Chia Seed Iskiate Pre Run Gel

The recipe is simple.

1) Add a little boiling water (not too much) to a teaspoon (you can add more if you like) of chia seed in a mug.

2) Add a little sugar and the juice of half a lime.

3) Cover and leave over night.

Before your run drink / eat the iskiate (it is slightly chewy). The seeds themselves are a high source of protein and fibre but also swell with water so this will help with hydration.

I tested this by running on an empty stomach and drinking water on the run, and then for my next run I drank the Iskiate and then ran with plain water. The result was a noticeable increase in energy, an increased stamina, and an improved hydration and I had covered over 3 miles before I remembered to take a sip of water, and it was a hot morning.

The secret of Iskiate appears to be in its pre run drink rather than in a post run recovery drink. Iskiate is incredibly light on the stomach, and allowed me to run 7 miles in my minimalist "barefoot" Skora Form shoes and feel like I could have run a couple more miles. In fact I feel like I could take my Vibram Five Fingers this afternoon for another 3 miles at least.  It really appears to be the wonder drink that everyone says it is and could radically improve your fitness regime. Also it is so simple to make, and cost effective when you look at running gels. I definitely think it will assist my barefoot and minimalist running as I look towards reaching ten miles runs in the near future.

Give it a go and see what you think.

Review of Nature's Plus Spiru-Tein Protein Supplements

I have found myself intrigued by the virtues of Spirulina - a blue-green algae - and even tried taking some spirulina tablets, but I am not much of a pill taker so that went by the by. However I recently found Spiru-Tein powder, an organic protein supplement made from spirulina and soya, and decided to give these a go as a recovery drink. They come in a variety of flavours - but I have limited my review to Vanilla and Cookies and Cream... and I bought some sachets instead of buying a big tub of a product that I may not like.

The powder contains 41g of protein per 100g and a heap of vitamins and other essential amino acids and you can mix it with either milk or water (I used milk). I am guessing if you are a body builder you will not want to use this product,but I may be wrong. The proof of the pudding is in the tasting...but given that this product is made from algae I was not hoping for much.

The cookies and cream was a surprisingly good - first taste was biscuity and very much like cookie dough. In fact since the powder doesn't dissolve very well the lumps actually did taste like (and chew like) cookie dough. The label does say "dissolves instantly" but it doesn't, so if you like your smoothie, well, smooth then you will need to whizz it up with a whizzer. I myself quite liked chewing on the lumps and although improperly mixed I found that I really liked this drink. A bit like a melted Haagan dasz ice cream - not bad after a long hot run.

If Cookies and Cream tasted like cookie dough, then Vanilla flavour can only be described as tasting like Play Dough and the mixture comes out with a green hue (perhaps not surprising as it is made from algae). It's not unpleasant it is just not as a nice the Cookies and Cream.

Both flavours are easy on the stomach and the taste is good although it is quite a sweet mixture. I will not try the other flavours in the range (like strawberry and banana) as I know which one is exceptionally good.

Conclusion.
A bit gloopy and difficult to mix but tastes good when mixed with cold milk and is organic. If you want to try something different for your protein supplement buy a sachet...My recommendation is: Go for the Cookies and Cream!

Book Review of "Living Dangerously" by Osho

This is a third blog post which leads thematically from I met a Monk: Running as Meditation and Running and the Dantien which deals with topics of a spiritual nature. This post, in contrast to the experiential nature of the last two, is a book review, however it does relate to my prior experiences with running and meditation. How I got this book is a story in itself, but I will keep it brief: I had arrived home after a spiritually healing visit to the islands of Reunion and Mauritius when, on my return to London, a good friend (and empath) gave me a present - I ripped off the wrapping paper to find this book "Living Dangerously". I began reading it and it literally blew my mind.

