I would say that with respect to the FIVE REGULATINGS, the human brain is a part of the human body ....

The human brain is not the human mind ....

And so ...

Health

"Teen Brains Clear Out Childhood Thoughts"

By Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Staff Writer

posted: 23 March 2009 05:01 pm ET

The mysterious goings-on inside teen brains have befuddled countless parents over the years.

Now some insights are being provided by recent neuroscience research.

Between ages 11 and 17, children's brain waves reduce significantly while they sleep, a new study found.

Scientists think this change reflects a trimming-down process going on inside teenagers' brains during these years, where extraneous mental connections made during childhood are lost.

"When a child is born, their brain is not fully-formed, and over the first few years there's a great proliferation of connections between cells," said physiologist Ian Campbell of the University of California, Davis.

"Over adolescence there is a pruning back of these connections."

"The brain decides which connections are important to keep, and which can be let go."

Scientists call this process synaptic pruning, and speculate that the brain decides which neural links to keep based on how frequently they are used.

Connections that are rarely called upon are deemed superfluous and eliminated.

Sometimes in adolescence, that pruning process goes awry and important connections are lost, which could lead to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, the researchers think.

Brain pruning

Synaptic pruning is thought to help the brain transition from childhood, when it is able to learn and make new connections easily, to adulthood, when it is a bit more settled in its structure, but can focus on a single problem for longer and carry out more complex thought processes.

For example, if a child receives a brain injury before age 10, another area of the brain can often take over the functions of the damaged region.

If the same injury occurs at age 20, however, the person may lose a vital ability, because the brain has lost the flexibility to transfer that function to another area.

"The fact that there are more connections [in a child's brain] allows things to be moved around," Campbell told LiveScience.

"After adolescence, that alternate route is no longer available."

"You lose the ability to recover from a brain injury, or the ability to learn a language without an accent."

"But you gain adult cognitive powers."

Campbell and UC-Davis psychiatrist Irwin Feinberg recorded the sleep brain waves (called EEG) two times a year over five years in 59 children, beginning at either age 9 or age 12.

They found that brain waves in the frequency range 1–4 Hz remained unchanged between ages 9 and 11 and then fell sharply, by about 66 percent, between ages 11 and 16.5.

In the 4–8 Hz frequency range, which corresponds to a different part of the brain, brain waves started to decline earlier and fell by about 60 percent between ages 11 and 16.5 years.

Overall, these changes are consistent with synaptic pruning, because as neural connections are lost in those areas of the brain, brain waves in the corresponding frequencies decrease.

Campbell and Feinberg report their findings in the March 23 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Tumultuous years

Synaptic pruning is just one of many changes thought to be going on inside teenagers' brains.

For example, a 2005 study found that teenagers can't multi-task as well as adults because their brains are still learning how to process multiple pieces of information at once the way adults can.

In addition to changes that affect how they think, teenagers' brains also undergo developments that affect how they feel.

For example, during adolescence people begin to empathize more with others, and take into account how their actions will affect not just themselves, but people around them.

A 2006 study found that the teenage medial prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain associated with higher-level thinking, empathy, and guilt, is underused compared to adults.

But as adolescents mature, they begin to use this region more when making decisions, indicating that they increasingly consider others when making choices.

Every human being ....

Is the author ....

Of his own health

Or disease.

~Buddha

Happiness ....

Is a state ....

Of tranquility ...

In which ....

You do not ....

Allow anyone ....

To disturb ....

Your mind.

- From "Samadhi" by Swami Rama

By way of review, the t'ai chi that we are talking about in here is the balance between heaven and earth ....

Of necessity, that balance must be a dynamic balance, since there is always a dynamic interchange between "heaven" and earth in the form of day and night, sun and rain, etc.

And we as human beings stand in the middle ....

So our balance must be dynamic, as well ...

And so ...

Back In The Drivers Seat - The Passenger

Its easy to go through this fast-paced world feeling as if you are being dragged through your weeks on the back of a wild horse.

Many of us go from one thing to another until we end up back at home in the evening with just enough time to wind down and go to sleep, waking up the next morning to begin the wild ride once more.

While this can be exhilarating for certain periods of time, a life lived entirely in this fashion can be exhausting, and more important, it places us in the passengers seat when really we are the ones who should be driving.

When we get caught up in our packed schedule and our many obligations, weeks can go by without us doing one spontaneous thing or taking time to look at the bigger picture of our lives.

Without these breaks, we run the risk of going through our precious days on a runaway train.

Taking time to view the bigger picture, asking ourselves if we are happy with the course we are on and making adjustments, puts us back in the drivers seat where we belong.

When we take responsibility for charting our own course in life, we may well go in an entirely different direction from the one laid out for us by society and familial expectations.

This can be uncomfortable in the short term, but in the long term it is much worse to imagine living this precious life without ever taking the wheel and navigating our own course.

Of course, time spent examining the big picture could lead us to see that we are happy with the road we are on, but we would like more time with family or more free time to do whatever we want at the moment.

Even if we want more extreme changes, the way to begin is to get off the road for long enough to catch our breath and remember who we are and what we truly want.

Once we do that, we can take the wheel with confidence, driving the speed we want to go in the direction that is right for us.

Turn To Yourself - You Are The One You Are Waiting For

We spend a lot of our lives looking for role models, mentors, teachers, and gurus to guide us on our path.

There is nothing wrong with this and, in fact, finding the right person at the right time can really help.

However, it is important to realize that in the absence of such a figure, we can very safely rely upon ourselves.

