Post by aribjorn on Nov 3, 2011 22:10:12 GMT -5
Stav
for Health and Well Being
An Introduction to the Health benefits of
Practising the Hafskjold-Stav Tradition
by David Stone and Graham Butcher
based on the teachings of Ivar Hafskjold
Contents
Introduction Page 1
Basic Principles Page 1
The Stances Page 3
Mott and Megin Page 7
Using Mott and Megin Page 11
Diet Page 15
Sleep Page 21
Balanced Lifestyle Page 25
TeinSeid Page 28
Exercise Page 32
Conclusion Page 36
List of Diagrams
Figure 1 The Stances Page 4
Figure 2 Wrist Exercises Page 12
Figure 3 Balanced Lifestyle Page 26
Figure 4 Table of Plants Page 29
Stav for Health and Well Being
By David Stone and Graham Butcher
Illustrated by G D Butcher and Alex Fell-Bowers
First Published July 2000 by: Stav Marketing and Publishing Ltd.
Now Published by: Stav Books Kidlington, UK
Distributed in the US by Ice and Fire USA
www.iceandfire.us
©Copyright David Stone and Graham Butcher July 2000
www.stavox.co.uk
Introduction
Stáv is a method of learning to work with the Orlog and thus live
out our Wyrd. In order to do this we need to tap into the infinite
Megin energy of the universe. So this book is about health in
relationship to our true nature and destiny. The greatest cause of
ill-health and dis-ease is working against nature and being out of
tune with our inner needs and aspirations. Thus the greatest
source of health and most effective method of healing is to learn
to live in harmony with nature and to know and meet our true
needs.
In this booklet we have concerned ourselves mainly with the Stáv
principles for improving and maintaining our personal health and
well being. The information contained here is drawn from the
direct teaching and example of Ivar Hafskjold and the tried and
tested knowledge of the Hafskjold traditions which have stood the
test of 15 centuries. Anyone who has undergone martial arts
training with Ivar, as David and I have done over many years, will
testify that he is stronger and fitter than most men of half his age.
We have also tested these principles in our own lives over a
period of several years and have drawn on both contemporary
research and our knowledge of other traditional systems. We
hope you too will benefit from what we have learned.
Graham Butcher, July 2000
Basic Principles of Stáv for Health
A great deal is said these days about becoming a Healer. People
want to learn 'how to heal people.' Stáv does offer practices to
this end, but really it is the wrong attitude. The main principle of
Stáv in health matters is to not need to be healed.
The main ability Stáv teaches is to see Reality - to see things as
they really are, not as we think they are or would like them to be.
This ability allows us to see our own state of health and to maintain and gradually improve it through changes in such areas
as lifestyle, diet, attitude. Therefore, Stáv makes use of the
maxim Prevention is better than Cure - by maintaining our health,
we don't need to be healed. However, Stáv also allows for the
fact that this is the real world, as mentioned in the Havamal:
'The foolish man thinks he will live forever if he keeps away from
fighting; But old age won't grant him a truce, even if the spears
do' Stanza 16.
People do become ill, they do have accidents, and so Stáv
provides for dealing with these. Again, though, the ability to see
Reality comes into it's own, and the Stáv way is to recognise
when there are problems with health: it's better to deal with a
slight ailment than to wait until it's developed into something more
serious.
Healing in Stáv is both holistic and symptomatic. It is holistic in
that it deals with the WHOLE person, treating the entire problem,
not just the physical manifestations of it. Questions such as 'why
am I ill?' 'why am I ill now?' need to be considered, as many
illnesses relate to more than simply being exposed to bacteria or
viruses. Sometimes it is due to a need to rest or to get away from
an unpleasant situation that has caused the illness. Sometimes it
is a manifestation of another problem such as bad diet, irregular
exercise. Sometimes it's the result of a deep psychological problem
that we're not even aware of. All these things can cause
illness, and to truly heal them the underlying cause needs to be
found out and rectified.
Stáv healing is also symptomatic because it's a practical system
and recognises that sometimes it is best to work on the actual
symptom - the physical manifestation of disorder - rather than the
underlying cause. For instance, if someone is spurting blood from
a cut artery the important thing is to staunch the flow, not
consider how it happened!
That is obviously an extreme example, but it reflects the need to be able to recognise when a problem needs the closer attention
of holistic treatment, and when it is best to simply treat the
immediate problem and not worry too much about the whys and
wherefores. The methods contained in this booklet give details for
dealing with health matters both a holistic and a symptomatical
point of view .
Many of the principles and techniques described in this booklet
are primarily for maintaining one's own health. Nevertheless, they
can also be applied to other people. By learning to recognise our
own health fluctuations and to deal with them before they turn into
anything more serious, we become better qualified to assist other
people to do the same. This is the real skill in healing: not so
much to be able to cure all who come to you, but to assist and
encourage them to take responsibility for their own health and
well being and not to need to be healed. D. Stone
The Stances
The fundamental daily practice of Stáv is performing the Stances.
These are 16 exercises with the emphasis on: Cultivating deep
and natural breathing, maintaining slow and deliberate movements,
developing good posture and balance and creating mental
focus with relaxation. The stances are performed in a specific
way, beginning facing North, bowing, taking nine deep breaths,
clapping twice and then moving into each stance breathing in and
exhaling as you move out of the stance. Each stance makes the
shape of each of the runes with the body.
The stances are performed twice each day, with the first set the
emphasis is on the right side of the body and with the second set
the emphasis is on the left side. The second set finishes with the
2 claps, the 9 breaths and another bow to the North. The stances
may be done one set in the morning and the other in the evening
or all at once at your convenience. Stáv training sessions will
usually begin and end with each set of the stances. I personally like to do the first set before breakfast and the second set just
before supper.
Once a week an advanced student of Stáv will do a more
sophisticated set of the stances which incorporates a chant.
There are actually 5 ways of doing the stances altogether and the
version described here is the method taught to beginners and
used during public access courses. Other methods are taught
when the student is ready.
It would be very difficult to teach the stances from a book, a video
is better for seeing them done but a course where face to face
tuition is given is really the only way to learn them properly. So
here I will concentrate on describing the potential benefits of
performing the stances regularly in the hope that the reader will
seek to find out more. The basic principles also apply to Yoga,
Tai-Chi or Qi-gong and other similar exercise systems so the
information here will be of interest to students of these disciplines
as well.
The emphasis needs to be on the 'regular and long term' application
of the stances. Doing the sequence once or twice is unlikely
to reverse a long term chronic condition just as, for example,
brushing one's teeth for the first time is unlikely to reverse tooth
decay or one bowl of salad to eliminate obesity. But doing the
stances on a regular basis will have the following benefits:
It promotes deep and natural breathing using the diaphragm as
well as the ribs and intercostal muscles. This develops an awareness
of breathing since each breath has to be synchronised with
movement and posture. Although breathing is an autonomic reflex
it can be much more than that. In the same way that anxiety and
tension tends to restrict normal breathing, hyper-ventilation being
an extreme example, then relaxed and controlled breathing, as
when performing the stances, will bring about relaxation and
reduce tension and melt away anxiety. Whatever may be happening
to us we do always have the opportunity to control our breathing. Aware breathing is the first stage of inner knowledge
and control of one's inner state.
