cheya

What a gem!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfAwXDWThlo

Thank you, Awaken!

That was very helpful.

And clear!

I really appreciate your efforts to help us understand you better.

What I am able to understand from you, touches me.

Thank you.

 Probably just means you need to sign in. Happens to me all the time.   

Yes, perhaps SoH's "fake stage" post prompted Pilgrim to go find other kundalini bashing on the site...

And then delete his posts.

I'm just sad when I see people's reports of their genuine raw experience with energy being kind of sacrificed or denigrated... shut down... by other member's attachment to theory and dogma.

JMO, and I will now drop it.   

I don't think he was saying he had a rough reception, I think he read a few kundalini topics and decided from that to delete his.

Yeah but the immediate discussion of kundalini as a fake stage in Dao cultivation probably didn't help any....

Well, Pilgrim,

As I wrote you in pm, I am so sorry you deleted those posts. They were some of the most interesting and fruitful I've read in a long time, with a depth that I'd have to read multiple times to really digest. I hadn't done that yet when they disappeared. Dang.   

I'm glad you joined, and very sorry you seem to have gotten a rough reception from a few. But I hope you will stick around and stay with this topic, sharing your experience as you see fit. 

Oh excellent! A supplements thread! 

A few weeks ago, Andrew Saul (of DoctorYourself.com) was a featured key note speaker at a major Vitamin C event in Wichita, Kansas. He spoke about Linus Pauling's vitamin C research and the many ignored uses of vitamin C for serious diseases. You got kids, please do watch it. Even if you don't.  The 20 minute video is freely available to view.

You can see it at this link:  Vitamin C Video 
 

On that same youtube page, you can also watch "That Vitamin Movie", an excellent documentary/movie that will educate you about the other side of the supplement story from what Jetson's article presents, much more along the lines of what TM has said above.

"The makers of That Vitamin Movie have managed to bring together for the very first time many of the world’s leading experts on vitamins and supplements." It's much longer, but totally worth watching if you are interested in optimal health, cautious about pharmaceuticals, and contemplating the use of supplements.

Couple things have been a big help to me.

Years ago, I was waking up in the middle the night and couldn't go back to sleep.

If you turn a light on, you screw up your melatonin/circadian cycle... so I started doing energy meditations in the dark. Mentally running energy in channels, activating acupoints. It was really good training, went on for a couple years. It was interesting and fun and didn't seem to leave me at all tired in the morning.

Not stressing about being awake is big.

Then there's melatonin. 3 mg seems to be about right. Sublingual, so your liver won't get rid of it before it has a chance to do it's thing... I like Natural Factors' version.

And there is a particular form of melatonin that has helped many people I know. (Oddly, this form also seems to help macular degeneration, if anyone has concerns there, this might be a good form to try just for that)  It's a formulation called Melatonin Zinc Selenium, or MZS.  Just saw Amazon carries it:  https://www.amazon.com/Melatonin-Disorder-Reversal-Macular-Degeneration/dp/B00F6EQ7SY?th=1

This version is not sublingual, but has also worked well for people.  This site has before/after pics of the macula if you are interested in that aspect: http://www.vita-stream.com/melatonin-mzs.html. MZS was one of the pivotal products in halting the progress of advanced mac degen for one of my friends.

Another sleep aid for some people has been diatomaceous earth. Weird, I know, but it really helps some people.  It is 85% silica and the rest minerals. 2-3 teaspoons per day, taken in water or smoothies. Be sure to get food grade DE, and be careful not to breathe it! That would be very bad for lungs.

My two cents. If any of it works for you, please let us know.    

Well, you might also listen to Amy Cuddy's TED talk on youtube. 

"Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are"

"Body language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves. Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how "power posing" -- standing in a posture of confidence, even when we don't feel confident -- can affect testosterone and cortisol levels in the brain, and might even have an impact on our chances for success."

It's a fun listen, anyway....

The basis behind the hydrogen peroxide in the ears is that apparently some of the bacteria that causes sore throats are actually coming in though our ears, and this treatment nips that in the bud.

Here you go:

Hydrogen Peroxide For Colds and Flu - Mercola

Also, the more fluids the better. And ginger tea, especially if it tries to get to your lungs.

Hope it's better real soon!

For the sore throat (sounds nuts, but usually works), put a couple drops of (drugstore grade) hydrogen peroxide in each ear, one at a time, and let it bubble. (Suggested by Mercola.com and I've been doing this for years.)

