Not everyone sees the same thing the same way. Duh.
What I believe you should believe too. Or die.
There is no way you can lift that barge.
But maybe you can tote that bail.
Keep doing it until you get it right.
Even if you keep getting the same results.
I will follow you 'til the end of time,
even if it kills me.
We should all come to our senses; sooner or later.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Just Be
When you walk in the garden you feel warm, kind, and at ease.
When you eat with your dog you know humility.
When you listen to a tree you understand life.
And when you jump for joy you see energy.
There is no need to ponder these things
for they are free and readily available.
Just open your heart and let them come in.
When you eat with your dog you know humility.
When you listen to a tree you understand life.
And when you jump for joy you see energy.
There is no need to ponder these things
for they are free and readily available.
Just open your heart and let them come in.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Warm vs Cold
This is off the subject of pure awareness but I feel like writing about a subject that has bugged me for some time now. Whenever someone pulls a muscle they almost always put ice on the injured area to alleviate pain and swelling, but it has been my practice over the years to do the opposite. Years ago I used ice but for the last 15 years I have used warmth.
It is my contention that pulls, strains, and sprains need to be flooded with a fresh new supply of blood, nutrients, water, and oxygen to the damaged tissues as soon as possible and for as long as possible, until complete healing has occurred. Putting ice on living tissue relieves pain but it also constricts blood vessels that supply necessary nutrients to the tissue. Ice also causes the tissue to become inflexible and subject to more damage. For example, if you take a rubber stick and place it in ice it becomes hard and brittle and will break easily. But if you place the stick in a warm bath it becomes limber and supple. The same is true for muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
Damaged tissues release large amounts of sodium, calcium, potassium, and phosphate ions as well as creatine kinase and uric acid from the breakdown of purines and DNA. Inflammation is the result of all these toxins flooding into the damaged tissues. It is important to get these byproducts out of the cells as quickly as possible. Putting ice on the area will only prolong their stay. Not only that, white blood cells, especially neutrophiles, enter the damaged tissues to try and defend against foreign invaders. In doing so they release reactive oxygen which can further cause swelling and further compromise blood supply to the area.
When I pull a muscle, tendon or ligament I quickly put something warm on the area, rest it for a couple of days and take an anti-inflammatory, like ibuprofen, during those two days. I wrap a warm heating pad around the damaged tissue for an hour before going to bed. I never sleep with a heating pad on the area because its impossible to regulate the temperature when asleep. If it gets too hot it could damage the tissue even further. It is important to maintain a comfortable warmth on the damaged area. I also drink lots of water to help flush the kidneys. The kidneys are where the toxins from the damaged tissues end up. It is important to get the toxins out of the kidneys as quickly as possible.
After two days I continue keeping the damaged area warm but I begin to stretch and massage it as well. It is my belief that mild stretching and massaging help to increase the flow of water and nutrients (glucose, amino acids, and oxygen) into the tissues and pull out toxins (positive ions, uric acid, and creatine kinase). I have done this first aid practice many times over the past 15 years, on myself, never anyone else, and I find that I heal much faster then when I used ice.
It is my contention that pulls, strains, and sprains need to be flooded with a fresh new supply of blood, nutrients, water, and oxygen to the damaged tissues as soon as possible and for as long as possible, until complete healing has occurred. Putting ice on living tissue relieves pain but it also constricts blood vessels that supply necessary nutrients to the tissue. Ice also causes the tissue to become inflexible and subject to more damage. For example, if you take a rubber stick and place it in ice it becomes hard and brittle and will break easily. But if you place the stick in a warm bath it becomes limber and supple. The same is true for muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
Damaged tissues release large amounts of sodium, calcium, potassium, and phosphate ions as well as creatine kinase and uric acid from the breakdown of purines and DNA. Inflammation is the result of all these toxins flooding into the damaged tissues. It is important to get these byproducts out of the cells as quickly as possible. Putting ice on the area will only prolong their stay. Not only that, white blood cells, especially neutrophiles, enter the damaged tissues to try and defend against foreign invaders. In doing so they release reactive oxygen which can further cause swelling and further compromise blood supply to the area.
