Be Strong, Be Natural, Be Wise

I just left LA Fitness. Went there because I like to sweat in the sauna and I had left another local gym because it was nasty.

Before signing up the manager wanted to give me tour. When we arrived in the free weight area he started to offer me his ideas on how to care for the body and how to exercise for results. Then he goes off on the old story of “you must tear muscle to make muscle”. Saying each time you come you need to break it down muscle to build it up. Although functionally this may be true, the action of tearing muscle three to five times a week is insane.

Why do I say insane, don’t we want bigger muscles?  No, what we want need are toned muscles, muscles that are strong yet free of tension and proportional to our body. Tension filled tissues do not carry blood, lymph and qi (energy) easily, instead block their movement causing stagnation of these critical constituents of life. We want and need muscles that work both physically and aesthetically with the rest of who you are.

I’m sure you’ve all seen men and women who are clearly out of proportion, arms, legs, chests and shoulders that look like they’ve been transplanted from someone else. No 5’8 man needs nor can use 16” inch biceps and certainly not a woman of that height, yet still they try and many accomplish such just to find themselves muscle bound, looking wrong and functioning poorly.  Also trying to maintain such because it’s unnatural is an exercise in futility for the simple reason it is unnatural.

Even more important the process described by the trainer causes a response that has been proven to cause diseases of every kind, that being inflammation. Those who work out even three times a week using the method of ripping and rebuilding are living with Chronic Inflammation, a state that will harm and even kill some of them. Don’t do it!

It is better, far better, to find the body you were meant to have and maintain it. Yes, most westerns need to supplement movement because most of us no longer “work” for a living, but instead sit for a living and so we need to offer some movement useless we want to evolve into a giant head with a stick figure body.

So want to do?

I’ve been working with a set of rules offered me by qigong master BK Frantzis fifteen years ago. They are… Never work the body to exhaustion. Never work the body into tension, and always work the body while the mind is connected to every movement we make. In other words, don’t exercise mindlessly.

This is what I was taught about weight training.

Find a weight you can do sets of 20 reps with then take that weight down by 30 %.  Never push the body till it shakes, neither from the weight or repetitions. This will build strength, offer some mild increase in bulk, yet never do you harm.

Know that as soon as you go beyond the 70% your body will tense up; qi, blood and lymph will stop moving and the exercise will become more harmful than good.

If you're interested in receiving a consultation I offer them at a reasonable cost in my office or by phone.

Be Strong, Be Healthy, Be Wise…gi

What Surrounds You?

To some what I’m about to say might sound a little spooky, but I’ll offer it anyway because it is my truth and experience. I have an energy field about me. It is one that I have created with my thoughts, words and actions. Thoughts in that I do my best to think positive things about my health and safety. Words in that I don’t allow words to leave my mouth, enter my ears that state that I am vulnerable, weak and need outside protection and actions in that I practice movement forms such as qigong and others that literally build both my internal and my auric fields, fields that both energize and protect me.

Some don’t recognize such. They might because of their belief system instead say “I have angels all around me”.  And that’s fine, but all too often those who depend on beings outside themselves to do the work of protecting, blessing, etc are found wanting when the Sh-t hits the fan and at that time offer the all too often phrase “I guess it was God’s will that I am sick, dying, injured”. I don’t doubt there are beings in the universe we don’t see. I believe we only “see in Part”, but I don’t believe, because I have no evidence, that these beings have any interest in protecting or blessing me. I don’t think the universe is all about me, my needs, my body, my family and that it spends its time monitoring me every moment of my day waiting to rescue or find me a parking space.

I have had unexplained things happen, things that in the past I have attributed to divine intervention. In 1988 I was crossing a six-lane Blvd. when my mini van was struck broadside by a speeding car. The van continued on two wheel across the road then when it fell on all fours flipped over sending me the driver though the passenger window as it traveled towards the pavement.  At this point both my arms and my head were outside the vehicle as my body was held inside by the lap belt that was now under my knees. As I prepared myself in for impact I remember thinking “this may kill me”.  Suddenly I felt something pull me back inside. The van then settled to the road and I was now inside, bleeding, but not a broken bone and my head was in one piece. I was amazed and grateful.

