#ive been studying everyone elses art to improve my own so hard

[mispelled]

Remember when they were happy? Yeah me neither

[lemonboyfest]

reminders

reminders for 2024:

You’re not dead yet. Get the fuck up. Drag your corpse kicking and screaming into tomorrow. One day you will stop surviving and start living

more studying, more walks, more reading, more skill-based hobbies, more experimenting w pretty fits and hairstyles, more gym, more exploring new things in general, more whole foods/healthy recipes, more financial literacy, more time management, more time off the phone, more being out the loop. nothing else matters

hrmm. well hold on now ive been filled with a sudden joy and whimsy for the world

Glowing kind of love

fuck beauty standards. someone looking at you with love in their eyes is the most beautiful thing in the world.

as a girl who is literally just a girl i am always yearning. always longing always missing always wearing my heart on my sleeve. always feeling like my heart is on the verge of exploding. the sight of the sun makes me cry. anyway

i hope that when i die there will be an apartment with everyone i’ve ever loved in it and we are together always

read a lot and read everything

film and art and music are what builds ur soul

be outside

love and romance will not come to you any quicker if you are focused on it constantly

possessions don't improve things

movement does improve things

university is <4 years of the rest of your life - make the most of it

find the pleasure in hard work

lose the pleasure in scrolling

creation is essential

joy, love & intelligence are the tenets of life

stagnation isn't inevitable. no person is in a fixed state. you can always change

i love listening to someone’s favorite song its like im mentally holding their hand

you just had an epiphany about your sexuality? just own it. you like this unpopular thing your friends don’t like? just own it. you’re trans? just own it. you’re doing something unconventional? just own it. you’re completely free to share your reasons, but you don’t have to justify why you made the decisions you made. if you disclose something and a friend makes a face, okay well that’s too bad bc that’s who you are. they’re free to leave if what makes you a person doesn’t sit right w them. you don’t need to explain the why and the how and the when as if you’re trying to outrun their disapproval. be confident enough in yourself that you don’t feel the need to owe anyone an explanation. you’re you and that’s that.

what im learning is that you cannot avoid your way into a life you enjoy

i have the opposite of that “everyone is an npc” mentality people have embraced where i’m instead like. the person next to me in line has someone they can’t wait to go home to, the person picking up their mail has felt devastation before, everyone in this grocery store is doing their sunday shopping, maybe the person that just honked at me is having the worst day of their life, my neighbor has doctors appointments and favorite foods and a song they can’t stand to hear anymore… you are all fully realized complex people and that is overwhelming me on a spiritual level…

"omg you'll post 'i need him' on the most average men" "she's mid" most of us are average and it's good that we can find beauty and desire in average people .... on god FELT. i really need to start practicing this though. i get so complacent in my complacence i listen to my friends and i try so hard to fit in i insult people for no reason there is so much more to them than their aesthetics and if i do not find them attractive then what is to say someone else doesn't why do i feel the need to invalidate why am i rude ? people are all beautiful i need to remind myself . changing

[richmond-rex]

I’m currently listening to Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies by Hayley Nolan on Audible, and I’m trying hard to like it because it has really good information discrediting some of the beliefs surrounding Anne; but I have to admit that it’s grating me to hear the author stating that the Tudors were “usurpers” and that they were preventing a “more rightful heir” from gaining the throne. I almost screamed in frustration when she blamed H8’s sociopathy on Margaret Beaufort and especially Henry VII, using that one source claiming that H7 once tried to kill H8 in a fit of rage as firm evidence of a miserable childhood (ignoring all evidence stating otherwise); because of course having an overprotective parent (which is all H7 was) is going to cause you to grow up with no conscience. Also is it true that H8 was given absolutely no training in monarchy and came to the throne completely uneducated in that regard, I find that incredibly hard to believe regarding H7.

Hello! First of all, there's so much to unpack here. I think we have to go step by step. A big disclaimer is that I have not read Nolan’s book, so I’m only considering what you told me here. Secondly, I will not be addressing any claims against Margaret Beaufort because, frankly, what did that woman ever do be accused of that — the same Margaret Beaufort who 'of marvayllous gentyleness she was unto all folks' , and who 'unkind she would be unto no creature'? Are we talking about the same Margaret? We know one of her old servants, Henry Parker, was talking about his 'godly mistress the Lady Margaret’ to her great-granddaughter Mary well into the mid-1500s, and we know the time Margaret reprimanded a dean in Christ's College for beating one of his pupils (crying ‘gently, gently!’). I don’t see how she could be considered the origin of anyone’s sociopathy, but I also dislike the term — antisocial personality disorder is a medical condition and I doubt we could ever diagnose Henry VIII with that or anyone else who died five hundred years ago for that matter. The rest of my answer is under the cut! 

Well, now for the rest: I wouldn't say all of the Tudors were usurpers. Henry VII very much was one, as he did unseat England's king at the time of his invasion though that hardly makes him worse than other 15th-century English kings (as I've talked here, Henry IV was a usurper, Edward IV was a usurper, Richard III was a usurper — hell, William the Conqueror had been a usurper four centuries earlier). None of Henry VII's successors would have been usurpers, though (unless we should say every English king after William the Conqueror was a usurper, I guess?). Especially if you consider that they were also the natural successors of the Yorkist line via their descent from Edward IV's eldest daughter and heir, Elizabeth of York. I have no idea who Nolan could be referring to as the 'more rightful heir': the de la Poles, the descendants of Edward IV's sister? The Poles, the descendants of Edward IV's brother? Even if you go by Yorkist descent alone (which not everyone in England regarded as the most legitimate), who would have had a better claim in England than Henry VIII, the son of Edward IV's surviving heir and the son of England's most recent conqueror, Henry VII?

As for Henry VIII's miserable childhood, I don’t think there is evidence of that. We know Henry was well-educated; his father made sure to appoint tutors who taught him in the arts, classics, music, dancing, discourse, courtiership and theological disputation. We also know that Henry VII was personally involved with his sons' education, whilst his wife Elizabeth was involved with their daughters'. It is true that Henry VIII was not initially prepared for kingship but once his brother Arthur had died his father began preparing him for his future office. In July 1504 Prince Henry officially moved into his father's household where it seems Henry VII tutored him personally in some subjects. In August of that same year, the Duke of Estrada, a Spanish ambassador, wrote that 'Formerly the King did not like to take the Prince of Wales with him, in order not to interrupt his studies [...] But it is not only from love that the King takes the Prince with him; he wishes to improve him. Certainly there could be no better school in the world than the society of such a father as Henry VII. He is so wise and so attentive to everything; nothing escapes his attention'. So you can see that Henry VIII was assisted and had at least five years to prepare for the office of kingship, which is more than Henry VII himself ever had.

Lastly, it's clear that Henry VII loved his son. The same ambassador, Duke Estrada, also said in his dispatch: 'It is quite wonderful how much the King likes the Prince of Wales'. There are several entries in Henry VII's privy purse accounts describing items and stuff he bought to his younger son, always referring to him as 'My Lord Harry'. For all we know, Henry VII saw much more of his second son than he ever saw of Prince Arthur who lived in Ludlow, away from court. There is that anecdote about the time Henry VII knighted Prince Henry when he was only three years old: during the ceremony the king picked up his young son and placed him on a table for all to see — a gesture possibly made out of love, fondness, and/or delight in his youngest, though we can only speculate. Henry VII seems to have been determined not to expose his remaining son to danger in the same way that Arthur had been, and some of his more overprotective measures (like the setting of the Prince's apartments, accessible only by way of his own) can be understood as born out of paternal concern, all things considered. The rumours that the Calais garrison was not willing to crown Prince Henry in the event of his death were certainly of great concern to Henry VII.

To sum up, there is evidence that Henry VII did love and care for his son Henry. No doubt their relationship may have been strained at times thanks to Henry VII’s overprotective measures, but it’s also true the king let his son shine on many occasions in his place, denoting both affection and trust. Henry Pole's claim, made in 1538, that the king ‘had no affection nor fancy unto’ his heir should be seen in its proper context: one in which his brother, Reginal Pole, was involved in an ideological campaign against Henry VIII — the message was that not even Henry VIII's own father had loved him. I cannot say if Henry Pole actually said those words (anyone with more expertise please feel free to correct me) or if those were brought up as charges against him, but they do belong in the realm of (real or invented) seditious language. I tried to find the claim that Henry VII once tried to kill his son over a fit of rage in the dispatches sent by Fuensalida (allegedly the one who made that claim according to Hutchinson’s Young Henry), but the only thing I could find was something akin to court gossip, saying Henry VII treated everyone badly for a time (including his son) and spent three hours every night with his eyes closed but not sleeping...... which is?? 