The Book Review: Living Dangerously: Ordinary Enlightenment for Extraordinary Times (2015);
When you realize that Osho was once described as "the most dangerous man since Jesus Christ" then you know that what lies in your hands aint gonna be a Wayne Dyer or Marianne Williamson lovey-dovey sort of book...it's going to be spiritual dynamite. The title is provocative and the preface spell binding...and I tend to miss the preface and introduction in most books! But this book is just captivating.

In the introduction of his book he relays a profound truth which gets things rolling along:

"Thoughts create clouds around you... When thoughts disappear, when there are no more clouds around you...clarity happens."

Such a statement primes us for a whirlwind of a spiritual / philosophical treatise which touches on many topics. I say "treatise" as if Osho himself wrote the book, but he did not - this is a collection of talks that were recorded and transcribed of the man himself, prior to his death in 1990. However these transcriptions have been packaged under a charming cover in a paperback format, and the "book" is surprisingly a page-turner; each chapter leads on from the next in a pleasing if eclectic manner.

He begins speaking about meditation, a sense of clarity of no-mind or not-thinking. The mind-he tells us - can do a lot of things but it cannot meditate, when you meditate you have switched off the mind. Or at least rebooted it to a different level of functionality. Hence I suppose the almost addictive sense of peace that people can find in meditation.

We can sum this up in Osho's own words as "'Drop Thinking"'

Or to use an analogy:
Thoughts muddy the stream.

"...sit on the bank. You wait. There is nothing to be done. Because whatsoever you do will make the steam more muddy...watch indifferently. And as the stream goes on flowing, the dead leaves will be taken away, and the mud will start settling because it cannot hang there forever. After a while, suddenly you will become aware - the stream is crystal clear again."

"So just sit. Don't try to do anything. In Japan this 'just sitting' is called zazen...one day meditation happens...it comes to you."

"Suddenly clarity is attained. Then you can see clouds a thousand miles away, and you can hear ancient music in the pines. Then everything is available to you."


And that was just the introduction! It made me gasp with a feeling of wanting that peace of the crystal clear stream. The rest of the book is diverse, thought provoking...even life changing. With chapter titles such as "The Golden Rule Is That There Are No Golden Rules" and  "Doing Good, Serving Humanity, and Other Roads To Hell" you know that you are lighting the fuse of your own TNT explosion of insight, awareness inevitable change.

Verdict
The book must rank as one of the most illuminating books I have ever read. If you have the sort of mind-set which questions everything and anything, and you are searching for spiritual meaning in your life -and you don't mind the controversial nature of Osho - then this is the book for you. If you have a religion. and are fervent believer and have total faith then this is really not the book for you. This is a book for those who Doubt and want to Develop themselves and Evolve.

Thank you for taking the time to read my book review.

Running and the Dantien

According to the Eastern Tradition a conglomeration of energy is seated a couple of inches below the navel, and a few inches into the body. It is called the Dantien in Chinese and the Tanden or Hara in Japanese according to wikipedia is is "the reservoir of vital or source energy ". The word Hara we find in the ritual self-disembowelment by Samurai called Hara-kiri or Seppuku. The Tanden or Dantien is an extremely important concept in Chinese and Japanese spiritual and martial arts including Tai Chi, Reiki, and any number of the Martial Arts where acrobatic movements abound.

Since I have been working toward incorporating a "mindfulness" into my running - which has made running a more enjoyable endeavour akin to a form of meditation, I thought I would also explore the practical use of the Dantien or Tanden.

Whilst running I focused of becoming aware on the pelvis and concentrated on twisting the pelvis slightly forward - I assisted this by performing this movement in the mirror before hand (whilst no one was watching of course!). By incorporating this pelvis tilt and by running in my Skora Form with a forefoot strike I found an increase of energy in running - a noticeable (and surprising) increase in energy: the run was easy.

