Sitting in a Car:
10 June 2007The Enemy of Qi Flow -
I took an 8 hour drive today. I think many people will recognize there are some things that happen to you when you spend too much time in the same position. When we got out of the car about 2/3rds of the way to our destination I felt so slow and heavy. Luckily we spent a few minutes strolling around a sculpture garden with some gigantic peacocks in the sun. That walking had the effect of clearing the boredom (for lack of a better word) from my body and mind and gave me a good shot at making the rest of the trip. I had illusions of going to the hotel’s fitness center and trying out some of the equipment, but I don’t have any appropriate clothes to wear. I’m here for work and I shortsightedly brought only what I needed. meh… I don’t like working out in public anyway.
So, What have we learned today? When you find yourself stuck in a position overlong, incorporate some movement: physical and mental if possible. think about something: have a conversation, read something, and walk around. Don’t just stand next to your car waiting to get back on your way. You’ll be more fresh when you arrive where you’re going. And nobody likes that not-so-fresh feeling.
The Five Chinese Elements - Overview
13 April 2007This article is intended to indoctrinate you or at least tempt you with the magical world of ancient Chinese Five Element philosophy. This material comes to you paraphrased from a couple of sources: 1) the sketchy “8th” chapter of the original medical text - the Nei Jing and 2) the wild and awesome books of a British guy who started with that material and took it a little too far.
J.R. Worsley, who wrote the second sources referenced above, reopened the use of Chinese medicine for spiritual and emotional components of physical disease, which allowed for a truly holistic approach to medicine. The elements themselves are almost like code words for a broad classification of body parts, thought patterns, symptoms, feelings, and cycles we go through. The Disclaimer: The concepts and stereotypes found within are not to be used to prejudge anyone or their propensity for particular disorders of the body, mind, or choice.
There are 5 elements in this system: all things fall into one of the elements. More important to this concept is the movement from one element into another, but rarely will you find someone who has a true ability to explain the nuance of how they flow into one another. I certainly don’t have it, and I’ve seen perhaps one mysterious practitioner who appeared to, but they sure as hell weren’t giving up any trade secrets to me.
The 5 elements are: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood. This order is called the creative or generating cycle, think of it in a ring. So here we go - the natural essence of fire is to create ash, which is earth, earth moves and compresses and within forms metal ores, metal, in their stereotypical coolness condense water, and water naturally nourishes living things i.e. wood. There is also a controlling cycle, or consumptive cycle, it goes: wood controls earth (by sucking out its basic elements) earth controls water (think of dikes or the ocean giving way to the rising continents), water controls fire (kind of duh), fire controls metal (how do you manipulate metal? heat it up and bang on it), and metal controls wood (by chopping it down - take that wood!).
Here’s a very quick description of the essence of each element:
FIRE - fire is the expansive element, it grows out. It corresponds to the color red and heat and motion, and intangibility. it represents the part of your life when you’re dynamic and expanding your possibilities rather than paring them down. It’s closely tied to sex, and all things related to sex, except having kids, which is for later elements, but the sex part is fire.
EARTH - earth is the wholesome, nurturing provider. It ripens… you ripen.. the color is yellow and the property is dampness (don’t be confused yet.. just wait).. and it’s quite tangible.. somewhat more yielding than metal, but still… here’s where the babies come in. This is the pregnancy and child-rearing years.. this is having your entire raison d’etre be giving your children a roof over their head and food in their gullet.
METAL - metal is unyielding like I said. It’s contracting. It’s become time to prioritize what is really important because your options are being pared down by time. It’s associated with the color white, and it’s property is dryness. This is when you’re sad your kids are leaving home. perhaps.
WATER - water is the end of life and the beginning. The survival mode, keep it simple. having enough to survive is kind of a theme here. It’s withdrawn into the very seed of existence… starting to feel the esoteric bent of this philosophy here.. The color is black (no, not blue. think depths of the ocean). The property is coldness (again.. ocean = cold; muddy soil = damp)…
WOOD - wood is growing up, moving forward, very purposeful and direct. Think of an impetuous know-it-all ass, especially a teen-aged one. Too young to have any idea there’s a great deal of things they don’t know. Very comfortable assessing right vs. wrong. Color is green (or blue - i know.. the character in Chinese means both). The property is not coming to me at this moment. probably dispersing. how about that… I’ll just go with that for now.
