þþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþ þþþ CYBER_PHUCK MAGAZINE ISSUE TWO þþþ þþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþ This is issue two of CYBER_PHUCK Magazine. I hope you enjoy it. 1. Introduction To Meditation (An introduction to meditation with the bullshit present in most meditation techniques removed) 2. Intermediate Meditation Techniques (More advanced information and techniques on meditation with the bullshit we normally expect about meditation removed) 3. DEPRESSION A Paper on clinical depression. A condition that affects 50% of all people at some time in their lives. Learn about depression and know how to help yourself or a friend or family member that you love. 4. BE YOUR OWN CHIROPRACTOR Tired of having a sore as shit neck or back. Here's some tips that just might help you feel better. þþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþ INTRODUCTION TO MEDITATION MEDIATION INFORMATION. Introduction to meditation; CRASH COURSE IN INTRODUCTORY MEDITATION Meditation is old and comes from India and China and places like that. Basically western countries have developed a society based on accumulation of things, while eastern countries, which are quite accumulated already, have developed techniques for relaxing, and focusing, the mind to appreciate what is already there. As the U.S. becomes more overpopulated, the need for relaxation techniques and self discovery through meditation will become much more important. Goal of meditation: Short Term: Relaxation Long Term: To search for the true "self" by learning to control our perceptions. Three "B"s Relax the body, Slow the blood flow, relax the brain. Beginning Technique Find a comfortable sitting position. A lawn chair will do or any chair pillow on the floor etc. This is meditation, NOT yoga, so don't go out and buy incense and shave your head just yet. Breathing is very important. Breath slowly. Pay close attention to your breathing. When you exhale, have your mind relax a specific part of your body. Exhale and physically realax your foot, then your leg, then your arm, etc every time you exhale learn to relax a part of your body. This step is easy and very interesting and beneficial to relieve stress. Eyes closed. Keep your eyes closed while learning to breath. You will be seeing the inside of your eye lids of course, but work on breathing. Breathing is good for your lympathic system. (body's sewage system). As you learn how easy it is to relax various parts of the body, feeling the stress leave a specific body part as your breath leaves your lungs, then move towards relaxing internal organs as well. Just as you can exhale and relax your leg, work on exhaling and relaxing your internal organs. Your adrenal glands are in the back near the kidneys. Work on those in paticular. They are part of a feed back loop between the mind and body that keeps us tense once we get tense, or keeps us depressed when we get depressed. Once the body is relaxed, try relaxing the brain as well. As you exhale "think of nothing" or "do not think". If you think of "nothing" you may drive yourself mad, perhaps "do not think" is a better term for western people to grasp. Since nothing, emptiness, is something real in the western mind. As you exhale, relax the brain, just as you would your leg or arm each time you exhale. think.. "do not think". Between each thought, is a microsecond where we don't think about anything. When we veg on a campfire, or some relaxing primevil thing, the space between thoughts grows, and we benefit. Good meditation lets us look at our "self" which is inbetween the thoughs, telling us what we really want to think about, what we truly are inside. So. 1. Find a comfortable place. 2. Close your eyes. 3. Concentrate on breathing. 4. Each time you exhale, relax a body part, feel the tension in that body part leave your body. You can actually feel the bad energy leave. 5. When the body is relaxed, do the same to your brain. Relax the brain each time you exhale. 6. "do not think", or "think of nothing" whichever works for you. 7. Try relaxing the internal organs, especially the adrenal glands. 8. At first you will see the inside of your eye lids and your eyes will try to focus on them. "do not think" and allow the space between thought to increase, slowly increase the time space between thoughts. During meditation, the body functions slow down, yet the brain does not. After meditation, you will feel more relaxed and peaceful than before. The human is not designed for prolonged stress, and meditation allows the mind time to heal itself, and enhances the body's ability to heal itself. This is a basic introduction to fundamental introductory technique. Try this and see where it takes you. Don't be too surprised if you loose the physical sensation of your physical body and see, not the insides of your eye lids, but the infinite rhelm of your own mind. As outter space, is a void, a vacuum, you will soon see that the human mind is exactly the opposite. Tom Line Head Chef Cyber BBS 513-863-0447 tline@iac.net What is the sound of one hand clapping... JUST KIDDING one hand.. RIGHT! :) þþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþ INTERMEDIATE MEDITATION TECHNIQUE MEDIATION INFORMATION. INTERMEDITE MEDITATION TECHNIQUE; CRASH COURSE IN INTERMEDIATE MEDITATION Finding a comfortable place is important in learning meditation since distractions at first, make it harder to meditate. Some