Today's lecture in Physics class was about sound waves. What should have only of lasted one lecture, lasted three, because my teacher seems to go on a tantrum about one thing or another every five minutes.
The main concept he was trying to teach today was about interference: constructive, destructive and then most importantly, resonance. John Graham states that "resonance is the dramatic amplification of vibrational amplitude due to a for vibrating an object at its characteristic frequency." He just explains that when two objects are vibrating in the same frequency, it can create resonance. This is unlike complete constructive interference where two waves heading towards each other just pass through unaffected and in complete destructive interference, when two waves of opposite (i.e. positive and negative) amplitude pass through each other, they wipe each other out, the waves disappear.
Resonance is fascinating though. This is how the opera singer breaks a wine glass, how we get sound out of an organ pipe, how we can broadcast onto the radio, etc. Graham even showed us a video of a bridge that collapsed in Tacoma due to the sound waves created by the wind resonating with the structure of the bridge. Check it out, here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0Fi1VcbpAI
Later today, I decided to read the chapter about Quantum Physics by Carol Davis in her book "Complementary Therapies in Rehabilitation; Evidence for Efficacy in Therapy, Prevention and Wellness." This particular aspect of Quantum physics had to do with the The Zero Point Field theory about the empty space around us, which we call space or air which is. in fact, is full of energy. For example, when I try a boulder problem, sometimes I climb harder than I am normally capable of. I almost on sighted Junior's Achievement in my work clothes one day. I went back to that same problem a month later, and couldn't even get off the ground.
The Zero Point Field argues that we can get energy from the space around us. My favorite explanation is "this subtle energy matrix that surrounds us, which we move about in, much like the water that surrounds swimming fish, influences our physiological and biological systems in ways that are just beginning to be understood. It all has to do with the science of bioenergetics and vibrations" (Davis). The book also cites a study done by A.V. Hill (Nobel Prize physiologist and biophysicist) and D.R. Wilkie who proved that "the amount of energy that is needed to drive muscle contraction exceeds the amount of energy produced by the mitochondria."(Davis).
Imagine everyone in the world vibrating, producing waves. We all have these vibrations coming out of us. Sometimes when they interact with other vibrations, they are complete destructive interference, canceling eachother out. These are people who just completely turn you off. Dont want to be around them, dont want to talk to them. Sometimes its unexplainable why I or you or anyone would feel this way. its just how it is. Most of the time, vibrations between people are complete constructive interference... meaning that what we say to each other doesnt really stick with us. We leave the conversation or interactions more or less unaltered. I would consider these friends and acquaintances But in some rare occasions (like when the tacoma bridge resonated with the 40 mph wind), resonance happens!
So this proves that I, by myself, do not have the capabilities to climb Junior's Achievement on my own. It was the vibrating crowd of people resonating with me that day and the energy in the Zero Point Field gave me the moment of lightlessness and energy to send (well, get off the ground) a normally impossible problem. I dont know if anyone reading this has been to the Buttermilks, but the place is magical. The zero point energy is on High there!
New vibrations are passing through me everyday in North Carolina. I've been able to tap into the Zero Point Field once again and have found other people that resonate with me. I finally got a 5.12 clean this year!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Comfrey
I first heard of this powerful plant when I was doing research for the skin salve was planning to make for the climbers of Bishop. I had known how easy it is to make a salve and how useful it would be for people living in such hostile environments like the desert and the mountains, so my experimentation started and "Secrets of the Beehive" was born.
My friend Jenn, from Humboldt, had told me how well comfrey works on the skin and why it needed to be a major staple in my salve. She told me that it was a hardy annual that can withstand anything. She could even put a chunk of the root in the mail and send it to me, and I grow a comfrey plant!
I never did receive that root in the mail, but right when I got into "The Land where all Grows" (Asheville, NC), I posted a classified on fromhere.org, asking anyone if they had any comfrey plants I could work-trade for.
I received a phone call from Maggie. She said she had more comfrey than she knew what to do with. I came down a few days later, and sure enough, it was the most comfrey I had ever seen (i'd actually never seen it before). All I had to do was weedwack a small section of her land and she gave me garbage bags full of the leaves and jars of oil she made from last fall. She also hooked me up with a baby comfrey plant, allowed me to dig up comfrey roots and also transplanted a St. John's Wort Plant for me. Jackpot!