To short circuit the cold/flu?  Fast.  Eat as little as possible, no sweets. Lots of liquids, chicken soup if you must eat.

Supplement with vitamin C and zinc if you're into supps.

Good luck!

PS. Oh yes! And REST!    

You climbing around the hills on that new hip?

Well, that part sounds pretty good!

Don't leave us in suspense!

*bump*

The last post by Sean is especially fascinating.

(Thanks Kar3n!)

and OP karen as well!

One of my clients gets eczema and has found it goes almost entirely away if he gets enough sun. (Although I know that sounds hot... he tries to get out in the morning when it's still cool...) Might try more time in the sun and maybe get your vitamin D levels checked... I have found extra vitamin B6 also helps a lot.

I often have to sign out repeatedly before I actually get signed out. The last time, when it does finally work, I will often get a message that I can't do that! But then I'm out.  Same thing when I sign in... but not always. I don't clear the cache, just keep signing out.. or in. Three or four times sometimes. Odd.

Rocky, the article "The Rise of the Tao" is really special, especially the very end, the lighting of the eyes, "opening brightness".

Thank you for pointing it out for us.

Tai Chi Ruler is one of my favorites, the one I did the longest.

Any particular style of TCR you like best?

Welcome Tania!

What form of qi-gong do you practice?

Welcome to the Bums!   

What practice are you doing?

Welcome, Bryant.

Happy to have you join in!

Thank you for that, TM. I have used a stretch very like that to improve people's posture, because it lifts the chest and opens the front of the shoulders, counteracting slumped postures from desk and computer work. It's very effective. This version has some interesting hand and foot tweaks, which I look forward to trying. 

The same method is explained in English (by a robot!  ) on another youtube vid on this posture/exercise, and this one says you can lose weight! It has a few more helpful details than I understood from the Japanese. 

@Dawei, curious what you have noticed about diet's effect on flexibility...

@dustybeijing, you might check out The Genius of Flexibility. Bob Cooley is the resistance stretching "guru", and it's a little twist on PNF, but a twist that makes a tremendous difference. I don't go so much for his "psychology of the meridians" rap, but the basic technique is tremendously helpful, and once you get the pattern, you can apply it to any muscle or tightness... and mostly without a partner.

Here's a link: https://www.thegeniusofflexibility.com/resistance-stretching/rfst.html

"Myth: Muscles become more flexible by simply stretching them. If this were true than everyone would be more flexible — but they are not.

Reality: You must CONTRACT a muscle continuously while lengthening it to produce immediate increases in flexibility. Muscles do not stretch the way most everyone in the world now thinks they do!"

And not mentioned there, if you then also continue against resistance while you are shortening the muscle, it will gain strength along with flexibility. Truly is genius. Interesting as a therapist to notice how much shaking can happen when people first try to get the hang of this, even conditioned athletes, although a few do catch on right away.

Can anyone offer insight into what I've been told is called 'sinew stretching'?

 

The way I've been showed it, it seems a little like PNF. A partner gently pushes the limb into the stretched position, while the person being stretched simultaneously pushes against the stretch -- but only enough so that the limb/muscle in question moves very slowly into the stretch.

 

For example if I want to stretch hamstrings, I lie down on floor/table and a partner lifts my leg up, pushing it gently but firmly towards my torso, as I push back as if trying to return my leg to the floor/table. But I never push back so hard as to prevent the leg being stretched.

 

Is this along the lines that anyone else has practiced?

This sounds like resistance stretching, which I have found incredibly effective. Dara Torres, the swimmer who came back to the olympics at the age of 31 after having a baby.... and placed against the teenagers... has a book and DVDs that explain the technique.  They show you how to use it to stretch (and strengthen) 20 odd muscles, mostly without needing a partner. She has credited resistance stretching with her ability to make that comeback.

 I use this in my bodywork practice, and the changes in flexibility are often kind of astonishing, especially on people who are actually in holding patterns and have just forgotten how to let go of some muscles (sensory-motor amnesia, just means you've lost track of the muscle's "off button") With some people the tightness is more... like concrete... even with the resistance stretching, they don't let go as much. But it is still effective in most cases, just not always kind of miraculous. 

Find her books and DVDs on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_11?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=dara+torres&sprefix=Dara+Torres%2Caps%2C1754

Thanks, Jetson! I needed to hear that this morning!    

Thanks, greenshade...

I hadn't seen that one. Reading the editor's comments about his path and work was very interesting, as he's also written three volumes on learning to read the classics of Chinese Medicine!  I wish Amazon would let us peek inside!