Practising the stances also promotes balance and correct skeletal
alignment, the majority of our fellow creatures use their spine as
a bridge supported at both ends by the hind and fore limbs. By
contrast, our backbone acts as a column and as such its alignment
and balance is critical to our manoeuvrability and general
health and well being. The stances which depend upon one leg
(Bjork b and Rei r) and by the turns between the stances which
require a very deliberate and controlled weight transfer develop
this alignment and require good balance. Some days one's balance
will be much better than others. This tells us a great deal
about our inner state, any morning that I find difficulty in balancing
in the stances mentioned above I know I will have to be extra
careful when riding my motorcycle for one example.
The stances gently stretch and tone the whole body with each
stance putting the emphasis on different joints, sinews and muscles
and thus maintaining and developing the mobility and flexibility
of the body. This is pretty much what you would expect of any
gentle and focused exercise system but the stances will take you
much further than this.
On occasion there is the feeling, not so much of "doing" the
stances as being "lifted" into each stance almost as if invisible
cords were lifting you into each position. I see this as a sign that
my body is allowing itself to be guided by the Orlog itself. This is
not something you can force and it doesn't happen even to an
experienced practitioner everyday, but it shows me that we can
align ourselves with a greater power and be guided and supported
by it.
The stances are also about opening up to the megin (see next
section for more details about this) both receiving and earthing it,
in performing the stances the life energy is encouraged to flow
through us.
Finally, the stances can give us specific messages in a very
profound way. Each stance relates to a rune and each rune has
specific meanings and associations. When performing the
stances sometimes one is missed out and this should not be seen
as an accident. I have been doing the same 16 stances daily for
almost 8 years now and it still happens to me on occasion. When
it does it is time to stop and consider the association. This is the
intuitive mind trying to tell me something important and a moment's
reflection usually shows me what my real issues are. This
is simply part of the process of coming to "know thyself" which is
inherent in the way of Stáv. It does not require long periods of
introspection or elaborate divination procedures. When the runes
want you to know something the stances provide them with a
method of communicating between your intuitive (subconscious)
mind and rational (conscious) mind and getting it to take notice
and, if necessary, action. G. Butcher
Mott and Megin
Mott and Megin are the intrinsic health energies within the Stáv
tradition. They are related to the Anglo-Saxon terms Might and
Main.
Mott refers to the physical body, the muscle, bone, blood and all
the other parts that make up a physical body. This is the vehicle
from which we experience the world and so it needs to be
maintained and kept in good order so we can experience life to
the full.
This is accomplished by keeping an eye on how it's performing,
noting any problems that seem to be arising and dealing with
them before they get too bad. Regular exercise, a sensible diet
and sufficient rest are the main ingredients to healthy Mott.
If it gets damaged or becomes ill, the body has an array of
devices that it uses to repair itself. These can be assisted by various methods of
healing such as
first aid, surgery,
manipulation techniques
and a bit of
good old fashioned
pampering. These
are all means of
healing the Mott -
the physical body.
Mott can be rather
gruesomely described
as the part
that ends up on the
butcher's slab, or
on the mortuary table.
In this, it demonstrates
one of
the great mysteries
of life - the fact that
a living body and a
dead body are
physically the
same. Eventually
decomposition begins
to occur, but
for a brief time
there is no real difference
between
the state of Life and the state of Death, except that something is
lacking in the latter.
There is no real definition for what that Something is in Western
medicine and science. There are various clinical and philosophical
debates about at what point someone becomes 'dead', and there are many descriptions of the processes within the Mott that
occur in the lead up to death and once death has taken place, but
there is no clear definition of what actually separates a living body
from a dead body. Within Chinese medicine, and various other
cultural beliefs, there is a definition. The Chinese call it Chi, and
say that this is the intrinsic Life Force that flows through a living
body, and it is this Chi that is absent from a dead one. In the Stáv
tradition, this Life Force is called Megin. Megin, like it's cultural
counterparts Chi, Ki, Prana, Odoyle, Orgone etc is much deeper
than 'just' the Life Force, but for the purposes of this booklet only
it's connection to health and healing will be discussed.
Megin is inherent in all life and flows into, through and out of the
body, energising, revitalising and repairing the Mott as it goes.
This flow is continuous and is recognised in other traditions as
meridians and chakras. As with all things that flow, however,
Megin at times becomes blocked or restricted and so prevented
from flowing efficiently through the whole body. Blocked Megin
manifests in the physical body as discomfort or pain and can
result in illness.
Many things can cause Megin to become blocked or restricted.
Improper posture is one, and muscular tension is another. Many
negative states of mind can block Megin and cause discomfort.
Some of these are referred to as expressions, so familiar are they
in the everyday world: butterflies in the stomach, heavy hearted,
a lump in the throat, a weight on the shoulders. Many headaches,
neck aches and back aches are due to blocked Megin, some
through purely physical tensions, others through mental tensions.
These in turn weaken our Mott and leave it less able to fend off
the bacteria and viruses that constantly bombard us, resulting in
physical illness as well as energy imbalance.
In health issues, problems are Mott related when they are purely
physical - cuts, bruises, strains, sprains, broken bones, concussion,
etc. All other ailments are Megin related - illness, fever, infection etc. Even problems that appear to be Mott related, such
as tiredness and exhaustion, are actually Megin related as they
are caused by insufficient Megin flow. Usually, of course, a
problem in either Mott or Megin can create a problem in the other,
which is one of the main reasons it's important to not allow such
problems to develop. Within Stáv there are three basic ways of
healing and maintaining health through the Megin. The first has
already been discussed - remain aware of the condition of your
Megin, correct your posture, learn to relax and above all learn to
release emotional concerns once they are no longer an immediate
problem. This will help to ensure your Megin remains flowing
and performing it's function without interference. The second
method of healing through Megin is to increase your own Megin
levels. This will be particularly effective against physical problems,
such as damage to the Mott. By increasing the level of
Megin in the affected area, it assists with the healing process, but
also frees up some of your intrinsic Megin to continue working on
the rest of your body. This will help reduce the effects of shock,
and ensure the rest of the Mott is healthy and able to function
adequately even with the damage.