This plant is amazing. First of all, its resistance to eradication is simply fascinating. It takes people years to successfully rid their gardens of it. What begins as a hedge, soon becomes a wall. I will add pictures later of what Maggie's hedge looked like, but it was thick and tall, and, not too mention, thistly. You have to be fully protected when removing it, longsleeves and gloves. Comfrey also has a high nitrogen content thats great for compost and green cover. I put three of the bags of comfrey on the compost at my rental and what began as a pile of rotten food, now is a big pile of comfrey and old leaves, breaking down into beautiful soil.
The main constituent of the herb is mucilage."The Way of the Herbs" by Michael Tierra, says that Comfrey root has the highest content of mucilage of any herbs, which has been used for soothing lung troubles and coughs. And you can see and feel this mucilage when you start making things with the leaves and roots. When I washed the roots to prepare them for drying, they felt craaaazy! Super slimy and wiggly, it honestly felt like dead fingers. The leaves are infusing in olive oil right now, and I can see the mucilage all over them.
What I love comfrey for is for its ability to heal the skin. "A Modern Herbal" by Mrs. M. Greives, says "Comfrey leaves are of much value as an external remedy, both in the form of fomentations, for sprains, swellings and bruises, and as a poultice, to severe cuts, to promote suppuration of boils and abscesses, and gangrenous and ill-conditioned ulcers. The whole plant, beaten to a cataplasm and applied hot as a poultice, has always been deemed excellent for soothing pain in any tender, inflamed or suppurating part." Micheal Tierra notes, "Comfrey is indicated for any rapid wound or bone healing. As such it can be used both internally and externally with outstanding results in the healing of fractures, wounds, sores and ulcers. The allantoin in comfrey increases cell proliferation, which accounts for its rapid-healing powers."
I've already turned some of Maggie's oil into salve and have given it to many of my new friends in North Carolina. I anticipate the results... Personally, I do not doubt the powers of this plant.
But just as a warning to all who use this plant, It can cause or flare up liver problems. If you are prone to liver disease or already hard on your liver, lay off! It has also been know to affect hormone levels. Most notably, testosterone. Women in menopause can use it to help relieve symptoms. All these warnings are from those who have used the herb in excess.
How to make Comfrey Salve:
Maggie's oil was made of fresh comfrey leaves infused in Olive Oil in a crock pot for a few hours. If you do it this way, be extra careful not to let the oil burn. It is stinky and messy and a waste of herbs and oils.
I prefer to make mine in a mason jar that sits in the sun for a few weeks. This is called a solar infusion. I fill the jar up with chopped comfrey leaf and top it off with olive oil. Be sure there is about half an inch of oil above the leaves. Put this out in the sun for 2 to 4 weeks, shaking it once a day or so. If I am feeling especially crafty, I will start them on the full moon and leave them outside during the night for those three days and then continue the infusion until the New Moon or the following Full.
I then take the oil (after I strain the leaves/roots out), heat it up and melt beeswax into it. I am still working on the ratio, but somewhere are around 1:4, wax:oil, ratio is good. Once the wax is melted, add essential oils and vitamin E.
Voila! Now you can make healing salve too!
Thanks for reading!
P.S. Pictures will come soon. I have to figure out an easy way to get them on my computer....
My friend Jenn, from Humboldt, had told me how well comfrey works on the skin and why it needed to be a major staple in my salve. She told me that it was a hardy annual that can withstand anything. She could even put a chunk of the root in the mail and send it to me, and I grow a comfrey plant!
I never did receive that root in the mail, but right when I got into "The Land where all Grows" (Asheville, NC), I posted a classified on fromhere.org, asking anyone if they had any comfrey plants I could work-trade for.
I received a phone call from Maggie. She said she had more comfrey than she knew what to do with. I came down a few days later, and sure enough, it was the most comfrey I had ever seen (i'd actually never seen it before). All I had to do was weedwack a small section of her land and she gave me garbage bags full of the leaves and jars of oil she made from last fall. She also hooked me up with a baby comfrey plant, allowed me to dig up comfrey roots and also transplanted a St. John's Wort Plant for me. Jackpot!
this is what her comfrey hedge looked like when I got there...