(Here I should comment that Fuensalida not only disliked Henry VII but he was also several times denied access to the king and the Prince of Wales on account of what the English most likely considered to be his rude behaviour. He is also the one who said the Prince was kept closeted away like a girl, not realising that he was specifically denied access to the Prince — perhaps not without reason, seeing how Ferdinand had instructed him in winning the Prince over to their cause. Fuensalida was, of course, only serving the interests of his king, but his skills in diplomacy are somewhat unusual. Even Catherine of Aragon would later complain about Fuensalida’s behaviour). 

In any case, I cannot speak about Nolan’s book as I have not read it but I wouldn’t be surprised if the author makes some unsubstantiated claims, considering the book was not peer-reviewed. That’s exactly how many pop history books work and why it’s hard to hold them to high standards. I hope this answer is not a big rambling mess, but really there were so many things to address, I didn’t even know where to begin. Thanks for the ask, anon! ��x

[clownmoontoon]

Okay, friend. In your opinion (and you can explain this using gifs or text or whatever) how do each of the Matsu boys dance? From awkward to awesome to kind of cringey. Who's terrible, and who manages to surprise everyone by being pretty decent?

OHOHO WHAT A FUN THING TO THINK ABOUT AAAIVE BEEN SITTING ON THIS REPLY A BIT BC i was gathering dance-y clips for this aND also getting distracted by dance-y clips aaAA /w\

BUT ANYWAY I LOVE MATSUS AND DANCING SO THANK YOU FOR THE FUN!!! >:Dc

LETS START W THE ELDEST!!

i feel like oso is the type of person who would probs be good at everything if he ever actually TRIED

and as far as dance he’s probably kinda smooth and streetsy!! MY HC IS HE’S STILL REALLY PLAYFUL AND DOESNT GO OUT OF HIS WAY TO DO ANYTHING TOO HARD BUT STILL LOOKS GOOD AND SMOOTH NO MATTER WHAT so his style of dance is like this imo! (skip to 1:46-2:23!!)

i think a lot of oso’s ���style” (not just dance but in everything) comes from his confidence! he has no fear of looking bad (which could ofc not work in his favor but in this case it does imo!)

oh and i know a lot of ppl like to hc him as a ballet dancer but for me its hard to imagine him keeping up w those classes on his own and if you dont keep at it then its just gone haha (like childhood piano lessons)

-

KARA IS THE MOST HYPER AWARE OF HIS OWN BODYu kno how u improve @ dancing?? looking in the mirror every day and observing your moves! GUESS WHICH MATSU IS ALWAYS LOOKIN IN THE MIRROR???BONUS: HE’S ALREADY MATSUED MASTERED THE ART OF ISOLATIONS!!

"Movement of one part of the body independently of the rest." This means that you isolate one part of your body, which moves, while the rest of your body remains completely still.

AND OFC W THE OCCASIONAL FLIRTATIOUS WINK, SMILE, SEXY POSE AND BOOTY SHAKE I FEEL LIKE KARA WOULD DANCE LIKE THIS GUY HERE:

LOTS OF TECHNIQUE, PERSONALITY, FUN, AND BODILY CONTROL!!

kara would def be the surprise of the dancing boys just bc of his “painful” nature everyone just kinda expects him to be bad at this bUT HE’S AWESOME((also pls check out more of Fik-Shun’s work bc this guy is amazing!!))

-

just like in canon, choro is a bit like “opposite oso” in that he thinks he’s amazing and has confidence in what he does, but does not look good doing it…

if his idol concert dances are anything to go off, and ofc his general personality (like him thinking that hair was cool or that he actually knows anything about taxes) i think he’d be like that guy at a dance who thinks he’s the best dancer there but in reality…

its hard to improve when you already consider yourself the best smh

-

ichi was an interesting bro to consider bc on his own, i dont think he’d be much of a dancer at all tbh. not bc he’d be bad at it, but he would just never try it on his own

however if a certain yellow brother prompted him to start, just like he prompts ichi to do things in canon he wouldnt normally feel comfortable doing if anyone else asked, i could see ichi being a sort of “lazy” breakdancer!

slow moving, lots of pauses but still incredibly agile, flexible and strong!! like a cat!! jyushi would be the only person to ever see this ofc hahai like to imagine they probably have little dance battles while theyre home alone >:3c

I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO FIND AN ICHI COSPLAYER THAT DANCES P MUCH PERFECTLY TO MY ICHI HEADCANON AAA

((the rollover onto his back is what rlly sold me tbh haha))

original vid here!! ITS SO CUTE AND HAS ALL THE MATSUS!!

thank you to @arr-jim-lad for making the gif for me!! >U

and to anyone who thinks ichi isnt strong enough to pull off these moves let me remind you that ichi, our resident cat man, is incredibly strong and fast when he wants to be ((he just rarely wants to be haha))

and since jyushi is the one who gets him started i like to think that their dances are a little similar!

-

JYUSHI 👏 IS 👏 ALL 👏 POWER 👏 AND 👏 SPEED 👏even if you study b-boys in action its unlikely you’d ever be able to pull off his moves without severely hurting yourself haha

IT TAKES INCREDIBLE STRENGTH TO PULL OFF THESE STUNTSless about technique and more about throwing your body as far as it will go and having fun w the insanity of the movement! LOTS OF FREESTYLE!! I PICTURE HIM LIKE BASICALLY EVERYONE IN THIS VID TBH

AND HERE’S SOME OFFICIAL ART TO BACK THIS UP!!

from now on im gonna call breakdancing jyushi dancing eheh

-

I PICTURE TOTTY DOING BALLET!! TOTTY HAS CANON POWERFUL LEG GAME!!!-climbed mt fuji by himself-runs every morning-goes to a gym regularly AND is also the only one disciplined enough to hold down a job, so i could totally see him having the discipline and drive to keep this up on his own. plus totty is all about looking beautiful/attractive to others and feeling superior so it makes sense (to me) that he would choose smth as elegant and “high class” as ballet for his dance style!i picture his dance really strong, but lovely and elegant kinda like this!!

AND THERES MY DANCEY MATSU HEADCANONS OUO)/

SORRY IF ITS INCOHERENT IM POSTING THIS AT ALMOST 4 AM AAAA

i go die in bed now so pls enjoy all these dancey things!! xwx)/

[leahimnotoriginal-blog]

Time Capsule Evaluation

After weeks of preperations and hard work, our production company concocted a perfromance following the Time Capsule Event breif. Feeling ready and prepared everyone gave it their all on the 2nd of December. It was an Amazng experience to work with all different talented people. This peice of written work will help me identify what was specifically good with in how I performed and what I should keep in mind for any future performances to improve on.

After watching back the performance that was recorded I found it interesting to look back and being able to pick out bits that i thought was good and things the I would need to improve on:

Skills

Projection/ pitch/ tempo - A very important part of performing is that to make sure your voice is matching up with the emotions and point of the scene you want to put across. I feel i did this particularly well in the ‘Charleston’ party scene when I play a character who is loving the 1920′s now woman have more freedom, The way i mainly show this is through physicality and voice; on my queue I scream loudly in an urge of excitement. I belive this to show exactly what i wanted it to and filled the entire space.

But There were a few times where I noticed I could have been louder. One of the time that stood out most was with in my monologue. The monologue consisted of a heart warming story, based on one of the Dacers Auntie and her life as a professional dancer. During this i know I should have projected a lot more as shown on the recording im not loud, So if i were to do it again i would practice projecting the monologue with all the actons and the tone of voice.

Facial Expressions - this skill also demonstrates to the audence whats is hapening in that scene and the emotions a character would be feeling. I feel as though i was quite consistant with most of my facial expressions and made the not too exagerated but not to subtle. Points i found my self acting through facial expressions a lot was when I was sat at one on the tables as though I was wtching the show not in it (Like in Cabaret).I found mysef sat next to Clover a lot and I feel we reacted appropriatly and relivantly to the show and the era.

There were some times where i was lacking in facial expressions; White Cliffs Of Dover. This was a song I was performing with in a duet, what i think went wrong here was, im not all that confident with my singing so I was focussing more on that rather than what I was physically doing. Some thng to improve on if i were to do the entire thing again. I would try not to stress as much while singing or at least make it less obvious by keeping in character and just carrying on like nothing went wrong if something doesnt go to plan.      

Body laguage - Again like ive said before voice and facial expressions show the audience the emotions on what hapening in the scene, body laguage and gestures are also a contributing factor. I think the main time I make my gestures deliberate and not naturalistic was while performing ‘Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher’. The entire sone is a mick take of how Margret Thatcher messed up a lot of people lives when she closed down the mines. This would obviously have effected a lot of the audience becuase they lived through it. Everyone else took part in an ensemble dance where they we just showing anger toward Maggie Thatcher and I come out as a mick take of Margret Thatcher with a cardboard cut out mask. Theres one point where i get tripped up at the front and fall over, seeing as i have a mask on i had to make a big gesture to show im falling over. If i had more time on this prject i would try and rehearse this scene more with the mask on because it was quite difficult to stick to the original blocking with the mask on.