This article is a broad introduction to these elements and concepts. As you may be able to see it will take quite a bit more explanation to make much use of them. In the coming weeks I’ll go through each element one at a time to give you more of the flavor and experience of it.
Ok… That’s enough of my precious time for now. I have more important things to do tonight, like unravel the intricacies of what makes my cats really want to sleep on the ironing board, and how it is that they know only one can sleep on it at a time, lest it fall over… without ever having caused it to fall over.
If you have questions or accolades, don’t hesitate to share them. critiques or factual corrections will not be tolerated.
Brett
10 Tips to Help Add More Vegetables and Fruits to Your Diet
3 April 2007I’m not a big fan of dieting, especially when the food restrictions are ridiculous. But lately I’ve been trying to lose weight with exercise and I decided to compliment the exercise with a diet.
I dramatically cut the amount of meat that I ate in my diet to try and lower my cholesterol, but I found that I was hungry all the time. After a week or two of this I had to figure out how to add more food to my diet without adding too many calories.
I found the best way to keep full and not ruin your diet is to add A LOT of fruits and vegetables. Most vegetables are practically zero calories and fruits help with energy, so adding them in substitution for starches and meats is really helpful.
Here are some tips that I’ve found that helped me add more fruits and vegetables to my diet:
Buy your produce on a regular and more frequent schedule
When I first started trying to add more fruits and vegetables I found that I was over buying them in large quantities because I only went grocery shopping every couple weeks. The result was spoiled fruits and vegetables that I had to throw out. I’m going to the store at least once a week now.
Only buy as much as you will eat or less
Once you are visiting your local market more frequently it will be easier to manage how much you buy at one time, but at first just buy small quantities and see how much you finish.
Find what you like and start with that
Don’t force fruits and vegetables that you don’t like thinking that you’ll “learn to love it.” Buy what you know you like. You’ll eventually get sick of those and you’ll look for something else for variety, you may end up liking something you hate, but don’t start with it.
Prepare as much of your produce as possible as soon as you get home
I buy a lot of lettuce for salads. When I first started I would make my salads when I wanted them, but I found myself having less salad than I should have because I didn’t want to take the time to cut vegetables. Now when I get home I cut up everything ahead of time. I put the prepared salads in tupperware and they keep for longer than they would if they weren’t prepared.
Snack on fruit
When you are supplementing your diet or changing your diet there is a tendency to be hungry ALL THE TIME for the first week or month. The best thing you can do is to snack throughout the day. I’ve been using fruit for this because I don’t like fruit with my meals. Occasionally I’ll have some celery or carrots as snacks, but I find fruits to be more filling during the day.
Try to add a vegetables to every meal
You can add some sort of vegetable to every meal. Green beans, salad, etc. can go with just about anything.
Garnish vegetables with herbs, spices, and light oils or butter
Vegetables get really boring, at least I think so, but you can give them a lot more variety by adding some fresh herbs and spices.
Get it in juice form
Before I got serious about adding fruits and vegetables I used to get my daily allotment from V8 and Odwalla. I’m not saying that you should do this exclusively, but if you find that you aret getting enough fruits and vegetables right now and you don’t want to put any effort into adding them to your diet, juice is a good alternative.
Get a blender
This is the best thing I have ever done for my diet. I started with a juicer, but that just wasted a lot of fruit. With a blender you get to make smoothies with yogurt, berries, fruits, and juice. There are so many combinations you can try that you’ll never get bored using your blender to create delicious concoctions.
Get a food processor
I bought a blender-food processor combo thing, but having a food processor is great. I use it for salsa and making hummus.
Hopefully these tips will help to get you eating more fruits and vegetables on a regular basis.
Anthony