The third method of healing with Megin is to decrease the Megin
of the invader. This is particularly effective against bacteria and
viruses. These are life forms which are struggling to survive, just
as you are. Therefore they have their own Megin that is assisting
them. By drawing the Megin away from them, it leaves them
weaker and so the antibodies and defence systems of the body
are able to eliminate them. We have always got sufficient Megin
within our body - if we didn't we'd be dead. Sometimes, though,
the Megin we have isn't used efficiently. There are methods and
techniques within the Stáv system for increasing the efficiency of
Megin, which are described below and in the previous section on
the stances. D. Stone
Practical work with Mott and Megin
One of the ways that I developed an interest and, eventually,
skills, in healing was through teaching martial arts and self
defence to older people. I often found that they simply could not
get into some of the positions necessary for training. Without
regular use joint mobility can decline and without assistance it can
be difficult, if not impossible to recover. Once recovered correct
exercise will maintain mobility in the future but certain steps can
be necessary to make it possible. It became apparent to me that
there were two issues here. One was simply the alignment and
mobility of the joints and the other was muscular tension and
energy blockages. The physical aspect of the body we call "Mott"
and the energy aspect we call "Megin". Each requires the other
for Mott without Megin is dead (and soon decaying meat) and
whether or not Megin can exist outside of a living body is a
philosophical question which I do not intend to debate here.
However it is possible to work on oneself using self manipulation
techniques. In Stáv terms the stances are the basis for this since
they teach us how the body should work, reveal where it is not in
correct alignment and begins the process of correcting this
through daily practice. Also, a simple set of wrist exercises will
enhance mobility, strength and flexibility in this vital part of the
body and go a long way to countering problems such as repetitive
strain injury. See fig. 2 for these. Do these exercises gently, the
idea is not to inflict pain on oneself but to gradually enhance the
range of movement. Then there are the foot massage exercises
which can be done with the fingers or a tein (small wooden wand
with rounded corners.) To massage the feet sit with one leg
straight out in front and the other leg folded and resting on the top
of the extended leg. Begin by grasping the heel and rotating the
ankle through its maximum range of movement. Then crunch the
toes down and up and then take each toe in turn and wiggle it to
its maximum movement. The take 2 fingers (or the tein which
should be oval or diamond in section) and insert between each pair of toes and rotate extending the gap between each toe. Then
massage the whole of the foot beginning at the top of the big toe
and work right down to the heel. Then massage back up the foot
again and finish by gently slapping the foot between the hands to
stimulate blood and megin flow. Then change feet and do the
other one.
When you have got the hang of these try exchanging with a
partner to get the feel of working with some one else's body.
More advanced partner work can be done on the spine, neck,
shoulders and other parts of the body but they are best taught in
a class since they require a profound understanding of the
stances and need supervised tuition. When working with a partner
be gentle as these can be painful. Ask them to tell you when to
stop and do so, it could be your turn next time!
Mott work does have its potential dangers but the are fairly
obvious and so long as you are gentle with yourself and, if
working with a partner, stop when they ask you there should be
no real problems. Working with Megin is more unpredictable and
also more problematical from a scientific point of view. Megin is
the energy which permeates all things and brings vitality to all
living things. It is the life force which David has already discussed
in some detail in the previous chapter. The problem with Megin is
not so much how to use it or get it, (if you are alive then it is
present) but how to avoid the negative effects of someone else's
Megin
A good example is when someone has had chronic long term
pain in their back. This is often located at the back of the
shoulders or lower down under the shoulder blades. It is not
necessarily the consequence of an accident (although it may
originally have been) but it is painful and will reduce mobility. As
a healer you may be asked to do something about this. If you try
rubbing the area (massaging) several things may happen: Firstly
it may be nothing, the body can often hang onto tension and be reluctant to let it go, at least at first. Secondly the tension may
gradually ease up as the muscles un-knot and the back slowly
returns to full mobility. Or, thirdly, the tension and pain may ease
up almost instantly and, rather mysteriously, transfers to exactly
the same spot on the healer's body as if the energy had been
conducted away to a new home. This I believe is most likely to
happen to those whose own Megin is flowing freely thus providing
an easy path.
To someone
who is perform- i
ng energy exercises
(such
as the stances)
on a regular
basis this
should not be
too much of a
problem since
next time the
exercises are
done the excess
Megin
can by
grounded and
dispensed with.
Anyone doing
regular healing
will have to develop
ways of
cleansing the
energy that
they absorb
from those they
heal. Those
trained in Tao-st or Shiatsu methods will describe this as the affect of the Chi or
Ki. Western methods which recognise only the Mott aspect of the
body may have difficulty in recognising the effect of the Megin
phenomenon. But the more the Megin is able to move freely
within the body the
more likely you are
to shift the Megin in
someone else's.
You can try this for
someone who has a
headache or similar
affliction:
Cup the hands with
the right inside the
left with the tips of
the thumbs gently
touching. Take 9
slow, deep breaths
and relax imagining
the energy circulating
around the body
and connecting
through the hands.
Then slowly place
the hands on either
side of the affected
part of the body you
are healing and
take another 9
breaths while still
imagining the Megin
flowing through a circuit which now includes the patient. Then
slowly withdraw and gently shake the hands away from the body
to break the circuit. See what happens. You should only do this if you are regularly practising some form of energy exercise to
ground the surplus Megin and replenish your own system. G.
Butcher
Diet
The primary concern of Stáv is things that can be done daily as
essential parts of everyday life. As well as breathing the other daily
activity for most of us is eating. Starvation kills in a matter of weeks
yet lack of proper attention to diet may also be responsible for
much of the ill health we see in modern Western society where
food is plentiful. The first point to acknowledge here is that,
generally speaking, Western man has never been healthier and
the ever increasing life span of the average Westerner concurs
with this. Where there is more disease it is often because the
longer people live the more likely they are to get sick. Certainly
diseases such as cancer have always had the potential to occur
but most people didn't live long enough to develop them. Likewise
heart disease which mainly affects people in their forties or even
later. If the average life span is less than fifty, as indeed it was until
well into the 20 th century then incidents of these diseases are
going to be fairly rare.
There have been many theories about different food stuffs and
their relationship to the prevalence of specific diseases. But the
only really proven links are between smoking and lung cancer and
alcohol and cirrhosis of the liver, and neither of these have
anything to do with eating as such. In deed it is likely that many
diseases that were formally thought to be caused as a reaction to
certain foods may in fact be as a result of viral or bacterial
infections.* It is therefore the body's immune system that protects
against disease and the stronger the immune system the less likely
* Consider for example the Helicobacter bacterium which was discovered to be
the cause of alimentary tract ulcers by Barry Marshall in 1984
ref: p.177 of The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine by JLFanau LB 1999
a disease will strike or if it does the more quickly it will be cured.
Thus the emphasis in Stáv for health is on keeping one's Megin
as strong as possible and trying to work in accordance with the
Orlog as we live out our own true Wyrd (personal destiny). The
human digestive system works in accordance with its own Orlog
and it is in co-operating with this principle that we can eat for
health. These are the principles which Ivar Hafskjold emphasises
and practices in his own life. Ivar looks and moves like a man 15
years younger than his real age which speaks for itself.