Singing/ Vocals - In the time capsule performance I sang ‘White Cliffs Of Dover’  as a duet. I liked the idea of what would happen along side singing that me and my duet partner came up with. The idea was to Have people slow dancing behind us on stage (to use as kind of an example) and then have some of the the other members of our theatre company get up and ask the audience to dance alongside, this would then check of one of our brief key points; audience participation. The reason we decided to do this was because we both didn’t want the main focus to be on us, mainly me as I have not got the most confidence singing and I felt a lot more comfortable knowing that there was something else happening in the meantime the event I had messed up. I had made a mistake during the song by singing the wrong lyric at the wrong time. In the song its pretty much the same lyrics repeated apart from the last line of the chorus (which is where I went wrong) the first chorus the lyric is ‘tomorrow just you wat and see’ and on the second chorus its ‘tomorrow when the world is free’, I sang the first one on both, which isn’t correct.  If I were to perform this again I would listen to the song more to make sure I knew the lyrics inside out. Also, I made it somewhat obvious that I had made this mistake because my facial expression had totally changed so for future reference I need to make sure that even if something goes wrong I need to stay in character and carry on like nothing happened.

As far as me actual vocal side goes I feel like I have done myself proud because (like I have said before) my confident level is quite low, I think at times I could have projected more and try not to let confidence come effect projection. Also, the harmonies were there but they were not as strong as I would have liked them to be I feel like me and the duet partner wasted some time trying to come up with them on our own and we should have gone to someone who knows a bit more about harmonies and asked them for, which is what after trying them ourselves)  

Dancing – I didn’t take part in much of anything dance wise during this performance, I feel like if the company had more time on this performance I would have tried to get involved with a dance at some point in the performance. As someone studying Musical Theatre I feel it would benefit me a lot if I had some experience with dance so in future performances this is definitely something to look into.

The Rehearsal Process

As a Theatre company, I feel as though we used the majority of our rehearsal time effectively. We didn’t have all that long to come up with ideas and devise a performance consisting of all three; Acting, Singing and Dancing. We all contributed a bit of something in each rehearsal, whether that may be an idea, peer feedback, sourcing props ETC. But obviously, there were things that everyone could do to make our time spent more effective.

For me personally I feel as though I occasionally took advantage of time especially when all the people I was in scenes with were busy. I could have been going over my monologue or the harmonies in ‘White Cliffs of Dover’. Within the next performance, I need to make sure that anytime I feel as though I have nothing to do, find something because there is always something. Also, I think it would have been beneficial to come in on my days off and rehearse more with peers just to get those scenes that I felt unsure about in the performance, secure and fully confident with. Not a scene as such but I feel like an example of needing extra time (Extra rehearsals) this would have been the transitions between the scenes and knowing the entrances and exits inside out.

Improvements

I have already referenced what improvements I would have made regarding my skills and techniques but there’s also improvements that I would make more toward the brief and the target audience’s needs. One of the main parts I feel I lacked was audience participation, at points there we opportunities given for me to get up and dance with the audience in ‘Shout’ what held me back from this was if I had asked someone who was not fully capable to get up and dance to a fast pace song that would then mean I wasn’t considering the needs of the target audience (elderly people who tend to have reduced mobility)  

Also, I believe throughout the performance many of my peers went around the tables in character of staff serving tea and socialising with the audience. Due to my confidence level and how consistent my scenes where it didn’t have the chance to do this. So, if I were to do the performance again I would push myself to take part in this and contribute more to the cabaret experience for the audience.  

Conclusion

Throughout the weeks our theatre company has had to do this I feel not only have we devised a community arts show and performed it but we have bonded as a group while doing so. The meaning of community art is;

Giving out a moral into society using the creative arts in the community via singing, dancing and acting. Coming together as a group to pass on an impressionable message and give back to those around us.

For our group, it was our aim to help the Dementia and Alzheimer patients with in our community reminisce about their entire lives using songs, skits, familiar scenes, dance and performance styles and costume from different era’s (1920’s to 1980’s). I believe by doing a lot of research into all the era’s we made a somewhat accurate performance that I truly hope they enjoyed watching as much as I enjoyed taking part.

[milenasanchezmk]

Rapid Fire Questions and Answers: Getting Wild

Last month, you asked a ton of great questions in the comment section of my post on reclaiming your wildness and being less civilized, covering everything from rock climbing to role playing games, grappling to kung fu, walking meditation to grounding. For today’s post, I’m answering as many of them as I can.

Let’s get right to the questions.

Anthony Munkholm asked:

How about some tips for indoor rock climbing. Really been getting into this lately as great cross-training. Went outside in Colorado last summer and I’m hooked.

How do I increase finger strength? What about how being outside on a rock brings you so present?

I’m no expert in climbing, but from what I’ve gathered from friends who are, the best way for relative beginners to improve finger strength for climbing is to climb. Climbing places a specific type of stress on the fingers that is hard to replicate without actually climbing.

You can make it more systematic, of course, by moving back and forth between holds.

The same concepts that apply to training in general apply here as well. Don’t overdo it. Don’t train to failure every time. Stop short of the point where your grip totally fails.

On the rock, death or serious injury are serious possibilities. You slip, you fall. Even if there’s a pad underneath or a rope hitched to your waist, the lizard brain within perceives the situation to be dangerous. It forces the flow state. Riding the wave of the present and staying in the flow becomes a lot easier when death is on the line.

Chad Clark asked:

From your experience with grappling drills, how would you adopt martial arts into Primal aligned fitness endeavors? Also, what is keeping you from becoming more involved in the martial arts you listed? Or Dungeons and Dragons, for that matter?

I’d treat it like a high-intensity interval or sprint day. Grappling is seriously exhausting—and I wasn’t even going very hard at all!

I’m not sure. I may look into it a bit more. There’s certainly no shortage of training facilities these days. Keep you posted.

Ha! I was a big fan of fantasy and sci-fi earlier in life (Tolkien, Dick, Dune, etc), but never did dip my beak into D&D. These days, I frankly don’t have the time to get into something as involved and time-consuming as pen and paper role playing games.

Georgina wrote:

Excellent ideas. How about an article on “walking meditation in nature.” This is a formal practice with a blueprint to follow. this can be done solo or holding the hand of another. It connects us with the earth. It cultivates joy and gratitude. It places us in the present moment. Peace from n.c.

I love walking meditations. It’s the closest thing to an actual meditation I can sit (or walk) through. Beginners should probably start with Tara Brach, a Buddhist teacher who publishes guided meditations and lectures on her fantastic podcast and is a proponent of walking meditation (PDF). She suggests walking along a short predetermined path of 20-30 paces somewhere quiet and familiar. This creates boundaries and reduces distractions. Once you’re more confident in your ability to maintain focus, you can go on unstructured, longer walks through unfamiliar surroundings. The important thing is to pay attention to the shifting weight of your body as you walk, the feel of your footfalls, and the sensation of gliding through the air. As with sitting meditation, allow thoughts and other distractions to come and go; acknowledge but do not dwell on or judge them.

I find it much easier and more effective than sitting meditation.

There’s even a study which showed that a walking Buddhist meditation practice reduced depression, improved fitness and vascular function, and lowered stress hormones in depressed elderly patients to a greater extent than the same amount of walking without the meditating.

Alan requested:

Good article. I would like to see you write more in the future about finding balance between living less civilized and still within society. For example, whether love or hated the reboot of Point Break, there is a line in there that Bohdi says that really resonated with me. He said “We live on the grid, just on our own terms.” I would like to see you write about how that applies to the primal lifestyle. Thank you! Alan

Oh boy, this could turn into an entire post. I’ll keep it short and perhaps revisit it later.

As I allude to in the original post, for civilization to flourish and progress, we need both wildness and dependability. Creativity and diligence. In fact, each person must embody both energies.

First, figure out what you’re doing here on the planet. What are you trying to accomplish? Who or what are you responsible for? What gives you meaning? What’s best for you, your loved ones, your friends, your community?

Keep those in mind. Aim toward them. Then, indulge your wildness, but make sure it serves your ultimate goals of doing good, meaningful things, taking care of yourself and those around you, and improving your corner of the world.

Shake off the silly parts of civilization, like “taking the safe path” or “doing what you’re told,” and start thinking bigger, crazier.

bamboosmith asked a clear-cut one:

I live out in the country and do a lot of hanging from trees type pull ups. i’m older and wondered about going back and learning karate. i studied the martial arts in my 30’s for a few years and miss it. i feel like i may be too old 30 years later. any thoughts?

Just one: You’re not too old. Go, now.

I totally love this. I have 6 year old (wild) twins and it seems that this is what they do all the time. All I need to do is join them:) I also like to break out in dance or song spontaneously, and then the kids join me:)

Yes, follow them and do what they do. Funny story: A buddy of mine, Angelo Delacruz (master bodyworker, personal trainer, miracle worker, ninja, and PrimalCon star), was hosting a friend and his two young children at the gym one day. After noticing how much varied movement the kids did just inadvertently by being kids, he and a couple other trainers decided to follow them for ten minutes and do whatever they did.