people picture meditation being performed in the lotus position, with sticks of incense making the room smell like a head-shop. Well the opposite is true. Meditation is fun to do in a big comfortable chair in your living room, or a simple lawn chair in the back yard. Close your eyes when you begin to meditate, and at first you see the inside of your eye lids, then you begin to see beyond that. The most fundamental thing I notice when I begin to relax and meditate, is that I hear sounds around me that I was previously unaware of. Just as during normal activity I am unaware of my "true self", during meditation I become dramatically more aware of sounds around me. Especially outdoors, I hear the sounds of birds and the wind through the trees, and the drone of traffic in the distance becomes less and less. As I concentrate on breathing, it gives my mind something singular to do. The opposite of meditation is the state in which our mind flows continously with random thoughts and pictures. Concentrating on breathing and relaxing our muscles and internal organs and brains each time we exhale, also slows down the number of thoughts that normally fire randomlly across our frantic minds. Each time you exhale, relaxing a body part, feeling the tension in that body part leave your body is actually healthy and allows blood to flow more freely, yet more slowly throughout. Relaxing the mind as we exhale also relaxes the small blood vessles, allow blood and the oxygen it carries to penetrate the brain blood barrier more successfully. The goal is to "not think" for a change. Turn off that thought machine. If a thought bounces out from someplace, ignore it and don't bounce it back. "do not think", or "think of nothing" whichever works for you. Sometimes when we meditate, the mind is a jumble of thoughts. These thoughts are the outter most and most frantic and most unimportant thoughts. The mind is perhaps like a large corporation. On the outter most levels are workers. They work and work and work, and dream up more work and work, without real insightful thought. As you see further and further into the inner most workings of the company, you see folks doing less and less, yet they are more important to the success of the company. At the very inner most workings of the company is one man who really does the least amount of work, or so it appears. Our mind is something like that. As your whirling thoughts begin to slow, and true relaxations and absence of though follows, we can begin to look inward. Thoughts still flow, but in less frantic and more important forms. As we peer deeper and deeper between all the frantic thought factories, we are allowing the inner most voices in our mind a chance to be seen. To get in touch with our "true self" like the president of the company, we must turn off all thoughts, and look deeper and deeper within until we reach our true self. And only by "not thinking" in our very aware state are we able to turn off all the noise that prevents from hearing what our true self has to say. Our true self may not instantenously say anything, but it now knows that we want to hear what it has to say. Thus the insight we achive through meditation may not happen during meditation, but maybe days later, when we least expect it, the pieces of ourselves, have shut-up long enough finally for the rest of our "true self" to hear what we really want. I have heard peering into the mind described as "tip toeing through sleeping elephants" so immense are our normal thought processes. Have you ever gone camping, and had no radio, no idiots pissing beer into the fire. Have you ever been able to stare at the fire. It's energy draws one out of the deepest corners of our minds. When we sit by on a fire, it feels relaxing, because it helps us to quiet our normal frantic thought processes that are necessary for survival in a split second dangerous world. Frantic thoughts are hard to turn off once they start. THE MANTRA: Some people use tricks to help in meditation. Just as quietly watching a peaceful warm campfire relaxes the mind and helps us to focus our thoughts, and turn off the frantic unneeded noise in our minds, so does The Mantra. Some people are aided in meditation by humming some deep, low, primevil sounding chanting sounds, or by staring at an imaginary object in their relaxed state. If this helps you than it's great. If ANYTHING help you meditate than it is good, but everybody's mind is different, so although hearing a Mantra sound inside your mind, or actually vocalizing it outloud may be worth trying sometime, it may or may not actually help you. Meditation is so simple to do, and is so valuable to us as humans, but yet it's difficult to find sane information on the subject. I've looked for good books on the subject, but most just seem to be hippies playing their own drum. Meditation is very valuable and a personal thing we mustn't let wierdos scare us away from. The human body is a temple, but hell, I sure like to smoke a cigar once in a while and eat a cheese burger at MacDonalds. After all, there is more to life than TV and traffic. I don't consider living in a old VW bus to be anybody's answer to life. It sounds more to me like running away from life. If you want to take a trip, try taking one into your own mind through meditation and visiting your true self for a change. You'll probably like what you see :) ahhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm (pause) ahhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Tom Line Head Chef Cyber BBS 513-863-0447 tline@iac.net "Snatch the pebble from my hand..." FUCK YOU! GIVE ME THE FUCKING ROCK! DEPRESSION. BY THE HEAD CHEF CYBER BBS 513-863-0447 tline@iac.net þþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþ DEPRESSION **************** DEPRESSION **************** There are two types of depression. 