This is of course not a new concept to anyone who has read the book Chi Running by Danny Dreyer especially the bit where the author says that the pelvis "contains" Chi energy, like a cauldron contains liquid, you need to keep it straight otherwise you tip the Chi from the pelvis. Whilst I have read the book I found it more useful to come to the same conclusion from the opposite direction, not because I am being told to do it from a book but because I slowly "discover" the right way...in other words a self discovery via experiential learning. To me this has more value but it may be I am just stubborn and need to verify things for myself, and in my own time!

But did it work? Despite a bad back I literally flew through my trail route which I kept to a lowish 6 miles as I am recovering from a flu virus - I took a moderate to slow pace alternating between counting my breaths (breathing meditation) and focusing on my Hara (and tilting or rotating the pelvis forwards (and keeping the whole body relaxed and not all tensed up). It was an easy run and I felt I could have run a few more miles despite recovering from illness and a bad back. The after effect of the run was a total sense of relaxation and a tremendous sense of balance - both physically and mentally. So much so I will be incorporating "mindfulness" into all of my runs from now on. It really does make running a sort of meditation.

I Met A Monk: Running as Meditation

It was whilst in transit at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam international airport, Mauritius, that my wife Ex-wife (5 months after writing this blog post she left me...in Nov 2016) bought me a book, thinking it was the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, in fact she had forgotten the title (not uncommon) and only remembered the "monk" part of it. She had bought I Met A Monk by Rose Elliot and was pleased as punch when she handed it to me. I was not amused. "Great another book that I wont read." and "I'm not interested in becoming a Buddhist" were two of the thoughts that ran through my mind.

But I did read it. And I even started trying the mindfulness meditation. This is specifically concentrating (counting) ones breaths in and out. No incense or statues of Buddha are required, no dogma and no religious texts, just counting the breath in and out and clearing the mind of commentary. I was impressed at the sense of peace that I found. I even started to do this on my lunch breaks at work, finding a quiet spot in nature and sitting for ten minutes doing the breathing meditation. On inclement days I would walk and do the breathing meditation at least for part of the time. And then I wondered if this could also apply to running.

So I tried it and it was strangely relaxing and oddly compulsive, addictive even. I want to try it again. Can  you believe it - Running Meditation!?

Basically just run and focus on your breathing trying counting every ten or twenty breaths, try to clear your mind, as thoughts come in focus again on the breathing and clearing the mind. Try to stop the mental commentary. It's not easy and you go through moments of mindfulness and then lapsing into mental chatter, but it is quite extraordinary the sense of peace you feel - a mixture of endorphin, dopamine and a little mental stillness.

You don't need to get all religious about it, or even spiritual, in my opinion, spiritual things are a reference to the mind - I suppose in the French sense of l'esprit rather in the English sense of ghosts or paranormal stuff. In fact the origin of the word "spirit" is from "breathe" (spirare).

 The Mind and the Body well exercised = health.

Feet, The Fool and the Zodiac

In the medieval mind, and probably much earlier in antiquity, the zodiac signs were thought to influence or rule over certain aspects of the body, which can be seen from the accompanying plates:

In the Zodical Man, Aries, the beginning of the Zodiac rules the head, whilst Pisces the fish at the end of the Zodiac rules the feet. For those not so acquainted with the zodiac these sigils can be reviewed along with this charming rhyme:

The Ram, the Bull, the Heavenly Twins,

And next the Crab the Lion shines,

The Virgin and the Scales,

The Scorpion, Archer, and Sea-Goat,

The Man that bears the Watering-Pot,

The Fish with glittering tails

The rhyme rightly describes Capricorn as the Fishtailed Goat,

as it was in Ancient Babylon. Capricorn is symbolic of man in his dual aspects of hard (earthy) matter and his spiritual (watery) nature, often in esoteric art the Initiate is shown to have a fish tail showing that the Initiate also journeys in the spiritual world.

The zodiac sigil for the Sea Goat Capricorn

appears to contain the sacred tools of the ancient architects – the engineers square and the measuring rope, which links the sacred buildings of antiquity such as the Pyramids at Giza to the medieval masons and the Gothic Cathedrals.