After ten minutes, they were warm and loose and ready to train. Every joint had been articulated through every possible angle. It was the perfect warmup. For many, it’d be the perfect workout.

Sue Moore said:

Great article! New goal for 2018 is to take the road less travelled and be more spontaneous.

How’s that going for you? Don’t wait!

Megan said:

I work with elementary aged children with behavioral issues. Your post, especially the parts about embracing your inner weirdo, really spoke to me today. I’m going to take my students outside this week (or around the building if it’s still 15 degrees out here in Chicagoland) and look for ways that we can empower creativity and diversity of action inside the educational setting.

Beautiful. I know that standing desks have been shown to reduce behavioral issues and improve focus in elementary school students, so you may get good results! But there’s so much more to be found outside the desk space.

Ethan asked:

I’d like to see posts on how we normal, full-time workers, with kids, and all of that chaos, can find time to create, or play, or get involved.

What are the practical ways to do this?

The things you’re going to create, the ways you’ll play, the things you’ll want to involve yourself in are personal. You have to decide what appeals to you. However, there are a few ways you can increase the opportunities you have to create/play/involve yourself.

Figure out how much time you’re wasting on things that aren’t increasing your happiness, furthering your goals, or allowing you to express your wildness. Get a rough number—hours per day—and work on eliminating those wasteful practices. This will free up hours for you to do cool stuff.

If you haven’t started planning the week’s meals ahead of time, do that. Knowing what you’re going to make and having the ingredients ready to go (or even prepared ahead of time) saves a lot of time, reduces meal-time stress, and makes dinner a more harmonious, enjoyable. When you’re not stressed out from rushing to get dinner ready and on the table, you’ll have more mental energy to have a real conversation with your family, to discuss the day, to make plans for the weekend. That’s creation—positive energy where none existed before.

Don’t waste time on devices or social media. Don’t abstain entirely. Just don’t be one of the statistics who uses their phone for 4 hours a day just to avoid being alone in your own head.

Get to bed early and wake up early. Waking up before everyone else is magical in a quiet, simple way. It also gives you a nice chunk of free time to pursue any creative endeavors—working on a new side business, writing, reading (which I consider to be a kind of creation), exercising.

Gus Frey asked:

I have always wanted to learn a martial art, and was happy to read your lifelong desire and recent dive into it. Why do you recommend a grappling style as opposed to something like Kung Fu or something less about grappling? Thank you

As a kid, I loved roughhousing. This consisted mainly of wrestling, throwing, rolling around, pretty low skill-level stuff. It was intense and personal and hyperreal. It was also safer than throwing punches at each other. Fewer bruised egos, damaged friendships that way.

As an adult, grappling still seems safer to me than striking, though I know it’s all in how you train.

Brad wondered:

I’m interested in your take on grounding.

I wrote about it several years back. Check out the post.

Ive said it before on these pages, but I hunt.

It takes you off tracks, because that is where the game is. There is a pattern dictated by terrain, weather and vegetation – wild stuff – and there is a randomness, because you are pursuing something that you cannot know perfectly. Instead of following that trail that others have walked, you go where the situation dictates… even if no other human has set foot there for centuries, if ever!

There is sitting around a fire with your “tribe”. People who are there for the same purpose that you are, with whom you have a memory of shared experiences….. and who have shown time after time that they will put themselves through hardship to help you.

There is rolling out of the swag before dawn in lousy winter weather, knowing that the domesticated people couldn’t face that…..

Beautifully said, Peter. It hit me hard. That’s all.

Dugan said:

Honestly, based on the thoughts Mark laid out here, LARPing is firing on all cylinders. It takes creative thought to make a character, roleplay, and come up with armor and weapons. Then, depending on how serious you get, you can study and train in real martial arts in order to better your in-game play. You interact with a group of people equally zealous as you are. It takes time and organization to be efficient in crafting your needed items. And, depending on what LARP you do (anything from high fantasy to zombie apocalypse is out there) you can definitely interact with the environment in atypical ways. Heck, I’ve played a straight barbarian before, about as primitive as you can get. It’s great exercise and you can do it barefoot (in most cases.)

For all the jokes, LARPing really does sound like a good time and a perfect summation of the spirit of the post. If you ever watch those videos that people like to laugh at, you can’t help but notice the participants are ALL IN. Great comment.

Jason said:

Create vs Consume. While I may not have the right plan in place for create, I have had a large frustration with the amount of consume. I have been working towards consuming less (TV, phone data…useless stuff). A good way to get my butt in gear more often.

Yes, the ratio doesn’t have to be 1:1 or anything like that. The world wouldn’t work if everyone created more than they consumed. The trend is what to watch, and what to focus on changing. Do a little more creation and a little less consumption. Get it in where you can. Small steps.

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading and asking. Be sure to follow up down below with any further questions you might have.

Take care!

Want to make fat loss easier? Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.

[watsonrodriquezie]

Rapid Fire Questions and Answers: Getting Wild

Last month, you asked a ton of great questions in the comment section of my post on reclaiming your wildness and being less civilized, covering everything from rock climbing to role playing games, grappling to kung fu, walking meditation to grounding. For today’s post, I’m answering as many of them as I can.

Let’s get right to the questions.

Anthony Munkholm asked:

How about some tips for indoor rock climbing. Really been getting into this lately as great cross-training. Went outside in Colorado last summer and I’m hooked.

How do I increase finger strength? What about how being outside on a rock brings you so present?

I’m no expert in climbing, but from what I’ve gathered from friends who are, the best way for relative beginners to improve finger strength for climbing is to climb. Climbing places a specific type of stress on the fingers that is hard to replicate without actually climbing.

You can make it more systematic, of course, by moving back and forth between holds.

The same concepts that apply to training in general apply here as well. Don’t overdo it. Don’t train to failure every time. Stop short of the point where your grip totally fails.

On the rock, death or serious injury are serious possibilities. You slip, you fall. Even if there’s a pad underneath or a rope hitched to your waist, the lizard brain within perceives the situation to be dangerous. It forces the flow state. Riding the wave of the present and staying in the flow becomes a lot easier when death is on the line.

Chad Clark asked:

From your experience with grappling drills, how would you adopt martial arts into Primal aligned fitness endeavors? Also, what is keeping you from becoming more involved in the martial arts you listed? Or Dungeons and Dragons, for that matter?

I’d treat it like a high-intensity interval or sprint day. Grappling is seriously exhausting—and I wasn’t even going very hard at all!

I’m not sure. I may look into it a bit more. There’s certainly no shortage of training facilities these days. Keep you posted.

Ha! I was a big fan of fantasy and sci-fi earlier in life (Tolkien, Dick, Dune, etc), but never did dip my beak into D&D. These days, I frankly don’t have the time to get into something as involved and time-consuming as pen and paper role playing games.

Georgina wrote:

Excellent ideas. How about an article on “walking meditation in nature.” This is a formal practice with a blueprint to follow. this can be done solo or holding the hand of another. It connects us with the earth. It cultivates joy and gratitude. It places us in the present moment. Peace from n.c.

I love walking meditations. It’s the closest thing to an actual meditation I can sit (or walk) through. Beginners should probably start with Tara Brach, a Buddhist teacher who publishes guided meditations and lectures on her fantastic podcast and is a proponent of walking meditation (PDF). She suggests walking along a short predetermined path of 20-30 paces somewhere quiet and familiar. This creates boundaries and reduces distractions. Once you’re more confident in your ability to maintain focus, you can go on unstructured, longer walks through unfamiliar surroundings. The important thing is to pay attention to the shifting weight of your body as you walk, the feel of your footfalls, and the sensation of gliding through the air. As with sitting meditation, allow thoughts and other distractions to come and go; acknowledge but do not dwell on or judge them.

I find it much easier and more effective than sitting meditation.

There’s even a study which showed that a walking Buddhist meditation practice reduced depression, improved fitness and vascular function, and lowered stress hormones in depressed elderly patients to a greater extent than the same amount of walking without the meditating.

Alan requested:

Good article. I would like to see you write more in the future about finding balance between living less civilized and still within society. For example, whether love or hated the reboot of Point Break, there is a line in there that Bohdi says that really resonated with me. He said “We live on the grid, just on our own terms.” I would like to see you write about how that applies to the primal lifestyle. Thank you! Alan

Oh boy, this could turn into an entire post. I’ll keep it short and perhaps revisit it later.

As I allude to in the original post, for civilization to flourish and progress, we need both wildness and dependability. Creativity and diligence. In fact, each person must embody both energies.

First, figure out what you’re doing here on the planet. What are you trying to accomplish? Who or what are you responsible for? What gives you meaning? What’s best for you, your loved ones, your friends, your community?