The first principle of eating for health in the Stáv tradition is the
Staple Diet: We need a staple food in our diet. Every culture has
one as the basis for their nutrition. This is usually something
widely available, reasonably cheap and rich in carbohydrate and
fibre. In the orient it is rice in its 'brown' un-refined state. In cooler
parts of the orient it is wheat. In Southern America it is Maize. In
Ireland it is potatoes and in other parts of Europe various forms of
grain, Wheat, Barley, Rye and in the more Northern parts such as
Scandinavia, Oatmeal. It is Oats that will particularly concern us
here but the principle applies to all staple diets.
The staple should provide slow burning carbohydrate which will
sustain you through a large part of the day. It takes time for the
body to extract all the nutrition available compared to a high fat
and sugar meal which may contain a good deal of energy but
tends to get absorbed by the body too quickly, gets stored as fat
and leaves the body craving for more food soon after. The staple
should contain a high proportion of fibre which gives the gut
something to work on ensuring good bowel movements and will
tend to absorb and carry through any toxins which were in danger
of accumulating in the alimentary tract. Finally the staple provides
a consistent diet for the fauna and flora which colonise our
digestive tracts and provide essential enzymes to assist in the
breaking down of food stuffs and extracting nutrients from them.
The staple is as much for the benefit of our inner residents as it is for us. This thought should certainly help us realise our interdependence
on the natural world.
The second principle has to do with timing our eating. The day
can be evenly divided into 4 hour intervals. This is about the time
that the body needs to go through a digestive cycle and be ready
for the next meal. In Northern Europe we have big differences in
the time we should be awake between summer and winter. If we
start with midnight we should be asleep and only characters in
Enid Blyton boarding school novels should eat at that time. In
summer in Scandinavia it is light before 4 am and on a farm in
summer this may well be when work begins, at the end of the day
labours may not finish until 8 pm. In this case 5 meals a day are
possible and probably necessary. At the equinoxes work may not
start until after 8 am and will probably have to finish at dusk
(around 4 pm). So 3 meals will be sufficient. Apparently in
Scandinavia before electric light and the television messed up our
natural rhythms it was quite normal to be up and about only for a
couple of hours a day in mid winter so one meal was quite
adequate. So try to use this pattern to allow adequate time for full
digestion and if possible have the biggest meal in the middle of
the day and the staple, probably porridge, for breakfast.
The third principle is to keep the diet as natural as possible. Food
loses a great deal of it's nutritional value as it is processed and
refined in the modern food industry. Essential vitamins are destroyed
and the Megin originally present is lost and preservatives
and flavourings are added in which, if not actually harmful, certainly
have no nutritional value. That is not to say that if you like
kippers, bacon, salami, smoked cheese and pickles that you
should not eat them, I love such things, but they should be eaten
for pleasure and as an extra to a diet of the staple plus fresh fruit,
vegetables and natural grains and pulses. If you can grow your
own, so much the better. In recent years the government has
recommended 5 portions of fresh fruit and vegetables daily and
this is as good a guideline as any. As for the organic set against industrial agriculture debate I don't have a strong opinion one
way or the other. Organic agriculture is almost certainly better for
the environment but how much difference it makes to the consumer
still seems to be open to debate. The quantity and regularity
with which you eat fresh produce is more important than how it
was grown. If you do grow your own then you have the option of
going organic. But when you have had your crop devastated by
ravenous molluscs you may find your yourself being very attracted
to the idea of slug pellets. There is always the possibility
that organic agriculture has a considerable appeal to a public
usually far removed from the actual experience of growing food.
The fourth principle is: Drink enough fresh water. This is one
single factor that can make an enormous difference to health.
Many people claim not to like water and rely on tea, coffee, soft
drinks or beer and other alcoholic drinks for their fluid intake. But
the body needs a regular supply of fresh water to remain genuinely
healthy. There are three good reasons for this:
Firstly it is vital to maintain the fluid level in the body. Luckily our
systems are pretty good at controlling this and genuine dehydration
should only occur if we are stuck in a desert with no access
to drinkable fluids at all. Having said that any A & E doctor or
nurse will confirm that in hot weather many people end up in
casualty departments having collapsed and are suffering from
nothing more than dehydration. So don't assume that just because
you are not in the middle of the Sahara that it couldn't
happen to you. Particularly vulnerable are old people who rely on
others to provided them with drinks. Sometimes allowance is not
made for hot weather and dehydration can set in. If you do find
yourself, or someone complains of, feeling unwell in hot weather
then the first thing to do is drink a pint of fresh water followed by
similar a quantity at hourly intervals. It will usually take care of the
problem.
Secondly; the body relies on water to keep the body cleansed of toxins. The blood is constantly filtered by the kidneys and surplus
water removed along along with these toxins in the form of urine.
The more fresh water taken in the more effectively the kidneys
can do their job. If fluid is taken in in other forms then the
impurities dissolved in them have to be removed by the water
present in the drink. This especially applied to alcoholic drinks.
The classic example of this is a hangover which is mainly the
effect of dehydration due to the body excreting the alcohol along
with more water than was taken in. The only real cure for a
hangover is lots of water.
Thirdly: the liver has to take care of the problems caused by too
little water passing through the system. In extreme cases this
results in the classic alcoholic's disease of cirrhosis of the liver.
If there is insufficient water being taken into the system the
kidneys cut down their activities and reduce the amount of urine
produced to maintain the body fluid level. This means that the
toxins accumulating in the blood stream are not being removed so
the liver has to take on the role and stores the these substances
in fat cells. This results in a less healthy body and more fat being
deposited with obvious consequences for weight and well being.
Also it will affect energy levels. The real task of the liver is to
convert carbohydrate into glycogen for the muscles to use for
energy. If the liver is tied up with toxin management it will not be
able to devote as much effort to this as it should resulting in
fatigue. Thus for endurance the most important factors are unrefined
carbohydrate and a lot of water. So called high energy
foods such as chocolate or mint cake will probably exacerbate the
situation.
This can be why a properly conducted detoxification diet often
results in headaches, a furred tongue, skin reactions and other
rather unpleasant reactions at first. The liver is at last able to start
breaking down the toxins stored in the fat and release them from
the body.
So those are our simple principles: A staple in the diet. A regular
pattern of eating throughout the day. As much natural food as
possible and a regular intake of fresh water (at least 4 pints a day
and more in hot weather). There is no "Stáv Diet" as such, just a
sensible approach
to eating
and drinking
based on
these simple
principles. G.
Butcher
Sleep
One of the
main methods
of maintaining
and improving
the flow of
Megin in the
Stáv system is
through sleep.
Many people in
the modern,
Western culture
have lost
track of just
how important
sleep is, and of
getting the right
sort of sleep.
Something that is certainly forgotten is the old country maxim that
'one hours sleep before midnight is worth two hours after.' This
has been demonstrated to be accurate, and reminds us of the turning cycle of the day. Midnight in this instance is not the time
according to the clock, but rather it is the mid point between
sunset and sunrise. Therefore, the hours before midnight are
getting darker and further from the sun, while during the hours
after the world is becoming lighter and waking up again.
