Michael569

I'm working with someone who keeps having persistent nightmares returning to traumatic experiences of the past. And while we've improved other areas of their life, this one isn't improving much. They are already working with a psychotherapist but I feel like this needs a different approach but is beyond my scope of practice. Can you guys recommend any books or tips for someone going through this? Thanks!

Thank you guys for all the advice! I've made a lot of notes. Let's see what happens a month from now on our next catch up Cheers!

Sounds like the real issue could be a lack of serious work ethic. I don't know the first thing about philosophy but unless you plan to become an academic tutor and get paid by an institution such as university, then you'll have to figure out how to become a business owner and get paid by clients (e.g. Youtube stream from views & adds ) If you are serious about starting some sort of business in philosophy or otherwise, you just have to embrace the work it requires. Being a biz owner means hundreds of hours pouring down boring work like marketing, website, SEO, content development, editing, research. Because how else are you going to get found by the people who are supposed to pay you? Becoming an influencer in 2023 is getting insanely difficult, not impossible just ridiculously difficult. The earlier you can swallow that bitter truth the better. If you need to be excited and highly stimulated to work, otherwise you abandon all projects, then it's never going to happen. Pick a project and pursue it to the end even if you have to push through boredom and work till 3 am. Some of my greatest progress were times when I felt the most bored with the work I was doing. The exciting stuff is usually pretty fleeting. I'm not a fan of content like David Goggins and the whole bro culture but one thing they say I absolutely agree. Unless you are willing to commit your mind, your heart and your time and pursue that thing as if your life depended on it, it won't ever happen. The more often you quit the more difficult it becomes to finish something because your mind will associate difficulty with reason to quit. If you're saying you have a lot of free time, stable income and desire to make a difference then that puts you in a very fortunate position to pursue a private endeavour Embrace it while you're young, without kids and without major obligations. You'll be in your 30s and mid 30s before you know it

Maybe the cardiovascular system response is the same but the mental response is definitely not the same. Running outside engages all of your senses, it actively forces you to track the surface, adjust, avoid obstacles, take in smells, objects etc. Running on the treadmill makes me feel like I'm being punished for something - it is depressing, boring and you can't even sweat properly without people giving you disgusted looks. Maybe its a mind game but try comparing running along a forest track or even just a city at night with running in a stuffy gym and looking at sweaty back of the guy in front of you That being said, I think a 10-minute run to wrap up a workout if you;re trying to burn some extra fat is a good idea but it is far from enjoyable

You're killing me with this unbroken sentence ?? but yah I agree.

Sure thing but I'm sure we can come up with better ways to remember the dead than visiting an overpriced, depressing block of stone each year in the middle of thousand other blocks of stone. As a kid, havig to visit the graves of people I didn't even know just reminds me of so many unpleasant experiences, I'd hate my grandkids having to go through that. Cremate, plant a tree, or maybe carve out the initials of that person on the bark - sounds so much better. With time, that tree will be forgotten once the closest people are gone or have moved on., becoming part of the ecosystem and even serving as a haven for birds and insects. No need to occupy space for 200 years in the middle of the cemetery. Most of us are not that special.

That's why you should get cremated (they better make sure you are dead tho) No but seriously, before I die I want to instruct my kids to burn me, mix my ashes with soil and plant a tree in that in a nice foresty place. I've read about people who did that and it sounds like a magnificent way to go. Fuck paying 5 grant for a grave and then having your family make depressing visits each year and buy overpriced candles and flowers. Give that money back to your family, they can use it better than some old guy at the edge of death.

@Happy Lizard Its a complicated question, I'm with you, I remember being a bit stuck on this part back then. You could be thinking about it from a perspective of building a framework. Think of where you would like to be with that particular value, what would it be like to embody the value to your best abilities and use that as an inspiration and a framework to aspire to. Then you know if you are progressing or stagnating. But you are also right that this is a life-long game. I like to review the "me-sheet" about once a year and just check how I'm doing. Kinda like checking a night sky when travelling at night. You are not getting 100% accurate info but if you know how to read it, it can give you a fairly good idea if you're at least roughly heading the right way One important lesson I only learned later on was that LP is not just a box-ticking exercise (I approached it that way the first time) - but you are actually truly getting to know yourself. So approach each question as archeologist who just stumbled upon the remains of an ancient civilisation and is slowly uncovering bits and pieces, one day at a time. He's not there to brush soil for 8 hrs and go home - for him, he is making history, he is changing the way we perceive our place in the world. That's what you are doing - you're becoming aware of who you are on a deeper level. And if it mens taking 6 hours to complete an exercise, it will be worth it when you get to the practical part.

