Showing posts with label flexibility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flexibility. Show all posts

Saturday, September 13, 2025

A star is born: Yoga, dancing; Pilates...


An Experience of Enlightenment
Anyone who has ever danced or done yoga postures (asanas) has to marvel at the impossibility of Assam's 8-year-old BINITA CHETRY, who blows even jaded judges away with the most flexible dancing audition ever on the show.

It's one thing to be able to bend. It is a whole 'nother to have this much poise, balance, creativity, and élan. Is this what ancient dancers did to bedazzle visitors in far-flung kingdoms?

Do frog pose for 100 years to get ready to dance. - Next, let's work on strength and balance.

Hobert: Hey, I can dance AND sing.
In the little book An Experience of Enlightenment, there is a kingdom at the nexus of two great rivers in Northern India (perhaps the Brahmaputra and Saraswati). And there a temple dancing girl lives until a handsome traveling stranger comes through the area and wins her heart. But her jealous handler won't stand for it. One is reminded of that strange tale retold by a European after a seance in the book's true story.
BOOK REVIEW: I read this little book in Finnish, and it was a vivid, charming, and interesting experience of [spiritual] search[ing], enlightenment, and meditation. The book was published a long time ago, and it seems rare to find personal experiences of women of this age on the path of meditation (without being lifestyle-obsessed). Source (rare book)
Aubrey Hobert: "Sue Me" Pilates

AUBREY HOBERT (born 1999) is an American singer and songwriter from NYC. After co-writing several songs with Gracie Abrams on her 2024 album The Secret of Us, Hobert released her debut single, "Sue Me," in 2025. Her debut album, Who's the Clown?, was released on Aug. 15, 2025. More

Yeah, but can a girl play a guitar?

Yeah, Aubrey, okay. Thank you. Next. NOBODY was prepared for this 8-year-old's power on Britain's Got Talent Replay. Aug. 23, 2025: An 8-year-old dancer from Assam, India, may look sweet, but she performs with the power and ferocity of a tigress. Her unique routines combine breathtaking yogic acrobatics with fierce martial arts moves, set to epic, cinematic music. From embodying "Wonder Woman" to unleashing her inner feline power, she takes control of the entire stage, even dancing on the judges' desk in a stunning display of girl power.
Mermaid Island: "Freaks"

Thursday, August 1, 2024

Golden Simone Biles does it again!

The hardworking gymnasts of Team USA, Paris Olympics 2024 (msn.com)
.
Simone Biles Owens is in danger of draining world gold supplies to make her more medals as she takes gold again today in overall performance. What must MyKayla Skinner be thinking? Biles Owens is not the only one making a spectacular showing at the Paris Olympics, but she is the most decorated gymnast ever. At 27, she is about to retire and seems to be ensuring that no one will surpass her anytime soon.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Science: psychedelics heal mind and body

Eric Ralls (Earth via MSN, 3/8/24; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
But what if my "ego" temporarily dies? Ego-death, it sounds too risky. How would I carry on?
Psychedelic compounds secreted by toad skin greatly improve cognitive functioning (Earth)
.
What would Shiva, the Destroyer, do?
A combination of two psychedelic compounds (entheogenic substances) demonstrated significant efficacy in treating a range of symptoms, including depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairments, in U.S. special operations forces veterans [presumably suffering from severe PTSD due to all of their immoral deception and covert militant activity involving killing and subterfuge].

This novel approach [taking drugs to treat the head and heart] might offer a beacon of hope for many veterans who do not find relief in traditional therapies.

The government tricked me into becoming a killer
Which psychedelic compound was used? The treatment regimen combined two psychedelic drugs.

The first, [Iboga] ibogaine hydrochloride, is sourced from the West African shrub called iboga. The second, [Bufo] 5-MeO-DMT, is a substance secreted from the [Mexican] Colorado River toad.

Both these substances are categorized as Schedule I drugs under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act, a classification reserved for drugs with no current accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse [which is a disgusting abuse of the law as no one abuses these entheogens for mere recreational use because they have the tendency to cure addiction as well as giving life-changing trips].

This research, spearheaded by The Ohio State University (osu.edu), discovered not only alleviation in symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [Aha!] but also a noteworthy improvement in cognitive functions related to traumatic brain injury. [Entheogens heal both matters of the heart and body? PTSD is a mental disorder, whereas TBI is physical damage to an organism's brain or cranial contents, such as feeder veins and capillaries.]

The latter finding was especially unexpected and sheds new light on the vast potential of psychedelic treatments.
Unique challenges in treating veterans

I was raped by my C.O. He called it 'friendly fire'
Alan Davis, the lead author and the director of the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education (CPDRE) at Ohio State's College of Social Work, emphasized the unique challenges faced by special operations forces veterans.

