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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 05 2006 : 10:52:16 PM
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Does anyone have the slightest speculation on what's responsible for the supposed "purification" result wherein you stop smelling? I've read in the past about ascetics wearing the same blanket for thirty years without washing it, yet it smells like roses. I always figured that was just superstition. And suddenly I've noticed that I can't tell clean clothes from dirty by sniffing them anymore (I've had others verify, so it's not just my sense of smell). Even after super hot, highly exertive days.
Everything else that's happened physiologically as a result of yoga I can sort of wrap my mind around with rational explanation. This I can't. Smelly sweat is from bacteria, not from me personally. Why should yoga practices make my native microbes less smelly?
This is just weird. And I don't feel particularly pure (though kundalini is flowing free and pretty unobstructed).
I'm not looking for mythological riffs from the yogic literature. I'd love to hear some left brained scientific suggestions. |
Edited by - Jim and His Karma on Aug 05 2006 10:52:56 PM |
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2006 : 11:13:39 PM
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body smells go away when you flush out toxins and eat less. liquid toxins are flushed out with water, and solid toxins are flushed out with veggies, pref. raw.
Meat and other animal products cause odors because they digest slowly.
I would expect spiritual purification would cause you to eat better.
Also the less stress you have, the less smells you have.
Of course there's likely a spiritual side too. |
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sadhak
India
604 Posts |
Posted - Aug 05 2006 : 11:40:09 PM
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May I take a shot:
Odour = toxins broken down by bacteria
Less toxins = less bacterial activity = less odour
Which is what Etherfish is saying anyways. But I like looking at skeletal formulae.
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2006 : 12:14:33 AM
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| I"m eating tons of meat and fried foods. |
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Alvin Chan
Hong Kong
407 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2006 : 06:15:16 AM
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oh Jim. I thought you were having a vacation with your Karma . the forum has been too quiet without you.
Do you know some chemisty or medical students, or any university students that can eventually take your sweat into the lab? If what you are claiming is very extreme, like no smell even after you wear the cloths for 10 days, then there are something worth investigating. Try. You may help yoga enter into the focus of scientists!! But before then, any explanation are unlikely to be very reliable.
If this is difficult for you, try this next time you go to vacation with your Karma , especially to hotter places like india; bring only 1 or 2 set of clothes; and see how your companion response. The weather of United States is too nice for anyone to sweat too much. |
Edited by - Alvin Chan on Aug 06 2006 06:31:01 AM |
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Katrine
Norway
1813 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2006 : 06:52:53 AM
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Hi Jim
I can't help you scientifically - but I can tell you that I stopped using deodorants a couple of years ago.
When relaxed and on a diet that I naturally "want" I smell nothing. But the instant I stress....."perform"...."impress".....or "improve" (which, come to think of it always implies fear) it deposits itself in my sweat. I have watched it. It is consistant.
The diet varies. I simply listen to my body, one day it wants only veggies, at other times it eats chicken, fish and shellfish or whatever. The only thing I always feel a natural......not aversion, but rather total disinterest in...is alcohol in any way. I used to drink beer and wine (only a glass or two a week), but not for the last two years. I drink water and tea.
I also used to have acne on my back. It cleared two years ago. If one or two comes back - it is always in connection with stress (as described above).
My theory (completely unscientific  ) - is that the Prana that flows through the body burns away the "litter" before it reaches the sweat. The more prana; the less smell.
That's about it....
It's good to be back from summer holiday! |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2006 : 10:09:02 AM
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Katherine, I"m still impressing and obsessing plenty. And fear creeps in between AYP sessions. But no smell. Plenty prana, though. Tons of it. But "wrong thoughts" don't have a cause/effect re: my yoga. Rather, it's the other way around. The yoga changes the thoughts, rather than thoughts changing the yoga. Anyway, the presence of - or type of - thoughts don't matter, because while the engine may or may not race, the transmission is in neutral, so that engine ain't driving the car. I care less and less what my mind's doing.
And, Alvin, I just moved to a fourth floor walk-up apartment in 98 degree heat. Five hours of backbreaking labor that left my clothes drenched with sweat. All clothes smell like they've just been washed. It's freaky.
Listen, don't get me wrong. I'm doing pretty well with the yoga thing. The grasping and recoiling are getting more and more insubstantial. But they're definitely there, no question. Sainthood isn't even on the horizon (and I still dont' taste nectar or feel jewels in my stomach or see others as sharing my identical stillness). But even if it was, why on earth would that affect the bacteria in my nooks and crevices?