There is also a link between the Zodiac sign of Capricorn who has a fish tail for its hind quarters and Pisces the Fish who rules the feet of man; the symbolism directly relates to mans spiritual journey - the spiritual is often depicted as "watery" and hence an initiate would be depicted with a fish tail; the fish (pisces) was associated with the Knights Templar, a Chivalric Order established for esoteric purposes, and; furthermore the fish is of particular significance in the Christian faith (echoed in the Grail romances with the Fisher King).

Fish appear in number of the biblical stories, Christ walks on water to a fishing vessel, is the fisher of men, he breaks bread and fish to feed the five thousand; furthermore his ministry is within the Age of Pisces, the Christ fish becomes an symbol of the early Christians. Christ himself is anointed on his head (Aries) and he initiates his disciples by washing their feet (Pisces), that this action is both symbolic and important is stressed in Christ’s reply to a reluctant Simon Peter. The doors of the San Zeno Church in Verona show Salome dancing for Herod, contorted like a fish with her head touching her feet (completing the zodiac) after which John the Baptist is decapitated - embalmed heads become a point of interest in the Grail stories.

Moving then into medieval literature and the Grail story Perlesvaus which was almost certainly written by a Knights Templar again brings us this idea of the Fisher King and Keeper of the Grail and the interest in recovering Christian relics as well as embalmed heads – the Grail quest is both a temporal and spiritual journey. We can see in the Gothic Cathedrals, which are books made of stone, a continuation of this Grail Quest. At Chartres we see an image of a Knights Templar, or actually two Knights Templar (their famous seal depicts two knights on one horse) thus supposedly linking to the Zodiac sign of Gemini or twins but with, beneath their feet, a fish. In this way the feet, fish and Christ are somehow linked with the dual nature of man who stands upon Pisces who rules the secrets of initiation. 

It is worth noting at this point that the origin of Pisces, as seen in the sigil, is not one fish but two side by side. 

Like Gemini, Pisces is also a twin, two fish for two feet.

As the zodiac moves from Pisces to Aries, from the foot back to the head, we find ourselves at the beginning of April and April Fool’s day -  a tradition taken from the French in the 17th Century (called the April Fish in France), a day where many of us act the Fool and play jokes on one another. This use of Tomfoolery, or silliness, links almost certainly to the medieval practice of the Feast of Fools or Feast of the Donkey (or Ass) when all manner of tomfoolery was implemented within the auspices of the Church by the local populace it was a type of social pressure relief valve, in which medieval peasants would 'act the goat' and for one day only to turn the church led hierarchy on it's head. Incorporated by the church into the Medieval Feast of Fools where the true meaning became forgotten - it is mentioned at length in Fulcanelli's Mystere des Cathedrales, reminding us that the way of the Fool is in fact an esoteric spiritual path of initiation - the restless, traveling Initiate, perhaps also bringing to mind the expression 'we are all fools for God's sake'.

Such purposeful and exacting foolishness finally takes us to The Fool, or zero in the Tarot deck. The Fool in the tarot deck analogous perhaps to the joker or court jester but more specifically to the Troubadours of the South of France's (Cathar Country), begins a journey on a spiritual path of initiation armed only with a sack (containing his Karma) on a stick carried behind his shoulder and a dog (indicating the Astral body of emotions) running at his heels a  little like the leopard from Dante's Inferno (Dante begins his journey meeting the Astral as an independent entity manifested in a leopard - sometimes translated as panther - ‘una lonza leggiera e presta molto’. ): The Fool stands at the beginning of a physical and spiritual journey. 

This Tarot card in whose earliest rendering shows the Fool barefoot reminds us that it is our feet, linked to the secrets of initiation, and the twin-fish, that take us on both a temporal and spiritual journey, and that it is the bringing of the feet to the head in a circle (zero) which completes the Zodiac.