Our sleep pattern consists of four levels. All of them occur
throughout sleep, but the first two levels predominate in the first
half of sleep while the third and fourth predominate in the second.
Level three is deep sleep and level four is dreaming or REM
(Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. It would seem that levels one and
two, which are lighter levels of sleep, are best taken as the cycle
of the day is winding towards midnight, while the deeper levels
are best once the day has turned and is heading back towards
daylight. While we sleep, the Mott is completely relaxed and
releases many of the tensions that build up in it. Similarly, the
mind is relaxed. Both these factors help the Megin to flow unimpeded
through the body, strengthening it and allowing it to heal
any problems that have cropped up during the day. Mental
problems are also soothed during this time. Quite apart from the
fact we get a few hours of not having to think about them, many
seemingly insurmountable problems become resolved during the
sleep period.
Certain techniques can be employed to help to relax the body and
mind prior to sleep to ensure it is as restful as possible. Your bed
should not be too soft as a sagging mattress causes the spine to
curve. The pillow should allow your head to lie without your neck
being bent upwards or downwards. Ensure your bedroom has
good ventilation to allow a ready supply of oxygen. This is
particularly important in modern, central heated houses in which
the air can take several days to be completely renewed. As you
lie in bed, focus on the different parts of the body and notice
where there are any tensions. Tense them harder, then allow
them to relax. Similarly with your mind, look for thoughts and
images that are running around, acknowledge them and release them. Go to bed calm. Many people hang on to problems long
after they've ceased to be immediate issues - problems at work,
issues to be resolved, money worries. Consider the fact that none
of them are actually affecting you right at this moment. Worrying
about things creates a cocktail of chemicals in your body as your
'primal self' attempts to ready your body to deal with them.
Worrying means that this cocktail is still being produced, even
though the problems are far away. By acknowledging that they
are no longer an immediate concern it becomes easier to let them
go and relax. Listening to some gentle music or reading something
inspirational can help calm your thoughts. Certainly trying to
sleep straight after an argument or dramatic film won't help. Allow
time for your mind to calm down from the activity and images of
the day. When random thoughts continue to run around your mind
and won't settle down, there are meditation techniques that can
be applied. One of the simplest is to slowly and deliberately
count from 100 down to 1, allowing your breathing to dictate the
speed you count. This requires enough concentration that your
mind has to focus on it and so has to abandon the random
thoughts, but not so much concentration that it keeps you awake.
Very often this will quieten your mind into a relaxed state so that,
even if you are still awake, you will be gaining some of the
benefits of sleep.
When an animal becomes ill or is badly hurt, it invariably finds a
safe place to curl up in and it goes to sleep. It stays there until it
has healed sufficiently to continue living, or it dies. This is a
natural way of dealing with illness and injury, and one that is
employed within the Stáv tradition.
When we are unwell, the best thing is to go to bed and sleep.
Don't read, don't lie there watching television, sleep. This is very
often all we need and will cure the ailment before it has a chance
to take a firm hold. Obviously, this relates to the basic principles
of health through Stáv, and being aware of our state of health: As soon as we realise we're becoming unwell, or we've had an injury,
go to bed. Don't struggle on regardless, no one will thank you for
making yourself worse, and it's often better to take an evening or
a day in bed and get the problem sorted than to soldier on, feeling
lousy, and end up making yourself really ill.
Many people protest that they can't go to sleep 'just like that.'
That doesn't matter. Go to bed, get the room as dark as you can
and lie there with your eyes closed. It can help to use breathing
patterns similar to those used in the performance of the stances.
The important thing is that you relax, with your eyes closed and
your mind still. The very fact you are unwell will assist and you will
soon drift off to sleep.
These points, obviously, can be employed on a nightly basis to
help you get the most out your night's sleep. The fact of sleeping
for health maintenance doesn't mean it should only be used for
when you are actually ill and ignored the rest of the time. Listen to
your body and go to bed when you are feeling sleepy, regardless
of whether the clock says it's too early. Your own body is a much
better indicator of when it's time to sleep than any clock. If you
wait until you are feeling tired, you are actually in the early stages
of sleep deprivation. In this instance you will go straight into the
deeper sleep levels and miss out on the first two, lighter, levels of
sleep. By going to bed early, not only do you get a better balance
of sleep during the night, but it is also easier to wake up without
the need of dream-shattering alarm clocks. By waking up naturally,
you are refreshed and ready to face the day.
To finish this section, what better than to give the last word to
Odin for his advice on the subject of sleep from the Havamal:
'No man will blame you if you go early to bed.' stanza 19 'The
foolish man lies awake all night and worries about things; he's
tired out when morning comes and everything's as bad as it was.'
stanza 23
'Don't get up at night, except to look around or if you need to visit the privy outside.' stanza 112
'Much he neglects, the man who sleeps in in the mornings.
Wealth is half-won by the vigorous.' stanza 59
'The slumbering wolf does not get the ham, nor a sleeping man
the victory.' stanza 58. D. Stone
Balanced Lifestyle
One of the main things any student of Stáv learns is that it is
important to find and maintain balance. This is most graphically
obvious in the martial aspects of Stáv when to lose one's balance
can be to lose the fight, but it is important to remember that
balance is not just a physical matter of standing upright. Just as
our body needs to be balanced, so do our mind and spirit.
The following Bind Rune demonstrates the balances that must be
maintained in order to achieve a healthy, balanced lifestyle. See
fig. 3
Activity needs to be offset by Rest. If we perform a physical
activity, we have to rest to allow our body to rejuvenate. The
same can be said of the mind: many people don't realise that
excessive mental activity leaves one just as tired as physical
activity. Therefore the mind needs to be rested when it's been
exerted, too.
The reverse of this duo is also true: Rest needs to be offset by
Activity. Too much physical rest leads to the body getting out of
condition and not being ready and able when called upon. Many
unemployed people find themselves unable to build up motivation
for the simplest of tasks, due to excessive Rest.
The second pair, Company and Solitude, also need to offset each
other. As gregarious beings, we all need companionship, a time
to be with others. No one is an island, everyone needs other
people around them, sometimes for the fun of it, sometimes for
support in difficult times, sometimes to explore ideas that different people have.
Companionship, however, also needs to be offset by solitude. We
are all individual beings, and as such we need a time to get off by
ourselves to listen to the quiet, inner voice and reflect upon our
own ideas. This solitude might involve utsette or similar - the Stáv
practise of taking oneself out into the natural world to be alone -
or simply slipping outside or into another room for a few moments.
'If you've a friend, one whom you trust, go to see him
often.' stanza 119
'The loved man is loathed if he sits too long in someone else's
hall.' stanza 35
'...I found myself going astray. Rich I thought myself when I met
someone else, for man is the joy of man.' stanza 47
The final pair, Feast and Fast need to be offset by one another.