We carry within us everything we need to know to make progress on our paths to self-realization.

The outer world serves as a mirror.

Or to use another metaphor, our inner world has a magnetic force that draws to us what we need to evolve to the next level.

All we need to do to see that we already have everything we need is to let go of our belief that we need to seek in order to find.

The path of the spirit is often defined as a journey with a goal such as the fabled pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

In this metaphor, a person begins a search for something they want but do not have and then they find it, and there is a happy ending.

However, most of us know that getting what we want only makes us happy for a moment, and then the happiness passes until a new object of desire presents itself.

Joy is a permanent aspect of our inner selves and is not separate from us at any point.

We do not have to travel to find it or imagine that it resides only in the body of another.

In fact, what the best teachers will do is point out that this very precious elixir is something we already possess.

So when we find ourselves on our path, not knowing which way to turn and wishing for guidance, we can turn to ourselves.

We may not know the right answer rationally or intellectually, but if we simply ask, let go, and wait patiently, an answer will come.

The more we practice this and trust this process, the less we will look outside ourselves for teachers and guides for we will have successfully become our own.

T'AI CHI MUSINGS:

TaiChiLady: I just came across an interesting fact about balance ...

The human body uses 300 muscles to balance itself while standing still.

Livyjr: Thanks for that info ....

That is really where I have my mind these days as I do my forms ....

There are 26 bones in each foot and 52 muscles in your hip area ...

I pay special attention to that area, and especially the iliac crest ...

Remember what the classics say - SONG KUA, which means relaxed kua, which is the crease area on the front of the body where the leg and abdomen meet ...

Many people believe .....

That the practice of yoga (t'ai chi/chi gong)

Is concerned with "making your mind a blank" ....

A condition which could ....

If it were really desirable .....

Be much more easily achieved ......

By asking a friend .....

To hit you over the head .....

With a hammer.

- from "How to Know God" The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali

Like t'ai chi itself, we go in circles in here, as I have done right above here with these two posts, one from today, and one from almost two years ago, on June 15, 2007 ....

And both posts, although separated by time, are on the same basic subject - WHERE IS YOUR MIND, RIGHT NOW?

IS IT NOWHERE?

Or is it somewhere, instead?

And more importantly - IS IT CALM?

IS IT PLACID?

Because if it is empty, then that is what it is, for better or worse ....

And so ...

"Staying balanced with age"

Scott McCredie is a Seattle-based health and science writer who says he "discovered" what he calls "the lost sense" of balance after he watched in horror as his 67-year-old father tumbled off a boulder and disappeared from sight during a hike in the Cascades.

Though his father hurt little more than his pride, McCredie became intrigued by what might have caused this experienced hiker to lose his balance suddenly.

His resulting science-and-history-based exploration led to a book, "Balance: In Search of the Lost Sense" (Little, Brown).

He learned that the sense of balance begins to degrade in one's 20s and that it is downhill -- literally and figuratively -- from there unless steps are taken to preserve or restore this delicate and critically important ability to maintain equilibrium.

One normal consequence of aging is a steady decline in the three main sensory contributors to good balance -- vision, proprioceptors on the bottoms of the feet that communicate position information to the brain, and the tiny hairs in the semicircular canals of the inner ear that relay gravity and motion information to the brain.

Add to that the loss of muscle strength and flexibility that typically accompany aging, and you have a fall waiting to happen.

But while certain declines with age are unavoidable, physical therapists, physiatrists and fitness experts have repeatedly proved that much of the sense of balance can be preserved and even restored through exercises that require no special equipment or training.

These exercises are as simple as standing on one foot while brushing your teeth or walking heel-to-toe with one foot directly in front of the other.

Testing for equilibrium

Marilyn Moffat and Carole B. Lewis, physical therapists in New York and Washington, respectively, agree with McCredie that "balance is an area of physical fitness that is often overlooked," but they seek to correct that in their recent book "Age-Defying Fitness" (Peachtree Publishers).

Moffat and Lewis suggest starting with a simple assessment of your current ability to maintain good balance.

With a counter or sturdy furniture near enough to steady you if needed, perform this test:

1. Stand straight, wearing flat, closed shoes, with your arms folded across your chest.

Raise one leg, bending the knee about 45 degrees, start a stopwatch and close your eyes.

2. Remain on one leg, stopping the watch immediately if you uncross your arms, tilt sideways more than 45 degrees, move the leg you are standing on or touch the raised leg to the floor.

3. Repeat this test with the other leg.

Now, compare your performance to the norms for various ages:

20 to 49 years old: 24 to 28 seconds.

50 to 59 years: 21 seconds.

60 to 69 years: 10 seconds.

70 to 79 years: 4 seconds.

80 and older: Most cannot do it at all.

If you are wise, whatever your age, you will want to strive for the norm of those younger than 50.

To increase stability and strengthen the legs, stand with feet shoulder-width apart and arms straight out in front.

Lift one foot behind, bending the knee at 45 degrees.

Hold that position for five seconds or longer, if possible.

Repeat this exercise five times.

Then switch legs.

As you improve, try one-leg stands with your eyes closed.

You can also incorporate one-leg stands into daily routines -- while on the telephone, for example, brushing your teeth, waiting in line or for a bus, or cooking and washing dishes.

Sit-to-stand exercises once or twice a day increase ankle, leg and hip strength and help the body adjust to changes in position without becoming dizzy after being sedentary for a long time.

Sit straight in a firm chair (do not lean against the back) with arms crossed.

