#7 Cutting the Grass, Without Using any Gas

After a year of use, I am quite pleased with this rotary lawn mower. This mower seems to take about the same amount of effort as a gas mower; but without the smell, the noise, the vibration, the gas or the heavy weight. It’s also really nice to not have to worry about holding onto the thing to keep the engine from turning off.

The only catch is that you need to keep the grass more under control than with a gas mower. These mowers cannot cut long weeds and blades of grass very well. For those situations, I use an electric weed eater. This combination covers just about every situation I’ve run into.

Rotary mowers are great if you are cutting grass on a small to medium sized lot. They take up less space. There’s no dealing with and storing gas. All around, it’s a great solution that fits many people’s needs.

About to Take Podcasting to the Next Level!!

I now have a microphone, mixer, headphones and HD webcam on the way from Amazon. I’m planning on doing podcast related recordings on a more regular basis now that I have some better equipment.  Based on my own interest in other people’s podcasts, I can see the potential of audio/video as a means of delivering information.  It’s easier to absorb the information and it frees up people’s eyes/hands to do other things.

Up until now, I was using my computer’s built-in webcam and built-in mic and I didn’t want to create a whole lot of material with such relatively low-quality equipment, so I figured it was time to get something basic, yet much better, to improve the sound/video quality and open the door to possible co-hosts, interviews, etc.

Hopefully I made the right choices. I have no experience with any of this kind of stuff; but I was able to find some good info, such as theaudacitytopodcast.com and some various other reading/research. Read the rest of this entry »

Video Podcast #5: Cooking With a Solar Oven – Vegetable Soup

Using the “free energy” of the sun to cook a vegetable soup.

It was a hot July day, where the temperature was around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. We decided to cook a vegetable soup with the hot July sun and our “global sun oven”.

The soup was cooked in stages, between 11AM and 4PM. We started by throwing in some coconut oil, onion and garlic, then added the japanese sweet potato later, then the broccoli and carrots, then finishing up with the coconut milk, water, herbs and spices.

Video Podcast #4: Fasting/Detox: Journal #2 – 3/20/2012

Since the beginning of the month of March, I’ve been working on an in-depth cleanse. This cleanse started with a detox diet for the first two weeks, consisting of loads of organic vegetables as soups and stir fries as well as nuts, fruit and dried fruit. This was followed by a week of juice fasting, consisting of fresh raw fruit and vegetable juice diluted 50% with water; this is the stage I am at now. A water-only fast will be beginning this weekend and should last for at least one week, perhaps longer if things work out well.

So far this week, I’ve primarily been drinking juices with some combination of the following (citrus is always taken separately as the guidelines of trophology suggest):

• carrot
• bok choy
• celery
• cabbage
• italian parsley
• ginger
• garlic
• kale
• oranges
• grapefruit

So-far, I’m feeling good, I have loads of energy and I don’t feel much in the way of withdrawal symptoms from coffee, dairy, bread, etc. In the past I had a hard time getting through the day without a few coffees, it was quite an addiction. Now I am able to get through the day without feeling the need for coffee. I’ll still have some caffiene in the form of a green tea, perhaps, but the overall dosage is much lower than before.

I’ve been able to go about my life with more sustainable energy than before and aside from missing out on the enjoyment of food, I am feeling better than ever. I think this opportunity I’m giving my body to really rest and repair, is really helping a great deal. So I’ll keep a good attitude, which has a huge influence on the results of this kind of endeavor, I’ll be mindful of the effects of whatever I am engaged in and I’ll push forth doing my best to maintain and improve my life as I go.

I went to a Yoga class followed by a Tai Chi class on Tuesday, which turned out to be an above average class in terms of difficulty. Despite having less energy to burn, I did well and I pushed myself in ways that I had not previously pushed myself. I was able to hold difficult poses like scale pose for 30 seconds on each side, which is a record for me and I was able to do poses like half bound lotus forward bend with less difficulty. Overall, I was stronger, more flexible, more disciplined and motivated than I had been in previous experiences.

