a sauna and sprinting.

 

Something to experiment with this winter.

[voidisyinyang]

Arctic Med Res. 1989 Apr;48(2):64-74.

Sauna, shower, and ice water immersion. Physiological responses to brief exposures to heat, cool, and cold. Part II. Circulation.

 

Kauppinen K.

 

Nine men were subjected to four temperature exposures: (A) sauna and head-out ice water immersion; ( sauna and 15 degrees C shower; © sauna and room temperature; (D) head-out ice water immersion and room temperature. Exposures were repeated and ended with a 30-minute recovery. Heart rates were recorded continuously and blood pressures were determined six times during each experiment. Rate pressure products and indications of cardiac stroke work were calculated from the data. The results demonstrated decreased total peripheral resistance (TPR) to the blood flow in response to the heat of the sauna ©, with concurrent increase in cardiac oxygen demand and negligible increase in the stroke work. Cold exposures (D) increased the TPR. Cold did not increase the cardiac oxygen demand but increased the stroke work. The alternation of heat and cold (A) or cool ( presented the most intensive strain on the heart.

 

PMID: 2736002 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

I wonder about the difference in heart rate between jumping in the snow after a sauna and sprinting.

 

Something to experiment with this winter.

[Aetherous]

Hmm...

 

"Strain on the heart" means the same thing as "exercising the heart". It is just worded to sound bad. Working out also causes a strain on the heart, yet that's been shown to be beneficial for it.

[voidisyinyang]

Yeah it's an interesting point. For example Chunyi Lin says that people who run too much actually die earlier because too much strain on the heart. Meditation relies on the vagus nerve which relaxes the heart. Still you can die from over-activating the vagus nerve -- too much relaxation!

 

My guess is that if you combine the too it could be even more deadly -- an extreme shift from the parasympathetic to the sympathetic.

 

Hmm...

 

"Strain on the heart" means the same thing as "exercising the heart". It is just worded to sound bad. Working out also causes a strain on the heart, yet that's been shown to be beneficial for it.