For a long time I told this story believing an angel had pulled me back in, but as I grew in understanding and became willing to let go of possibilities and began to only rely on what could be proven. So instead of talking about the unknown my testimony was now only "some thing wonderfully unknown had happened that day". This is more genuine, allows for all possibilities yet doesn’t set up expectations of unseen forces being there to protect me, nor set up expectations in others that they can be foolish and expect some being to come save them. If this were true then the nasty question that has come up for centuries would have to arise “why me, and why not Johnny or Jane or the little child down the block whose parents grieve because they have died in some terrible accident".

This sort of thinking has caused millions to either love or hate god. To give him credit for saving them or the blame for a death. Isn’t better to just live in the truth that can be seen? The truth that shit happens and something that shit turns out ok and sometimes it’s just shit? This has become my conclusion. I’m not asking anyone to give up their faith and to follow me, but I would ask them to come out of the dark ages and to live a spiritual life without making up stories to prop it up. Yes there are things beyond our understanding, but let it stop there. It seems to me we have for the sake of “knowing” made up stories to answer “unanswerable questions” such as: when did the world begin, who created it, where did we come from, where do we go when we die? In Zen Buddhism one of the most honored answers one can give to such questions is “I Don’t Know”.  We don’t need to answer every question, especially if they are truly unanswerable. If one wants to live their life as a researcher or scientist searching for answers that’s wonderful, but those who do this won't say I have the answer until they find the proof it’s a true.

This is “Good Friday” and I’m sure some may say this is disrespectful, blasphemy to write such a blog and a day like this, but ask any theologian and he she will tell you from all evidence Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday.

As we continue it evolve I think we need to see things “as they are,” not as we hope or dream them to be. If there is a God he, she, it is an extraordinarily intelligent and logical being. I don’t think god would be in agreement with his creation, if he did create us, living a life of dreams and fairytales. I instead believe god would have us to evolve to a place closer to a god, a clarity of mind and heart that is both brave and wise.

We are more powerful than we allow ourselves to believe. I believe because we may feel unworthy because of the guilt placed on us by religion to rely on ourselves to save ourselves. We can build an energy field about us, a field that is provable, has been measured and is both protective and empowering. This field is ours and we are responsible for not only creating it, but maintaining it.

It’s truly up to us what will happen and what we cannot control will occur. This we need to accept.

Be wise my friends…gi 

Manifesting Stuff

A Secret cyber friend asked of me “can we deliberately create what we wish, really wish, to experience?”

I replied - I believe we can manifest what we desire, but the exactness of this process is not so clear.

"The Secret" crowd and the "Name it and Claim it" Christians are totally into speaking things into existence, but from experience and observation I have found little evidence these things work other than by the efforts these folks have placed into obtaining the things they wish for after they wish for them.



So to me it appears that making affirmations motivate human beings to take action and therefore help them create something, but that’s not what these folks are talking about. They postulate that if we ask the universe, God, for something and if we are good boys and girls that thing will come to pass via the influence of something, someone, outside of ourselves. That god, the universe, is going to supernaturally create the things we’ve asked for because they've been asked the right way. This I reject.

I think it is good to solidify ones goals by placing them into words and writings. The danger of such is not whether it works or not, but that of having expectations in the first place. Do expectations bring joy and freedom or are they just a form of bondage. A bondage to desire, and does that desire prohibit us from living clearly and cause us to lose our today reaching for a “better” tomorrow, I think so. This is a reflection of dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction with this moment, the only life we really have to live, living with the hope that tomorrow will bring us what is missing.

We truly need to ask ourselves if this life in capitalistic America, the west in general, is truly a real life or is it just a "rat on a wheel" existence? A life created by the money people to entice us to chase after little rewards; a car, house, a short vacation, while they live like kings and queens. We have become like worker bees who spend our entire lives working only to benefit their queen. 

Isn't, shouldn't, there be a more genuine existence? I think so... I truly do...