Review of the Xeroshoe Huarache Sandal Kit

I previously gave a poor review of these shoes; I did not like them at all, however I recently found myself in the tropics and being unable to find my normal sandals took my huaraches. As you can see they are a Xeroshoe Huarache kit and I had to finish making them.
(The Xeroshoe Kit contains 2 rubber soles which smell like tyre tread, two lengths of paracord, a hole punch and a hair clip and no instructions. You have to go online to the Xeroshoewebsite and watch a video). Making them was very frustrating and a trial and error affair...and I still do not think that I got all the knots right, but now I am scared if I take them to bits I will be unable to get them tied again!

So, having arrived in the tropics to 35 degrees Celsius and almost 100 degrees humidity I was very thankful to have these huaraches as they are so light (due to the thin rubber sole) and with the minimalist paracord strap allow maximum air flow to the feet.
Previously my criticism was that they were uncomfortable and that the toe post dug into the toe webbing, however I have now worn these in and they are becoming more and more comfortable. Of course I was reluctant to blame my poor attempts at tying the paracord strap rather to blame the shoe itself...my fathers oft quoted expression now comes to mind: a poor craftsman blames his tools...

Running in them feels a little strange yet they soon become second nature, mainly because  they are so light and the sole so flexible. The 6mm rubber sole has almost no "bounce" so that the barefoot experience is probably the closest you will get however I found running in these particularly heavy going on the ankles. That toe post strap will also take a while to get used to as it feels a bit tight at first.

I found that the paracord eased in after a few days... I started to get a foot slap sound which is not right...and so needed a readjustment to make it tighter. A few days of adjusting the paracord and they became a very comfortable sandal.

However after a further week they loosened up again and I again experienced the foot-slapping sound, so again started to tighten up the paracord. To fully lock the foot to the sole meant making the paracord quite tight, and this meant that the cord between the big toe and the second toe started to chaff the skin. I re-cut the paracord and removed the thick wrapping which I had made around the toe post.

I found that the thinner the cord at the big toe the more comfortable however, I also found that although the paracord was now tight enough to lock the foot onto the sole, after a day of wearing them the paracord had left grooves in my skin, and the top of my foot was a bit puffy. For this reason I cannot envisage these sandals as practical for running.

Conclusion
These huaraches have been a lifesaver in the hot and humid tropics.The one criticism I have is the paracord which feels a little uncomfortable at first, I think a wide strip of leather would work much better, however Xeroshoe chose Paracord because of its durability however I found the paracord to be a poor choice of material. I fully intend to re-string them with leather lace or a wider strip of leather.

Despite my reservations of the paracord I would say that, all in all, the Xeroshore Huarache Kit gets a belated thumbs up from me, they are well worth giving a go...they may well be the best and most cost effective barefoot running shoe / sandal on the market...and would at least provide a low cost entry into running sandals - to see if running sandals are for you...I have to say that having worn these sandals every day for 2 weeks that the running sandal is not for me, I will wear them for walking around and on the beach but for running I prefer my leather Skora Form!

Runner's Knee and the Ego

One of the attractions of "Barefoot" running is the promise of never having a running injury again. This idea is romanticized to a large extent by the book Born to Run and the account therein contained of Barefoot Ted. But barefoot running is not quite the cure all it is made out to be - the lawsuit against the claims made by Vibram Five Fingers being an example, as well as people actually snapping their metatarsals.
For me, after a year of barefoot running I have succumbed to runners heel in my left foot and runners knee on my right knee. The heel pain, which could be the start of Plantar Fasciitis, started when I had stopped running over December having contracted sinusitis, not helped by wearing traditional shoes everyday to work, however after a hiatus, I found that running again barefoot helped the heel pain to some extent that is until after a slippery muddy run I also got runners knee.
The knee pain seemed to be linked to a stiffness in my hip and the pain in my knee actually made me stop running. Three miles from home and the night drawing in, the only thing I could do was switch on my headlamp and trot home. (As night fell about 20 deer came out of the forest - it is a remnant of old Sherwood Forest - to watch me... now immersed now in darkness, I found the normal everyday world meets a sort of non-ordinary world of a more primordial experience, fear, focus and intent) I found that the pain would go when I completely relaxed my hips and knees and slackened the pace - in the darkness I did not have that worry of "what do I look like?". I guess I was almost shuffling along. However when I put on the pressure to start running faster the debilitating pain in my knee started again.

