cardemaister wrote: > I seem to recall my TM teacher saying that TM might make > one more sensitive, not necessarilyh "cool as a cucumber". > > Of course it's impossible to tell whether it's due to > years of fairly regular practice of TM or whatever, > but for instance my lungs are nowadays extremely sensitive > to even the smell of cigarette smoke from another apartment > through the structures or stuff. > > (Before my initiation I often smoked quite a lot especially > during weekends when I was usually drunk as a cuckoo > (kännissä kuin käki)). > > So, when I notice even the faintest smell of cigarette smoke, > my lungs downright start to ache. I recently noticed that > eating a lot of raw garlic somehow prevents my noticing > that smell, and - lo and behold - also prevents that nasty > feeling in my lungs. Maybe you're becoming more alkaline. Be aware it is possible to become too alkaline just as it is possible to become too acid. Years ago there was a "stop smoking diet" which consisted of eating food that raised the alkalinity in the body. Doing that made people more sensitive to smoke, made the taste of tobacco bad and generally helped them quit. Kapha people usually tolerate cigarette smoke better than vata types. In fact in some ayurvedic books tobacco will be listed as an anti-kapha herb. Think about people who stop smoking who find themselves putting on weight.
To lose weight we usually have to make ourselves more vata. Slightly vata should be sufficient. The tastes we favor to do that are astringent, bitter and pungent. Pungent is stimulating while bitter and astringent are alkalizing. Goddess (shakti) mantras are stimulating. Remember that MMY warned against meditating before going to bed. Shanti and Shiva mantras are more calming. The latter are often used to reduce vata and pitta. The effects may be individualistic though. For instance I found losing weight more difficult after I learned meditation. My theory is that meditation produced more relaxation than my body needed and increases kapha. Hence I had to alter the diet before I became a big rolling ball of fat. This was especially hard rounding on a TTC which really reduced the metabolic rate. I noted the same with others too. The tantric mantras do this even more so I have to really watch diet now. In the late 70's or early 80's a chiropractor even wrote a paperback on the subject. He suggested that some people rather than meditating needed to exercise instead. I believe he was even a TM practitioner. These effects are much more born out if you study ayurveda which is the study of how everything effects us and our metabolism including different mantras.