This is what it looked like when I left (hours later)
This plant is amazing. First of all, its resistance to eradication is simply fascinating. It takes people years to successfully rid their gardens of it. What begins as a hedge, soon becomes a wall. I will add pictures later of what Maggie's hedge looked like, but it was thick and tall, and, not too mention, thistly. You have to be fully protected when removing it, longsleeves and gloves. Comfrey also has a high nitrogen content thats great for compost and green cover. I put three of the bags of comfrey on the compost at my rental and what began as a pile of rotten food, now is a big pile of comfrey and old leaves, breaking down into beautiful soil.
The main constituent of the herb is mucilage."The Way of the Herbs" by Michael Tierra, says that Comfrey root has the highest content of mucilage of any herbs, which has been used for soothing lung troubles and coughs. And you can see and feel this mucilage when you start making things with the leaves and roots. When I washed the roots to prepare them for drying, they felt craaaazy! Super slimy and wiggly, it honestly felt like dead fingers. The leaves are infusing in olive oil right now, and I can see the mucilage all over them.
What I love comfrey for is for its ability to heal the skin. "A Modern Herbal" by Mrs. M. Greives, says "Comfrey leaves are of much value as an external remedy, both in the form of fomentations, for sprains, swellings and bruises, and as a poultice, to severe cuts, to promote suppuration of boils and abscesses, and gangrenous and ill-conditioned ulcers. The whole plant, beaten to a cataplasm and applied hot as a poultice, has always been deemed excellent for soothing pain in any tender, inflamed or suppurating part." Micheal Tierra notes, "Comfrey is indicated for any rapid wound or bone healing. As such it can be used both internally and externally with outstanding results in the healing of fractures, wounds, sores and ulcers. The allantoin in comfrey increases cell proliferation, which accounts for its rapid-healing powers."
I've already turned some of Maggie's oil into salve and have given it to many of my new friends in North Carolina. I anticipate the results... Personally, I do not doubt the powers of this plant.
But just as a warning to all who use this plant, It can cause or flare up liver problems. If you are prone to liver disease or already hard on your liver, lay off! It has also been know to affect hormone levels. Most notably, testosterone. Women in menopause can use it to help relieve symptoms. All these warnings are from those who have used the herb in excess.
This is fresh salve, straight off the burner and poured into jars for distribution.
How to make Comfrey Salve:
Maggie's oil was made of fresh comfrey leaves infused in Olive Oil in a crock pot for a few hours. If you do it this way, be extra careful not to let the oil burn. It is stinky and messy and a waste of herbs and oils.
I prefer to make mine in a mason jar that sits in the sun for a few weeks. This is called a solar infusion. I fill the jar up with chopped comfrey leaf and top it off with olive oil. Be sure there is about half an inch of oil above the leaves. Put this out in the sun for 2 to 4 weeks, shaking it once a day or so. If I am feeling especially crafty, I will start them on the full moon and leave them outside during the night for those three days and then continue the infusion until the New Moon or the following Full.
I then take the oil (after I strain the leaves/roots out), heat it up and melt beeswax into it. I am still working on the ratio, but somewhere are around 1:4, wax:oil, ratio is good. Once the wax is melted, add essential oils and vitamin E.
Voila! Now you can make healing salve too!
But, if you dont have time to make your own, I'll do it for you!!!
Thanks for reading!
P.S. Pictures will come soon. I have to figure out an easy way to get them on my computer....
Thursday, July 12, 2012
The Power of Pyramids
***I tried to post this last week, I am still trying to figure out this blogging thing, so if this is a duplicate post, my apologies.
Ok, so what began as kind of a joke has now consumed my thoughts and has become somewhat relevant. The power of the pyramid. It all started with me finding a homemade pyramid in the kitchen at the a house I moved into last month. I asked my roommate, "what's up with the pyramid?" After all, it was taking up valuable space on my herb shelf. My roommate replies that his friend made it and gave it to him because of the powers it encompasses. Ok, sweet... the pyramid stays on the herb shelf.
A few weeks later, I am at my herbal companion's house and her healing friend comes over. We chat, and it turns out she is a massage therapist and decorates her healing room with pyramids. I chuckle to myself while keeping a straight face and later tell my roommate about conversation.
Later on, I was pondering the lessons I had learned in my psychology class this week and I realize that the two concepts that I enjoyed the most were also pyramids!