"Their routine exposure to traumatic events often results in a mix of problems including traumatic brain injury, which predisposes them to a plethora of mental health challenges," said Davis.

He noted the most "striking results" were the observed improvements in cognitive functioning linked to brain injuries.
  • VIDEO: Psychedelic mushrooms have potential to help Americans overcome numerous ailments: Ashley Troxell (FOX News)
How the study was conducted
Most of the veterans in this study involving psychedelic drugs had been on active duty post the 9/11 tragedy. They sought care for a gamut of issues ranging from memory problems, depression, PTSD to sleep disturbances, fatigue, and anger.

An astounding 86% of these veterans had experienced head injuries, attributing many of their symptoms to these past traumas.

To measure the efficacy [effectiveness] of the treatment, 86 veterans were asked to complete pre-treatment questionnaires that gauged various mental health symptoms.

The treatment protocol involved administering a single oral dose of ibogaine hydrochloride and inhalation doses of 5-MeO-DMT on separate days.

These drug administrations were flanked by preparation and reflection sessions [in consideration of set and setting, which are essential to successful psychedelic experiences].

Therapy results from psychedelic drugs
The results were indeed promising. A month after the treatment, the veterans reported significant improvements in symptoms of PTSD, depression, anger, and insomnia.

Moreover, there was a substantial uptick in their life satisfaction. These benefits remained consistent even at the three- and six-month post-treatment check-ins.

Furthermore, the veterans experienced improvements in disability, post-concussive symptoms, and showcased tremendous growth in psychological flexibility and cognitive function.

The latter, improved cognitive function, piqued Davis's interest. He believes further investigation is needed to discern whether this improvement stems from a reduction in mental health symptoms, biological alterations in the brain's signaling, or a combination of both.

Insightful and mystical experiences reported
Man, it was great. The whole world was peace
Moreover, Davis highlighted the association of psychological flexibility with insightful and mystical experiences induced by psychedelics [which should now be called entheogens, as they are not recreational drugs like LSD but rather shamanic substances inducing life-altering spiritual experiences].

"The higher one's psychological flexibility, the more probable is the reduction or mitigation of one's mental health symptoms," he explained.

Post-treatment feedback also revealed intriguing insights into the veterans' personal experiences. Almost half described their psychedelic experience as the most spiritually significant or psychologically insightful of their lives.

However, a smaller fraction (17.1%) also found it to be the most challenging experience they ever encountered. [Beware the potential for freaking out, panicking, or having a nightmare tour of the dark recesses of the mind and memory banks from this and/or past lives and other dimensions. Set and setting and a good guide are vital elements to include in any treatment.]

To ensure the integrity of their findings, Davis and his team adopted a conservative data analysis approach, accounting for the possibility that non-respondents might not have derived the desired benefits from the treatment.

The positive outcomes of this research emphasize the potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies, particularly for veterans with intricate trauma histories.

This underscores the need to further explore psychedelic therapies in U.S. clinical trials. Notably, Ohio State is already diving deeper into the realm by studying psilocybin-assisted therapy for PTSD treatment among military veterans.

For those keen on delving into the intricate details of this study, it's published in the esteemed American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
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Wednesday, January 3, 2024

I'm not lesbian, not bi; call me "abrosexual"

Emma Flint, Metro; Ananda (Dharma Bu Meditation), Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

I came out for support not criticism (Emma Flint)
I’m abrosexual, but it took me 30 years to understand what that meant.

"When did you decide this? Is this even a label? I’ve never heard of it. I support you, obviously, but this doesn’t sound real."

These are just some of the words that greeted me when I came out as abrosexual to a close friend, back in 2020, claims an incredulous Emma Flint. Needless to say, we’re not friends anymore. [I can't believe she thought I was some kind of lesbian].

I know I look like an aggro-sexual, but don't judge me or body shame me, sexist a-holes!
.
C'mon. Do I look like a lesbian? I'm hot.
For those who don’t know what abrosexuality is, in layperson’s terms, it simply means when someone’s sexual identity fluctuates and changes.

I read and re-read the text, the dismissiveness of the message cutting deeper each time. Here I was, sharing my identity with someone I trusted, only for her to scoff at my words.

You all have to treat me like what I say I feel that I am today even if it changes, or it's violence!