I was barefoot running forefoot striking so where did it go wrong, as both these conditions are meant to be helped by barefoot not caused by it? Over the next weeks I solved the heel pain by really focusing on my walking (rather than running) and seeing where the pain would start and then modifying my foot fall, in this case making sure my left foot went more on the outer edge as this was the only way I could relieve the pain. In this case the pain was a useful tool to find a solution.
As for the knee pain it is reoccurring, and just as I was back to running 8 miles pain free it came back as bad as ever. Truly Awful. Again 3 miles from home the only way I could run was to totally relax my hips and knees, and this was not something I could do intentionally it was a very abstract action, but I knew when it was happening as the pain in my hip and knee stopped.

Louise Hay in her book "You Can Heal Your Life"  says the knees express "bending and pride, ego and stubbornness...we want to move forward but we do not want to change our ways. This is why knees take so long to heal; our ego is involved."

Taking a spiritual approach falls in line with my whole "barefoot journey" using it to uncover at greater depths aspects of myself however I often dispute the current trend in New Age books to disparage the Ego - Wayne Dyer for example often states that Ego is Edging God Out. However I disagree. The Healthy Ego is a big part of western life in general, and even a part of western spiritual practise to find an individual (and direct) connection with this Great Spirit (or Godhead). The development of a healthy ego, a part of the historical (hidden) western esoteric thought, or Mystery Schools, is at odds with the Eastern tradition of abandonment of the Ego. One of the clashes of culture (and politics) from the West to the East, is I believe, a totally different sense of self. The Western tradition is focused on individuality whereas the Eastern tradition, a sort of group (tribal) sense of self as a community.

Anyway according to Louise Hay the solution to knee problems is:
FORGIVENESS; UNDERSTANDING; COMPASSION
Something I know I need to work on, whether it is related to my sports injury...perhaps I need to not stubbornly run 8 miles when my body is telling me not to...perhaps I need to be more compassionate and forgiving to others (and myself) who knows? What I do know about the Western Tradition is that we shouldn't reject our Ego we should embrace it and healthily develop it...We can use our individuality in Forgiveness and Understanding...and, as the Dalai Lama recently tweeted: we can all practise Compassion.
As for knee injuries, well, I guess these will always plague runners...but the pain teaches us how to run correctly, and maybe also teaches us a greater truth at the same time.

A Year of Barefoot: journeying the active lines of intent?

“All the faculties, possibilities, and accomplishments of shamanism, from the simplest to the most astounding, are in the human body itself.”Carlos Castaneda - The Eagle's Gift (1981)


My "barefoot journey" was meant to have been a journey of a 30 something year old man to fitness and his first race. I began the journey light-hearted and with much humor, expecting to reach a 10k race within six months. This did not happen. I did not get to my first race, nor did I win any medals...in fact some might say I had failed on my quest...but I have LEARNED a great deal...

I have been running a year Injury Free of course but the real change was perceptual just as much as it was physical. I soon found that my "barefoot journey" was a "spiritual" journey (spiritual in a very pragmatic sense). I was following lines of intent which in some strange sort of way related to that old fraud Carlos Castaneda, a man somewhat adverse to barefoot it seems, in the book Journey to Ixtlan he writes:

'I can't walk without shoes...Don Juan doubled up with laughter... he assured me again that he had meant what he had said...He was right of course. I had never walked barefoot and to walk in the desert without shoes would have been suicidal for me.
'"This desert is oozing power," don Juan whispered in my ear. "There is no time for being timid."'

