Hi Friends,
Greetings from Los Angeles.
In preparation for my new cold plunge, I did a dive into the performance benefits of cold therapy this week. More on that below. I've also (re) started learning to read/speak Hebrew via a new regimen my Rabbi has laid out. Wish me luck.
Wishing you all a meaningful weekend,
David-
This Weeks Torah Portion (Naso)
Naso continues describing the preparations for the Israelites’ journey from Sinai to the Holy Land. The parsha covers a mix of laws, ranging from: the role of Levites, rules about purity of the camp, the law of the sotah (the wayward wife), the Nazir (the individual who abstains from worldly pleasures), and the Priestly blessing.
The Torah has an interesting take on priests. It is not the priests who bless the people. Rather, it is through them that God blesses the people. Why were the priests thus chosen to be vehicles of God's blessing? The priests had no share in the land, unlike the rest of the Israelites. They were able to bless the people with a full heart, because if others were favored, so too would they be - they earned a portion of the harvest through teruma (offerings).
Tribes (such as the Levites) is a topic covered in great length in the book of Numbers. The Torah speaks against the uniformity we see at the Tower of Babel. It preserves tribes as fundamental social units, not unlike how America did when it formed itself as a federation of states. And Jews today continue to divide into tribes (with a shared moral code based in the Torah). Askenazi, Sephardic, and a myriad of ethnicities make the State of Israel one of the most diverse countries in the world.
Archetype: The Jester
Carl Jung identified 12 archetypes. Products of shared ancestral memories that persist in art, literature and religion (he claimed religions were outward projections of the archetypes that exist in the unconscious mind of man).
The Jester invites us out to play - showing how to turn our work, our interactions with others, and even the most mundane tasks into fun. His shadow side? A glutton consumed by the lusts and urges of life without any sense of dignity or self-control.
Strengths: Humor, presence, playfullness
Weaknesses: Debauchery, irresponsibility, sloth
Goal: Enjoyment
Fear: Lack of aliveness
Example: The Fool in King Lear
Soma
🥶 Performance Benefits of Cold Exposure 🥶
Andrew Huberman has an excellent episode on the Performance Benefits of Cold Exposure. Temperature is a potent stimulus for the brain and body.
If you didn't want to spend the 2+ hours listening, a few highlights:
You have a baseline level of temperature that is changing across 24 hours. So any deliberate cold exposure is going to be superimposed on that rhythm (circadian rhythm).
a. 2 hours before you wake up is when your body temp is at its lowest.
Mental Performance
a. Deliberate cold exposure (DCE) helps to increase the release of Norepinephrine & Epinephrine (adrenaline). Norepinephrine plays an essential role in the regulation of arousal, attention, cognitive function, and stress reactions.
b. DCE has a very powerful effect on the release of Dopamine in the Brain & Body - elevating mood, energy, and focus (helps to narrow our thinking towards goal directed behavior).
DCE has a positive impact on Metabolism
a. It converts white fat cell cells into beige/brown fat cells. White fat is storage fat. Beige/Brown fat acts as a furnace, a fuel, that can increase core body temp.
Physical Performance & Inflammation
a. Helps reduce inflammation. Note that it's best to avoid immediately after strength training if the goal is muscle gain.
Huberman recommends 11 minutes a week, as a minimum, to accrue the benefits of DCE.
DCE should be avoided late in the day as it can effect sleep (since it increases core body temp).
Quote I'm Pondering
"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." William Shakespeare
Awesome