Stand up straight and sit down again as quickly as you can without using your arms.

Repeat the exercise three times and build to 10 repetitions.

Heel-to-toe tandem walking is another anytime exercise, resembling plank walking popular with young children.

It is best done on a firm, uncarpeted floor.

With stomach muscles tight and chin tucked in, place one foot in front of the other such that the heel of the front foot nearly touches the toe of the back foot.

Walk 10 or more feet and repeat the exercise once or twice a day.

Also try walking on your toes and then walking on your heels to strengthen your ankles.

Another helpful exercise is sidestepping.

Facing a wall, step sideways with one leg (bring the other foot to it) 10 times in each direction.

After mastering that, try a dancelike maneuver that starts with sidestepping once to the right.

Then cross the left leg behind, sidestep to the right again and cross the left leg in front.

Repeat this 10 times.

Then do it in the other direction.

In addition, the slow, continuous movements of tai chi, that popular Chinese exercise, have been shown in scientific studies to improve balance and reduce the risk of falls.

Which brings us back to this thread and my own personal experiences with t'ai chi as a means of obtaining better balance as a person wounded in the back of the head in Viet Nam in 1969 by the exploding warhead of an RPG-7 anti-tank grenade .....

And so ...

It is interesting how things go around in circles in here over time ...

Back in 2004, in the top post in this stack, I was talking about first learning of t'ai chi through the study of advanced physics and thermodynamics here in the USA ....

And then, five years later, in January of this year, TaiChiLady sent me that post on the book The Dancing Wu Li Masters ....

And just a few weeks ago, in another thread, we were talking about quantum physics and the name of Erwin Schrodinger came up ....

Which in its turn brought me right on back to 1975, when I was first learning of this subject matter .....

And that is because in 1944, Erwin Schrodinger gave a series of lectures that became two halves of a book entitled What Is Life/Mind And Matter .....

And it was from excerpts from that book that I first gained an inkling of the power that was available to us as human beings through t'ai chi, and why and how that power was scientifically verifiable in our world of today, some 2500 years after the Tao Te Ching came into being in China ....

When I made this connection, I went and ordered a copy of What Is Life/Mind And Matter by Erwin Schrodinger, who was a contemporary of Albert Einstein .....

That copy came the other day, and what I would like to do right now in preparation for further discussion is to post these two premises by Schrodinger in 1944 which really serve all these years later as the underlying basis of this thread on t'ai chi, to wit:

(i) My body functions as a pure mechanism according to the Laws of Nature;

(ii) Yet I know, by incontrovertible direct experience, that I am directing its motions, of which I foresee the effects, that may be fateful and all-important, in which case I feel and take full responsibility for them.

At Your Own Pace - The Tortoise And The Hare

The classic tale of the tortoise and the hare reminds us that different people take life at different speeds and that one way is not necessarily superior to another.

In fact, in the story it is the slower animal that ends up arriving at the destination first.

In the same way, some of us seem to move very quickly through the issues and obstacles we all face in our lives.

Others need long periods of time to process their feelings and move into new states of awareness.

For those of us who perceive ourselves as moving quickly, it can be painful and exasperating to deal with someone else's slower pace.

Yet, just like the tortoise and the hare, we all arrive at the same destination, together, eventually.

People who take their time with things are probably in the minority in most of the world today.

We live in a time when speed and productivity are valued above almost anything else.

Therefore, people who flow at a slower pace are out of sync with the world and are often pestered and prodded to go faster and do more.

This can be not only frustrating but also counterproductive because the stress of being pushed to move faster than one is able to move actually slows progress.

On the other hand, if a person's style is honored and supported, they will find their way in their own time and, just like the tortoise, they might just beat the speedier, more easily distracted person to the finish line.

It's important to remember that we are not actually in a race to get somewhere ahead of someone else, and it is difficult to judge by appearances whether one person has made more progress than another.

Whether you count yourself among the fast movers or as one of the slower folks, we can all benefit from respecting the pace that those around us choose for themselves.

This way, we can keep our eyes on our own journey, knowing that we will all end up together in the end.

Now Is The Time - Bloom Where You Are Planted

Having a vision for our future that differs from our current circumstances can be inspiring and exciting, but it can also keep us from fully committing to our present placement.

We may become aware that this is happening when we notice our thoughts about the future distracting us from our participation in the moment.

We may find upon searching our hearts that we are waiting for some future time or situation in order to self-actualize.

This would be like a flower planted in North Dakota putting off blooming because it would prefer to do so in Illinois.

There are no guarantees in this life, so when we hold back we do so at the risk of never fully blossoming.

This present moment always offers us the ground in which we can take root and open our hearts now.

What this means is that we live fully, wherever we are, not hesitating because conditions are not perfect, or we might end up moving, or we haven’t found our life partner.

This can be scary, because we might feel that we are giving up our cherished dreams if we do not agree to wait for them.

But this notion that we have to hold back our life force now in order to find happiness later doesn’t really make sense.

What might really be happening is that we are afraid to embrace this moment, and ourselves, just exactly as we are right now.

We have a habit of presenting life with a set of conditions—ifs and whens that must be fulfilled before we will say yes to the gift of our lives.

Now is the time for each of us to bloom where we are planted, overriding our tendency to hold back.

Now is the time to say yes, to be brave and commit fully to ourselves, because until we do no one else will.

If this were not so, our lives would be chaos ....

Because this is so, we can find and have order in our lives, 24/7 ....

And so ....