1. BI-POLAR. (or Manic Depression) This means one day you feel like killing yourself, and the next day you feel like painting the house purple. Bi-polar depression is characterized by INTENSE mood swings, from feeling super super super super great, to feeling lower than slug shit. Bi-Polar depresssive is also called MANIC-DEPRESSION. Manic means you want to go out a run up 8,000 $ on your credit card and just might do it too. Manic means you feel like taking clocks apart, putting them back together, and then writing a 3,000 page novel about it. Then the next day you might mood "swing" back and feel like killing yourself and feeling afraid to leave your bed for a month or two. Manic depression can cause hallucinations and other scary shit in some folks. Lithium. Lithium is a mineral salt, like... salt. People who are manic depressives, (or bi-polar), can have their mood swings slowed and even stopped by the proper daily dose of lithium. Lithium can poison the system if too high a dose is given, so people have to be tested while their lithium dosage levels are being adjusted. Too little lithium and the effects aren't felt correctly, and too much lithium and they get physically ill from the stuff. TONS of people take lithium every day. Manic depression doesn't affect one constantly, it may lay dormant for years and years. People with manic or bi-polar depression should take their lithium even when their depression or manic behavior is dormant just as a preventative to keep it from coming back. SSRI's. (prozac, paxil, zoloft) SSRI's are Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, are drugs that have been almost as revolutionary in the treatment of depression and lithium was when it was introduced. SSRI's are pretty new to the scene. The theory is that feeling good, is caused by serotonin, and feeling bad is caused by serotonin being cleaned out of the brain to quickly by the brain. These drugs keep serotonin from being cleaned out of the brain as quickly as it normally would be during a depressive phase. ***************************************************************************** 2. Strait depression. Another type of depression, perhaps much much more common than bi-polar depression, is what I call strait depression. This is where you just feel depressed all the time, or worse feel like killing yourself continously. SSRI's are very helpful to many people who feel this way, and others aren't helped by them as well, but the beneficial effect of SSRI drugs can be so dramatic that their use is certainly worth experimenting with. Some people are helped tremendously by one SSRI, and not by another type at all. The effect takes several days to weeks to be fully felt. If you feel depressed like this, even a little you should go see a doctor or councelor immediately before it gets worse, and tell them you want to try a SSRI. It's not like pain killer and they will be happy to try to help you out. Head Chef's theories on depression. Our mind is under continous stress from the outside world. Living in traffic, sucking down car exhaust, it never ends. Some depression can be triggered when we are exposed to seemingly unsolable stress for a prolonged period, such a job search, not finding a sexual partner, living with a drunk, etc. We may form pictures in our mind that motivate us. We see a picture in our minds of living like Ozzie and Harriet, or making tons of money at a great rewarding job, but as this picture of a possible future is so vivid, yet as each day goes by that it seems that more unobtainable... well we reach a point where we either say "fuck this picture" and form new pictures in our mind, or we get profoundly depressed mentally and physically as well. Intelligence also plays a roll. People who constantly blame others for their problems are probably less likely to become depressed. When something bad happens to us, we either blame. 1. Ourselves or Somebody else. 2. Something temporary or somthing permanent. If we blame something on somebody else, as less intelligent persons always do, we are less likely to be depressed because we have no responsibility for the situtation if it's completely somebody elses fault. But if that person isn't around to be blamed, and we blame all or even a small part of the blame on ourselves... well it's not fair to ourselves and ads to worries that cause depression. Again, if we blame something permanent like ourselves or the government or a giant corporation, we see less hope for ourselves, than if we were to blame something temporary. This is flawed because even though we may see fault in ourselves as being permanent, we in fact are continously changing. Personal changes happen continously but inpercievably because they are in us, and because, well you can't watch a flower bloom if it's right in front of your face the whole time. Personal change is like a flower blooming. Give it a chance and cut yourself some slack. ****************************************************************************** What to do. 1. See a doctor and try SSRI's, or other drugs and see if they help. Most psychiatric offices have counselors you can talk to who can get the head shrink to prescribe you medications. This is probably the way to go. 2. Learn about depression by reading everything you can get your hands on about depression and feeling better. 