In the Poetic Psyche the Lover Becomes the Beloved

[phoenix13]

I can buy that...

Alternance => movement, change, variety => fuller life / happiness

or

healthy metabolic waves=> flexibility / better able to adapt => less damage upon impact => less pain (I've got your doctor in mind)


I share this view to a great extent. Does it have a corresponding school of thought (like Existentialism, Utilitarianism, Realism, etc.)?

 

[Mole]

A Smudge of Ash

I can buy that...

Alternance => movement, change, variety => fuller life / happiness

or

healthy metabolic waves=> flexibility / better able to adapt => less damage upon impact => less pain (I've got your doctor in mind)


I share this view to a great extent. Does it have a corresponding school of thought (like Existentialism, Utilitarianism, Realism, etc.)?

Good question.

I must admit I like ideas and I also like to see if they can be put into practice. And the same with poems, I like them to inform my life.

But whether alternance fits into any school of thought, I don't know.

Here, you might say our national philosophy is Utilitarianism - in the style of Jeremy Bentham, the Utilitarian philosopher. So perhaps we could squeeze alternance in there - perhaps.

And I am interested to put it into practice and see if it works. So perhaps I am Utilitarian.

But I think ultimately I like alternance because it is beautifully balanced. It doesn't leave anything out - and everything harmonises together - it has integrity.

So perhaps ultimately, I am an idealist.

What do you think?

[And oh yes, I think you have just a smudge of ash on the tip of your nose].

 

[phoenix13]

Good question.

I must admit I like ideas and I also like to see if they can be put into practice. And the same with poems, I like them to inform my life.

But whether alternance fits into any school of thought, I don't know.

Here, you might say our national philosophy is Utilitarianism - in the style of Jeremy Bentham, the Utilitarian philosopher. So perhaps we could squeeze alternance in there - perhaps.

And I am interested to put it into practice and see if it works. So perhaps I am Utilitarian.

But I think ultimately I like alternance because it is beautifully balanced. It doesn't leave anything out - and everything harmonises together - it has integrity.

So perhaps ultimately, I am an idealist.

What do you think?

Interesting. I was actually wondering whether alternance had its own philosophy, like Alternism. Maybe a French philosophy, as the terms are French. Did you synthesize it yourself?

I guess you could squeeze alternance into Utilitarianism by defining happiness as a state of dynamic equilibrium (I'm totally envisioning a chemical equation with that ), or of harmony with maximum displacement/ movement.

I don't know Jeremy Bentham, but from the bit I read of him 2 minutes ago, he seems to have an equation for calculating the consequences in terms of happiness of a certain action. However, he associated happiness with pleasure and absence of pain. This opens up some thoughts on this "happiness" (yeah, same issues as before). Part of that cycle is pain, no? You alternate between pain and pleasure, good times and bad, along with exhertion and rest. So Alternism (yeah, it's a philosophy now) would say an absolute absence of pain or a life of perpetual pleasure is not happiness at all. That's too far out, the Utilitarians would ban thee forever.

Now back to alternance and happiness: what about a dynamic balance between two opposites that are both what I would consider negative/ unhappy. War is the ultimate cycle of movement and stillness: intense combat broken by long periods of boredom. They say that war brings out the best and worst in man. Men trying to deal with life after war say they were so intensely alive in war, and can't deal with the stillness and triviality of ordinary life. Nevertheless, they are not what I would consider healthy or happy. What say you?

[And oh yes, I think you have just a smudge of ash on the tip of your nose].

My first reaction: Teeee heeee
My second reaction: Ash? Dude, I'm high on crack! *wipes nose* Ugh, is it still there?!

Note: I am not and have never been a crack addict. I get high on life. Thank you.

 

[Mole]

5X5X5

Interesting. I was actually wondering whether alternance had its own philosophy, like Alternism. Maybe a French philosophy, as the terms are French. Did you synthesize it yourself?

I guess you could squeeze alternance into Utilitarianism by defining happiness as a state of dynamic equilibrium (I'm totally envisioning a chemical equation with that ), or of harmony with maximum displacement/ movement.

I don't know Jeremy Bentham, but from the bit I read of him 2 minutes ago, he seems to have an equation for calculating the consequences in terms of happiness of a certain action. However, he associated happiness with pleasure and absence of pain. This opens up some thoughts on this "happiness" (yeah, same issues as before). Part of that cycle is pain, no? You alternate between pain and pleasure, good times and bad, along with exhertion and rest. So Alternism (yeah, it's a philosophy now) would say an absolute absence of pain or a life of perpetual pleasure is not happiness at all. That's too far out, the Utilitarians would ban thee forever.