In the early stages of meditation ....

Breath awareness ....

Acts ....

Like a set of training wheels ....

On a bicycle ....

It allows the mind to focus ...

But remains ready ....

To catch the mind .....

If it loses its balance.

- Rolf Sovik from 3/4/2008 Yoga Plus

I have a large library of meditative thoughts that TaiChiLady has shared with me over time, such as this one right above here on the breath and awareness of the breath ...

As TaiChiLady is into yoga in addition to t'ai chi, many of the quotes or thoughts that TaiChiLady sends me are related to yoga or are from a yoga related text or magazine ....

Before I post those thoughts in here, I consider how they will mesh with my "message" in here, which is primarily based on the FIVE REGULATINGS, a thought discipline that I have found to be pretty much exclusive to chi gong ....

By way of review, the FIVE REGULATINGS are:

* Regulate the body

* Regulate the breath

* Regulate the mind

* Regulate the chi

* Regulate the spirit

AND THE GOAL IS TO BE REGULATED WITHOUT HAVING TO REGULATE ....

To have it all be a spontaneous process that is never out of balance, because you yourself are not out of balance in any of the five aspects of the FIVE REGULATINGS ....

Focusing overmuch on the breath becomes a distraction that limits your growth in t'ai chi and chi gong ....

My breath is regulated by my body movements, which are directed by my mind ....

I don't think about inhaling and exhaling, because my breathing is a continuous, automatic process without discernable inhales or exhales ....

Monitoring the breathing is indeed a good focusing exercise, and there was a time in my life when I did pay more attention to my breathing ....

But that was then ....

I am not at that stage any longer .....

I have moved on and in moving on, I have invested in the loss of knowing whether or not I am inhaling or exhaling ....

It is enough to know that I am simply breathing as I move ....

And so ....

When we practice meditation ....

We are really acknowledging ....

That in this moment ....

We are on the road of life.

The path unfolds ....

In this moment ....

And in every moment ....

While we are alive.

Meditation ....

Is more rightly thought of

As a "Way" ...

Than as a technique.

It is a Way of being ....

A Way of living ....

A Way of listening ....

A a Way of walking ...

Along the path of life ....

And being in harmony ....

With things ....

As they are.

- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go There You Are

As we acquire more knowledge ....

Things do not become more comprehensible ....

But more mysterious.

- Albert Schweitzer

THE GREAT MYSTERY!

And were that not so, as we got older, life would become KNOWN - it would be flat and stale ...

When our minds stop growing, they start dying ....

Such is the way of life ....

When you are still learning, as I am with the liu he ba fa form, then, of necessity, your mind is expanding ...

Growing ...

And so ...

Q: What is liu he ba fa to you at this stage of your practice of it, Livyjr?

Livyjr: To me, the form that I associate with liu he ba fa is an extensive catalogue of ways to move the human body that are beneficial to the human body ....

Of all the various forms that I have practiced over time, this liu he ba fa form is the most complex and challenging ....

It certainly tests my balance each day, and gives me valuable feedback on how I am doing in that regard ....

And I find it exhilerating to do the sequence of movements that are the form ...

Exquisite is the word that I have for them ....

It is fascinating being able to move that way as a human being, in circles, instead of just straight lines ....

And so ...

Life ....

Consists in penetrating ...

The unknown ....

And fashioning ....

Our actions .....

In accord ...

With the new knowledge .....

Thus acquired.

- Leo Tolstoy

Q: Livyjr, when you are doing your moving forms, how much attention do you pay to your breath?

Livyjr: Very little, actually ....

Q: Why is that?

Livyjr: Because I have learned over time that if you are "natural" doing your forms, and you are calm and relaxed, and you are moving smoothly and with suppleness, then your breathing HAS to be where you need it to be ....

Your body movements cannot be "right" or "correct" if at the same time your breath is "wrong" or "incorrect" ...

In fact, I use my body movement to assist me in my breathing, not the other way around ...

That to me is the functional utility and beauty of the FIVE REGULATINGS ....

If your mind and body are "REGULATED", then the breath must be as well, since they are all interconnected ...

And there is another aspect as well to this thing of "breathing" that beginners do not not to grasp ...

You don't want your breathing to be just through your two nostrils ....

That is very inefficient ....

You want to "breathe" with your whole body ....

So if your focus remains on your two nostrils, you are deflecting your attention AWAY from where it needs to be, in my estimation, anyway ....

I concentrate on my hands and feet when it comes to "breathing", which is really an interchange of energy between me and my surroundings ....

And so ...

"In the West, the word meditation means a concentrated state of mind in serious reflection."

"The Latin root of the word meditation, mederi, means 'to heal'."

"It is an effort to heal afflictions of the mind, the hurt ego, by trying to understand the cause of the problem and finding a way to solve it, that is, by knowing what counter-measures to take."

"To meditate thus, is to deepen a state of understanding"

~Sri Swami Shivapremananda

The calmest person in any given situation controls the flow ...

And so ...

"Improved moods, memory — this is your brain on exercise"

Web Posted: 05/11/2008 09:20 PM CDT

Paula Hunt, Express-News

What if you could boost your memory, improve your mood, lower your stress, manage your hormones and reverse the aging process, all without taking a single drug?

Well, you can.

The cure for what ails you?

Exercise.

“If exercise came in pill form, it would be plastered across the front pages, hailed as the blockbuster drug of the century,” writes John Ratey in “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” (Little, Brown and Company, $24.99).

For Ratey, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard, the brain is the primary beneficiary of exercise.