When I pull a muscle, tendon or ligament I quickly put something warm on the area, rest it for a couple of days and take an anti-inflammatory, like ibuprofen, during those two days. I wrap a warm heating pad around the damaged tissue for an hour before going to bed. I never sleep with a heating pad on the area because its impossible to regulate the temperature when asleep. If it gets too hot it could damage the tissue even further. It is important to maintain a comfortable warmth on the damaged area. I also drink lots of water to help flush the kidneys. The kidneys are where the toxins from the damaged tissues end up. It is important to get the toxins out of the kidneys as quickly as possible.
After two days I continue keeping the damaged area warm but I begin to stretch and massage it as well. It is my belief that mild stretching and massaging help to increase the flow of water and nutrients (glucose, amino acids, and oxygen) into the tissues and pull out toxins (positive ions, uric acid, and creatine kinase). I have done this first aid practice many times over the past 15 years, on myself, never anyone else, and I find that I heal much faster then when I used ice.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
I Wonder!
I sometimes ponder the question - Why is my consciousness in this body? To me it is bewildering that among 7 billion people on earth there is a single consciousness within this body which I refer to as "me." And it stays here and doesn't go anywhere, except when I am in dreamless sleep or meditating.
The possibility of any one particular sperm from my father fertilizing any one particular egg from my mother calculates out to be one in 800 million, and that's during just one sexual encounter. That one sperm and that one egg produced an embryo that metamorphosed into a baby and became me. At some point along the way the being (me) became conscious - aware of self and the surroundings.
I don't think that my consciousness is any different than anybody else's consciousness. Consciousness is simply being aware of the fact that you are alive, functioning, thinking, moving, responding, and so on while at the same time aware of what is going on around you. Humans are not the only animal to possess consciousness. Many animals are aware of themselves and the environment. If they weren't they wouldn't be around very long. They would be fodder for something that is conscious. Which brings up another interesting question.
Why couldn't my consciousness have ended up in another body? Could my consciousness have gone into some other person or another life form rather than ending up in me? If not, why not? And why is it happening right now at this very moment rather than one thousand years ago or a thousand years from now?
One thing for sure; nobody knows the answers to these questions. Science offers answers to many things but one thing it can't answer is the perplexing enigma of consciousness. Is it important to know what consciousness is? Not any more than it is to know the distance from earth to the sun, the speed of light, or the human genome.
That's what is fun about science. You see something intriguing, have a question about it, and try to find out what it is all about. It is simply a game and by playing the game all kinds of things can be learned. To be human is to be curious, inquisitive and keep asking questions.
The possibility of any one particular sperm from my father fertilizing any one particular egg from my mother calculates out to be one in 800 million, and that's during just one sexual encounter. That one sperm and that one egg produced an embryo that metamorphosed into a baby and became me. At some point along the way the being (me) became conscious - aware of self and the surroundings.
I don't think that my consciousness is any different than anybody else's consciousness. Consciousness is simply being aware of the fact that you are alive, functioning, thinking, moving, responding, and so on while at the same time aware of what is going on around you. Humans are not the only animal to possess consciousness. Many animals are aware of themselves and the environment. If they weren't they wouldn't be around very long. They would be fodder for something that is conscious. Which brings up another interesting question.
Why couldn't my consciousness have ended up in another body? Could my consciousness have gone into some other person or another life form rather than ending up in me? If not, why not? And why is it happening right now at this very moment rather than one thousand years ago or a thousand years from now?
One thing for sure; nobody knows the answers to these questions. Science offers answers to many things but one thing it can't answer is the perplexing enigma of consciousness. Is it important to know what consciousness is? Not any more than it is to know the distance from earth to the sun, the speed of light, or the human genome.
That's what is fun about science. You see something intriguing, have a question about it, and try to find out what it is all about. It is simply a game and by playing the game all kinds of things can be learned. To be human is to be curious, inquisitive and keep asking questions.
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