food for thinking, doing and being
”Mastery of kitchen utensils does not guarantee creativity in cooking but, like the tools of any trade, they must be used with individual and even idiosyncratic vision to yield results.”
The July-August edition of Cook’s Illustrated arrived as I wrote this; it was not an act of serendipity because I subscribe to the magazine for its recipes, reviews of foostuffs and tools, great recipes, and outstanding cooking tips. It was an obvious act of synchronicity, given the title of this chapter and the selection of the image at the top that I’d already made.
Inside the magazine, ahead of the tool review, the kitchen notes, the ingredient notes, the blind taste test of balsamic vinegar, three pages on knife sharpeners, two (illustrated) pages on how to grill trout, the right and wrong ways to cook sausage, the ultimate method for char-grilling steaks, and two pages of illustrated quick tips, is Christopher Kimball’s “The Don’t List”.
Alas, folks, it’s not online.
If you call right now and ask issue #155, you’ll get closer to a mastery of kitchen utensils.
{* *}
In the past, you’d had the second chapter (the one about the brain) which I noted was probably outdated by the time it got to you. I was right.
“In a landmark study published last week in the journal Nature, scientists revealed the discovery of vessels that directly connect the brain to the lymphatic system. According to a EurekAlert press release, the discovery radically changes the current understanding of the brain’s role in responding to major neurological diseases, and opens up several amazing new areas of research.
Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine discovered that the brain has a direct physical connection with the lymphatic system, which collects and removes toxins from the body. The doctors discovered peculiar vessels hidden in the meninges, or membranes covering the brain, in mice. They used an innovative dissection technique to locate the vessels, which they previously thought simply didn’t exist. Using live imaging, the scientists were able to demonstrate the function of the vessels as they interacted with the central nervous system.
The discovery raises a wide range of questions about the brain and the diseases that can affect it. Alzheimer’s disease, for example, is caused by the accumulation of large protein chunks in the brain. Scientists believe that these proteins accumulate because these lymphatic vessels have trouble removing them. The team said that the discovery also had implications for the understanding of many other neurological diseases including autism and multiple sclerosis.
According to Dr. Jonathan Kipnis, the study’s lead author and researcher at the University of Virginia’s Center for Brain Immunology and Glia, this is the first time lymphatic vessels have ever been identified. Previously, there was no mention of any such type of vessel in medical textbooks.
The amazing new discovery of the strange lymphatic vessels may very well shape the way we approach treating neurological diseases in the future, and will undoubtedly change our understanding of the brain’s role in regulating the various functions of the body for years to come.”
“… According to Dr. Jonathan Kipnis, the study’s lead author and researcher at the University of Virginia’s Center for Brain Immunology and Glia, this is the first time lymphatic vessels have ever been identified. Previously, there was no mention of any such type of vessel in medical textbooks.
The amazing new discovery of the strange lymphatic vessels may very well shape the way we approach treating neurological diseases in the future, and will undoubtedly change our understanding of the brain’s role in regulating the various functions of the body for years to come.
The chairman of UVA’s Department of Neuroscience, Kevin Lee, Ph.D., explained his reaction at first:
“I really did not believe there are structures in the body that we are not aware of. I thought the body was mapped,” he said. “I thought that these discoveries ended somewhere around the middle of the last century. But apparently they have not.”
When showed the results, he had just one sentence for the team:
“They’ll have to change the textbooks.”
Moving forward, knowing the brain has a direct connection with the immune system changes how researchers approach neurological conditions. They can now ask mechanical questions. If the disease has an immune component, the vessels should play a major role.
Treatments can be developed based on direct responses on the brain’s lymphatic system. While the shotgun approach to tackling neurological conditions will continue, teams can now approach diseases such as MS with an eye towards activating the brain’s immune system response.
It’s a hell of a discovery. Not only is it cool we are sitting in the middle of 2015 and still mapping our body’s internal structure, but it offers hope to people suffering from neurological diseases.
The study is in the June 1 issue of Nature.”
http://www.newsledge.com/brain-immune-system-16235
But I’ll still give you the ninth chapter of the e-book Summon The Magic: How To Use Your Mind… (a collection of excerpts from some of the best books and sources on performance psychology, coaching, neuroscience, etc.) and which is entitled Food for Thinking, Doing and Being.
It ranges across the topics of the performance triangle, will skills, homeostasis, change, the mind-body dialogue, thinking tools, the ACT triangle, decision-making, suggestion, auto-suggestion, attention, and meditation, among others.
It will get you closer to mastery of your performance. [What do you perform?]
The ninth chapter also crosses the threshold of the use of audio-assisted or audio-driven neditation through brain wave changes that can gently pull you into proper states for doing (beta), relaxation (alpha), problem-solving and thinking (theta), and rest/sleep/deep sleep (delta and deep delta).
Deeo sleep is where the body heals itself, where your neuroplasticity kicks in, where you can can begin to make changes in your body’s chemical engineering. It’s a subject I’m still exploring, so caveat emptor.
Some of the books noted in the bibliography are relevant. The first three are older, very good general introductions to the topic, the last two written by physicians.
The fourth (Thresholds of the Mind) can easily be found either as a used book, online, or e-book. It’s very very good and is written by the fellow who runs HoloSync ( https://www.centerpointe.com/v2/ ) which is a product I’ve used since about 2002 (it’s better than crack, said one psychopharmacologist); I’m now researching other options, since it’s pretty expensive.
Afterwards, You’re a Genius: Faith, Medicine and the Metaphysics of Healing, Chip Brown, Riverhead Books (Penguin Putnam), New York 1998.
Healing Beyond the Body: Medicine and the Infinite Reach of the Mind, Larry Dossey, M.D., Shambhala, Boston 2001. [A recognized leader in this field…]
Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine, Deepak Chopra, M.D., Bantam New Age Books, 1989.
Thresholds of the Mind: How HoloSync Audio Technology Can Change Your Life, by Bill Harris, Centrepointe Press, Beaverton, OR 2002. [The explanation of the science behind the use of audio tones to drive brain waves and create mental states for learning, creativity and more… , to balance right and left brain, and to provide very deep meditation and its benefits). This amazing system is highly recommended and is available through www.centrepointe.com .]
At the moment, I am also checking out BrainFM (https://brain.fm ) and The Unexplainable Store (http://www.unexplainablestore.com ).
We as individuals can master these tools to take control of our own lives; we can gradually introduce them — by modeling them, teaching them or even simply introducing them — to others.
Perhaps then we can get to this point:
Lives filled with laughing,
and lives filled with weeping,
are both possible.
It is for the individual to decide which will be chosen.
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