The good it does for the body is only a “side effect.”

Ratey draws evidence from the fields of neuroscience, epidemiology, kinesiology and psychiatry, as well as case studies from his own practice.

“They found that exercise is the biggest promoter of growth factors in our brain than anything else we can do, specifically for the mother of all growth factors called BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) which I've called 'Miracle-Gro' because it's brain fertilizer,” says Ratey.

From treating Alzheimer's to ADHD, from mood disorders to menopause, Ratey argues that exercise is crucial to staying healthy and happy.

Most of the studies on the effects of exercise on the brain have been done on elderly populations, where it has been found to improve memory and maintain cognitive function.

But exciting new studies have followed the positive effects of exercise on children.

Ratey begins the book by telling the story of the Naperville, Ill., school district, which radically altered its approach to physical education.

Out went dodge ball and in came the climbing wall.

No more tests on the dimensions of a volleyball court, but instead a focus on keeping heart rates in their target zone.

The result was a school district where kids weren't just fit, but where test scores improved and disciplinary actions declined.

“Most of the PE classes taught (in this country) are still focused on sports rather than on individual fitness, and that's a big part of the problem,” says Ratey.

“The revolution is to change it so that PE becomes fitness-focused where each child is evaluated against himself in terms of his improvement."

"If you've made some gains, then you get a good a grade as opposed to being the fastest or the strongest or being able to do 12 pull-ups.”

It's really not all that surprising that the same aerobic activity that's good for our bodies is also good for what's between our ears.

But if exercise is “medicine for the brain” as Ratey calls it, it's a mystery why more doctors aren't prescribing it and why more people aren't taking advantage of this simple cure.

Perhaps because in a culture where we look to pills to solve our problems, we can't quite trust our bodies to heal themselves.

So, if exercise can make us smart, alert and joyful, can the opposite be true if our country continues down its path of sloth?

“Yes."

"Less motivated, more depressed, more stressed, more anxious, more addicted,” says Ratey.

“We're already there and the more sedentary we become the more likely we are going to remain there.”

In order to meditate ...

In order to find ....

Any lasting peace at all ...

We have to ...

Recondition our brain ....

To attend inwardly ....

To turn off our outward-pointed senses ...

And relax into our inner nature.

- Linda Johnsen, Moving Out of your Mental Neighborhood

Q: Livyjr, do you practice meditation, would you say?

Livyjr: I don't think that I put so much focus on it as some of these people in these posts do, but yes, I would say that I do ...

I would further say that over time, my "meditation" practice has changed greatly as I have grown as a person ....

Some people use meditation as a vehicle to keep moving themselves in what they perceive as a forward direction in their lives ....

Some people are rigid in their meditation practice, always going back to the same cushion in the same place ...

It is a matter of individuality, I think ...

At one time, I used to focus on my breath moving in and out of the ring of my nostril, on the right side and on the left ...

It is a good way to focus ....

But once you have gained that focus, in my estimation, you should try to use it to accomplish something more than just sitting there moving air through your nostrils ...

And I used to focus on three words - WISDOM, STRENGTH, PEACE

I don't think that peace can be a separate thing in our lives without the others, especially wisdom, because wisdom allows us to perceive what peace can be in the first place ....

I find great peace myself in the movements of my forms, when I seem disconnected from gravity ....

And so ...

The still lake ....

Without ripples ....

Is an image ....

Of our minds at ease ....

Q: Livyjr ....

You have talked about doing liu he ba fa each day as a moving exercise ......

Do you ever practice sitting meditation?

Livyjr: What I practice that could be considered a sitting meditation or laying down meditation is my own evolved version of the self-relaxation meditation that I began to discuss in this post above here from May 13, 2006, which can be found at this link ...

http://www.commongroundcommonsense.org/for...mp;#entry546168

I am never just sitting there ....

If your posture is out of whack for any given reason, being wounded in the back of the head and neck in my case, then just sitting there serves no real purpose ....

Being calm and not moving and using the mind to move around in the body to open joints and relax muscles and get rid of congestion is a better use of that time, which I consider to be contemplation and reflection, rather than meditation ....

And of course, those are all just words ....

What makes the difference is what you are able to accomplish with your focused mind in that period of time ....

And so ....

Every act we perform ...

Changes everyone connected to that act ....

And beyond .....

Like the ripple .....

Caused by throwing a pebble ....

In a pond .....

It starts small ....

And then becomes ....

An anonymous connection .....

That reaches far beyond ....

The original intention .....

A small action ....

Can be amplified over time ....

Through this process.

- Daniel Hertz, Why Collect Things From Himalayan Path magazine

So that when you are calm and in a state of mental peace when you practice t'ai chi, that is the ripple that is projected outward from yourself ...

A ripple of peace and calmness generating outwards from yourself ....

No disharmony ....

And so ...

Being at peace ...

With ourselves ....

Is not about denying ....

Or rejecting .....

Any part of ourselves ....

On the contrary ....

In order to be at peace ....

We must be willing ....

And able ....

To hold ourselves .....

In all our complexity ....

In a full embrace .....

That excludes nothing .....

For anyone just stopping by here, this thread is about a journey ....

A journey through life ....

And the role that t'ai chi has played in that journey over time for me, a disabled Viet Nam combat veteran who was seriously wounded in the head in combat forty years ago ....

As well as helping to make it possible in the first place ...

Forty years ago, the path of my life was altered, or perhaps set in motion, when an RPG-7 rocket grenade exploded right behind my head in Viet Nam ....