I have a biochemist friend I'll ask... |
Edited by - Jim and His Karma on Aug 06 2006 10:14:13 AM |
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sadhak
India
604 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2006 : 10:51:12 AM
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Jim & K (Katrine, not Karma),
While I'm not in the right frame of mind to hobnob with bacteria at this moment, I am with Katrine... stopped using perfumes altogether some five years ago... now I feel sick as several dogs when I smell them on others. But I do use an odorless stick now and then... (suddenly getting a brainwave) maybe the bacteria don't like the vibration and temperature change. How 'bout that Jim? That sounds reasonably scientific. |
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Alvin Chan
Hong Kong
407 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2006 : 12:28:34 PM
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quote:
I have a biochemist friend I'll ask...
Great. But I guess what he finds out may be: "oh, your sweat is very dilute. How come?" In other words, you can find out how the sweat content has changed in the lab, but it's very hard to know the changes in your body that cause it. Of course, the sweat content is still worth knowing.
It sounds like you're having a good progress, anyway. The smell of my sweat has changed over the years too; and it's still oscillating, probably according to my diet, stress level, etc.
A bit off the topic here: Jim, I've learnt that you had quite dramatic energy symptoms before, so you're probably experienced in dealing with that. Can you give some comments on my problem on
http://www.aypsite.org/forum/topic....OPIC_ID=1381
concerning the pressure in the forehead? People here don't seems to have this problem. It's not causing me troubles. It's just that I want to know what it means, and how I can ease it a bit without slowing my progress down. |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2006 : 12:44:34 PM
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| Alvin, I don't usually try to understand problems like that. I just use them as evidence that I need to self pace. Do less, remove the last practice you added. Just sounds like too much too soon. |
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Yoda
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2006 : 10:29:01 PM
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| Not to pry, but pee on a ph thingy and tell us what it looks like. |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2006 : 01:40:54 AM
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where do I get a ph thingy?
biochemist friend was stumped, btw. |
Edited by - Jim and His Karma on Aug 07 2006 01:42:29 AM |
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lucidinterval1
USA
193 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2006 : 09:29:06 AM
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Jim,
I have the same situation as you describe. I stopped wearing deodorant a while ago (I do rub a large smooth chunk of mineral salt under the arms after showering though). I sweat profusely while doing yard work and such but I cannot remember the last time that I smelled from sweat. I eat a mainly organic diet and just figured that was part of it.
Paul |
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2006 : 09:59:34 AM
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I've had similar experiences and so has a friend of mine. I distinctly remember him years ago after a folk dance in the summer taking a stunned sniff of his T-shirt.
Jim, you were wondering about the possible science of this. I think it is just that the body starts to put out sweat that is very low in the fatty acids that lead to the smell. And that very pure perspiration in turn, may be due to the very low stress.
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2006 : 10:03:34 AM
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How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget.....
Welcome to the Hotel AYP,
Such a lovely place, such a lovely face
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Yoda
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2006 : 08:19:25 AM
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litmus paper. I haven't tried it yet, but I've been told that the best litmus paper is the kind designed to focus on the ph range of peepee and saliva. I learned about it in Green For Life by Boutenko who advocates people eating more greens and using ph paper to make sure that the body is alkaline enough. Also, for the saliva to be alkaline the mineral balance of the body needs to be adequately high.
That's about all I know on the subject of acid vs alkaline with some diets and body types--if they get too acidic the body takes calcium from the bones to buffer the situation and you run into a mineral deficit.
Maybe it's all Internet babble for all I know, but I'm inclined to believe it. I think I read from the Bragg books of the alkaline link to smelling nice.
Most people can adjust their mineral balance through diet, but maybe your body type and or de-stressing via practice has helped your body function differently.
"You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave."
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Aug 09 2006 : 7:10:23 PM
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"Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air"
OK, you guys got the good lines.
ha ha wikipedia quotes Don Henley as saying it refers to a desert flower, but they can't figure it out because coleus is the closest flower name. Common knowledge: colitas means tails in spanish and is dope culture slang for long buds that look like tails. Unless maybe he had left over lobster from a restaurant on his lap. Of course that would imply unusual hunger. . .