One of the great things about these kinds of experiences, is they help you to apply the discipline that it takes to engage in fasting/detox, to other parts of your life. It really gets you thinking and introspecting, so you have the potential to really weed out toxic habits and motivational issues that you might have otherwise been complacent with, had you not done a fast/detox.

I did an hour long video podcast, which goes off on alot of tangents; but touches many areas that I felt inspired to discuss. I hope those of you who have the time will check it out and share your thoughts if you are so inclined.

Video Podcast #3: Fasting/Detox: Journal #1 – 3/1/2012

Before and After Seven Days Fast

For the month of March, I am engaging in a truly transformative experience, a fast and a detox, phased in a week at a time and starting today.  

This experience is going to be a thorough cleanse of my entire body/mind/spirit through fasting, detoxification and meditation (Tai Chi, Yoga, Sitting Meditation, Breathing Exercises). I am using a phased approach, so I can gradually work my way into an eventual water-only fast, over the course of a a month; so the overall experience will produce the greatest benefits, in terms of bodily detoxification, spiritual development, and dietary improvement.

In past fasting and detoxification experiences, I’ve had profound revelations on many different levels of significance.  Since I am taking the time to go through preparatory pre-fasting stages, over several weeks, I expect the benefits to be far greater than in previous experiences, where I only pre-fasted for a few days prior to the fast.

In all of my 30 years, I have encountered few experiences that are as powerful and transformative, in such a short period of time, as these fasting experiences. I want to make this one the best fasting experience yet, so I can feel more alive, more aware and more in touch with my spiritual and experiential reality.

Here is the plan for this experience, as it stands right now:

• March 1 – March 8 – Begin a detox diet, eliminate meat, bread, (most) dairy and sweets.  Diet consisting mostly of stir fried veggies, sprouts and fresh raw vegetable juice.
• March 9 – March 16 – Similar diet to the first week; but more emphasis on vegetable juice.
• March 17 – March 22 – Juice only diluted 50% with filtered water, also coconut water at times.
• March 23 – ??? – Water only with some tea.

I’m leaving the duration of the water fast open ended, but the goal is to listen to my body and go for somewhere between 5 and 14 days.  I’ll be updating with future journals, possibly with videos, whenever time permits. I am looking forward to documenting this transformation as it progresses. I’d like to document this in a much more significant way than I have during past experiences. I really want to take the lessons learned during past experiences and apply them for this ordeal, so I can again be astonished by what may transpire.

Video Podcast #2: Transcending the State: Freedom Mentally and Physically

This is my first video podcast in quite some time, only the second overall. I decided to record some thoughts about “freedom” and just see what comes out. Various ideas about freedom were covered, there will be more in-depth explorations of this and various sub-topics when time permits.

Podcast #4: Stepping Outside the Paradigm

I’ve always found that the most valuable reflections are those in which I step outside of the day-to-day paradigm and examine life through a different lens. In this podcast I do just that. Looking at life, not from the perspective of material objectives, but instead from the perspective of individual growth.

Podcast #3: Sustainability For Generations to Come

The primary focus of today’s podcast is: lasting sustainability, how we can achieve it and how we can avoid the many traps along the way.

• Taoism and the spontaneous nature of existence
• Problem with environmental activism “the world we don’t want versus the world we do want”
• Forcing behavior versus incentivizing behavior
• Permaculture
• Food forests
• Beneficial interaction between plants/animals/people
• How we can use permaculture to improve our land and reduce work
• Solar cooking
• Stepping back and realizing the simple solutions to problems

Video Podcast #1: Indoor Gardening

Here’s a 20 minute tour of what we are doing to be more self-sufficient and eat better as the spring approaches. In the video I explain why I feel it is important to start your own seeds, what we’ve done to get our seeds starting, what to do when the seedlings have sprouted their leaves; as well as how to grow some of your greens in sprouting jars.

Podcast #2: Brief Tutorial on Mantra Meditation

Here is a brief podcast on mantra meditation.  This is something you can do if you need to center yourself.  It works if you are experiencing depression, hypertension, pain and discomfort, or any number if maladies.

Your mind can gets into negative habits and these habits enthrall the mind in a ritual of degeneration.  Mantras are a way of re-setting your mind/body/spirit complex, so you can be more in the present moment.