Why meditate?

JOHN THURSTON · Post by **JOHN THURSTON** » Tue Oct 10, 2000 1:00 am

HI:

Well. almost another 'chi wars'.

How can a force that is so essential be so elusive?

Mindfulness in Tai Chi is practiced in the "form' as a continuing/corrective to the 'techniques'.

Is this the same as 'thinking about it'? Maybe.

then maybe when you need what you have, in the past, been mindful about, it will BE THERE.

Hopefully.

Otherwise Kata and Tai Chi Form is a physical way of (to use Baba Ram Dass's old phrase) "being here now".

In a form one can strive to be in one place.(at a time)

Where might that be, do you think?

JOHN

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Yondan2@aol.com
www.shiningpeace.com
"All Enlightenment Gratefully Accepted"

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Tue Oct 10, 2000 5:30 am

Panther

The good news is that it looks like you have lots of opportunity to change your lifestyle.

The milk/dairy thing is VERY intriguing. It could be coincidence...it could be significant. Both ions are present in dairy food.

The issue of nutritive substances and BP usually has something to do with vascular smooth muscle. Imagine your heart being the pump that produces water in a hose, and the vascular smooth muscle being the nozzle at the end of the hose. When vascular smooth muscle constricts, the water pressure in the hose goes up. When it relaxes, the pressure goes down.

I will give you a quote from Guyton's Textbook of Medical Physiology. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Many different chemical factors can either dilate or constrict local blood vessels. Though the roles of these substances in the overall regulation of the circulation generally are not known, their specific effects can be listed as follows:

An increase in calcium ion concentration causes vasoconstriction. This results from the general effect of calcium to stimulate smooth muscle contraction, as discussed in Chapter 12.

An increase in potassium ion concentration causes vasodilatation. This results from the general effect of potassium ions to inhibit smooth muscle contraction.

An increase in magnesium ion concentration causes powerful vasodilatation, for magnesium ions, like potassium ions, inhibit smooth muscle generally.

{snip}

The only anions to have significant effects on blood vessels are acetate and citrate, both of which cause mild degrees of vasodilatation.

Etc.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Now, you may wonder why I would suggest both calcium and magnesium, when the passage clearly indicates that calcium ions in the blood cause vasoconstriction. Well first of all, diet is all about balance. One has to be very careful about screwing up the balance of one ion vs. another in the blood stream. Calcium and magnesium in the right proportions are very important for bone mineral density. Secondly, most things in the body work in dynamic tension. It's best to have both agonist and antagonist functional for a system to work properly. And finally, calcium has very broad effects in the body. It also affects the tone (resting potential) of nerves (including autonomic system nerves that control BP...), and the contractility of both skeletal and smooth muscle. It is used everywhere in the body. Calcium ions do not stay in the bloodstream for very long. Thus the vasoconstriction effect is transient. And the net effect on the body is neutral or slightly lowered BP.

Also note that the particular formula I mentioned has calcium citrate. The citrate ion has mild beneficial effects. It also is better than calcium carbonate in that it won't change the pH of your stomach and give you constipation.

One final note. Do NOT screw around with taking potassium to lower your blood pressure. Too much potassium will stop your heart. We used to use a potassium chloride injection in the lab to end an animal experiment. You need the right amount of potassium in your diet (readily available in foods like bananas)...and no more.

Hope that helps.

- Bill

Panther · Post by **Panther** » Tue Oct 10, 2000 5:52 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Bill Glasheen:

The good news is that it looks like you have lots of opportunity to change your lifestyle.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Working on it slowly, but surely... (sorry didn't mean to call you Shirley!

)

Thanks for the great information...

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>One final note. Do NOT screw around with taking potassium to lower your blood pressure. Too much potassium will stop your heart. We used to use a potassium chloride injection in the lab to end an animal experiment. You need the right amount of potassium in your diet (readily available in foods like bananas)...and no more.

Hope that helps.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It certainly does! I had a doctor tell me ~6 years ago that I should take a potassium supplement! Woah...

I gave it up after ~8-9 months when things were getting worse instead of better and I got a second opinion. The second doctor did blood tests and told me to stop the potassium because my tests showed too much, not too little. She also told me just to have an occasional banana as you say! Wow... THANKS.

[This message has been edited by Panther (edited October 09, 2000).]

SEAN C · Post by **SEAN C** » Tue Oct 10, 2000 9:47 pm

The present?

What really is the present?

Is it whatever box one encloses oneself in at this time, or is it the continuing process of intermingling energy?

How many times have we endeavored to "think out of the box" only to find ourselves in another box.

Is reality a constuction of words, or is it a multicolored swirling interaction of forces, neither good nor bad, but yin and yang? Maybe just one thing.

The other day, I slapped a cinder block wall, and felt it bow inwards. Instead of the sound of concussion, it made the sound of a conga, from the air held inside. I don't think I'll be doing that anymore.

"I'm sorry boss, I didn't mean to cause the building to collapse."

The present is pregnant with possibility.

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sean

JOHN THURSTON · Post by **JOHN THURSTON** » Mon Oct 16, 2000 12:55 am

No, it is not the present alone.

But I see that you have shifted philosphical foundation into a definition of the present that precludes-certain things.

What I was trying to say was that "point" might be when mind and body are a bit more together, and where one is not distracted, and is concerned only with the "movement" he is NOW undertaking.

I don't think that's what you meant, was it?

JOHN

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Yondan2@aol.com
www.shiningpeace.com
"All Enlightenment Gratefully Accepted"

SEAN C · Post by **SEAN C** » Mon Oct 16, 2000 5:04 am

John Thurston sensei,

Actually, what you described sounds like a good definition of the present to me. Undistracted by past or future. Existing in the movement.

What was I precluding?

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sean