Forty years later, I am still here on earth ....

Thinking about the path that connects then to now ...

And each day, like someone leaving little stones along the way to mark their way through a maze, I leave posts in here to mark where I was on the journey at that particular moment at that particular time ....

T'ai chi is a SYSTEM ....

And t'ai chi is a PROCESS ...

The PROCESS is of growth ....

The SYSTEM is what guides and propels that growth ....

The FIVE REGULATINGS ....

In here, in this computer forum, we are mental ....

We cannot bring our physicality into here ....

Only our minds can come ....

So in here, that is what I am speaking to ....

YOUR MIND ....

And as I do that, you experience yourself thinking about what I have posted in here, just as I too think about what I have just posted, and its implications and ramifications on life ....

I am a YIN person, I would say, so I look at t'ai chi as a HEALING ART ...

If I were a YANG person, I would look at t'ai chi as a martial art ....

And the difference between the two is approach ...

My approach in here is to stress the GENTLE side of t'ai chi ...

Others would perhaps decry my approach as "MARY POPPINS T'AI CHI" .....

And so be it ....

Perhaps it is ....

Although I would say that my approach has sustained me through these years much better than all the other alternatives that I have considered ...

You cannot fight with life and get old gracefully at the same time ...

You can do one ....

Or you can be the other ...

But you can't both do and be ....

And so ...

When you read these words in here, consider where they are coming from ....

And why ....

And so ...

Do Unto Others - The Golden Rule

The Golden Rule is rooted in pure empathy and does not compel us to perform any specific act.

Rather, it gently guides us to never let our actions toward others be out of harmony with our own desires.

The Golden Rule asks us to be aware of the effect our words and actions may have on another person and to imagine ourselves in their place.

It calls on us to ask ourselves how we would feel if what we were about to do were directed toward us.

And yet this rule invites us to do more than not harm others.

It suggests that we look for opportunities to behave toward others in the same ways that we would want others to act toward us.

Adhering to the Golden Rule whenever possible can have a positive effect on the world around you because kindness begets kindness.

In doing so, you generate a flow of positive energy that enfolds everyone you encounter in peace, goodwill, and harmony.

Q: Livyjr ....

With your talk of the GOLDEN RULE and all in here ....

Do you think that it is a contradiction in terms to be a peaceful martial artist?

Livyjr: Hmmmmm ....

An interesting question ....

And I would say no, it is not .....

First of all, the study of what are known as or called martial arts is TO ME about DISCIPLINE ....

Gaining an internal discipline that gives you mastery over yourself in all situations, as opposed to mastery over others ...

While there are schools of martial arts where actual fighting is what the schools are about, the study of martial arts does not automatically lead you towards fighting ....

And I would say that the reverse is true - that the more accomplished you become in your forms, the more you are able to see the futility of fighting ....

And how fighting can ultimately dissipate you, since by fighting all the time, you are not growing your mind in a positive direction ...

BUT ....

This is all highly circumstantial ....

And by that, I mean the path of your life that brought you to martial arts in the first place ....

I am a combat veteran ....

I have seen enough violence in my life to last me for several more lifetimes than this one ...

So I have those experiences which guide me on my path today to where I am now ....

A younger person may not have those same experiences, and may feel the need to take some martial arts courses for self-defense ....

Then that is the set of circumstances in THEIR life that is bringing them onto the path of martial arts ....

AND THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG TO ANY OF THIS ....

THERE IS MERELY EVOLUTION ....

This is the direction that I personally have chosen to evolve towards ....

And that is something that t'ai chi gives one, I believe, which is power over your own evolution ....

So why evolve in a downward direction is my thought this morning ....

But again, upward and downward are personal constructs in one's life ....

You get to choose ....

You get to say ....

And so ...

The process of practice is to see through, not to eliminate, anything to which we are attached.

We could have great financial wealth and be unattached to it, or we might have nothing and be very attached to having nothing.

Usually, if we have seen through the nature of attachment, we will have a tendency to have few possessions, but not necessarily.

Most practice gets caught in this area of fiddling with our environments or our minds.

"My mind should be quiet".

Our mind doesn't matter; what matters is non attachment to the activities of the mind.

And our emotions are harmless unless they dominate us that is, if we are attached to them - then they create dis-harmony for everyone.

The first problem in practice is to see that we are attached.

As we do consistent, patient zazen we begin to know that we are nothing but attachments; they rule our lives.

But we never lose an attachment by saying it has to go.

Only as we gain true awareness of its true nature does it quietly and imperceptibly wither away; like a sandcastle with waves rolling over, it just smoothes out and finally Where is it?

What was it?

~ Charlotte Joko Beck

Q: Livyjr ....

I have noticed that you bring in these quotes and sayings from other people on meditation, and at times, you appear to make disparaging comments about sitting meditation ....

Do you not believe in sitting meditation?

And if so, why bother to bring in these other sayings?

Livyjr: Well ...

Let us first say that NOBODY can really say what meditation truly is ....

Meditation itself is but a word ....

If we had ten people together in here at one time and we asked each to state what meditation was, the answers would be personal ...

And since nobody can truly say what meditation is and where it begins and what it encompasses, no answer would be either right or wrong ....

They just would be responses to a question ....

And the worst thing that one could do, or I could do, would be to limit the answers as to what meditation COULD BE ...

So that is why I bring in these other points of view in this thread ....

Do I always agree with what is being stated?

Perhaps not ....