Now back to alternance and happiness: what about a dynamic balance between two opposites that are both what I would consider negative/ unhappy. War is the ultimate cycle of movement and stillness: intense combat broken by long periods of boredom. They say that war brings out the best and worst in man. Men trying to deal with life after war say they were so intensely alive in war, and can't deal with the stillness and triviality of ordinary life. Nevertheless, they are not what I would consider healthy or happy. What say you?

My first reaction: Teeee heeee
My second reaction: Ash? Dude, I'm high on crack! *wipes nose* Ugh, is it still there?!

Note: I am not and have never been a crack addict. I get high on life. Thank you.

I think you have found the flaws in the philosophy of Alternism. However I made up alternance as a practical course of action. In particular to be carried out as exercise every second day.

When I do it, it has a profound effect on me and leaves me relaxed and refreshed.

A good part of my reason for talking about it with you, is to remind and encourage myself to turn the exercise of alternance from an experiment into a habit every second day.

So it is the actual doing of alernance that is important to me.

And as you remember, alternance is dancing for 5 minutes then sitting for 5 minutes, and doing this 5 times. It takes 50 minutes.

So I thought I would call this exercise, 5X5X5. What do you think?

 

[phoenix13]

I think you have found the flaws in the philosophy of Alternism. However I made up alternance as a practical course of action. In particular to be carried out as exercise every second day.

When I do it, it has a profound effect on me and leaves me relaxed and refreshed.

A good part of my reason for talking about it with you, is to remind and encourage myself to turn the exercise of alternance from an experiment into a habit every second day.

So it is the actual doing of alernance that is important to me.

And as you remember, alternance is dancing for 5 minutes then sitting for 5 minutes, and doing this 5 times. It takes 50 minutes.

So I thought I would call this exercise, 5X5X5. What do you think?

Well in that case... it sounds fantastic. I think I'll give it a try and let you know how that goes. (This is free style dancing, right?)

 

[Mole]

Well in that case... it sounds fantastic. I think I'll give it a try and let you know how that goes. (This is free style dancing, right?)

Yes, you can dance free style to the music.

 

[Mole]

Euphoria, Relaxation and Bonding

There are also some magical things about the practice of alternance.

The first is the relaxation response.

The relaxation response can be induced automatically by the sudden stopping of exercise. So by dancing for 5 minutes then sitting down, the relaxation response automatically occurs. There is no need for me to do anything - there is no need for me to recite a mantra or to think any particular kind of thought - the induction of the relaxation response in this way is entirely physical.

This is very useful for modern people with a busy way of life - here is a way to automatically relax without alcohol, drugs or meditation.

And the second is the eurphoric response.

Depression is one of the commonly reported symptoms to doctors. However when we dance for 5 minutes, our metabolism automatically rises and we feel euphoric.

There is no need for us to do anything else but dance for 5 minutes - no need for alcohol, drugs or meditation.

And when we sit for 5 minutes, our eurphoria slips away to be replaced by relaxation. But there is no need to desperately try to hang on to our euphoria because we know it will return on our next round of dancing. There is no need to drink more and more, or inject more and more or meditate more and more, because we know euphoria will return naturally as part of the exercise of alternance.

And the third is ease.

Alternance is easy to do. All you need to do is put aside 50 minutes every second day, turn on the radio next to a chair and off you go.

There is no need to run 10 miles every day - there is no need for special clothes - there is no need to even be fit - you can tailor alternance to your level of fitness. And there is no need for gyms and trainers.

And alternance is free.

And the most magical thing of all is that you can do it with your partner.

So for 5 minutes you dance and your partner sits and just watches you dance. Then you change places and your partner dances for 5 minutes and you sit and simply watch your partner. And you do this 5 times and it takes 50 minutes.

You will find this will have a profound effect on you and your partner.

As you sit and watch your partner dancing, you are not only automatically entering the relaxation response but you are taking care of your partner. As you sit and relax, you are the caretaker.

And as you dance and rise to euphoria, your partner is relaxing and taking care of you.

You are coming to deeply trust one another.

So you will find both of you are bonding at a deep level.

So the practice of alternance every second day leads to euphoria, relaxation and bonding.

Just what my heart desires.