Keep those in mind. Aim toward them. Then, indulge your wildness, but make sure it serves your ultimate goals of doing good, meaningful things, taking care of yourself and those around you, and improving your corner of the world.

Shake off the silly parts of civilization, like “taking the safe path” or “doing what you’re told,” and start thinking bigger, crazier.

bamboosmith asked a clear-cut one:

I live out in the country and do a lot of hanging from trees type pull ups. i’m older and wondered about going back and learning karate. i studied the martial arts in my 30’s for a few years and miss it. i feel like i may be too old 30 years later. any thoughts?

Just one: You’re not too old. Go, now.

I totally love this. I have 6 year old (wild) twins and it seems that this is what they do all the time. All I need to do is join them:) I also like to break out in dance or song spontaneously, and then the kids join me:)

Yes, follow them and do what they do. Funny story: A buddy of mine, Angelo Delacruz (master bodyworker, personal trainer, miracle worker, ninja, and PrimalCon star), was hosting a friend and his two young children at the gym one day. After noticing how much varied movement the kids did just inadvertently by being kids, he and a couple other trainers decided to follow them for ten minutes and do whatever they did.

After ten minutes, they were warm and loose and ready to train. Every joint had been articulated through every possible angle. It was the perfect warmup. For many, it’d be the perfect workout.

Sue Moore said:

Great article! New goal for 2018 is to take the road less travelled and be more spontaneous.

How’s that going for you? Don’t wait!

Megan said:

I work with elementary aged children with behavioral issues. Your post, especially the parts about embracing your inner weirdo, really spoke to me today. I’m going to take my students outside this week (or around the building if it’s still 15 degrees out here in Chicagoland) and look for ways that we can empower creativity and diversity of action inside the educational setting.

Beautiful. I know that standing desks have been shown to reduce behavioral issues and improve focus in elementary school students, so you may get good results! But there’s so much more to be found outside the desk space.

Ethan asked:

I’d like to see posts on how we normal, full-time workers, with kids, and all of that chaos, can find time to create, or play, or get involved.

What are the practical ways to do this?

The things you’re going to create, the ways you’ll play, the things you’ll want to involve yourself in are personal. You have to decide what appeals to you. However, there are a few ways you can increase the opportunities you have to create/play/involve yourself.

Figure out how much time you’re wasting on things that aren’t increasing your happiness, furthering your goals, or allowing you to express your wildness. Get a rough number—hours per day—and work on eliminating those wasteful practices. This will free up hours for you to do cool stuff.

If you haven’t started planning the week’s meals ahead of time, do that. Knowing what you’re going to make and having the ingredients ready to go (or even prepared ahead of time) saves a lot of time, reduces meal-time stress, and makes dinner a more harmonious, enjoyable. When you’re not stressed out from rushing to get dinner ready and on the table, you’ll have more mental energy to have a real conversation with your family, to discuss the day, to make plans for the weekend. That’s creation—positive energy where none existed before.

Don’t waste time on devices or social media. Don’t abstain entirely. Just don’t be one of the statistics who uses their phone for 4 hours a day just to avoid being alone in your own head.

Get to bed early and wake up early. Waking up before everyone else is magical in a quiet, simple way. It also gives you a nice chunk of free time to pursue any creative endeavors—working on a new side business, writing, reading (which I consider to be a kind of creation), exercising.

Gus Frey asked:

I have always wanted to learn a martial art, and was happy to read your lifelong desire and recent dive into it. Why do you recommend a grappling style as opposed to something like Kung Fu or something less about grappling? Thank you

As a kid, I loved roughhousing. This consisted mainly of wrestling, throwing, rolling around, pretty low skill-level stuff. It was intense and personal and hyperreal. It was also safer than throwing punches at each other. Fewer bruised egos, damaged friendships that way.

As an adult, grappling still seems safer to me than striking, though I know it’s all in how you train.

Brad wondered:

I’m interested in your take on grounding.

I wrote about it several years back. Check out the post.

Ive said it before on these pages, but I hunt.

It takes you off tracks, because that is where the game is. There is a pattern dictated by terrain, weather and vegetation – wild stuff – and there is a randomness, because you are pursuing something that you cannot know perfectly. Instead of following that trail that others have walked, you go where the situation dictates… even if no other human has set foot there for centuries, if ever!

There is sitting around a fire with your “tribe”. People who are there for the same purpose that you are, with whom you have a memory of shared experiences….. and who have shown time after time that they will put themselves through hardship to help you.

There is rolling out of the swag before dawn in lousy winter weather, knowing that the domesticated people couldn’t face that…..

Beautifully said, Peter. It hit me hard. That’s all.

Dugan said:

Honestly, based on the thoughts Mark laid out here, LARPing is firing on all cylinders. It takes creative thought to make a character, roleplay, and come up with armor and weapons. Then, depending on how serious you get, you can study and train in real martial arts in order to better your in-game play. You interact with a group of people equally zealous as you are. It takes time and organization to be efficient in crafting your needed items. And, depending on what LARP you do (anything from high fantasy to zombie apocalypse is out there) you can definitely interact with the environment in atypical ways. Heck, I’ve played a straight barbarian before, about as primitive as you can get. It’s great exercise and you can do it barefoot (in most cases.)

For all the jokes, LARPing really does sound like a good time and a perfect summation of the spirit of the post. If you ever watch those videos that people like to laugh at, you can’t help but notice the participants are ALL IN. Great comment.

Jason said:

Create vs Consume. While I may not have the right plan in place for create, I have had a large frustration with the amount of consume. I have been working towards consuming less (TV, phone data…useless stuff). A good way to get my butt in gear more often.

Yes, the ratio doesn’t have to be 1:1 or anything like that. The world wouldn’t work if everyone created more than they consumed. The trend is what to watch, and what to focus on changing. Do a little more creation and a little less consumption. Get it in where you can. Small steps.

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading and asking. Be sure to follow up down below with any further questions you might have.

Take care!

Want to make fat loss easier? Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.

[cristinajourdanqp]

Rapid Fire Questions and Answers: Getting Wild

Last month, you asked a ton of great questions in the comment section of my post on reclaiming your wildness and being less civilized, covering everything from rock climbing to role playing games, grappling to kung fu, walking meditation to grounding. For today’s post, I’m answering as many of them as I can.

Let’s get right to the questions.

Anthony Munkholm asked:

How about some tips for indoor rock climbing. Really been getting into this lately as great cross-training. Went outside in Colorado last summer and I’m hooked.

How do I increase finger strength? What about how being outside on a rock brings you so present?

I’m no expert in climbing, but from what I’ve gathered from friends who are, the best way for relative beginners to improve finger strength for climbing is to climb. Climbing places a specific type of stress on the fingers that is hard to replicate without actually climbing.

You can make it more systematic, of course, by moving back and forth between holds.

The same concepts that apply to training in general apply here as well. Don’t overdo it. Don’t train to failure every time. Stop short of the point where your grip totally fails.

On the rock, death or serious injury are serious possibilities. You slip, you fall. Even if there’s a pad underneath or a rope hitched to your waist, the lizard brain within perceives the situation to be dangerous. It forces the flow state. Riding the wave of the present and staying in the flow becomes a lot easier when death is on the line.

Chad Clark asked:

From your experience with grappling drills, how would you adopt martial arts into Primal aligned fitness endeavors? Also, what is keeping you from becoming more involved in the martial arts you listed? Or Dungeons and Dragons, for that matter?

I’d treat it like a high-intensity interval or sprint day. Grappling is seriously exhausting—and I wasn’t even going very hard at all!

I’m not sure. I may look into it a bit more. There’s certainly no shortage of training facilities these days. Keep you posted.

Ha! I was a big fan of fantasy and sci-fi earlier in life (Tolkien, Dick, Dune, etc), but never did dip my beak into D&D. These days, I frankly don’t have the time to get into something as involved and time-consuming as pen and paper role playing games.

Georgina wrote:

Excellent ideas. How about an article on “walking meditation in nature.” This is a formal practice with a blueprint to follow. this can be done solo or holding the hand of another. It connects us with the earth. It cultivates joy and gratitude. It places us in the present moment. Peace from n.c.

I love walking meditations. It’s the closest thing to an actual meditation I can sit (or walk) through. Beginners should probably start with Tara Brach, a Buddhist teacher who publishes guided meditations and lectures on her fantastic podcast and is a proponent of walking meditation (PDF). She suggests walking along a short predetermined path of 20-30 paces somewhere quiet and familiar. This creates boundaries and reduces distractions. Once you’re more confident in your ability to maintain focus, you can go on unstructured, longer walks through unfamiliar surroundings. The important thing is to pay attention to the shifting weight of your body as you walk, the feel of your footfalls, and the sensation of gliding through the air. As with sitting meditation, allow thoughts and other distractions to come and go; acknowledge but do not dwell on or judge them.

