Arman

I second this. This book changed my life when I was around your age, Ray.

Hi Ray. I'm sorry to hear you're going through a difficult time. I'm sure people here may be able to point you in a good direction. I recommend you introduce yourself to 'mindfulness' practice. It's about returning to the present moment and it will help to process emotions and create peace. Emotions, even negative ones, only cause problems when we push against and resist them. Mindfulness can help us become more conscious and less fear based. I'm on my phone at the moment so it's a bit difficult to link you to resources, but you can make youtube searched for 'mindfulness', 'mindfulness practice' or 'what is mindfulness?' to find good things. I recommend the teacher Jon Kabat-Zinn. He has lots of good stuff on youtube as well.

You can have sex during NoFap. At least nofap as the modern movement kinda thing. It can have lots of impressive effects, especially in conjunction with meditation and taking care of your body. I don't think its going to be viable permanent or long term for 99% of people. I think its something every man should at least try for a few weeks to gain insight into themselves energetically. Quitting porn would be something I wouldn't mind doing though, because I think it can have a detriment on sex life.

Take radical action

My name is is Arman, I'm 22 and living in Western Australia. When I was 16 I discovered the book The Power of Now. As a kid I was about as anxious as most, and the book helped me to develop a lot of peace and put me on the journey I'm on now. I became interested in weed and psychedelics over the years which was eventually dropped for yoga and meditation. I have a deep interest in methods and practices that release emotional imprinting, as it's helped me find a lot of happiness, self love and freedom of expression. I enjoy talking. My dream at this point would to be what Joe Rogan does and just have great conversations for a living. I would like to travel as a minimalist for a few years. One day I'd like a family with a huge garden and lots of plants and dense plant-life. My greatest passion in life now is growing to become less inhibited in creative expression.

No problem. The book is now within common domain. It's still being published and ebooks are available on amazon, but you can also get the ebook in multiple formats legally from here. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7452

Yes!! I love Michael Brown. One of the most powerful books I've read. A potent and nothing short of very intense process for releasing emotional imprinting. I love listening to him talk on youtube as well.

Check out and find information on Yerba Mate, Cordyceps, He Shou Wu and Reishi. Yerba Mate is a non-caffeine based stimulant and the rest are adaptogenic mushrooms that are revered for all around health and energy benefits. There are lots of adaptogens out there but these are some with the most studies, if that's something that is important to you.

I guess it's different for everyone. For me it's a kind of conscious creating or practice of feeling one with the greater reality.

I think a cool idea would be to use your phones recorder to do a daily audio journal. You can set goals, talk about the previous day, discuss where you're at with yourself. I would personally set a certain amount of time aside to be very mindful. Like 10 minutes of solid mindfulness.

Let me know if you need an editor.

In my experience, taking on exercise as regular habits or practice has been a lot more successful when it's been something I genuinely enjoy doing. Walking is a good idea. You can also start out your mornings by putting on some music and alternating between doing jumping jacks, running on the spot and intervals of a few pushups, if you can do them. You don't have to push yourself hard, but if you turn it into a daily habit it will go a long way and eventually you'll be inspired to take on more exercise practices.

I really enjoyed mantra meditation using I AM for a long time but eventually had to drop it. Now I simply follow my breath for 20m. When my attention moves to a thought, judgement or sensation, I notice it and gently return back to my breath.

Could you speak on being at the point where you feel confident enough in the depth of your understanding to coach people? What I kinda I mean is, did you or do you experience self-doubt? Or did you ever worry that you would be stumped by something, or feel hypocritical or uneasy about offering advice about something when maybe still struggling in your own life? It seems like an interesting balance to keep. Basically what I'm asking is how did you know you were ready. Dealing with someone 1 on 1 seems to feel like a paradoxically heavier responsibility than releasing a video to the masses. Thanks for the thread.

I've been wanting to switch to a vegetarian/pescetarian diet when I have a steady income so I can buy all the food I need. This thread's made me realized just what a pathetic excuse it is. I'm gonna replace one of my meals each day with fruit.

I think peoples concerns are valid, but not always necessarily a reflection of what pick-up actually is. Like a lot of people have never really checked out the material. Use your own barometer for deciding what is a reflection of authenticity and use your common sense. Give it a try it's awesome. Lifes gonna be pretty lame if you can't talk to girls dude. It will give you a lot of confidence.

David Deidas book has been recommended a lot so it's on my amazon list, but I just realized he has a lot of content on youtube so thanks for helping me discover that. I love discussion on the masculine/feminine. Define radiance?

That's cool man. You're lucky to be exposed young. I got into Eckhart Tolle when I was 16 and it helped a lot. I also remember being really fanatic about it and thinking it was the answer to everyone's problems if they would only just 'get it'. I think I probably annoyed a lot of people. Just be aware that 99% of the time words are useless so just lead by example and eventually people will open up to you and you'll become attuned to when to share and when not to.

I think what you give and get is gonna be a reflection of where you're at.

Gotta love communities.

I wish I could remember the videos title and its full contents, and if anyone does then post it here - but it was one where Leo was talking about how he went on a retreat and was hanging out with this younger dude for a while. Something in that video moved me. I really like the image of them together, Leo further down the path and the kid essentially just starting. I think it gave Leo a lot of perspective into the whole journey, and it did for me as well. Also the video with that fingering technique is pretty legit too.

I like My Big Toe by Thomas Campbell. It's a physicists attempt at typing together physics and metaphysics. It's really far out. He offers the PDF online but it's really long so it'd easier to read it physically. Tom was one of the physicists from the book Journeys out of the Body by Robert Monroe (a famous book on outer body experiences. A term which Robert himself coined) I also like Autobiography of a Yogi. It's a devotional text by yogi Paramahansa Yogananda. That book turned me from agnostic/atheist to... something else, overnight.

I think most Yoga in the west is has been diluted to something closer to calisthenics than to its original form. From my understanding, true yoga is spirituality in action. Reading the sutras of patanjali that Leo mentioned is a good idea to gain an understanding of it. It's the principle text upon which most of modern yoga is formed. It's actually really short and will provide a lot of insight. When most people hear the word, they think of physical movement and contorting your body into certain postures but these are called Asanas and it's just one branch of yoga. In some traditions, asanas are really just a way to limber up the body physically and energetically in anticipation of the more intense meditative practices. Practices can range from meditation to self inquiry, taking action and 'doing your duty' in life (called karma yoga) or even pretty mind-altering breathing exercises. Here's a good pdf translation of the sutras: http://www.swamivenkatesananda.org/clientuploads/publications_online/Enlightened_Living_by_Swami_Venkatesananda.pdf