But by posting those other thoughts in here, I myself am forced to have to think about what is being said, and how I understand it, or not ....

And since that is a mental exercise, I have gained benefit, even if I end up rejecting out of hand what I just posted ...

Because it would be an informed decision ....

And I don't presume that everybody reading these words in here is just like me or is at the same "level" which is really a function of years lived and experiences gained in those years ....

And so ...

Part Of The Process - Feeling Stuck

When we feel stuck in our lives it’s important to take stock of what is going on and find out if there is something we are doing or not doing that is keeping us stuck.

Sometimes the situation is out of our control, and we need to look within to find the patience required to wait with equanimity until things move forward again.

Many times, though, we can find the source of our stagnation in our own hearts and minds.

Sometimes we are clinging to old ideas about reality and we need to make adjustments that will bring us back in tune with life, so we can flow again.

Sometimes we find that fear of change is what’s keeping us stuck, and we can resolve to find ways of facing that fear.

In all this, be kind to yourself and remember that we all get stuck sometimes.

Think of it as a part of your process, a necessary step on your journey, rather than as a problem that shouldn’t be happening.

This can help to keep your frustration at bay and give you the space you need to take a deep breath and really figure out what’s going on.

Q: And Livyjr, can we come back to this question right above here?

Livyjr: Of course we can, in the light of what I had to say above here about meditation in general being a personal experience ....

Let us look at it this way - in life, there is DOING, and there is BEING ....

And they are interconnected in some ways ....

But separate in others ....

When you are sitting, that is what you are doing - sitting ...

If you are sitting there in a state of peaceful repose, then I would say that you were BEING ....

But still in all, what you are doing is sitting ...

If you need to chop firewood to stay warm in the winter, or you need to plant a garden, or whatever, then sitting is not getting that done, no matter how calmly you can sit there ...

And this takes me all the way back to my own beginnings in these arts when I first returned home from Viet Nam as a disabled veteran, for which there is no instruction manual ....

You find out what the trip is going to be like each minute of the way, and sometimes, it is not at all a pleasant journey ....

And there is where sitting calmly comes in ....

GAIN CONTROL!

My heart would begin to race, my breathing would be erratic, as if I was suffocating, I would feel like I was burning up ...

All things that can induce panic, which is a state of NON-CONTROL .....

So ....

To gain control it was necessary to invest in the loss of non-control ....

Which led me to sitting meditation as a beginning point ...

And so ...

When the compulsive striving ...

Away from the NOW ...

Ceases ....

The joy of being ...

Flows into ...

Everything you do ....

You have found ...

The life ...

Underneath your life situation ....

- Calendar wisdom

Q: And can we carry on with this thought some further, Livyjr?

Livyjr: Yes, indeed we can ....

And should ....

Because we are talking about the realm of mind and thought that underlies all of these various practices, to include yoga, and meditation and chi gong and t'ai chi, etc .....

By definition, chi gong is a MIND-DIRECTED activity ....

When you are doing chi gong, you are doing it with your mind, which means acting with volition, and intent ...

SO YOU CANNOT HAVE AN EMPTY MIND!

If your mind is empty, then you have nothing to apply to your practice ....

So trying to empty your mind is counterproductive to your own progress ...

Rather, in chi gong, what you are trying to accomplish is the UN-SCATTERING of your mind and your thoughts ....

Which takes us back to one of the first posts in here about the EMOTION MIND and the WISDOM MIND ....

And the visualization of the EMOTION MIND as a monkey ....

And the WISDOM MIND as a horse ....

I can't remember when these metaphors first came to me, but to this day, that is how I continue to visualize these components of myself ....

For that is what they are ....

Not "THE" emotion mind or wisdom mind ...

But "MY" emotion mind and wisdom mind ...

I want to train them both and enhance their functioning ....

Not eliminate them ....

Or wipe them out ....

And so ....

Inspiration ...

http://www.lshs64.com/enjoytheride.html

Livyjr: And let us come back to this word DISPARGE here for a moment, and deal with that, before we move on ...

DISPARAGE: to depreciate by indirect means; speak slightingly about ....

- Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary

I am a "tool user", I would say ....

And ALL of these various techniques, to include sitting meditation, are "TOOLS" ....

Or that is how I see them, anyway ....

So to disparage sitting meditation would be like a carpenter disparaging pipe wrenches because he doesn't use them as a carpenter ....

It makes no sense to do so, and it is a waste of mental energy ....

If I was to actually disparage something, it wouldn't be the tool ....

It would be a use of the tool, instead, just as I would disparage the use of a pipe wrench as a framing hammer ....

It is not the proper tool for the job ....

And I would also disparage the BELIEF that by merely sitting there, concentrating on breathing through your nostrils, you can have good health and fitness, without having to do anything more ...

If that is all that was required, I wouldn't bother with all of this other stuff .....

There would be no need for it, or purpose to it ....

But I have found, after forty years of thought and practice and just plain living life, that merely sitting there and breathing doesn't do anything for you other than making you an expert at sitting and breathing .....

And it can be detrimental, as well ....

Because while you are regulating your breathing and your mind, you are not doing much or anything for your physical being, and certain sitting positions cause chi stagnation ....

And so ...

And as an aside, some of this conversation in here is being generated by a thread that rla has going in here on WELLNESS ....

And since his definition of WELLNESS has some bearing on what we are talking about in here, I have included it above ....

And so ...

The Middle Path ...

Of avoiding extremes ....

Makes one both see ....

And know ....

It leads to peace ....