We need to eat in order to stay alive, and many health problems
can be resolved by reviewing our diet. Eating is a pleasure, and
not one to be forcibly avoided.
Nevertheless, eating needs to be offset by periods of not eating.
This allows our body time to digest and utilise what has already
been eaten, and also helps to prevent weight problems.
The Havamal says on this subject:
'Should you happen to be travelling, make sure you are well fed.'
stanza 116
'The greedy man, unless he guards against this tendency, will eat
himself into life long trouble.' stanza 20
This Bind Rune can be summed up as finding the balance
between Indulgence and Abstinence.
Indulgence and Abstinence offset each other and could be regarded
as being the two halves of the Bind Rune, although this is
not entirely the case. The obvious association with Indulgence
and Abstinence is in what are commonly known as 'vices' - over eating, drinking, smoking etc. - but their meanings go much
deeper than this. Indulgence is allowing yourself excess in anything,
be it food, drink or something like rest or company. It is
acknowledging that you want this, and allowing yourself.
This is offset by Abstinence, the realisation that going to extreme
of Indulgence causes problems. Indulgence in food makes us sick
and/or fat, Indulgence in activity makes us exhausted, Indulgence
in solitude makes us isolated and shut in. Similarly, Abstinence to
extreme is just as bad: Abstinence in food makes us ill and/or
malnourished, Abstinence in activity makes us lazy and slow,
abstinence in solitude makes us over dependent on others and a
bother to them. This is a holistic view, that all extremes are
harmful, even ones that seem to be opposing something bad.
Within life it is sometimes necessary to go to either extreme, but
it must be remembered that we need to offset each extreme and
not allow them to take over our lives. A healthy lifestyle comes
from this balance. We shouldn't deny ourselves as this only
makes us want it more, but neither should be give in too easily as
this makes it all the easier to indulge the next time. By finding the
balance between the six headings around the Bind Rune, we will
find our mind calmer and our body better tuned, and then we can
get in touch with our spirit and find a deeper balance.
Odin comments and gives advice on this general idea of balance
in the Havamal:
'Much too early I've come to many places, but sometimes too late;
The ale was all drunk, or sometimes it wasn't yet brewed: the
unpopular man seldom chooses the right occasion.' stanza 66
'A man shouldn't hold onto the cup, but drink mead in moderation.'
stanza 19
'[Sometimes] it is necessary to speak, or to be silent' stanza 19
'I tell you to be cautious, but not over cautious.' stanza 131 D.
Stone
The Herbs and Trees Important in Stáv
Rune Association
Tree Herb, Grain or Berry
F Fe Hazel Barley
u Ur Pine Plantain
J Thor Rowan Burdock
O As Ash Oats
R Rei Elder Coltsfoot
K Kreft Spruce Wormwood
H Hagl Beach Bear Berry
N Nod (Urd) Alder Nettle
N Nod (Verdandi) Willow Raspberry/Strawberry
N Nod (Skuld) Elm Dandelion
I Is Juniper Mugwort
A Ar Holly Bilberry
S Sol Oak Camomile
T Tyr Linden Comfrey
B Bjork Birch Flax
m Mann Hawthorn Lilly-of-the-Valley
L Laug Apple Leek (Garlic or Onion)
Y Yr Yew Yarrow
Tein Seid
Tein Seid is a practise within Stáv that can be loosely defined
as herbalism. Tein means stick or wand, but it also refers to
plants. Seid is a deep philosophical concept, but for the
purposes of this it can be defined as inner knowledge. Therefore,
a loose interpretation of Tein Seid could be 'thorough
knowledge of plants'.
This is more than the basic practise that is referred to as
herbalism these days. Tein Seid can include use of many
different plants, not just specifically herbs, and use of them in
many different ways. Such things as homeopathy, Bach remedies,
aromatherapy come under the heading of Tein Seid. It
can also refer to the practise of cooking plants, not just to
make herbal brews and remedies, but for normal eating,
demonstrating how Tein Seid can be related to the Stáv
aspects of dietary principles.
The ability of herbs to assist with restoring or maintaining
health is defined through Megin. A plant is a living organism,
and so has Megin flowing through it. As Megin flows through
different organisms, it forms different 'patterns', unique to that
structure. These patterns within plants affects our own Megin
patterns in different ways. This accounts for the properties, or
Virtues, found in herbs. Some Virtues assist our Megin flow,
and are regarded as medicines, others oppose the flow of our
own Megin and are called poisons.
The use of herbs for healing and health maintenance, like all
other aspects of Stáv, can be used both for symptomatic and
holistic treatments. Herbal 'first aid' is as far as most people
get who only dabble in Tein Seid. They consider their symptoms,
such as a sore throat or stomach disorder, and find
herbs that can relieve them. This is fine as far as it goes, but Tein Seid goes much deeper than this and can be used to
help relieve the underlying problems as well as the symptoms.
This short introduction can not offer any realistic instruction on
this subject, but there are many books available for both these
ways of using herbs.
Tein Seid also goes into the more magical aspects of using
herbs for healing, including the use of herbs as charms. There
were many different types of plants that were supposed to
ward off various diseases and also to keep evil spirits away or
to encourage good luck. These may have had a placebo
effect on the carrier - they believed the charm would do them
good, so they were free from worries and stress, which
allowed their own Megin to flow un-impeded and so kept them
healthy. On a more esoteric level, it's possible that the Megin
patterns of the plants were able in some way to work with the
Megin patterns of the carrier's own body, and so lend their
support. Whether this is even possible is unknown and unknowable,
but there are many instances of charms being used
and having a positive effect.
There are eighteen herbs and eighteen trees that are part of
traditional Stáv, but really the best way of using plants for
health is to look around at what you have growing locally. It is
best to use plants from your own locality as they are part of
the place you live in and are therefore on more of a wavelength
with you. When using herbs in this way, the best
approach is not to say "I've got X problem, what will help with
it?", but to find out, while you are still healthy, what plants
there are and what they will do. In this way, whenever you
need them you know exactly what to get and where it is. This
works when treat health matters in both symptomatic and
holistic way.
When gathering wild herbs from the countryside, there are a few points to bear in mind. Most can also be applied when
taking from your garden:
Make absolutely sure of what you are picking. There are
medicines and poisons growing side by side in the natural
world, and some can be very similar in appearance.
Ensure that what you are looking for is all right to gather - some
wild plants and flowers are protected by law. Gather herbs on a
dry day, preferably in the morning, but after the dew has dried.
Don't gather near busy roads or fields that have been sprayed
with chemicals.
Don't take too much, especially from a single plant. Take only
what you need. Use scissors or secateurs rather than tearing
the plant - a cut plant can rejuvenate, one ripped up by the
roots can't.
Use the herbs as soon as possible, or else preserve them
straight away, before the Virtues can leach out.
