SoothedByRain

Member
  • Content count

    396
  • Joined

  • Last visited

About SoothedByRain

  • Rank
    - - -
  • Birthday 08/15/1991

Personal Information

  • Location
    Brighton, United Kingdom
  • Gender
    Male

Recent Profile Visitors

4,070 profile views

Bookmarks

  1. Most kicking-ass books on creating financial prosperity - Stage Orange
    Most kicking-ass books on creating financial prosperity - Stage Orange
    Here you go @Intraplanetary
    Allan Dib - The 1-Page Marketing Plan
    Cal Newport - Deep Work
    Cal Newport - So Good They Can't Ignore You
    Frederic Laloux - Reinventing Organizations (Stage Yellow book about doing business and management. Opens your eyes to what is possible in that game.)
    George Leonard - Mastery (Do not mistake with Robert Greene's scheisse)
    Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Good Business (It's a Yellow book actually, but so what)
    Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Flow
    MJ DeMarco - The Millionaire Fastlane (The amateur sociology part of the book sucks, conflating stage Green with stage Red and calling it all "Sidewalk", while Blue is "Slowlane" and Orange is "Fastlane", otherwise AAA book, the best one on becoming entrepreneur.)
    Peter Senge - The Fifth Discipline (It's an early Yellow book from the 90., worthwhile read for any business owner, is an intro to systems thinking.)
    Ryan Honeyman - The B Corp Handbook (Stage Green book on having a conscious business, not sacrificing your values for money. It includes and improves on stage Orange ideas.)
    Seth Godin - Purple Cow
    Seth Godin - This is Marketing
    Simon Sinek - Start With Why
    Harvard Business Review - 10 Must Reads on Managing People
    Harvard Business Review - 10 Must Reads on Managing People, Vol. 2
    Harvard Business Review - 10 Must Reads on Managing Yourself (Unabridged)
    Jack Canfield - The Success Principles
    Michael Gerber - The E-Myth Revisited
    Michael Porter - Competitive Strategy (Business 101, it's a classic academic book.)
     

  2. BS Exercises
    BS Exercises
    Contemplate these:
    How am I Full of Shit? (In my spirituality, in family, in sexuality, in emotions, in health…etc)
    How am I hypocrite?
    How do I make excuses for my bullshit?
    Who's bullshit do I complain about to distract me from my own bullshit?
    How am I in denial about my own Bullshit?

  3. Shin's dope post
    Look at your fucking hand
    This is more about venting and expressing myself than anything else, but I still post this here because I think it can help to put some perspective for people on the same situation.
     
    So I had a bitter pill to swallow recently.
    It is that pretty much no one will genuinely care for you, whoever they are (except maybe your mother).
    Everyone you will ever encounter only sees you as a way to satisfy a desire they have, they can't just love you and accept you for who you are, there is always an underlying reason to that.
    When you get this, you will feel alone frequently, because you will know that only you can love yourself, no one else can, and never will.
    The irony of that, is that it can't happen (permanently) until you awaken, because fundamentally you think you are an autonomous entity living separately from everything else.
    That implies that you're denying yourself, and how could you love yourself if you refuse to accept what you are ?
    You can't.
     
    There is no one that will ever love you, or care for you, not selflessly, not if you don't meet their needs.
    You will feel lonely often, but this is totally normal, you're lying to yourself about what you are after all.
    This is a necessary step, to feel isolated from everything and everyone.
    Nothing and no one can connect with you deeply, because no amount of pleasure or social interaction will satisfy the void you're creating for yourself.
    Sometimes you will wish to forget all about this, life seemed easier and more satisfying when you were fully asleep.
    Even if this was true, it is irrelevant,
    You can't go back.
     
    You have to die now.
    You as a concept that thinks is moving this body, breathing this air, thinking those thoughts.
    You don't exist, you never did.
    I'm quite litteral, you don't fucking exist, did you ever find something that feels like you ?
    No, the only thing you ever found was perceptions.
     
    It's all very convincing, but at the end of the day, that's all you've got.
    Perceptions.
    You know what else is purely made of perceptions ?
    An illusion.
     
