Wake2Sleep

Totally THIS^^^^ For a long time I thought it was just something that went along with getting older and wiser. But maybe being a practicing Taoist accelerates, or even just enables the “wiser” aspects. Everyone gets older, but not everyone gets wiser.

I used to play around with fractal software, but now I like the style transfer (looked to me like you had some of that in there - like the “Starry Night” portraits. Also looked like some Japanese wood block prints in there? Right now i’m toying around with combining digital and analog - like generating images which I can carve into wood blocks and maybe make prints from. Reminds me - I’ll add a profile pic which is an example of style transfer. Wake

Hi all, I’m a 52 year old male, and have been studying one martial art or another since I was stationed in Korea - Tang Soo Do, Kempo, and now I’ve been doing yoga and tai chi for the past 15 years or so. I’m lucky to have a great yoga community, and a taichi master close by. I’ve considered myself to be a Taoist for the past 20 (?) years. Initially i was heavy into reading about the philosophy for the first few years, but eventually I put the books aside and just tried to live by the Way as best I could. I’ve been incredibly blessed - I’m not exactly sure how I got so lucky (though there have definitely been some tough times too). I’m also not exactly sure why yet but 2017 has been a big year of change for me - Things that once were hard all of a sudden are easy - like I tried for years to give up alcohol, and then this year done, like flipping a switch I was able to cut it out of my life (cravings still there, but willpower x10). For now I’m chalking it up to a new found sense of mortality that we humans often feel with age. Studying for the final exam or something. That’s also why I’m here - I’ve been feeling the urge to bone up on the spiritual and energetic aspects of yoga, taichi, chigung- and I have questions. I’ve already found some great threads - seems like a great community. Thanks for reading, Wake2Sleep

I tried many times over the years - could do it for days, even weeks at a time. Reading Nancy Graces The Naked Mind helped (she has it available for free - google it). But again not sure if it was just this feeling of running out of time 😂. The StopDrinking Subreddit also hugely valuable resource for me.

I do the StrongLifts 5x5. 1-3 times a week, maybe for 3-4 months, take a break, then deload, and start back up. I think of it as my “farm work” b/c I sit at a desk all day. And the 5 sets of 5 is nice for building strength without necessarily building excessive muscle mass.

Yes! I think taichi/qigong are maybe more functional and better for the waist and down, while yoga feels better for the waist up - I think of it as a multivitamin for my infrastructure.