I find it much easier and more effective than sitting meditation.

There’s even a study which showed that a walking Buddhist meditation practice reduced depression, improved fitness and vascular function, and lowered stress hormones in depressed elderly patients to a greater extent than the same amount of walking without the meditating.

Alan requested:

Good article. I would like to see you write more in the future about finding balance between living less civilized and still within society. For example, whether love or hated the reboot of Point Break, there is a line in there that Bohdi says that really resonated with me. He said “We live on the grid, just on our own terms.” I would like to see you write about how that applies to the primal lifestyle. Thank you! Alan

Oh boy, this could turn into an entire post. I’ll keep it short and perhaps revisit it later.

As I allude to in the original post, for civilization to flourish and progress, we need both wildness and dependability. Creativity and diligence. In fact, each person must embody both energies.

First, figure out what you’re doing here on the planet. What are you trying to accomplish? Who or what are you responsible for? What gives you meaning? What’s best for you, your loved ones, your friends, your community?

Keep those in mind. Aim toward them. Then, indulge your wildness, but make sure it serves your ultimate goals of doing good, meaningful things, taking care of yourself and those around you, and improving your corner of the world.

Shake off the silly parts of civilization, like “taking the safe path” or “doing what you’re told,” and start thinking bigger, crazier.

bamboosmith asked a clear-cut one:

I live out in the country and do a lot of hanging from trees type pull ups. i’m older and wondered about going back and learning karate. i studied the martial arts in my 30’s for a few years and miss it. i feel like i may be too old 30 years later. any thoughts?

Just one: You’re not too old. Go, now.

I totally love this. I have 6 year old (wild) twins and it seems that this is what they do all the time. All I need to do is join them:) I also like to break out in dance or song spontaneously, and then the kids join me:)

Yes, follow them and do what they do. Funny story: A buddy of mine, Angelo Delacruz (master bodyworker, personal trainer, miracle worker, ninja, and PrimalCon star), was hosting a friend and his two young children at the gym one day. After noticing how much varied movement the kids did just inadvertently by being kids, he and a couple other trainers decided to follow them for ten minutes and do whatever they did.

After ten minutes, they were warm and loose and ready to train. Every joint had been articulated through every possible angle. It was the perfect warmup. For many, it’d be the perfect workout.

Sue Moore said:

Great article! New goal for 2018 is to take the road less travelled and be more spontaneous.

How’s that going for you? Don’t wait!

Megan said:

I work with elementary aged children with behavioral issues. Your post, especially the parts about embracing your inner weirdo, really spoke to me today. I’m going to take my students outside this week (or around the building if it’s still 15 degrees out here in Chicagoland) and look for ways that we can empower creativity and diversity of action inside the educational setting.

Beautiful. I know that standing desks have been shown to reduce behavioral issues and improve focus in elementary school students, so you may get good results! But there’s so much more to be found outside the desk space.

Ethan asked:

I’d like to see posts on how we normal, full-time workers, with kids, and all of that chaos, can find time to create, or play, or get involved.

What are the practical ways to do this?

The things you’re going to create, the ways you’ll play, the things you’ll want to involve yourself in are personal. You have to decide what appeals to you. However, there are a few ways you can increase the opportunities you have to create/play/involve yourself.

Figure out how much time you’re wasting on things that aren’t increasing your happiness, furthering your goals, or allowing you to express your wildness. Get a rough number—hours per day—and work on eliminating those wasteful practices. This will free up hours for you to do cool stuff.

If you haven’t started planning the week’s meals ahead of time, do that. Knowing what you’re going to make and having the ingredients ready to go (or even prepared ahead of time) saves a lot of time, reduces meal-time stress, and makes dinner a more harmonious, enjoyable. When you’re not stressed out from rushing to get dinner ready and on the table, you’ll have more mental energy to have a real conversation with your family, to discuss the day, to make plans for the weekend. That’s creation—positive energy where none existed before.

Don’t waste time on devices or social media. Don’t abstain entirely. Just don’t be one of the statistics who uses their phone for 4 hours a day just to avoid being alone in your own head.

Get to bed early and wake up early. Waking up before everyone else is magical in a quiet, simple way. It also gives you a nice chunk of free time to pursue any creative endeavors—working on a new side business, writing, reading (which I consider to be a kind of creation), exercising.

Gus Frey asked:

I have always wanted to learn a martial art, and was happy to read your lifelong desire and recent dive into it. Why do you recommend a grappling style as opposed to something like Kung Fu or something less about grappling? Thank you

As a kid, I loved roughhousing. This consisted mainly of wrestling, throwing, rolling around, pretty low skill-level stuff. It was intense and personal and hyperreal. It was also safer than throwing punches at each other. Fewer bruised egos, damaged friendships that way.

As an adult, grappling still seems safer to me than striking, though I know it’s all in how you train.

Brad wondered:

I’m interested in your take on grounding.

I wrote about it several years back. Check out the post.

Ive said it before on these pages, but I hunt.

It takes you off tracks, because that is where the game is. There is a pattern dictated by terrain, weather and vegetation – wild stuff – and there is a randomness, because you are pursuing something that you cannot know perfectly. Instead of following that trail that others have walked, you go where the situation dictates… even if no other human has set foot there for centuries, if ever!

There is sitting around a fire with your “tribe”. People who are there for the same purpose that you are, with whom you have a memory of shared experiences….. and who have shown time after time that they will put themselves through hardship to help you.

There is rolling out of the swag before dawn in lousy winter weather, knowing that the domesticated people couldn’t face that…..

Beautifully said, Peter. It hit me hard. That’s all.

Dugan said:

Honestly, based on the thoughts Mark laid out here, LARPing is firing on all cylinders. It takes creative thought to make a character, roleplay, and come up with armor and weapons. Then, depending on how serious you get, you can study and train in real martial arts in order to better your in-game play. You interact with a group of people equally zealous as you are. It takes time and organization to be efficient in crafting your needed items. And, depending on what LARP you do (anything from high fantasy to zombie apocalypse is out there) you can definitely interact with the environment in atypical ways. Heck, I’ve played a straight barbarian before, about as primitive as you can get. It’s great exercise and you can do it barefoot (in most cases.)

For all the jokes, LARPing really does sound like a good time and a perfect summation of the spirit of the post. If you ever watch those videos that people like to laugh at, you can’t help but notice the participants are ALL IN. Great comment.

Jason said:

Create vs Consume. While I may not have the right plan in place for create, I have had a large frustration with the amount of consume. I have been working towards consuming less (TV, phone data…useless stuff). A good way to get my butt in gear more often.

Yes, the ratio doesn’t have to be 1:1 or anything like that. The world wouldn’t work if everyone created more than they consumed. The trend is what to watch, and what to focus on changing. Do a little more creation and a little less consumption. Get it in where you can. Small steps.

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading and asking. Be sure to follow up down below with any further questions you might have.

Take care!

Want to make fat loss easier? Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.

[fishermariawo]

Rapid Fire Questions and Answers: Getting Wild

Last month, you asked a ton of great questions in the comment section of my post on reclaiming your wildness and being less civilized, covering everything from rock climbing to role playing games, grappling to kung fu, walking meditation to grounding. For today’s post, I’m answering as many of them as I can.

Let’s get right to the questions.

Anthony Munkholm asked:

How about some tips for indoor rock climbing. Really been getting into this lately as great cross-training. Went outside in Colorado last summer and I’m hooked.

How do I increase finger strength? What about how being outside on a rock brings you so present?

I’m no expert in climbing, but from what I’ve gathered from friends who are, the best way for relative beginners to improve finger strength for climbing is to climb. Climbing places a specific type of stress on the fingers that is hard to replicate without actually climbing.

You can make it more systematic, of course, by moving back and forth between holds.

The same concepts that apply to training in general apply here as well. Don’t overdo it. Don’t train to failure every time. Stop short of the point where your grip totally fails.

On the rock, death or serious injury are serious possibilities. You slip, you fall. Even if there’s a pad underneath or a rope hitched to your waist, the lizard brain within perceives the situation to be dangerous. It forces the flow state. Riding the wave of the present and staying in the flow becomes a lot easier when death is on the line.

Chad Clark asked:

From your experience with grappling drills, how would you adopt martial arts into Primal aligned fitness endeavors? Also, what is keeping you from becoming more involved in the martial arts you listed? Or Dungeons and Dragons, for that matter?

I’d treat it like a high-intensity interval or sprint day. Grappling is seriously exhausting—and I wasn’t even going very hard at all!

I’m not sure. I may look into it a bit more. There’s certainly no shortage of training facilities these days. Keep you posted.

Ha! I was a big fan of fantasy and sci-fi earlier in life (Tolkien, Dick, Dune, etc), but never did dip my beak into D&D. These days, I frankly don’t have the time to get into something as involved and time-consuming as pen and paper role playing games.