    That's what you are, a fucking mirage.
    Think about the last character you liked in one of your dream.
    That's what you are, neither real or unreal
    But certainly not what you think you are right now.
    You've put a suit, and totally forgot that you're wearing it.
     
    No wonder you feel alone, you've invited yourself to a party with millions other "you".
    But since those you aren't perceived as such, and that you only have perceptions
    You always assume,
    In the back of your mind, that you are alone, unfulfilled, restless.
     
     
    Everything that you do in your life is a way to distract yourself from this.
     
     

     
     

  4. Amazing thread.
    Mystical experiences vs radical recontextualizations
    Let's take it from the @Leo Gura's latest video:
    There are always contents of perception. These contents are what we call facts. Facts are self-apparent (obvious).
    Facts are always explicit, even if they are arrived at through exploration of a question to which answer is unknown at first.
    However, which facts are perceived is 'decided' implicitly.
    No fact that is being perceived is the process by which facts become self-apparent (obvious).
    This process in which facts become self-apparent is what we call context. Context is the implicit part of perception.
    Context may become explicit through language, but the facts that are being 'produced' are not the context that produces them.
    That is because the original context we are describing is replaced by the context of describing a context.
    Therefore, the present context is always absent from perception. At the moment of the production of facts, the context is always implicit.
    Both context and facts are what informs our ability to act.
    Recontextualization is a way to influence actions by changing context without changing the facts.
    There are various depths of recontextualization. Depending on the amount of actions it influences, the recontextualization may be radical.
    In my current understanding, a mystical experience is a radical recontextualization that influences the ability to describe one's context (making it explicit).
    This influence is what leaves space for novelty to arise. This is why we say that we have experienced the death of the self, because the context is what we usually identify with.
    The mystical experience however does not leave us context-less. The context simply becomes unknown, and by repeated attempts to describe it, we arrive at farther and farther awakenings. That is the role of contemplation.

  5. Chakra's
    Chakras: Real or not? Testimonials please
    Chakra's are simply ways to describe certain systems of energy patterns either internally or externally. Its not that hard to find out for yourself. Don't look for chakra's like actual physical objects. Or even as energy fields. Look for them by investigating their patterns and outcomes. Their like the current in a stream of water. There's no actual thing called a "current," yet you can locate it by looking at the way the water flows. 
    So the only way to be able to "see" chakra energy in action is by looking at their particular patterns and outcomes. Just like a system, there's many, many elements which all influence eachother. But to be able to locate the system itself, you first have to connect the dots for the framework to become visible. Before that there are no chakra's. 
    Like Spiral Dynamics, you need to develop a certain taste to be able to recognise them. Closed mindedness is not that. Read a lot of books about them, meditate on their specific properties and at some point they will become very noticable in every facet of your life. And most importantly, you'll easily be able to pinpoint where there is resistance and why some of those resisting patterns keep returning. It's quite empowering. 
     

