Beyond milk and OJ

[4peatssake]

Ray Peat is so much more than milk and OJ.

Is the mind a tool of biological reorganization? Can the mind actively and reliably activate cellular metabolism?

“That’s one of its basic functions, but systematic cultural imposition of a certain mentality has made it usually ineffective when it’s attempted deliberately, because the inculcated view of the mind neglects its best components. In becoming acculturated, we fail to develop into part of our nature, and identify mind with the systems that we call voluntary. Occupying our so-called involuntary systems expands our mind. ”

 

[j.]

How do we occupy our involuntary systems?

 

[4peatssake]

How do we occupy our involuntary systems?

Well, I'm reluctant to speak for RP, but "occupy" has many meanings, in this case I take it to mean:

To seize possession of and maintain control over by or as if by conquest.

He uses the key phrase "so-called" involuntary systems. So paying attention is important. That can be achieved in various ways, meditation, painting, playing, mindfulness, walking in nature, laughter, breathwork - involving one's mind/consciousness not just one's brain.

It's akin to going off auto pilot and taking complete charge of your life.

:2cents

 

[4peatssake]

How do we occupy our involuntary systems?

Well, I'm reluctant to speak for RP, but "occupy" has many meanings, in this case I take it to mean:

To seize possession of and maintain control over by or as if by conquest.

He uses the key phrase "so-called" involuntary systems. So paying attention is important. That can be achieved in various ways, meditation, painting, playing, mindfulness, walking in nature, laughter, breathwork - involving one's mind/consciousness not just one's brain.

It's akin to going off auto pilot and taking complete charge of your life.

:2cents

Oh and music and dance too! Can completely alter consciousness - depending on the music. :P

 

[Rem]

I think that the basic training of mind, the practice of attention/imagination through senses, is very much like nutrition. Perceptions are full of nutrients for the mind (it's just my story... but Alfred Tomatis for instance said that noise was very important for the brain), but they need, first to be hunted/gathered through attention (no supermarket), second to be processed/digested through "evocation" (recreation in the mind). The Chinese have a word for these twin faculties that are attention & imagination : Yi. For me it's important not to forget the imaginative aspect of "mindfulness", because just "listening to" music can be fruitless (mentally speaking) ... I think that we need to put effort in playing with the collected sounds, for instance, listening with the project of memorizing, or trying to appreciate different qualities : height ? length ? warm, cold sound ? etc etc...

 

[gretchen]

And don't forget aesthetics:
Curiosity, esthetics, creativity, and stimulation are necessarily and deeply linked to metabolic efficiency and structural-anatomical development.

 

[Such_Saturation]

Judging by some of the other parts of the interview, I think internalizing the continuous critique of the establishment is important for that "reactivation".

 

[pranarupa]

How do we occupy our involuntary systems?

....Breathe Less.

Breathing is typically claimed to be "controlled" by the respiratory centre in the medulla, voluntary reduction of respiratory rate involves the activity of the cortex of the brain, function builds structure and so attention to the breath should encourage cortical growth, literally expanding the brain.