Show notes
Known for his direct, grounded approach and his enquiry-based ethos, Steve James has extensive experience in elite athletic performance, contemplative and spiritual disciplines, extreme outdoor survival, the arts, and human behavior. Our discussion touch a wide variety of subjects from Steve early childhood entering karate, being an alter boy and the comparative rituals of both; to becoming a member of the Scottish fencing team, early fiction writing, and introduction to a Celtic mystic; crossing thresholds, energy work, altered states and meditation; ways to manage pain, merge with it and let it go; movement kaons and migraine relief. 0:14 The Guru Viking - not just a guy on a boat 4:38 Non-ordinary lifestyle, aesthetic and embodied nature of karate 7:45 Profound Alter boy ritual experience, shared ideology but private faith, personal contemplative space 11:45 Story: Wado-ryu karate 12:17 crossing thresholds: martial art and religious space and ritual 16:56 The young contemplative, TV sound meditation and thought problems 19:02 Observation of martial arts with and without ritual, Arrogance 21:30 Skatipat, no-mind, how thought brings you out of the altered state, meditative practices 23:48 The untangling of pain from emotion and psychological reactivity and physically bracing against it 27:21 Heroic "strong determination' sitting of Shinzen Young, working through pain in meditation 38:50 Ann array of techniques, ego, meditating with others on their terms, not being bound by dogma 41:22 More thoughts on Catholicism, the Bbible, and door-knocking sects 44:00 Novel, Celtic mystic writing group, learn by doing and observing, listening to God and the still, small voice within, seeing with God's eyes 51:28 Mentoring, learning by osmosis and proximity, apprenticeship, The Paris Review 54:44 Scottish fencing team, weight training, if strong appear weak, deception/perception 1:01:29 Movement Koan Method, what to do after a spiritual epiphany, body movement riddles, muscular activation and somatic reference points, investigation, and inquiry over imposition of answer 1:10:41 Somatic emphasis on the concept "there is only here and now, don’t fight just feel and be" with it. 1:14:22 Zhan Zhuang qigong, water seeks its level, muscles, migraines, why we hold pain 1:15:34 Holding tension to withstand migraine and headache. Parallel to sitting meditation pain. Why we hold onto pain, persistent pain, mind/body pain, phantom pain, referred pain. 1:19:34 Dr. Wiley's Migraine cure - Headache's Relieved (book), Natural Solutions to Pain and Inflammation (book) 1:25:27 Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Framework of excess, stagnation, deficiencies 1:27:35 Extending the sweet spot in wellness 1:29:33 Deliberate exposure to weak causing, homeopathy, resources for pain relief 1:34:18 ending comments More on Steve James and The Guru Viking Podcast found here: https://www.guruviking.com/ Transformations Podcast brought to you by: www.TambuliMedia.com Watch the podcast video at: https://www.youtube.com/@markvwiley