3. If your doctor wants you to come in more than you think is necessary just call and cancel the appointment and ask for a refill of your medication over the phone. They should be happy to oblidge. 4. Slow down your mind. Once the mind starts thinking about solving what is perceives as an unsolbable problem... well it's like telling a computer to divide something by zero.. it just blows up eventually. Take a hot bath, try camping and having a campfire etc. 5. Let your friends in on how you're feeling. If they call and ask you to do something you feel freaked out about doing because of your depression, tell them why and thank them for asking. You DONT want to isolate yourself from your friends. Explain to them that you feel really really really wierd right now, and that you really really appreciate them asking you to do something and that you really really would appreciate if they would not hesistate to ask you to do something again. Don't dwell on WHY you feel depressed. It can be contagious and make folks less likely to enjoy your company. 6. DEPRESSION IS TEMPORARY no matter what your temporarily sick mind tells you. Hang in there, dig in your heels and kick your fucking depression in it's stupid depressing ass! 7. You have NO idea how many people are affected by depression. It's like 50% of the population at one time or another. 8. Try meditation. This may be a hopeless effort at first, but as you begin to get your shit back together this can really help speed-up the healing process. Our mind is flooded with wierd thoughts that mess us up sometimes. Meditation is relaxed concentration, where the person meditating turns off thoughts and just peers into the blackness of the mind. In a relaxed mind, there is a pause between thoughts during which time the deep parts of our soul do the thinking. But when we're stressed out, there is no time between thoughts. Relax and tell the mind to shut up for a while and it lets the quieter parts of the mind come forth and help us out. ***************************************************************************** Suggested Reading. Feeling Good ... a book on depression Quantum Healing ...book on the mind's healing power by Dr. Choopra Books That Are a Waste Of Time Anything by the American Psychiatric Association. They can't fix things so they just classify and reclassify things. ***************************************************************************** Good vitamins. B6 and B12 Avoid stimulants from health food stores, but don't hesitate to drink coffee in the morning if it helps. ***************************************************************************** Good foods A good dinner type of meal with meat in it and a salad and potatoes. Being depressed take a lot of energy. If you're feeling really stressed out try chicken or turkey which contains tyrosine which helps calm one. ***************************************************************************** Good activities. Watching TV shows about people helping people. Avoid stupid movies about coke dealers and low budget HBO gangster movies. AVOID THE FUCKING NEWS SHOWS their job is to make people worry so they will pay attention during the commercials :) Exercise. Buy a bike (one where you don't have to bend over to ride it). Camping. Short trips with a campfire. Walking. Gardening etc. **************************************************************************** Hang in there, it passes find something meaningful and purposefull to do. þþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþ BE YOUR OWN CHIROPRACTOR How to be your own Chiropractor by THE FOLICALLY CHALLENGED WHITE DUDE at Damage Inc. ********************************************************************** Notice Use at your own risk. I am not a doctor and attempt only to describe some techniques which have been helpful to me personally. If you cripple yourself accept responsiblity for it. When in doubt see a chiropractor. They do great stuff. Your problem may be more serious and the following exercises may cause more problems. ********************************************************************** Problem: Computer Neck, also know as Military Neck. Cause: Sitting in a cheap chair while using a computer. CHEAP CHAIR BackGround: A "Cheap Chair" causes strain on the neck when the top of the chair-back leans back too far. If you lean back in the chair and your face is 1.Pointed at the ceiling, or 2.Too far to see the moinitor, then you have a cheap chair. A good chair should have lots of right angles while a cheap chair is for watching TV and slouching in. Go to an office supply house and get a real chair. Don't spend over a hundred bucks, but it will be the best investment you can make since a sore neck affects all the rest of your life. Look for one with a adjustable height lever on the side, a back, and arms. Don't buy a used one because it was probably put on the market to keep some cheap ass company from spending more money on workers compensation claims due to bad chair design. Helpful exercises: SHOULDERS Sitting or standing, point your arms strait up into the air then move them to point behind you and outwards. This will