Georgina wrote:

Excellent ideas. How about an article on “walking meditation in nature.” This is a formal practice with a blueprint to follow. this can be done solo or holding the hand of another. It connects us with the earth. It cultivates joy and gratitude. It places us in the present moment. Peace from n.c.

I love walking meditations. It’s the closest thing to an actual meditation I can sit (or walk) through. Beginners should probably start with Tara Brach, a Buddhist teacher who publishes guided meditations and lectures on her fantastic podcast and is a proponent of walking meditation (PDF). She suggests walking along a short predetermined path of 20-30 paces somewhere quiet and familiar. This creates boundaries and reduces distractions. Once you’re more confident in your ability to maintain focus, you can go on unstructured, longer walks through unfamiliar surroundings. The important thing is to pay attention to the shifting weight of your body as you walk, the feel of your footfalls, and the sensation of gliding through the air. As with sitting meditation, allow thoughts and other distractions to come and go; acknowledge but do not dwell on or judge them.

I find it much easier and more effective than sitting meditation.

There’s even a study which showed that a walking Buddhist meditation practice reduced depression, improved fitness and vascular function, and lowered stress hormones in depressed elderly patients to a greater extent than the same amount of walking without the meditating.

Alan requested:

Good article. I would like to see you write more in the future about finding balance between living less civilized and still within society. For example, whether love or hated the reboot of Point Break, there is a line in there that Bohdi says that really resonated with me. He said “We live on the grid, just on our own terms.” I would like to see you write about how that applies to the primal lifestyle. Thank you! Alan

Oh boy, this could turn into an entire post. I’ll keep it short and perhaps revisit it later.

As I allude to in the original post, for civilization to flourish and progress, we need both wildness and dependability. Creativity and diligence. In fact, each person must embody both energies.

First, figure out what you’re doing here on the planet. What are you trying to accomplish? Who or what are you responsible for? What gives you meaning? What’s best for you, your loved ones, your friends, your community?

Keep those in mind. Aim toward them. Then, indulge your wildness, but make sure it serves your ultimate goals of doing good, meaningful things, taking care of yourself and those around you, and improving your corner of the world.

Shake off the silly parts of civilization, like “taking the safe path” or “doing what you’re told,” and start thinking bigger, crazier.

bamboosmith asked a clear-cut one:

I live out in the country and do a lot of hanging from trees type pull ups. i’m older and wondered about going back and learning karate. i studied the martial arts in my 30’s for a few years and miss it. i feel like i may be too old 30 years later. any thoughts?

Just one: You’re not too old. Go, now.

I totally love this. I have 6 year old (wild) twins and it seems that this is what they do all the time. All I need to do is join them:) I also like to break out in dance or song spontaneously, and then the kids join me:)

Yes, follow them and do what they do. Funny story: A buddy of mine, Angelo Delacruz (master bodyworker, personal trainer, miracle worker, ninja, and PrimalCon star), was hosting a friend and his two young children at the gym one day. After noticing how much varied movement the kids did just inadvertently by being kids, he and a couple other trainers decided to follow them for ten minutes and do whatever they did.

After ten minutes, they were warm and loose and ready to train. Every joint had been articulated through every possible angle. It was the perfect warmup. For many, it’d be the perfect workout.

Sue Moore said:

Great article! New goal for 2018 is to take the road less travelled and be more spontaneous.

How’s that going for you? Don’t wait!

Megan said:

I work with elementary aged children with behavioral issues. Your post, especially the parts about embracing your inner weirdo, really spoke to me today. I’m going to take my students outside this week (or around the building if it’s still 15 degrees out here in Chicagoland) and look for ways that we can empower creativity and diversity of action inside the educational setting.

Beautiful. I know that standing desks have been shown to reduce behavioral issues and improve focus in elementary school students, so you may get good results! But there’s so much more to be found outside the desk space.

Ethan asked:

I’d like to see posts on how we normal, full-time workers, with kids, and all of that chaos, can find time to create, or play, or get involved.

What are the practical ways to do this?

The things you’re going to create, the ways you’ll play, the things you’ll want to involve yourself in are personal. You have to decide what appeals to you. However, there are a few ways you can increase the opportunities you have to create/play/involve yourself.

Figure out how much time you’re wasting on things that aren’t increasing your happiness, furthering your goals, or allowing you to express your wildness. Get a rough number—hours per day—and work on eliminating those wasteful practices. This will free up hours for you to do cool stuff.

If you haven’t started planning the week’s meals ahead of time, do that. Knowing what you’re going to make and having the ingredients ready to go (or even prepared ahead of time) saves a lot of time, reduces meal-time stress, and makes dinner a more harmonious, enjoyable. When you’re not stressed out from rushing to get dinner ready and on the table, you’ll have more mental energy to have a real conversation with your family, to discuss the day, to make plans for the weekend. That’s creation—positive energy where none existed before.

Don’t waste time on devices or social media. Don’t abstain entirely. Just don’t be one of the statistics who uses their phone for 4 hours a day just to avoid being alone in your own head.

Get to bed early and wake up early. Waking up before everyone else is magical in a quiet, simple way. It also gives you a nice chunk of free time to pursue any creative endeavors—working on a new side business, writing, reading (which I consider to be a kind of creation), exercising.

Gus Frey asked:

I have always wanted to learn a martial art, and was happy to read your lifelong desire and recent dive into it. Why do you recommend a grappling style as opposed to something like Kung Fu or something less about grappling? Thank you

As a kid, I loved roughhousing. This consisted mainly of wrestling, throwing, rolling around, pretty low skill-level stuff. It was intense and personal and hyperreal. It was also safer than throwing punches at each other. Fewer bruised egos, damaged friendships that way.

As an adult, grappling still seems safer to me than striking, though I know it’s all in how you train.

Brad wondered:

I’m interested in your take on grounding.

I wrote about it several years back. Check out the post.

Ive said it before on these pages, but I hunt.

It takes you off tracks, because that is where the game is. There is a pattern dictated by terrain, weather and vegetation – wild stuff – and there is a randomness, because you are pursuing something that you cannot know perfectly. Instead of following that trail that others have walked, you go where the situation dictates… even if no other human has set foot there for centuries, if ever!

There is sitting around a fire with your “tribe”. People who are there for the same purpose that you are, with whom you have a memory of shared experiences….. and who have shown time after time that they will put themselves through hardship to help you.

There is rolling out of the swag before dawn in lousy winter weather, knowing that the domesticated people couldn’t face that…..

Beautifully said, Peter. It hit me hard. That’s all.

Dugan said:

Honestly, based on the thoughts Mark laid out here, LARPing is firing on all cylinders. It takes creative thought to make a character, roleplay, and come up with armor and weapons. Then, depending on how serious you get, you can study and train in real martial arts in order to better your in-game play. You interact with a group of people equally zealous as you are. It takes time and organization to be efficient in crafting your needed items. And, depending on what LARP you do (anything from high fantasy to zombie apocalypse is out there) you can definitely interact with the environment in atypical ways. Heck, I’ve played a straight barbarian before, about as primitive as you can get. It’s great exercise and you can do it barefoot (in most cases.)

For all the jokes, LARPing really does sound like a good time and a perfect summation of the spirit of the post. If you ever watch those videos that people like to laugh at, you can’t help but notice the participants are ALL IN. Great comment.

Jason said:

Create vs Consume. While I may not have the right plan in place for create, I have had a large frustration with the amount of consume. I have been working towards consuming less (TV, phone data…useless stuff). A good way to get my butt in gear more often.

Yes, the ratio doesn’t have to be 1:1 or anything like that. The world wouldn’t work if everyone created more than they consumed. The trend is what to watch, and what to focus on changing. Do a little more creation and a little less consumption. Get it in where you can. Small steps.

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading and asking. Be sure to follow up down below with any further questions you might have.

Take care!

Want to make fat loss easier? Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.

[cynthiamwashington]

Rapid Fire Questions and Answers: Getting Wild

Last month, you asked a ton of great questions in the comment section of my post on reclaiming your wildness and being less civilized, covering everything from rock climbing to role playing games, grappling to kung fu, walking meditation to grounding. For today’s post, I’m answering as many of them as I can.

Let’s get right to the questions.

Anthony Munkholm asked:

How about some tips for indoor rock climbing. Really been getting into this lately as great cross-training. Went outside in Colorado last summer and I’m hooked.

How do I increase finger strength? What about how being outside on a rock brings you so present?

I’m no expert in climbing, but from what I’ve gathered from friends who are, the best way for relative beginners to improve finger strength for climbing is to climb. Climbing places a specific type of stress on the fingers that is hard to replicate without actually climbing.

You can make it more systematic, of course, by moving back and forth between holds.

The same concepts that apply to training in general apply here as well. Don’t overdo it. Don’t train to failure every time. Stop short of the point where your grip totally fails.