Lost in Trans Nation (Dr. Grossman)
Although the easy defense is that one can’t determine someone’s tone from a text message, I think it’s clear that the vibe was far from supportive. It was judgmental and immediately doubtful [as if I'm gay or bi. Where's all that LGBTQIA+ support for my identity? The A stands for asexual, and that's not even a real thing, or I for intersex]. More

Maybe later she'll announce she's transgender or transsexual half the week? Then she'll (they'll?) be gendered correctly and accepted and cherished by Western society.

Lost in Trans Nation

This book by Dr. Grossman, with a foreword by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, has a 4.7 out of 5 stars with 279 ratings.

Throughout the U.S., atrocities are taking place in doctor’s offices and hospital operating rooms. Physically healthy children and adolescents are being permanently disfigured and sometimes sterilized.

Those youth say they’re "transgender," and we — their parents, teachers, therapists, and doctors — are supposed to agree with their self-diagnosis and take a back seat as they make the most consequential decision of their lives: to alter their bodies in order to, we are told, “align” them with their changeable minds.

Medical, educational, and government authorities advise us to support the “gender journeys” of still developing kids, including medical interventions with poor evidence of long-term improvement.

This would be unacceptable in any other field of medicine. Indeed, the same treatments U.S. medical authorities backed by Washington D.C. call “crucial” or “life-saving” have been BANNED in progressive Scandinavian Sweden and Finland, as well as liberal Britain.
How can we make money from confusion?
AUTHOR: Dr. Miriam Grossman, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist whose practice consists of trans-identified youth and their families. In Lost in Trans Nation, she implores parents to reject the advice of gender "experts" and politicians and trust their guts — their parental instincts — in the face of an onslaught of ideologically-driven misinformation that steers them and their children toward risky decisions they may end up mourning for the rest of their lives.

What started small has exploded all over U.S.
The beliefs that maleness and femaleness are human inventions, that the sex of a newborn is arbitrarily “assigned” at birth, and that as a result the child requires “affirmation” through medical interventions — these ideas are divorced from reality.

They are therefore hazardous, especially to children. The core belief that biology can and should be denied is a repudiation of reality and a mockery of what hard biological science teaches about being male and female.

Dr. Grossman believes that parents know their child best; they especially know if they have a son or daughter.

What is going on in America?

But currently in the U.S. when it comes to gender identity, everyone and anyone knows better (school officials, doctors, politicians, therapists, trans activists, crossdressers) than mom and dad.

Schools enable students to live double lives: He's Patrick at home but Patti at school.

Activists tell kids their loving homes are “unsafe” when parents voice doubts about the child’s new identity experiment.

Refusing to see their son as their daughter because the child says so, parents might be reported to child protective services, a development that can lead to the child being taken away and the family’s destruction, so the state can govern the child's life.

Lost in Trans Nation arms parents with the ammunition to avoid or, if necessary, fight what many families describe as the most difficult challenge of their lives.

Why read this book?
What does Buddhism know?
Parents learn what to say and how — at home, at school and, if necessary, to police if they appear at the door.

“Don’t be blindsided like so many parents I know,” warns Dr. Grossman. “Be proactive and get educated. Feel prepared and confident to discuss trans, nonbinary, or whatever your child brings to the dinner table.”

Whether it’s the “trans is as common as red hair” claim, or the child’s “I’m not your son, I’m your daughter” proclamation, or the “Do you prefer a live son or a dead daughter?” threat, says Dr. Grossman, no family is immune, and every parent has to be prepared.

No child is born in the “wrong” body, Dr. Grossman reassures us. Their bodies are just fine; it’s their emotional lives that need healing.

Whether you’re facing a gender identity crisis and battle at home right now, or want to prevent one, read this book as a guide for loved ones rising above the madness.

Thursday, April 30, 2020

How I Switched Off the Pain: Vipassana (film)

Hard Is Easy (documentary, 1/26/20); Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly


Vipassana documentary
Vipassana means "insight" in the exclusively Buddhist language Pali. It is a form of meditation and associated attention practices that produce intuitive direct-knowledge of reality. It is the path of purification, the path to freedom the Buddha taught on top of extraordinary serenity (samadhi, the ecstatic meditative absorptions). Serenity is calm concentration that temporarily purifies the mind/heart, whereas insight meditation produces knowledge, wisdom, and enlightenment, which are permanent liberation and freedom from all suffering.

How was the free 10-day retreat?
(Hard Is Easy) I'm not a woo woo person, but 10 days of complete silence in an insight (vipassana) meditation retreat was a life-altering experience for me.

In this video I tell the full story from how I got myself to sit still for about 120 hours to brain science and psychology of the mind to, of course, the things that were super weird or seemed like it at first.

The goal is not to make anyone try vipassana nor is it the opposite. It took me about four years to finally get myself to try it. And despite my mind-opening experiences, vipassana is a very personal journey. It is probably not for everyone.