"There is never enough of that which does not satisfy"

When Things Are No Longer Useful

Let's all have our teeth pulled and gum our food. This way we won't need toothbrushes.

But really... I think we do need to recycle and corporations do need to be more mindful of what happens to their products when they are no longer useful, but I also think perhaps believing huge corporations will change is a distant dream. The more immediate remedy is to have more people recycle using the existing channels. For Florida and all states that do not to begin to require deposits on bottles, both plastic and glass, if we did, it would motivate people to return them for the money and therefore return more packaging into the recycling chain equaling less waste and much less garbage in landfills.

We don’t need a lot of new ideas; instead we just need to do the things we already know to do. To Just Do Them! And if the states because of business pressures, politics, don’t do them, then we need to find another way. We need to take control. Stop being so lazy and become on a small-scale, more active (activists) in our daily lives.

Here’s a personal example, one that motivates me to do more. I'm ashamed of my lazy ass.

In the early 70’s I was a real green hippie. I worked at food coops, ate only veggies, recycled and was very vocal about saving the earth and it’s inhabitants. I would walk by diners at outdoor restaurants and yell at them “Stop Eating Dead Bodies!!!” I would also go to the grocery with my own cloth bags, containers for milk and boxes for cereals. At the register I would empty all these things into my own containers leaving the manufactures packing behind right there in the store, right at the checkout. I caught hell sometimes, but I made my point every time I shopped. The average american generates 4.3 pounds of waste per day. This is 1.6 pounds more than 1960. You would think we'd get wiser not dirtier.

We need to be more radical. The sixties was a good training ground for radicals. I learned a lot then, and forgot a lot later. The selfish eighties stole much of that from many of us.


                   We need to re-awaken...gi

Who Wants to Live Forever?

So, you want to become an immortal? This is a path that has been practiced by Taoist masters, sages, yogis and hermits for centuries. Is there a reason for the search for Immortality, one beyond living forever? After all, who wants to live forever without a purpose? I think that would be a terrible waste of time.

This man was said to be  256 year old. Notice the root in his hand.

Even if one ascribes to the idea of reincarnation as a path to living forever, to what end I ask?  My Tibetan Buddhist teachers taught me that this life has two primary purposes; to evolve and be helpful. 

Evolving can be sort of selfish "I want to become a Higher Being". the other more altruistic, "I want to be helpful" relieving the suffering of self and others.

But there are ways, methods, if not to cause one to live forever, to extend our lives and their quality far beyond the norm.

Before I get into offering a list of so-called super foods and herbs let me first get practical with you. Our bodies are wonderful and resilient creations, but we should not expect anything to last long when not cared for and abused.  Mindless living is the most causative factor in the development of disease and by extension a shortened life span. We must be mindful of how we live, what we eat, not only through our mouths but also via all the gates of our body; mouth, eyes, ears, nose and tongue.

We must sleep well, move well, and look upon things that bless us, inhale beauty and not noxious flumes and listen to sweet calming sounds, sounds closer to nature and less like war.  Loud, sharp noises send us into a war zone; firing up our fight flight mechanism, cause our adrenals to pour our cortisol, accelerating our heart and raising our blood pressure. All this is harmful. This state was never meant to be lived in, this state was meant to save our lives when we were prey, when we were more primitive, when men ate men, killed each other for food, mates, land (oh what’s changed?). The point is, these states of mind steal days and even years of our lives.

Concerning food. I will only offer very general rules because  everyone is in a different place health wise and some just do better on one food than another. So I suggest eating “real food” in moderation. Real food being any food you can recognizes for what it is without an ingredients label, food grown organically and to vary what you eat over time. Try to eat seasonally and foods that are native to your location. Doing so will offer balance more readily, for your body knows where it is, knows what best for it, nature knew “the people here would need to eat this”. Today it is not so, we can easily eat everything everyday or one thing forever. Please understand balance is required.  