On the rock, death or serious injury are serious possibilities. You slip, you fall. Even if there’s a pad underneath or a rope hitched to your waist, the lizard brain within perceives the situation to be dangerous. It forces the flow state. Riding the wave of the present and staying in the flow becomes a lot easier when death is on the line.

Chad Clark asked:

From your experience with grappling drills, how would you adopt martial arts into Primal aligned fitness endeavors? Also, what is keeping you from becoming more involved in the martial arts you listed? Or Dungeons and Dragons, for that matter?

I’d treat it like a high-intensity interval or sprint day. Grappling is seriously exhausting—and I wasn’t even going very hard at all!

I’m not sure. I may look into it a bit more. There’s certainly no shortage of training facilities these days. Keep you posted.

Ha! I was a big fan of fantasy and sci-fi earlier in life (Tolkien, Dick, Dune, etc), but never did dip my beak into D&D. These days, I frankly don’t have the time to get into something as involved and time-consuming as pen and paper role playing games.

Georgina wrote:

Excellent ideas. How about an article on “walking meditation in nature.” This is a formal practice with a blueprint to follow. this can be done solo or holding the hand of another. It connects us with the earth. It cultivates joy and gratitude. It places us in the present moment. Peace from n.c.

I love walking meditations. It’s the closest thing to an actual meditation I can sit (or walk) through. Beginners should probably start with Tara Brach, a Buddhist teacher who publishes guided meditations and lectures on her fantastic podcast and is a proponent of walking meditation (PDF). She suggests walking along a short predetermined path of 20-30 paces somewhere quiet and familiar. This creates boundaries and reduces distractions. Once you’re more confident in your ability to maintain focus, you can go on unstructured, longer walks through unfamiliar surroundings. The important thing is to pay attention to the shifting weight of your body as you walk, the feel of your footfalls, and the sensation of gliding through the air. As with sitting meditation, allow thoughts and other distractions to come and go; acknowledge but do not dwell on or judge them.

I find it much easier and more effective than sitting meditation.

There’s even a study which showed that a walking Buddhist meditation practice reduced depression, improved fitness and vascular function, and lowered stress hormones in depressed elderly patients to a greater extent than the same amount of walking without the meditating.

Alan requested:

Good article. I would like to see you write more in the future about finding balance between living less civilized and still within society. For example, whether love or hated the reboot of Point Break, there is a line in there that Bohdi says that really resonated with me. He said “We live on the grid, just on our own terms.” I would like to see you write about how that applies to the primal lifestyle. Thank you! Alan

Oh boy, this could turn into an entire post. I’ll keep it short and perhaps revisit it later.

As I allude to in the original post, for civilization to flourish and progress, we need both wildness and dependability. Creativity and diligence. In fact, each person must embody both energies.

First, figure out what you’re doing here on the planet. What are you trying to accomplish? Who or what are you responsible for? What gives you meaning? What’s best for you, your loved ones, your friends, your community?

Keep those in mind. Aim toward them. Then, indulge your wildness, but make sure it serves your ultimate goals of doing good, meaningful things, taking care of yourself and those around you, and improving your corner of the world.

Shake off the silly parts of civilization, like “taking the safe path” or “doing what you’re told,” and start thinking bigger, crazier.

bamboosmith asked a clear-cut one:

I live out in the country and do a lot of hanging from trees type pull ups. i’m older and wondered about going back and learning karate. i studied the martial arts in my 30’s for a few years and miss it. i feel like i may be too old 30 years later. any thoughts?

Just one: You’re not too old. Go, now.

I totally love this. I have 6 year old (wild) twins and it seems that this is what they do all the time. All I need to do is join them:) I also like to break out in dance or song spontaneously, and then the kids join me:)

Yes, follow them and do what they do. Funny story: A buddy of mine, Angelo Delacruz (master bodyworker, personal trainer, miracle worker, ninja, and PrimalCon star), was hosting a friend and his two young children at the gym one day. After noticing how much varied movement the kids did just inadvertently by being kids, he and a couple other trainers decided to follow them for ten minutes and do whatever they did.

After ten minutes, they were warm and loose and ready to train. Every joint had been articulated through every possible angle. It was the perfect warmup. For many, it’d be the perfect workout.

Sue Moore said:

Great article! New goal for 2018 is to take the road less travelled and be more spontaneous.

How’s that going for you? Don’t wait!

Megan said:

I work with elementary aged children with behavioral issues. Your post, especially the parts about embracing your inner weirdo, really spoke to me today. I’m going to take my students outside this week (or around the building if it’s still 15 degrees out here in Chicagoland) and look for ways that we can empower creativity and diversity of action inside the educational setting.

Beautiful. I know that standing desks have been shown to reduce behavioral issues and improve focus in elementary school students, so you may get good results! But there’s so much more to be found outside the desk space.

Ethan asked:

I’d like to see posts on how we normal, full-time workers, with kids, and all of that chaos, can find time to create, or play, or get involved.

What are the practical ways to do this?

The things you’re going to create, the ways you’ll play, the things you’ll want to involve yourself in are personal. You have to decide what appeals to you. However, there are a few ways you can increase the opportunities you have to create/play/involve yourself.

Figure out how much time you’re wasting on things that aren’t increasing your happiness, furthering your goals, or allowing you to express your wildness. Get a rough number—hours per day—and work on eliminating those wasteful practices. This will free up hours for you to do cool stuff.

If you haven’t started planning the week’s meals ahead of time, do that. Knowing what you’re going to make and having the ingredients ready to go (or even prepared ahead of time) saves a lot of time, reduces meal-time stress, and makes dinner a more harmonious, enjoyable. When you’re not stressed out from rushing to get dinner ready and on the table, you’ll have more mental energy to have a real conversation with your family, to discuss the day, to make plans for the weekend. That’s creation—positive energy where none existed before.

Don’t waste time on devices or social media. Don’t abstain entirely. Just don’t be one of the statistics who uses their phone for 4 hours a day just to avoid being alone in your own head.

Get to bed early and wake up early. Waking up before everyone else is magical in a quiet, simple way. It also gives you a nice chunk of free time to pursue any creative endeavors—working on a new side business, writing, reading (which I consider to be a kind of creation), exercising.

Gus Frey asked:

I have always wanted to learn a martial art, and was happy to read your lifelong desire and recent dive into it. Why do you recommend a grappling style as opposed to something like Kung Fu or something less about grappling? Thank you

As a kid, I loved roughhousing. This consisted mainly of wrestling, throwing, rolling around, pretty low skill-level stuff. It was intense and personal and hyperreal. It was also safer than throwing punches at each other. Fewer bruised egos, damaged friendships that way.

As an adult, grappling still seems safer to me than striking, though I know it’s all in how you train.

Brad wondered:

I’m interested in your take on grounding.

I wrote about it several years back. Check out the post.

Ive said it before on these pages, but I hunt.

It takes you off tracks, because that is where the game is. There is a pattern dictated by terrain, weather and vegetation – wild stuff – and there is a randomness, because you are pursuing something that you cannot know perfectly. Instead of following that trail that others have walked, you go where the situation dictates… even if no other human has set foot there for centuries, if ever!

There is sitting around a fire with your “tribe”. People who are there for the same purpose that you are, with whom you have a memory of shared experiences….. and who have shown time after time that they will put themselves through hardship to help you.

There is rolling out of the swag before dawn in lousy winter weather, knowing that the domesticated people couldn’t face that…..

Beautifully said, Peter. It hit me hard. That’s all.

Dugan said:

Honestly, based on the thoughts Mark laid out here, LARPing is firing on all cylinders. It takes creative thought to make a character, roleplay, and come up with armor and weapons. Then, depending on how serious you get, you can study and train in real martial arts in order to better your in-game play. You interact with a group of people equally zealous as you are. It takes time and organization to be efficient in crafting your needed items. And, depending on what LARP you do (anything from high fantasy to zombie apocalypse is out there) you can definitely interact with the environment in atypical ways. Heck, I’ve played a straight barbarian before, about as primitive as you can get. It’s great exercise and you can do it barefoot (in most cases.)

For all the jokes, LARPing really does sound like a good time and a perfect summation of the spirit of the post. If you ever watch those videos that people like to laugh at, you can’t help but notice the participants are ALL IN. Great comment.

Jason said:

Create vs Consume. While I may not have the right plan in place for create, I have had a large frustration with the amount of consume. I have been working towards consuming less (TV, phone data…useless stuff). A good way to get my butt in gear more often.

Yes, the ratio doesn’t have to be 1:1 or anything like that. The world wouldn’t work if everyone created more than they consumed. The trend is what to watch, and what to focus on changing. Do a little more creation and a little less consumption. Get it in where you can. Small steps.

That’s it for today, folks. Thanks for reading and asking. Be sure to follow up down below with any further questions you might have.

Take care!

Want to make fat loss easier? Try the Definitive Guide for Troubleshooting Weight Loss for free here.

The post Rapid Fire Questions and Answers: Getting Wild appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

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