So after last night's raging success with Pouni Ono + Mo'i instant, I thought I'd try two medium grind roots tonight: KavaBoy and Nene.
1/3 cup of KavaBoy, 1/3 cup of Nene to 3 cups warm water, all told. Traditional prep, using elbow grease and my 25 micron strainer. Kneaded for 15 minutes and did second and third wash. Third wash was looking diluted after lots of kneading, so I called it at 3rd. At four shells and an hour and fifteen minutes, I can say that the effect is full-on now.
It's sedating, but with a heady cherry on top. VERY relaxing and I'm definitely "in the zone" at this point. I feel like my movements are slow and deliberate, and I'm definitely NOT feeling like dancing or going out to see live music. I really want to dig into my chillout collection and stream some relaxing ambient music or play a video game like Rez or Frequency (sadly I no longer own a PS2.) The headache that I was plagued with pretty much all day today is gone, or at least has receded into the background to the point that it's no longer on my mind (heh!) all the time. Light sensitivity is increased, and soft-focus halo effect is in full, um, effect.
My body feels loose. That's something I noticed before with Nene, is that it feels like all of my joints relax... like the ligaments just kind of chill out and don't apply so much pressure in keeping my skeleton all connected. Mild pain in my shoulder/elbow and when I turn my head all the way to the right (which usually hurts a bit) are gone. Or at least rendered irrelevant for the time being, which is nice.
Emotionally, I feel my "heart", or the cloud of sensations that originate from my chest area when I'm feeling strong emotion, is warm and I'm getting the sensation of "pouring" as if something is pouring warm fluid into or out of (or both?) that area. There's an increase in sense of connectedness with all other creatures, and appreciation for the wonders that nature has given us. Not the least of which is a foul-tasting root beverage bred in the jungle. I lack the unconscious dopey grin I get with headier grog, but feel like I'm grinning on the inside. Especially when I think about my oldest daughter and how I look forward to trucking around the Berkeley campus tomorrow with her for no reason other than just walking a nearby campus and talking to her about college life, which is in her future in a couple years. I can't wait to have that experience with her tomorrow!
Compared to straight-up Nene, this is very similar. More similar than I thought it would be. It has all of the marks of a Nene session (overcome with a placid, peaceful feeling) but without as much of the heavy-lidded effect that I also get. I feel like I could sleep if I laid down for a half hour or so, but I don't yet WANT to sleep. I just want to cruise along at this current altitude for a while and see what comes.
Going back for a fifth shell now. This is a good combination too, all the boneless feeling of Nene without the slowly crowning desire to go lie down in a warm soft place.
1/3 cup of KavaBoy, 1/3 cup of Nene to 3 cups warm water, all told. Traditional prep, using elbow grease and my 25 micron strainer. Kneaded for 15 minutes and did second and third wash. Third wash was looking diluted after lots of kneading, so I called it at 3rd. At four shells and an hour and fifteen minutes, I can say that the effect is full-on now.
It's sedating, but with a heady cherry on top. VERY relaxing and I'm definitely "in the zone" at this point. I feel like my movements are slow and deliberate, and I'm definitely NOT feeling like dancing or going out to see live music. I really want to dig into my chillout collection and stream some relaxing ambient music or play a video game like Rez or Frequency (sadly I no longer own a PS2.) The headache that I was plagued with pretty much all day today is gone, or at least has receded into the background to the point that it's no longer on my mind (heh!) all the time. Light sensitivity is increased, and soft-focus halo effect is in full, um, effect.
My body feels loose. That's something I noticed before with Nene, is that it feels like all of my joints relax... like the ligaments just kind of chill out and don't apply so much pressure in keeping my skeleton all connected. Mild pain in my shoulder/elbow and when I turn my head all the way to the right (which usually hurts a bit) are gone. Or at least rendered irrelevant for the time being, which is nice.
Emotionally, I feel my "heart", or the cloud of sensations that originate from my chest area when I'm feeling strong emotion, is warm and I'm getting the sensation of "pouring" as if something is pouring warm fluid into or out of (or both?) that area. There's an increase in sense of connectedness with all other creatures, and appreciation for the wonders that nature has given us. Not the least of which is a foul-tasting root beverage bred in the jungle. I lack the unconscious dopey grin I get with headier grog, but feel like I'm grinning on the inside. Especially when I think about my oldest daughter and how I look forward to trucking around the Berkeley campus tomorrow with her for no reason other than just walking a nearby campus and talking to her about college life, which is in her future in a couple years. I can't wait to have that experience with her tomorrow!
Compared to straight-up Nene, this is very similar. More similar than I thought it would be. It has all of the marks of a Nene session (overcome with a placid, peaceful feeling) but without as much of the heavy-lidded effect that I also get. I feel like I could sleep if I laid down for a half hour or so, but I don't yet WANT to sleep. I just want to cruise along at this current altitude for a while and see what comes.
Going back for a fifth shell now. This is a good combination too, all the boneless feeling of Nene without the slowly crowning desire to go lie down in a warm soft place.