Embodying a core value goes a bit deeper than describing a project associated with holding on to that value. The things you are describing is the micro level of embodiment, the small tasks and projects you are working on. Think about this question from a macro perspective. Embodiment means, in what way, is that value part of your personality? How do you embody that value the way you talk, the way you interact with people and environment the way you perceive your role in society? How is every conscious moment of your time being directed to honour that value? A core value is like an extension of your mind, it is inseparable from your personality, in fact the cluster of your core values are one of the things that make you "who you are". Let's take an example of "Helping people" - embodying that value will extend beyond a project you are working on. It is all of the following and more: In what ways are you improving yourself to be of better service to others? What routines and habits are you developing to be able to honour that value better? How are you eliminating factors that prevent you from serving other people better (e.g. egocentric friends, nay-sayers, toxic environment) what do you do each day to be better at that thing you really value? How do you see yourself evolving over the years to embody that value even more and become a living & breathing epitome of "the caretaker" These things are kinda hard to put into words because they may seem a bit general and vague but I think you know what I mean. Like when you look at a person that lives and breathes what they are preaching. That you can see the energy, wisdom and experience shining through the pores of their skin (as woo woo as that sounds). That's the true embodiment. does that make sense?

Damn, I hope you'll find the bright side of life one day. There's gotta be something that would make life worth living for you. Here if you need to talk to someone. (just offering a pair of ears, not pitching any service) All the best!

Do you think Lex is a good person to talk to about deconstructing reality and nonduality? He is a sharp lad but I've not seen him have those types of conversations with people. It would probably be more like practical spirituality for busy people 101

Any that don't lead to loss of muscle mass and help you increase V02 max will do. Also, quite important, they should be able to enjoy it.

Have you ever tried to question your mind deeply on what it is you want to do in life? I don't mean a surface levels 2-minute reflection while having a coffee but spending hours with a journal asking yourself deep questions that engage the more reflective and executive parts of your brain. It takes a while to get into that state. I find that for me, it is time after midnight when the world gradually slows down. Designate yourself a 2-hour slot for deep reflection. Start with a 20-30 minute deep meditation to get yourself more connected with your intuition and your inner wisdom - this also helps to shut up the lizard brain and engage the deepest regions of your prefrontal cortex and your white matter with the highest density of neurons and dendrites. From that state grab a journal and write for 90 minutes straight until your head hurts. Then leave it and go to bed. Reflect on what you have written the next day. If you do this 1-2 a week for a few months, you will have more answers than anyone here could ever give you

Damage done in a week can probably be fully restored within 6-12 months. Loading up on some probiotic foods, high-fibre carbohydrates, different variety of vegetables and mushrooms and even a double round of some strong wide-diversity probiotics would be a good starting strategy. Other things you can do is spend more time outdoors, being in contact with animals, other people, gardening (if you have that availability) and basically coming in contact with new surfaces, especially the earth and soil.

Congrats ? always a good decision. For breakfast oats, fruits and other wholegrains like quinoa , wheat, spelt or buckwheat work well You can also try whole wheat pasta or other types of pasta like lentil, bean, chickpea, edamame etc. - go high fibre when you can. Regular potatoes are awesome too when made as whole rather than as french fries. I use them in batch cooking all the time. Jacket potato with bean curry and styr fried veggies takes a while to make but its worth it Raised as said above can be made in thousand different ways if you're a bit creative And don't forget starchy veg

thanks for taking the time to edit all those small videos ??and having me over for the mental health week event. Such a wonderful experience to have been part of it.

@Schizophonia pay per post on this quackery pseudoscientific site? ??? Holy f**k i had no idea. Talk about an unethical business model