I tried many types of meditation before. Unfortunately, most of them were surrounded by spiritual woobee doobee [hogwash, nonsense]. And I got no real benefits from them apart from relaxation.

The vipassana technique (taught by U Ba Khin and his student S. N. Goenka) gave me a glimpse into my deep brain and deeply programmed behavioral patterns.

The group makes it bearable. Everyone's in.
Being more mindful of our crazy minds is the road to a happier life. Many great people use this mindfulness practice.

Colin O'Brady is an endurance athlete who crossed the landmass of Antarctica alone and unsupported. Yuval Noah Harari is a famous historian who wrote Sapiens. Both claim that they could not have achieved what they did without the help of vipassana meditation.

Here's another fun fact: The Buddha was NOT teaching Buddhism. [He taught the efficacy of karma and in his day was known as a Karmavadin, a "Teacher of Karma." He said he taught the Dharma, the liberating Truth, the path to direct realization so that no one thereafter needs a teacher to know what's true.

In fact, the Buddha or "Enlightened One," the former Prince Siddhartha Gautama, was more of a body-and-mind scientist, who did many experiments on himself to rediscover the path when there was no one in the world who knew it. Today, people know it. Find one of those teachers.

What the Buddha always said was, "Don't believe me, Experience everything for yourself and draw your own conclusions." The buddhas merely point the way. Be happy.

Monday, October 15, 2018

"Flexitarian" diets will feed a warming world

(bbc.com/news/science); Crystal Q., Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly


"Flexitarian" diets key to feeding people in a warming world
If the world wants to limit climate change, water scarcity, and pollution then we need to embrace "flexitarian" diets, say scientists.
  • What does "flexitarian" mean? "We can eat a range of healthy diets, but what they all have in common, according to the latest scientific evidence, is that they are all relatively plant-based," says lead author at Oxford Dr. Marco Springmann. "You can go from a diet that has small amounts of animal products, some might call it a Mediterranean-based diet, we call it a flexitarian diet, over to a pescatarian, vegetarian , or vegan diet. We tried to stay with the most conservative one of these, which in our view is the flexitarian one. But even this has only one serving of red meat per week."
Be flexible: Eat the rainbow!
This means eating mainly plant-based foods. It is one of three key steps towards a sustainable future for all by 2050, they say.
 
Food waste will need to be halved and farming practices will also have to improve, according to the study.
 
Without action, the impacts of the food system could increase by up to 90%.
 
Fast on the heels of the landmark report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) comes this new study on how food production and consumption impact major threats to the planet.
The authors say that the food system has a number of significant environmental impacts including being a major driver of climate change, depleting freshwater, and pollution through excessive use of nitrogen and phosphorous. More

Friday, June 1, 2012

Free Yoga Workshops (video)

Julian Walker, Santa Monica Yoga; WhereIsMyGuru.com
() Emotional Intelligence: Inhale love and peace. Exhale surrender and forgiveness. Consider cultivating self-compassion. Feel it. Live more freely from the heart.

I am celebrating my 15th year at Santa Monica Yoga by offering three absolutely FREE one-hour yoga workshop sessions over the Summer!

The specific purpose of these workshops (besides saying thank you) is to provide some useful tools for any students who are dealing with injuries, pain syndromes, tension patterns, or stability issues.
I will provide alternate postures and key points of attention in poses as well as some specific modified sequences designed to be therapeutic.

Typically, in a full class there is a limited amount of attention and time I can give to individual students. This is an opportunity to address specific issues in an efficient way so that people can get the most benefit from their yoga classes.

Best of all, these techniques and sequences can then be brought back into regular classes!


Open Sky Meditation: scanning body awareness opens us up like the sky.
Thoughts, sensations, emotions come and go like clouds in an open sky.

Come with a friend or spouse if you want to learn an optional massage technique or two that might come in handy as well. It will be fun! Teachers, new and experienced students, and massage therapists are all welcome.

The only caveat is that if you are in the acute stage of any injury, observe and take notes instead of participating so you can utilize these tools once healing has progressed a little further.

The FREE sessions will be from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm in the Garden Studio on:
  • Saturday June 30: Low Back and Hip Stability/Flexibility
  • Sunday July 15: Neck and Shoulder Stability/Flexibility
  • Saturday August 18: Low Back and Hip Stability/Flexibility
Although these short workshops are absolutely FREE, space is limited -- so pre-registration is required.


Buddhist Meditation: Stop. Enjoy this meditation. Notice this body.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Study: Women are attracted to other women

Huffington Post, Wisdom Quarterly


Admiring another woman’s looks could have an underlying meaning, because according to recent research, 60 per cent of heterosexual women find other women sexually attractive.