If you buy herbs ready dried from a herbal shop, try to find out
how long they've been stored, and in what conditions they were
grown. If the shop keeper is reluctant to tell you, it may be that
they have been stored a long time, and so may not be as
efficient as fresher ones.
The eighteen traditional herbs and trees in the Stáv system, for
reference, are shown on fig. 4 D. Stone
Exercise
We all seem to take it for granted that exercise is good for us
and we should all be fit. But what is meant by fitness and what
is the sensible and healthy approach to taking exercise? If you
join the military or a sports team the fitness instructors will have
their own ideas of what is necessary to get you fit for service or
competition. In this book we are more concerned with everyday life where your health and fitness is your responsibility and no
one else can be expected to take charge of it for you.
So give yourself a test. (Or be honest with yourself and
consider whether you could even contemplate trying these
suggestions.) Can you walk three miles and run one hundred
yards (as if to catch a bus)? Can you lift half your body weight
from the floor, pull yourself up on a bar from the floor twice in
succession or perform five push-ups? Can you climb in and
out of a low slung sports car? Pick an object off the floor
without bending the knees? Put the hands behind the head
and pull the elbows into a straight line with the head?
These are fairly arbitrary tests but they represent the kind of
challenge that may present itself if a car breaks down and you
have to walk for help, picking up a hurt child, pulling yourself
out of a ditch or pit or even just accepting a lift in a friend's
new car and not looking like a complete idiot when its time to
get out again. Should you wish to take up hill walking, a
vigorous sport, horticulture or a fairly ambitious do-it-yourself
project then the demands could be heavier than those imposed
by my suggested tests.
There are three aspects of fitness being tested here. Firstly,
there is stamina, this is the ability to sustain activity over a
period of time, serious walking, running, swimming or cycling
all require a degree of stamina. So would digging over a patch
of ground or sawing up a quantity of logs. Stamina basically
requires a strong heart and efficient lungs with good circulation.
A sudden and otherwise inexplicable loss of stamina
should be investigated medically since it could indicate the
early stages of a serious problem such as blocked arteries.
Plenty of fuel for the body is equally vital, see Chapter Five on
healthy eating. Assuming there are no medical obstacles and
nutrition is adequate then stamina is best developed by activity
sustained for at least thirty minutes three times a week.
Secondly there is strength, the ability to exert force with the
body, either against another object, by lifting, pushing or
distorting, or by moving the body's own mass by lifting, jumping
or pulling. Assuming that bones, joints, ligaments and
tendons are all in good order then strength depends upon the
condition of the muscles. Strength depends upon regular
exertion of the muscles against resistance, this may be
weights or devices which achieve a similar effect by friction or
hydraulic methods. A training session three times a week will
bring benefits, there is usually little point in training more
frequently than this since the muscles need time to recover
fully between each session.
Thirdly there is flexibility or suppleness. This refer's to the
body's ability to move freely in all the directions it was meant
to be able to. This depends upon muscle fibres, joints,
ligaments and tendons being able to move and extend fully.
To achieve this depends upon regular extension of all the
joints in the body. This is one of the benefits of practising the
Stances on a daily basis, or an activity such as Yoga or Tai
Chi where a comprehensive, yet gentle, stretching takes
place.
It would be unwise to try and suggest specific exercises in a
booklet of this kind since direct supervision from an experienced
teacher is the only way to develop a really effective and
safe exercise program. Just be careful of teachers who
subscribe to the 'no pain, no gain' school of thought. This may
be fine for Marines in training or budding first division foot ball
players.
For the rest of us I would suggest that three principles are
essential: Relaxation, technique and patience.
Firstly, relaxation. We should always approach training, or
indeed any activity in a relaxed frame of mind, if you do find
yourself getting tense and anxious during training then the first priority should be to relax again. This will keep the activity
enjoyable, actually maximise progress because no energy is
being wasted and minimise the chances of injury.
Secondly, correct technique is also crucial, whatever activity
you embark upon study and practice the best possible technique.
This includes walking the dog or digging the garden as
much as seemingly more sophisticated activities such as fencing
or dancing. Be fully conscious and mindful of what you
are doing at all times and then the greatest benefit will come
from it. You will also be making the best use of the stamina or
strength that you do have, it is more important not to waste
energy than it is to exert our selves.
Thirdly, cultivate patience, do activities regularly with the emphasis
on doing them as well as possible and with a truly
relaxed state of mind and body without being concerned about
abstract 'results'. Simply see the pleasure of the doing as its
own reward. Don't try and measure yourself against what
others have succeeded or failed at, there will always be
someone better than you and some one worse. It is your own
health and well being that matters. By developing a cheerful
and relaxed approach to improving our own fitness we may
also inspire others to work on theirs. G. Butcher
Conclusion
We hope that you have found this booklet both interesting and
informative. We had fun learning what we have shared with
you here and we benefit from practising it in our everyday
lives.
But, as with all books, the contents are only helpful if acted
upon. So, if you already practice a way of mind/body/spirit
development then we hope that we encouraged you and
maybe gave you something extra to work with. If not then we
suggest that you get out of that armchair and get on with
something.
If you think that Stáv may be of interest to you then details of
publications and training opportunities can be found on the
inside of the cover. G. Butcher
for Health and Well Being
An Introduction to the Health benefits of
Practising the Hafskjold-Stav Tradition
by David Stone and Graham Butcher
based on the teachings of Ivar Hafskjold
Contents
Introduction Page 1
Basic Principles Page 1
The Stances Page 3
Mott and Megin Page 7
Using Mott and Megin Page 11
Diet Page 15
Sleep Page 21
Balanced Lifestyle Page 25
TeinSeid Page 28
Exercise Page 32
Conclusion Page 36
List of Diagrams
Figure 1 The Stances Page 4
Figure 2 Wrist Exercises Page 12
Figure 3 Balanced Lifestyle Page 26
Figure 4 Table of Plants Page 29
Stav for Health and Well Being
By David Stone and Graham Butcher
Illustrated by G D Butcher and Alex Fell-Bowers
First Published July 2000 by: Stav Marketing and Publishing Ltd.
Now Published by: Stav Books Kidlington, UK
Distributed in the US by Ice and Fire USA
www.iceandfire.us
©Copyright David Stone and Graham Butcher July 2000
www.stavox.co.uk
Introduction
Stáv is a method of learning to work with the Orlog and thus live
out our Wyrd. In order to do this we need to tap into the infinite
Megin energy of the universe. So this book is about health in
relationship to our true nature and destiny. The greatest cause of
ill-health and dis-ease is working against nature and being out of
tune with our inner needs and aspirations. Thus the greatest
source of health and most effective method of healing is to learn
to live in harmony with nature and to know and meet our true
needs.