Also please remember proteins and carbs don’t like to be severely heated. Doing so converts these very important foods into harmful denatured “products”. Heated proteins get carcinogenic due to changes in their molecular integrity; reduced digestibility and increased nitrogen waste. The reduced digestibility of cooked proteins increase the load of nitrogenous waste material reaching the colon via fermentation to ammonia and phenols – both of which are cancer promoting. Other processes just as bad occur when we super heat (BBQ, Roasting) carbs and dairy. Please treat your foods kindly, don’t change them too much. I’m not advocating a 100% Raw Diet, instead a 70% cooked diet, one that has been cooked to make the food more bioavailable but doesn’t change the food into a poison.

Being awake to all these suggestions will offer you a leg up on most westerners and at the very least a better chance of living longer and living those years well, not on six different pharmaceuticals and with a very limited ability for “enjoy" life to the fullest. Living in Florida I see too many men and women my age (66) who can’t function. They live like OLD PEOPLE. There is no need for that.

Now for the magic pills… There are none. But there are a few herbs, when taken as a tonic, that will offer you more years. Years you may not achieve without them, but please don’t make the mistake in believing you can ignore the first part of this blog and jump to the last and gain results. I promise you you’ll only harm yourself.

You can make a decoction (boil them) of these herbs and drink a small amount everyday for the rest of your life. This is not a magic pill, this is something that slowly builds you up and keeps you there.

Wild reishi, chaga and turkey tail mushroom, and he shou wu (foti) decocted in fresh clean water. Spring water is the best. This is a good start. I suggest if you are willing to do this right and long term you find a licensed and experienced herbalist to guide you. There are many other herbs that also help, but they must be prescribed only after a consultation for everything is not for everyone and what might help you may kill someone else. Be wise.

I offer reasonably priced herb consults at my office or on the phone. I’m here for you and live what I say. I’m the real deal.

Be well…gi

All Real Foods are Super Foods

All "real foods" are "super foods".  Yet depending on how we select, prepare and combine them with other foods they will either be helpful or do us harm.

Superfoods has become a catch word for the many foods and products that have come out of the health foods movement of the last twenty years. Unfortunately many of these items have been misrepresented, misused, and extremely overpriced based on overblown and ill informed or just plain deceitful marketing claims. Claims such as; heals all cancers, cures diabetes, lengthen life and extreme sexual vitality. Even when some of the claims have some truth, those offering the items do not have the education or wisdom to sell these with proper disclosure and instructions.

Many people in a quest to reap the promised benifits are taken advantage of losing both money and even their health and at the very least finding no benefit at all.

An example is Lu Rong a Chinese herb made from deer antler. Many in the raw food and health communities have picked up on this herb for it empowering abilities; strengthening the body, longevity and the sexual prowess it is said to offer, but if one would take the time to read the "Materia Medica" one would find a whole list of conditions it would aggravate, but none of these are even offered to potential buyers and the crazy prices I've seen asked are little more than a rip off.

Here's one I just found: VELVET PLATINUM — 30 ML - $240.

Seriously 30ml? I can buy a pound of velvet for $300. I find it sad and disturbing.

Even dear Dr Ann Wigmore
has been taken out of context. Her protocol of raw foods and wheat grass was meant as a healing protocol, not something to live on. The Chinese state "raw food is too cooling to the body" (just like Lu Rong is too hot for some) and will debilitate the sick if consumed too long and weaken the health, especially of the sick, weak, old or those who live in cold climates and tend to feel cold when others around them are not.

The point is all foods have their properties, hot, warm, cold, cooling, moving, stabilizing, some go up, others go down and so much more.

But for many all they require is Real Food prepared well. Real foods are the foods that can be recognized without an ingredients label. Really foods are foods that have been untouched, grown in clean earth or water without chemicals and other poisons and NOT genetically modified. 

When we change our diets from processed food to real food, learn a little about how to prepare them without killing their nutritional value; then we will find our health blossoming, maladies falling way without intervention and years, vibrant years, added to our lives.

Please don't take your advice from a post, a single article or tv show (The Dr's) or follow fads that pop up all the time. Do your due diligence. Know what your doing and eating. Your life and happiness depends on it.

If you'd like to investigate these options with me. I offers reasonably priced 30 min consults at my office or phone.

be well...gi