How much skill does it take to manifest your intentions?

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by SmartAlx

Isn't it a case where you want to be thought of as a nice guy (if at least in your own mind) so you ACT nice?

Nope. Deep down inside, we are all nice.

In fact, deep down inside, we are all loving, compassionate and wise. And the deeper you go, the more this is so. In fact if you go deep enough, you will discover that actually you're God or Buddha or Source (or whatever term you prefer).

All the nastiness in you (selfishness, anger, hate, dishonesty) is floating on the "shallower" layers of your consciousness. The deeper you go, the more you find the good stuff.

This is an experiential thing. Anyone can discover this for themselves, through meditation. There is no need to discuss further, because it is not an intellectual sort of topic, where you can reason and deduce your way through.

You just have to sit and meditate (or pray). Deeply ..... and you'll see.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

I'll have to do a Google search for that. Sounds interesting.

I think this is the one:

Yue GH, Cole KJ: Strength increases from the motor program: Comparison of training with maximal voluntary and imagined muscle contractions. Journal of Neurophysiology, 67: 1114-1123, 1992.

[cylon]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

This is an experiential thing. Anyone can discover this for themselves, through meditation. There is no need to discuss further, because it is not an intellectual sort of topic, where you can reason and deduce your way through.

You just have to sit and meditate (or pray). Deeply ..... and you'll see.

Well said. If only the ego wasn't so stimulated by intellectualism and going round and round in circles.

I guess meditating literally changes the brain though, so that it actually stops creating ego loops.

[Daffy Duck]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

I think this is the one:

Yue GH, Cole KJ: Strength increases from the motor program: Comparison of training with maximal voluntary and imagined muscle contractions. Journal of Neurophysiology, 67: 1114-1123, 1992.

Thanks. I was having a little trouble finding it, though I only looked for a few brief moments so far.

Here's another article about it: Can your brain make you buff? Imaginary workouts can build strength and fuel weight loss | Jonathan Fields

[Acting Like Godot]

Very interesting.

Thought I should provide an excerpt (since some people will be too lazy to click on the link.

Building muscle, it turns out, is not nearly as mechanical as we thought. And, in fact, a recent study by Erin M. Shackell and Lionel G. Standing at Bishop’s University reveals you may be able to make nearly identical gains in strength and fitness without lifting a finger!

That study measured the strength gains in three different groups of people. The first group did nothing outside their usual routine. The second group was put through two weeks of highly focused strength training for one specific muscle, three times a week. The third group listened to audio CDs that guided them to imagine themselves going through the same workout as the exercising group, three times a week.

And, the results blew everyone away.

The control group, who didn’t do anything, saw no gains in strength. The exercise group, who trained three times a week, saw a 28% gain in strength. No big surprises there. But, the group who did not exercise, but rather thought about exercising experienced nearly the same gains in strength as the exercise group (24%). Yes, you read that right!

The group that visualized exercised got nearly the same benefit, in terms of strength-gains, as the group that actually worked-out.

So now, we know one more thing that we can achieve, by sitting on a couch - a 24% gain in muscular strength, over two weeks.

[Indiana]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

Very interesting.

Thought I should provide an excerpt (since some people will be too lazy to click on the link.)

...

So now, we know one more thing that we can achieve, by sitting on a couch - a 24% gain in muscular strength, over two weeks.

I was too lazy to click on the link, but I thought about it, and I got the information all the same! It does work!