make your shoulders crack. NECK CRACK Sitting or standing, relax your neck, slowly letting it fall back wards, slowly, slowly, CRACK! Try letting it slowly fall forwards, or to the sides too SLOWLY. Moving around a sore neck to much will make it worse! Sitting or standing, shrug your shoulders backwards and together. Crunch! Middle Back Pain and lower back pain: CAR SEAT Sitting in a well designed chair that swivels, or on the seat of your car, rotate your shoulders with your torso from side to side. Crack. MONEKEY BARS Go to the park, hang with your hands from the moneky bars over your head taking the weight off your legs so you feet don't touch the ground. Release and return CAREFULLY to the ground. Do this regularily. This is helpfull for many conditions but works slowly. Be carefull when returning to the ground. Bend your knees considerably when landing to absorb shock and prevent further damage to your back. This is my favorite but should be done regularily and be very carefull when letting yourself back down from hanging. SWINGERS While you're at the park, try the swings. They are very good for your back and kind of fun too. The swings that are made of pieces of rubber that grip your butt are better than the old wooden ones. Great exercise. STEPS Go to some steps. Carpeted is best. Sit near the bottom of the steps. Lay back against the steps and relax. Experiment. WALK Go for a walk. Take long steps with your torso turned to one side or the the other. Experiment. If it hurts more one way than the other. Do it the way that hurts the least. These exercises SHOULD NOT HURT if THE EXERCISE HURTS, DO NOT DO THAT EXERCISE! Proper chirporactic exercise should feel relief, not pain! STAIRS Find a staircase you can get underneath and hang by your arms taking the weight off your back and relax. This works like monkey bars. Helps lower back pain. BATHTUB Find a bathtub. If it has a shower door rack on the rim, put a soft towel over it. Stand on the bathroom floor with your back to the tub. Bend your knees and do a deep knee bend with your back barely touching the side of the bathtub, then slowly lean backwards with your lower back pressing against the top/side of the tub. Put your hands behind you on the tub floor if necessary and slowly bend your spin backwards. Maybe turn your head from side to side. BICYCLE Get a bicycle and go for a short ride regularily, every day up and down the street is great. This is a great preventative for the back and an outstanding cardiovascular exercise. Exercise should raise the heart beat SLIGHTLY for a prolonged period of time. Running isn't aerobic exercise, while fast walking is. Avoid exercises that are hard on the joints, like running. Deterimine what causes your pain and remedy it if possible. Don't be embarassed to do brief calestenics before lifting a heavy object or doing heavy work. Ten million Chinese can't be wrong! Middle Back Pain. Get somebody to pick you up from behind, have your arms crossed across your chest first like a dead guy. Have them pick you up from behind then quickly drop you and jerk you back up very slightly. Lower Back Pain. Try laying on the floor, with a large pillow to support your head while you watch TV. Take a very small pillow and put underneath your lower back while you lay there. Sleeping causing you pain? Try a different pillow. Too fat of one is bad as it bends the neck during sleep. Try an old flat one before trying one of those high tech ones. Don't be afraid to visit a chiropractor. They have done wonders for millions of people. Beware that many will try to get you to come in 8 times a week for the rest of your life. Don't be afraid to cancel an appointment. A friend of mine had a sore back and her doctor recommended surgery. A friend suggested another doctor who recommended a chiropractor who recognized that one of her legs was much longer than the other (this is very common) and adjusted her back for a couple weeks and had her get special shoes. Her pain went away and no surgery was required. Going to a chiropractor will help you realize the ways he or she helps the problem that you may be able to do yourself. Some folks go to a (non-sexual) massage place and for less money have better results than a chiropractor. Don't knock something you haven't tried. Chiropractors make their money on prolonged visitors, so you shouldn't be afraid to cancel appointments and go less than they suggest. Find what works for you. Find an old established chiropractor. The one's that advertise on TV are often fly-by-night outfits. A regular doctor can give you pills but that won't make the pain go away will it really. He can also send you to a surgeon who will recommend surgery. Try a chiropractor FIRST before surgery. Some surgery is a fucking racket. The dangers of sugery are very understated by surgeons and hospitals. So start living without pain. Recognize what you can do, and get help from a reputable chiropractor if you can't figure it out and correct it completely with a new chair or whatever. Good luck. The Folically Challenged White Dude Damage.Inc.Ohio April 1994 þþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþ I hope you enjoyed issue two of CYBER_PHUCK Magazine. If you have questions, comments, suggestions, contributions -monitary or literary- send 'em to the head chef at tline@iac.net or call the Cyber BBS at 513-863-0447. Tom Line Head Chef Damage Inc Ohio tline@iac.net cyber bbs 513-863-0447 USA