But it was in his last book, The Active Side of Infinity that I found some great pointers (and corroboration) relating to my own experiences - it was a book which felt to me far more truthful than many of the other books that he had written.

The fact that I believed Castaneda to be a fake did not take away from the fact that many of his writing concurred, or was corroborated by, my own experiences. Further to this, the fact that it was running barefoot that was the precursor to my intense focus of these lines of infinity, quite frankly came as something of a surprise. This but can be attributed to, I believe, the stimulation of acupressure points or meridians in the foot, akin to Reflexology, causing a specific cognitive change.

That change in cognition, as I wrote in my last post, was a focus on my life's journey - in particular the past - past events of such clarity which  stayed with me through the day and even into my dreams. Here I met with friends who I had not seen in years, I spoke to those who had passed on; it was quite profound. And somewhat shamanic in a visionary sort of way.

I realized that there were indeed two methods or units of cognition which are incompatible with each other. One relating to the everyday world and the other "unit" relating to the world of the shaman or sorcerer. I also realized that I had had many paranormal experiences in my life which had resided in a foggy place of semi-amnesia. I concluded that Castaneda was right in his view, or the Sorcerers of Antiquity's view, that there were two ways of "seeing": the mundane way and the clairvoyant way.

According to Castaneda, the Sorcerers of antiquity in ancient Mexico, saw clairvoyantly. that the body (in an energetic sense) was in fact a ball of energy. and that within this ball of energy was an even brighter ball called the Assemblage Point through which the lines of infinity enter and which relate to perception. When these Sorcerers engaged clairvoyant "seeing" (rather than mere looking) they entered a heightened state of perception, or clairvoyant vision, that these Sorcerers of Antiquity called the "Second Attention", and it was "seen" by these Sorcerers that when a person was perceiving in the Second Attention that this "Assemblage Point" had shifted from the normal position (located behind the shoulder blades) into a new position. Thus the memories of the Second Attention could not be actively remembered whilst in the everyday state of perception due to the relative location of the Assemblage Point at these two specific states of perception. Therefore these Sorcerers of Antiquity could only remember the events of the second attention by returning their Assemblage Point to the altered position in which the event had originally been perceived. The events of the Second Attention although profound were embedded within the physical form even though they were forgotten in the everyday world, or to say, the memories were off limits when the Assemblage Point was in the normal position perceiving the every day world.

I had thus  found that the "spiritual" in some pragmatic and very real sense was embedded in the physical, in the tendons and muscles and nerve endings of the body; for my barefoot running was stimulating my life review, corroborated in Louise Hays book You can Heal Your Life and also corroborated by Castaneda acting as amanuensis to the Yaqui Indian sorcerer Don Juan Matus in the book The Active Side of Infinity;

 "Walking...precipitates memories...The sorcerers of ancient Mexico believed that everything we live we store as a sensation on the backs of the legs. They considered the backs of the legs to be the warehouses of man's personal history."

I felt, even before reading that quotation, to be compelled to start to collect certain experiences in a journal and to review my life in general - all stimulated (as I saw it) by barefoot running - which builds up the muscles on the back of the legs. As I continued this life review I found I was doing something that Castaneda referred to as Recapitulation.

"Sorcerers believe...that as we recapitulate our lives, all the debris...comes to the surface. We realize our inconsistencies. our repetitions, but something in us puts up a tremendous resistance to recapitulating. Sorcerers say that the road is free only after a gigantic upheaval...[a] memory of an event that shakes our foundations with its terrifying clarity of detail."



I have not finished this process - this life review: nor the barefoot running - so I cannot make any conclusions other to say that I find I am walking on a new line of intent...to an unknown destination.

All I know is that I am seeing and experiencing a new world of perception which directly impacts in the material world through the force of intent.