Yes alkalinity is supposed to be very good for everything in the body, including a robust immune system. But if you eat tons of meat, you're more likely to be acidic. unless prana does something to body ph.
sometimes I like mineralized bottled water because it tastes great. I like Evian, Aquafina, and a cheap one is Nestle's new "Pure Life", for mineral taste. |
Edited by - Etherfish on Aug 09 2006 7:20:06 PM |
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Yoda
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - Aug 10 2006 : 1:25:25 PM
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Estherfish,
Prisoners of our own device was still available, but you had to cut to the unsolved mysteries of the song I suppose. Thanks for throwing in the wikipedia and giving us something to consider! Anybody wiki-ed for yoga practices? Maybe someone could throw a link to Hotel AYP.
-Yoda |
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Nicole
USA
46 Posts |
Posted - Aug 10 2006 : 1:34:13 PM
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"and still those voices are calling from far away.. wake you up in the middle of the night.. just to hear them say"
hehe had to add that :) |
Edited by - Nicole on Aug 10 2006 1:43:00 PM |
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Nicole
USA
46 Posts |
Posted - Aug 10 2006 : 2:26:01 PM
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| Also... you can purchase the ph stripes at most nutrition/health stores or online. |
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Yoda
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - Aug 11 2006 : 10:16:12 AM
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Nicole,
What do you think of the whole ph thing? I think that there may be something to it.
-Yoda |
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Etherfish
USA
3615 Posts |
Posted - Aug 11 2006 : 12:42:42 PM
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they stab it with their steely knives
but they still can't kill the beast. . .
It's so biblical. . .
I think the robust health of body alkalinity is due to general alkalinity of the blood or whole body, not just the saliva.
The saliva is normally alkaline. Acidic stuff attacks bones and teeth, and so saliva protects teeth by alkalinity with minerals. It also has amylase enzyme to begin digesting starch. People who have put excess acid in their mouths have dissolved their teeth. People who habitually eat lemons, or old time carpenters who held galvanized (zinc plated) nails in their mouth for years have had this problem. |
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Nicole
USA
46 Posts |
Posted - Aug 13 2006 : 2:13:10 PM
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Yoda,
The whole ph thing… I would say the litmus paper testing is a simple and effective preventative measure. Since, high levels have been linked to certain cancers, and chronic acid reflux. Especially for those who drink diet drinks, anything artificial, meat, and obviously anything acidic. Also if you suffer from ulcers or experience acid reflux symptoms it might be a good idea to keep some strips handy to be aware of your alkaline level. Other then that I think it’s just interesting. But maybe someone who knows more would say otherwise?
In Jim's case…it seems like it’s worth trying I suppose.
Jim, I asked my friend who is a nutritionist what he thinks of your sweet smell issue. He asked if you are drinking enough water. He said your body might not be getting rid of toxins properly. Also that it is a good sign you’re perspiring, but to consider getting blood work done to check your liver enzymes if you are concerned about it.
Hey at least it's not the other way around... gross smelling sweat hehe
Hope this helps :)
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Scott
USA
969 Posts |
Posted - Aug 13 2006 : 3:03:11 PM
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| When I was in training for the military, one of my friends who was previously in dive school didn't have smelly sweat. He wasn't into yoga at all...more into getting drunk and having wild sex with dirty girls. I think it may have had to do with going deep into the waters. Something with the way the body handles oxygen. It's cool, Jim, in your case where it comes from mostly meditation. It's a sign that you're doing something right, in my opinion. |
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Aug 13 2006 : 9:46:17 PM
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...more into getting drunk and having wild sex with dirty girls.
If this Yoga thing doesn't work out, that's next on my list in my search for the meaning of life.
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Alvin Chan
Hong Kong
407 Posts |
Posted - Aug 14 2006 : 01:19:59 AM
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quote:
...more into getting drunk and having wild sex with dirty girls.
If this Yoga thing doesn't work out, that's next on my list in my search for the meaning of life.
Why not have both
May I also suggest that drinking may impede your ability to fully feel the sensual pleasure. So may be it's better to reverse the order of having sex and drinking.
Back to the original topic. Scott, the guy you mention is probably healthy DESPITE that living style (especially getting drunk), not because of it. Just like there are many guys who have very large and strong muscles without having to go to gym, it doesn't mean that going to gym is not helpful for getting strong muscles. |
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