The latest findings from Boise State University discovered that:

  • over half of the 484 straight women questioned had been attracted to another female at some point in their lives
  • a further 45 per cent admitted to kissing a woman
  • 50 per cent confessed to enjoying fantasies about other ladies.

“Women are encouraged to be emotionally close to each other. That provides an opportunity for intimacy and romantic feelings to develop,” says Prof. Elizabeth Morgan from the study. A previous study found that the chances of a woman being attracted to other women increases as she get older. More

Sexual Misconduct?
Wisdom Quarterly
"I kissed a girl, and I liked it, taste of her cherry Chapstick," Katy Perry likes to brag. And as a society we love it. And as parents we worry. And as college girls we think we're the only ones. Is bisexuality or lesbianism "sexual misconduct," breaking the third of the Five Precepts?

This is a difficult question. When asked and pressed one very prominent Buddhist scholar-monk told us yes. He may have worried about why we were asking. The question was specifically about women engaging in sex with other women. But since a man was doing the asking -- and since by monastic disciplinary (Vinaya) rules penetration is what counts as intercourse and "defeat" (parajika) -- the venerable elder may have worried more about the questioner than the question.


(androgynousbeauty)

Obviously homosexuality, bisexuality, experimentation, and child molestation (bacha bazi, pederasty, pedophilia) are rampant throughout the world. But almost nowhere are they spoken of freely. The taboo against molestation and incest is not in committing it but in talking about it, particularly by victims. Molestation leads to unwanted sexual feelings.

If there were no homosexual molestation, it is very likely there would still be a significant percentage of homosexuals in the world's population. However, it would not likely carry the stigma it now does due to its being confounded with the very disturbing issue of child molestation.

Sex with children and children having sex with one another is sexual misconduct (kamesu micchacara). The sexist definition of the term is recounted by monks (in the absence of a nun's tradition in the oldest Buddhist monastic disciplinary code, which is only now being revived after a long absence). The term is detailed for monastics since it involves any sexual or erotic behavior. But for lay Buddhists it is limited and somewhat unclear.

Found in the Numerical Discourses, Book of Tens, Discourse 206 (AN X.206), "sexual misconduct" is defined as sex (presumably intercourse) with a female who is protected by (dependent on) any of ten types of guardians. Surely the same applies for females, who in many traditional societies are spoken of as if they had no sexual agency and were merely receptive.

  • "Abandoning sexual misconduct, one abstains from sexual misconduct; he does not have intercourse with women who are protected by their (1) mother, (2) father, (3) mother and (4) father, (5) brother, (6) sister, or (7) relatives, who have a (8) husband, who are protected by (9) law, or with those already (10) engaged."

(See Bhikkhu Bodhi translation, In the Buddha's Words, p. 159, based on MN41; Saleyyaka Sutra; I 286-90).

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

"The Perils of Lesbianity" (animation)

I. Rony (Wisdom Quarterly)
WARNING: Not intended and probably not suitable for children ()

This short, informative piece pulled from the archives deals with the American and Iranian menace -- lesbianism. It offers insight into how this practice was/is viewed by some.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

3-Minute Meditation Technique


Watch 3 Minute Meditation in Faith & Spirituality  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Stress? Frenzy? Dr. Judith Orloff suggests this simple "meditation." Stop. Take a deep breath (pulling in prana). Place your hand over your heart (activating heart chakra).

This is energy medicine, transforming emotion by this simple technique. The mind goes to a peaceful place as we stand right where we are. In a sense, the technique pulls the calm and levelheadedness we experience when we're calm into the moment when we are not.

It's as simple as that. The reptilian brain (fear, worry, anxiety that thrusts us into a thoughtless, protective, survival-mentality in desperate mode), the linear mind, and our habits have a "normal" way of doing things. They have brought us to stress, worry, and even a frenzy.

The heart, on the other hand, stretches, is flexible, and sees things in new ways. It is like the shaman figure in "The Fall" versus the linear thinkers that lead us to the edge of ruin.

Orloff claims that Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's Nobel Peace Prize laureate and its democratically-elected but deposed leader, wrote her recently stating that she was reading Emotional Freedom using Kindle (eBook reader). Even peace leaders need comfort, Orloff claims. (Hear her interview on The Aware Show).

NEWSFLASH: Our emotional energy literally and measurably affects everything around us, particularly our electronic devices and gadgets (computers, cell phones, iThangs) and energy vampires. Frenzy will lead to frustration with our technology, and it's no coincidence. Patience is transformative and a spiritual practice in itself. We can intuitively know when the time is right.