@Schizophonia I'm not, however I've seen others to talk about it plenty of times plus I've had a sneak peak into some of his content over the years. Enough to gauge the direction of the group Ofcourse you were banned lmao, it's a playground for boys with wounded masculinity they don't like outsiders who don't conform

yeah I agree with that Those may all be true. I wouldn't have a problem accepting that this is indeed what happens (for a short time), maybe 20-40 times after eating the rice. Maybe, but maybe not. ...but Here is the problem with this type of reasoning where it is applied in the absolutes it sounds cool so people are attracted to this like flies - everyone loves complicated pathways that suddenly explain a subjective bias they already had (e.g. "my favourite influencer said that soy causes manboobs and now I have a cool mechanism" - soy blocking AR in vitro. those mechanisms are usually observed in-vitro or in rodent research - not humans Once we start bridging over to humans are translating short-term mechanistic speculations to humans (the way Ray does for example in the seed oil topic). Especially where the mechanistic data is superseded by large scale human evidence that often shows the opposite. Here are some examples of that where this type of reasoning basically hits the wall CLAIM: Soy Phytoestrogen has been found in vitro to be beta-oestrogen receptor agonists as well as blockers of Androgen Receptor (AR) MECHANISTIC CONCLUSION: Soy causes cancer and reduces testosterone (a proper mechanistic idiot will say "say turns men into soyboys with manboobs" CONTRADTING HUMAN DATA: soy protects from cancer as shown by hundreds of thousands of ppl human data and there is no evidence of people in the highest quadrant of soy consumption to have statistically lower levels of testosterone, DHT or reduced fertility as a matter of fact. CLAIM: Polyunsaturated fats from seed oils cause production of radical oxidative species (free radicals) in-vitro MECHANISTIC CONCLUSION - therefore seed oils cause inflammation, cancer, ageing and heart disease CONTRADTCTING HUMAN DATA (epidemiology and clinical data): PUFAs where replacing saturated fats reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, fatty liver disease and diabetes. CLAIM : In vitro, coffee increases the PH of the chemical solution MECHANISTIC CLAIM: coffee acidifies the organism and causes disease CONTRADICTING HUMAN DATA: coffee consumption has been associated with protective effects against most cancers as well as Parkinsons disease and (in moderate quantities) even against osteoporosis. Anyway, I'm not looking to turn this into another heated discussion This has been debated over and over in here and I'm sure on Ray's forum people would absolutely devour me and kick me out for these arguments. They love their mechanisms, so that's cool. I just think we need to be more responsible, at least those of us who apply this knowledge to alter the health and behaviour of other people.

he loves his M.E.C.H.A.N.I.S.M.S. doesn't he Anyway, not looking for a fight here, couldn't help myself , forgive the old man

Spoken like a true Ray Pete acolyte @StarStruck as others said it depends. There are multiple variants of rice you can eat. The fibre content is imo the only factor you should be looking at. I don't know to what degree the arsenic issue is a real issue or just another phobia - time will probably show. Plenty of other carbohydrate types to try instead - most of the whole grains that can easily replace it are probably healthier and more nutritious.

thanks, yes I think she needs a deeper work. I do not know a lot of therapists who would do this type of work (well, 2 on this forum but not sure if they are still practicing) - it is really difficult to find a good therapist in this area. She would definitely benefit from IFM but I believe there is such thing as having too many therapists. Right now she has: NHS psychiatrist, NHS GP, private psychotherapist + me. But she definitely needs to go deeper. Thanks, I agree with these points. Her sleep is all over the place, it is something we are working on, mainly it is being disrupted by her nightmares hence the existence of this thread. Good to know about the sleep paralysis. Thank you, I will recommend this to her as a potential tool to look into.

well, there you go. Screw the mockery. In 20 years when half of your business major colleagues are depressed, burned out and hypertensive, you can be the one pulling the middle finger. Just go for it. It will be a good start but don't expect job offers straight after school, you may be looking at a life long journey but if you are passionate you will figure it out. With that said, before you figure it all out and area ready to transition fully you may need a job to pay your bills so some form of admin work is probably unavoidable for a few years. That is my journey at least.

Might be worth the shot That's interesting. She does report having sleep paralysis quite a bit. Has anything helped with that while you were in the mids of it? Somehow I feel that her SSRIs might be making this worse but I can't prove it.

Do you exercise? How many times a week and how hard? Do you eat carbohydrates? Sufficient amount? Sleep's okay? Because it might improve all those things you mentioned. Not to mention if indeed suboptimal testosterone is the issue (excluding conditions like hypogonadism), resistance training, eating enough carbohydrates, correcting sleep and managing stress decently enough may just be enough to fix that. I'm yet to see anything in the supplemental or herbal word that's any better than taking sugar pills (long term) It's kinda dumb and simplistic but from my experience the most basic strategies are the most underutilized ones TRT is certainly an option but I'd leave it as a last resort where everything else has failed and where levels are so low that they are now increasing your risk of CVD