  6. Breathing info
    How To Breathe Properly And Oxygenate Your Body
    You are breathing too much.  Practically everyone in modern society is chronically mildly hyperventilating, due largely to being overly comfortable, sitting down all day, junk food, overeating, underactivity etc etc.  Optimizing your breathing is, in my opinion, the single most beneficial thing you can do to improve your health and well being (okay tied with meditation and relaxation).
    Proper breathing is unfortunately overlooked in the health and fitness community, and of course in society at large.  On top of that, the breathing advice we DO get is often counterproductive.  For example "take deep breaths".  On the surface this may sound like good advice.... wouldn't bringing in a ton of air help oxygenate your body?  The answer is no.  It's counter-intuitive (like so many things in self-actualization), but breathing LESS oxygenates your body MORE.  I won't get too scientific but it has to do with the carbon dioxide in your body (see Bohr effect).  You actually do not breathe because you are hungry for oxygen, you breathe to get rid of carbon dioxide.  Carbon dioxide, though often demonized as a toxic byproduct of breathing, is required to transport oxygen into your cells and bloodstream.  Our goal is to increase your tolerance for carbon dioxide, so that more of this gas can stay in your body for longer, so that more oxygen can be transported into your bloodstream and cells.  And in general, more oxygenation = better health and well being.  To add just a little more science, you want to be breathing through your nose, because the air interacts with your sinuses to produce nitric oxide which further increases oxygenation.  (Increasing nitric oxide is another extremely worthwhile endeavor in addition to breathing properly).  Additionally, your nose warms the air and filters out impurities.
    Proper Breathing
    Inhaling and exhaling through the nose Slow, gentle, calm, soft Non-visible, quiet No sighing, yawning, gasping, coughing, abrupt inhales or exhales, etc Using the diaphragm ("horizontal" breathing, not "vertical") Exhale is not forceful, rather it is simply a relaxation of the body Slight pause after exhale Rhythmic and regular Less than you are currently breathing Better advice than "take deep breaths" would be: relax your body and take softer, gentler breaths.  Think about it this way, what does a calm, healthy, fit individual breathe like at rest?  You wouldn't even notice their breathing.  Then, consider an overweight, unfit, anxious individual breathing at rest.  This person's breathing would likely be visible, perhaps you could hear it, they might even be breathing through the mouth sighing a lot etc.  Consider also when you are deep in meditation... with your body and mind as calm as can be, your breathing can almost become nonexistent. 
    Ideally, you want to get your "control pause" as high as possible.  Your control pause is the amount of time you can comfortably hold your breath after exhaling.  To measure, sit upright, comfortably, relaxed, and breathe as normal for a few minutes.  Then, take a normal inhale, and normal exhale.  Hold your breath until the first inclination to breathe occurs.  The number of seconds between that exhale and inhale is your control pause.  Note, you should be able to resume breathing normally after measuring your control pause.  If you have to take a big gasp or feel out of breath, you have held your breath too long and improperly measured your control pause.  A good goal is to get your control pause over 20 seconds.  Even more is better.  Don't worry, I was at like 3-5 seconds when first starting.  Every few seconds you can increase to your control pause has a substantial influence of your health and well being.  I especially notice it in my mood, cognition, mental health etc.
    Proper Breathing Exercise
    There are many exercises, but the goal of most is to maintain a slight air hunger for some time.  Don't overdo this, you wouldn't try to bench 300 lbs your first day at the gym Sit upright, completely relax your body Gently, softly, slowly, inhale through the nose.  Inhale slightly less than you would naturally Exhale through your nose by completely relaxing, especially your diaphragm and stomach Wait a little bit longer to inhale than you would naturally Continue for as long as you'd like.  This is a great way to meditate / start your meditation Breathe in this manner while also doing physical activity like walking, running, lifting weights etc etc for SERIOUS health gains (try not to open your mouth!) (can't stress this bulletpoint enough) You will know you are doing well when your extremities feel warmer, you are producing more saliva, and you feel calmer and more at peace Other tips to oxygenate your body
    Exercise Walk, walk, walk Don't sit too much Eat oxygenating foods: Beets (MVP), spices like ginger turmeric cayenne etc, high nitrate vegetables like leafy greens (nitrates increase nitric oxide, beets have the most which is why they're MVP... In fact, I would wager that most of the benefits of eating plenty of vegetables comes from their nitrate content), raw cacao, cordyceps mushroom Meditation and relaxation Properly hydrate Do not overeat or eat junk food Look into fasting Improve your sleep quality (may need to write a separate post on this sometime) TAPE YOUR MOUTH SHUT AT NIGHT WHILE SLEEPING (maybe the single easiest yet most beneficial thing you can do for your health) Some Resources
    Patrick Mckeown's youtube videos and book "The Oxygen Advantage" Research the "Buteyko Method"  
    Some Caveats
    The goal is to make your unconscious breathing more in alignment with the above descriptions of proper breathing I.e., breathing exercises where you DO hyperventilate can potentially have benefits as well (Wim Hoff method, shamanic breathing, etc), but chronically hyperventilating (which practically all of us do to some degree) is harmful, and in general breathing less throughout your day makes you healthier  
     
     
    "A perfect man breathes as if he is not breathing"  -Lao Tzu