Tag Archives: Health

BOOKS: “Tranquil Sitting” by Yin Shi Zi

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Tranquil Sitting: A Taoist Journal on Meditation and Chinese Medical QigongTranquil Sitting: A Taoist Journal on Meditation and Chinese Medical Qigong by Yin Shih Tzu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Site

This manual is an English translation of a work earlier published in Chinese. It is nominally on Taoist meditation and is written by a Taoist author, but it does include discussion of Buddhist practices as well (specifically Mahamudra.) Also, part of the author’s declared intent with this text is to write in a manner approachable to a wider audience, and because of this sect is rendered less important. So, for example, the book employs more scientific and physiological modes of explanation as opposed to meridians and other conceptual approaches from Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The book is presented in two parts. I found the first part much more beneficial and productive. Said first part is a general guide to meditation. It discusses fundamentals, theory, physiology, and how to align one’s living with a meditative practice (i.e. how diet, breathwork, sleep, etc. influence one’s practice.)

The second part consists of long and fairly detailed descriptions of the author’s experiences with both Taoist and Mahamudra meditation. I didn’t find this part useful, and I believe it may be counterproductive. Discussion of the author’s subjective experience may lead readers to get hung up on chasing identical experiences to the detriment of just practicing. It may give false ideas about “correct” and “incorrect” experiences of the meditation.

Overall, it’s a fine guide to meditation, particularly the first (i.e. larger) part. I can’t say that it breaks a lot of ground. A reader well-versed in meditation may not gain much insight from this book, but it’s as good as any to get started.

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PROMPT: Habit

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What daily habit do you do that improves your quality of life?

Movement and exercise.

“The Sick Rose” by William Blake [w/ Audio]

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O Rose thou art sick.
 The invisible worm
 That flies in the night
 In the howling storm,

Has found out thy bed
 Of crimson joy:
 And his dark secret love
 Does thy life destroy.

PROMPT: Longevity

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What are your thoughts on the concept of living a very long life?

As long as I’m of sound mind and capable body, I’m fine with it, but not at any cost. I’d rather shuffle off this mortal coil than drag out the suffering of immobility and / or dementia.

I think Atul Gawande’s “Being Mortal” is good required reading. Among other things, he talks about the smoke and mirrors of our species’s increased lifespan. (i.e. increased lifespan, yes, but too often at the cost of diminished quality of life through those additional years.)

PROMPT: Physical Activity

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Daily writing prompt
What are your favorite physical activities or exercises?
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I don’t have a favorite, but there are several that I could not maintain health and sanity without, including: hiking, yoga, calisthenics, taiji / qigong, free movement, and at least one cardio (I currently swim and run.) I’m currently struggling with juggling.

PROMPT: Lazy Days

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Daily writing prompt
Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive?
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Rested. Definitely. I believe one has to think of rest and recovery as part of the process of living. If one thinks of it as just wasting time between “doing things,” then one isn’t going to get the most out of body and mind.

PROMPT: Walk or Run

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How often do you walk or run?

Every day. And sometimes I crawl, and – if there are monkey bars – I swing.

PROMPT: Well-Being

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Daily writing prompt
What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?
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Diet: high fiber / low junk

Movement: frequent and varied (includes: yoga, calisthenics, running, swimming, and functional movement)

Mental: breathwork, yogic dispassionate witnessing, and gratitude awareness

Rest: Build in regular and redundant rest throughout the living process

BOOK REVIEW: Mindfulness in Wild Swimming by Tessa Wardley

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Mindfulness in Wild Swimming: Meditations on Nature & Flow (Mindfulness series)Mindfulness in Wild Swimming: Meditations on Nature & Flow by Tessa Wardley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amazon.in Page

Release Date: June 13, 2023

As the title suggests, this is a book about combining mindfulness and swimming in natural bodies of water. It’s part of a large series of “Mindfulness and …” books, and this particular volume is a re-release of a title that came out a couple years back.

While the book does provide an overview the basic methods and considerations for both mindfulness meditation and wild swimming, it’s largely a peptalk or enticement to take up wild swimming as a means to improve awareness (as well as to bolster physical health and mental well-being.) That said, some of this peptalk is artfully, almost poetically, written, and the book is a pleasure to read.

The book discusses solo swims versus those in a group, and it even explores using onshore experiences to bolster mindfulness — e.g. using the sensory experience of the water as a focal point for practicing awareness. The around- (v. in-) water discussions are probably in part because the book uses seasons as a secondary mode of organization, and long and leisurely winter swims in lakes and rivers aren’t an option for people in many parts of the world.

I picked up some interesting food-for-thought in the book, and — as I say — it made for enjoyable reading.

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The Cough [Free Verse]

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Remember the days
     when you dreaded
     a scratch at the back
     of your throat --

harbinger of a cough
     that you thought
     would get you rushed off
     to quarantine.

Or, at least, get a footlong swab
    shoved through your nasal cavity.

Best case, it would put all eyes upon you, 
     as the public wondered whether 
     you were their Typhoid Mary --
     (Except Mary was asymptomatic,
       and - clearly - you were not.)

We all learned that the one cough
      that one can never suppress
      is the one that you desperately
      wish to. 

That cough won't be silenced.