One is called the pyramid of talk. This has a base that consists of small talk, then above it is Informative talk, next is emotional talk, then comes crucial and secretive talk. In order to accomplish the higher levels of the pyramid, you must lay the foundations. This is the basis of relationships, whether it be with your new or old friends, boy/girlfriend, wife/husband, teacher/pupil, etc. In order to build a trusting relationship, you must start at the bottom.. You also have to keep building that lower level in order to accomplish the higher "Big Talk". You can't skip levels either. If you just meet someone, and they are only informing you about the facts of the world or unleashing their emotions all over you, that friendship will diminish. The pyramid comes crumbling down when any of the base levels are compromised. Brilliant.
The next pyramid we talked about was Sternberg's Components of Love. Now this is more of a triangle, but none the less, it looks a lot like a pyramid in my drawing. So the three points on the triangle are Intimacy at the top, and Passion and Commitment at the two other ends. In between these points are the three types of love that are a product of the points they are in between of; Romantic love, companion love and consumate love. Let me just draw a picture. Ok, according to Sternberg's consummate love is the ultimate way to happiness, and inorder to have this you must have all three components. If not, you're love will be of a different kind. It doesnt necessarily mean that what you have is bad or wrong or less than the ultimate "consummate" love. But with many people who are my age, not yet married and fully committed to a man or woman, it might be a good tool to use to help predict the future of the relationship you are in.
Thank you for reading my ramblings.
The Tree of Wisdom
I walked out of Asheville's Climbing gym, Climbmax, and my friend says, "Check out this tree..." before I even allow him to finish his sentence, I exclaim, "Its a Ginko Tree!!!"
Photo from: http://old.texarkanacollege.edu/~mstorey/plants/Ginkgo.html
My friend wanted to tell me that this species is one of the oldest known tree genus in history. According to a college in Texas, this species has been around for over 80 million years (http://old.texarkanacollege.edu/~mstorey/plants/Ginkgo.html). They go on to say that it no longer exists in wild, its only propagated. So why have humans been propagating this tree for so many years????
Michael Tierra writes in "The Way of the Herbs", that "this leaf can be used for improving blood circulation to the brain, improving peripheral blood circulation, tinnitus, Alzheimer's and senility, to improve one's mood and sociability, arthritic and rheumatic problems, arteriosclerosis, eye weakness caused by poor circulation, vertigo, anxiety and tension, lung and bronchial congestion" (Tierra). Herbalist, Amanda McQuade, says "Gingko is used to treat or improve memory, mental efficiency ability to concentrate, sociability and mood especially in the senile and aged" (Tierra). Rosemary Gladstar says its good for increasing memory, emotional stability and energy.
This species is one of my favorites to use in teas. It is an excellent tonic for the brain. I discovered this secret when I was an undergrad and I will swear by it. My brain functions much faster and crisper when I am drinking this leaf as a tea. I can feel the results after just a few days.
This is my favorite Gingko Leaf Tea Recipe from Rosemary Gladstar's homestudy course:
Brainy Brew
1pt Peppermint
1pt Lemon Balm
1pt Gota Kola
2pts Ginko leaves
You can mix and match any of these herbs. I made a tea today that was just peppermint and ginko leaves (which I picked from the magical tree my friend showed me), and it tasted great. Gingko can be somewhat bitter, but it is actually mild in a tea and can be mixed with anything.
When I use this herb, I use it in mass quantities. I am talking about 16 to 20oz of the tea five times a week (your body can build a tolerance if you use any herb everyday). Rosemary Gladstar says that inorder for Gingko to be effective, it must be used consistently for 2 to 4 months, although I can feel the effects after just a few days of drinking the tea. "Gingko works as a nutrient, not a drug, so it is necessary to be consistent and to use an adequate amount," Gladstar writes.
I have yet to experience any side effect from taking too much of it. Michael Tierra warns that dermatitis, irritability, restlessness, diarrhea and vomiting, are possible side effects but are rare.
Resources:
Gladstar, Rosemary. "Science and Art of Herbalism; A Home-Studay Course" Last updated October 2010.
Tierra, Michael. "The Way of Herbs" Last updated 1998 by Pocket Books.
***both these resources are excellent and I highly recommend Tierra's book for anyone just getting into herbs that wants to know a variety of information about them. Its easy to read and to use.
"Gingko Biloboa; Maidenhair Tree" Texas Arkansas College?
(http://old.texarkanacollege.edu/~mstorey/plants/Ginkgo.html)
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