BIG Cypress Swamp- Snake and Alligator Hike
My friend, Bob, has been talking about an
adventure he took last year to the Big Cypress
Swamp, not on a path or a bridge, but in the F-ing
swamp filled with giant alligators, some over
eight feet long, and snakes like the python,
anaconda, Nile monitor, and the ones that don’t
swallow you and are venomous. Why would anyone
want to go hiking there is beyond me. Sounds scary
and dangerous! When I was a young lad living in
Detroit, maybe I was ten years old or so, my
mother would give me a half of a dollar and let me
walk to the movies for the Saturday matinee. The
movie theaters had double features back then.
After watching Tarzan and the Apes for hours, I’d
walk home shaking in my boots. I made a decision
to never, ever go to the jungle or swamps. But,
here I am, fifty years later, about to take a walk
into the cypress swamps of the Fakahatchee Strand
Preserve State Park.
The Fakahatchee Strand is known as “The Amazon of
North America.” For thousands of years, moving,
clean, fresh water has carved away at this
spectacular environment. Seventy-five thousand
acres of wilderness area that spans approximately
twenty miles long by five miles wide. If you got
lost, you are a goner for sure. There is a
protective canopy of bald, cypress trees that
covers a slow-moving, shallow “river” running
North to South. The canopy and water below create
a unique humidity-controlled environment that
neither gets too cold in the winter or too warm in
the summer. Flora and fauna flourish, and the
Strand is home to rare and endangered tropical
plant species. It contains the richest diversity
of native orchid and bromeliad species in North
America as well as the largest groves of native
royal palms and a lot of beautiful birds and
creepy spiders.
I like to face my fears, and my going on the swamp
walk is an opportunity to rid myself of some
childhood fears that are probably lodged somewhere
in my
. So today, I am off on an
excursion with a group of guys brought up in the
Northern woods who, I hope, is a very
knowledgeable and passionate group of naturalists
to explore the many wonders of this environment. I
want to learn more about the exotic plants and
their healing and rejuvenation qualities, and to
see the wonders of nature while avoiding the
animal that stings and bites.
Did you know that we store memory in our muscles?
We do! That’s why you can still ride a bike twenty
years later and can remember how to swing a golf
club and not relearn on every hold. Fright and
fear are also held in the muscle. It’s a
phenomenon aptly called muscle memory. When you
teach your body how to do something—ride a bike,
yoga, Qi Gong—it creates a physiological
blueprint. So, even if you take some time off,
you’ll get back to where you were, faster than it
took you to learn the exercise in the first place.
Muscle memory stems from your body’s learning, not
just how to perform a task, but also how to break
down muscle tissue, and then repair and rebuild
it. The key is practice. The more you practice,
the easier it is to get back into the groove.
Practicing Qi Gong
http://www.on2url.com/lnk?MTg2NjY4NHwxMzAzNDU3OTN8cz0x
is one of the best learning tools to build muscle
memory and to keep fit mentally, physically, and
spiritually, as it has the elements that work all
three bodies at the same time. Start practicing
and build your muscle memory today.
I wish you the best in your Health, Wealth, and
Happiness.
Dr. Wu Dhi
P.S. The Flying Crane Qi Gong program has 3 parts
to it: Qi Gong meditation, an instructional DVD,
and a practice DVD. This is the fastest and most
comprehensive way to get the training into your
muscle memory.