To discernment ....

To enlightenment .....

I have this thread running here in the HEALTH topic of this forum, because that is the main thrust of what I am aiming at in here ....

The use of t'ai chi and chi gong as tools to aid in our continuing development, growth and integration as human beings ....

What rla is calling WELLNESS above here ....

Although I tend to think of it more as WHOLESOMENESS or HEALTHFULNESS which is based on self control and self discipline ...

Which then takes us back to PATTERNS OF THOUGHT ....

That is what I wish of this thread above all else - that it simply provoke thought ....

The other day, TaiChiLady made some commentary to me about my interview here from her perspective as someone who has been involved with movement and martial arts for a long period of time ....

Being somewhat older than I am, she has a saying, based on experience and observation of those around us that growing older is not for the faint of heart ...

And I would come back and say that it is not for the uninformed, either ....

There is growing old, which everybody is going to have to confront at some point in their lives ....

And there is maturing and evolving ....

And I prefer the latter thought, myself, over the former ...

WHY?

Because the latter thought "shapes" my mind much differently than the former does ...

Growing older is something that happens to you ....

Maturing and evolving is something that you do for yourself, with purpose ....

And so ...

I finished my liu he ba fa form today ....

Which is to say that today is the first time that I have been able to do the form all the way through from opening movement to closing movement ...

Each day, I would try to learn another move, although as the form advanced it was hard to hit that goal ....

But no matter ....

I have the rest of my life is how I figured it ......

And now, I am through the form ....

Which means that I can now start the process of linking it altogether like pearls on a string ...

I can say that it is very exhilerating doing the form ....

It is long .....

Perhaps 140 movements ....

It is like running a long distance race ....

Or skiing down a hill ....

Or kayacking a mountain stream ....

THE FLOW ....

And so ....

And on the day that I finished my liu he ba fa long form for my personal health and fitness, this article was in the local news paper .....

I am posting it because it speaks in many ways to the reasons that I started this thread back in its beginning ...

As a means of assisting in the separation of wheat from chaff ...

And so ...

"Big tab to study 'nonsense' - High spending to research alternative cures is criticized"

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, Associated Press

First published in print: Thursday, June 11, 2009

BETHESDA, Md. -- Ten years ago the government set out to test herbal and other alternative health remedies to find the ones that work.

After spending $2.5 billion, the disappointing answer seems to be that almost none of them do.

Echinacea for colds.

Ginkgo biloba for memory.

Glucosamine and chondroitin for arthritis.

Black cohosh for menopausal hot flashes.

Saw palmetto for prostate problems.

Shark cartilage for cancer.

All proved no better than dummy pills in big studies funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

The lone exception: ginger capsules may help chemotherapy nausea.

As for therapies, acupuncture has been shown to help certain conditions, and yoga, massage, meditation and other relaxation methods may relieve symptoms like pain, anxiety and fatigue.

However, the government also is funding studies of purported energy fields, distance healing and other approaches that have little if any biological plausibility.

Taxpayers are bankrolling studies of whether pressing various spots on your head can help with weight loss, whether brain waves emitted from a special "master" can help break cocaine addiction, and whether wearing magnets can help the painful wrist problem, carpal tunnel syndrome.

The acupressure weight-loss technique won a $2 million grant even though a small trial of it on 60 people found no statistically significant benefit -- only an encouraging trend that could have occurred by chance.

The researcher says the pilot study was just to see if the technique was feasible.

"You expect scientific thinking" at a federal science agency, said R. Barker Bausell, author of "Snake Oil Science" and a research methods expert at University of Maryland, one of the agency's top-funded research sites.

"It's become politically correct to investigate nonsense."

Many scientists say unconventional treatments hold promise and deserve study, but that the federal center needs to be more selective.

"There's not all the money in the world and you have to choose" what most deserves tax support, said Barrie Cassileth, integrative medicine chief at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

"Many of the studies that have been funded I would not have funded because they seem irrational and foolish -- studies on distant healing by prayer and energy healing, studies that are based on precepts and ideas that are contrary to what is known in terms of human physiology and disease," she said.

In an interview last year, shortly after becoming the federal center's new director, Dr. Josephine Briggs said it had a strong research record, and praised the many "big name" scientists who had sought its grants.

She conceded there were no big wins from its first decade, other than a study finding acupuncture helped knee arthritis.

That finding was called into question when a larger study found that sham treatment worked just as well.

"The initial studies were driven by some very strong enthusiasms, and now we're learning about how to layer evidence" and to do more basic science before testing a particular supplement in a large trial, said Briggs.

"There are a lot of negative studies in conventional medicine," and the government's outlay is small compared to drug company spending, she added.

However, critics say that unlike private companies that face bottom-line pressure to abandon a drug that flops, the federal center is reluctant to admit a supplement may lack merit -- despite a strategic plan pledging not to equivocate in the face of negative findings.

"There's been a deliberate policy of never saying something doesn't work."

"It's as though you can only speak in one direction," and say a different version or dose might give different results, said Dr. Stephen Barrett, a retired physician who runs Quackwatch, a web site on medical scams.

Critics also say the federal center's research agenda is shaped by an advisory board loaded with alternative medicine practitioners.

They account for at least nine of the board's 18 members, as required by its government charter.

"It's the fox guarding the chicken coop," said Dr. Joseph Jacobs, who headed the Office of Alternative Medicine, a smaller federal agency that preceded the center's creation.

"If you're going to do a study on acupuncture, you're going to need acupuncture expertise," she said.