In this booklet we have concerned ourselves mainly with the Stáv
principles for improving and maintaining our personal health and
well being. The information contained here is drawn from the
direct teaching and example of Ivar Hafskjold and the tried and
tested knowledge of the Hafskjold traditions which have stood the
test of 15 centuries. Anyone who has undergone martial arts
training with Ivar, as David and I have done over many years, will
testify that he is stronger and fitter than most men of half his age.
We have also tested these principles in our own lives over a
period of several years and have drawn on both contemporary
research and our knowledge of other traditional systems. We
hope you too will benefit from what we have learned.
Graham Butcher, July 2000
Basic Principles of Stáv for Health
A great deal is said these days about becoming a Healer. People
want to learn 'how to heal people.' Stáv does offer practices to
this end, but really it is the wrong attitude. The main principle of
Stáv in health matters is to not need to be healed.
The main ability Stáv teaches is to see Reality - to see things as
they really are, not as we think they are or would like them to be.
This ability allows us to see our own state of health and to maintain and gradually improve it through changes in such areas
as lifestyle, diet, attitude. Therefore, Stáv makes use of the
maxim Prevention is better than Cure - by maintaining our health,
we don't need to be healed. However, Stáv also allows for the
fact that this is the real world, as mentioned in the Havamal:
'The foolish man thinks he will live forever if he keeps away from
fighting; But old age won't grant him a truce, even if the spears
do' Stanza 16.
People do become ill, they do have accidents, and so Stáv
provides for dealing with these. Again, though, the ability to see
Reality comes into it's own, and the Stáv way is to recognise
when there are problems with health: it's better to deal with a
slight ailment than to wait until it's developed into something more
serious.
Healing in Stáv is both holistic and symptomatic. It is holistic in
that it deals with the WHOLE person, treating the entire problem,
not just the physical manifestations of it. Questions such as 'why
am I ill?' 'why am I ill now?' need to be considered, as many
illnesses relate to more than simply being exposed to bacteria or
viruses. Sometimes it is due to a need to rest or to get away from
an unpleasant situation that has caused the illness. Sometimes it
is a manifestation of another problem such as bad diet, irregular
exercise. Sometimes it's the result of a deep psychological problem
that we're not even aware of. All these things can cause
illness, and to truly heal them the underlying cause needs to be
found out and rectified.
Stáv healing is also symptomatic because it's a practical system
and recognises that sometimes it is best to work on the actual
symptom - the physical manifestation of disorder - rather than the
underlying cause. For instance, if someone is spurting blood from
a cut artery the important thing is to staunch the flow, not
consider how it happened!
That is obviously an extreme example, but it reflects the need to be able to recognise when a problem needs the closer attention
of holistic treatment, and when it is best to simply treat the
immediate problem and not worry too much about the whys and
wherefores. The methods contained in this booklet give details for
dealing with health matters both a holistic and a symptomatical
point of view .
Many of the principles and techniques described in this booklet
are primarily for maintaining one's own health. Nevertheless, they
can also be applied to other people. By learning to recognise our
own health fluctuations and to deal with them before they turn into
anything more serious, we become better qualified to assist other
people to do the same. This is the real skill in healing: not so
much to be able to cure all who come to you, but to assist and
encourage them to take responsibility for their own health and
well being and not to need to be healed. D. Stone
The Stances
The fundamental daily practice of Stáv is performing the Stances.
These are 16 exercises with the emphasis on: Cultivating deep
and natural breathing, maintaining slow and deliberate movements,
developing good posture and balance and creating mental
focus with relaxation. The stances are performed in a specific
way, beginning facing North, bowing, taking nine deep breaths,
clapping twice and then moving into each stance breathing in and
exhaling as you move out of the stance. Each stance makes the
shape of each of the runes with the body.
The stances are performed twice each day, with the first set the
emphasis is on the right side of the body and with the second set
the emphasis is on the left side. The second set finishes with the
2 claps, the 9 breaths and another bow to the North. The stances
may be done one set in the morning and the other in the evening
or all at once at your convenience. Stáv training sessions will
usually begin and end with each set of the stances. I personally like to do the first set before breakfast and the second set just
before supper.
Once a week an advanced student of Stáv will do a more
sophisticated set of the stances which incorporates a chant.
There are actually 5 ways of doing the stances altogether and the
version described here is the method taught to beginners and
used during public access courses. Other methods are taught
when the student is ready.
It would be very difficult to teach the stances from a book, a video
is better for seeing them done but a course where face to face
tuition is given is really the only way to learn them properly. So
here I will concentrate on describing the potential benefits of
performing the stances regularly in the hope that the reader will
seek to find out more. The basic principles also apply to Yoga,
Tai-Chi or Qi-gong and other similar exercise systems so the
information here will be of interest to students of these disciplines
as well.
The emphasis needs to be on the 'regular and long term' application
of the stances. Doing the sequence once or twice is unlikely
to reverse a long term chronic condition just as, for example,
brushing one's teeth for the first time is unlikely to reverse tooth
decay or one bowl of salad to eliminate obesity. But doing the
stances on a regular basis will have the following benefits:
It promotes deep and natural breathing using the diaphragm as
well as the ribs and intercostal muscles. This develops an awareness
of breathing since each breath has to be synchronised with
movement and posture. Although breathing is an autonomic reflex
it can be much more than that. In the same way that anxiety and
tension tends to restrict normal breathing, hyper-ventilation being
an extreme example, then relaxed and controlled breathing, as
when performing the stances, will bring about relaxation and
reduce tension and melt away anxiety. Whatever may be happening
to us we do always have the opportunity to control our breathing. Aware breathing is the first stage of inner knowledge
and control of one's inner state.
Practising the stances also promotes balance and correct skeletal
alignment, the majority of our fellow creatures use their spine as
a bridge supported at both ends by the hind and fore limbs. By
contrast, our backbone acts as a column and as such its alignment
and balance is critical to our manoeuvrability and general
health and well being. The stances which depend upon one leg
(Bjork b and Rei r) and by the turns between the stances which
require a very deliberate and controlled weight transfer develop
this alignment and require good balance. Some days one's balance
will be much better than others. This tells us a great deal
about our inner state, any morning that I find difficulty in balancing
in the stances mentioned above I know I will have to be extra
careful when riding my motorcycle for one example.
The stances gently stretch and tone the whole body with each
stance putting the emphasis on different joints, sinews and muscles
and thus maintaining and developing the mobility and flexibility
of the body. This is pretty much what you would expect of any
gentle and focused exercise system but the stances will take you
much further than this.
On occasion there is the feeling, not so much of "doing" the
stances as being "lifted" into each stance almost as if invisible
cords were lifting you into each position. I see this as a sign that
my body is allowing itself to be guided by the Orlog itself. This is
not something you can force and it doesn't happen even to an
experienced practitioner everyday, but it shows me that we can
align ourselves with a greater power and be guided and supported
by it.
The stances are also about opening up to the megin (see next
section for more details about this) both receiving and earthing it,
in performing the stances the life energy is encouraged to flow
through us.
Finally, the stances can give us specific messages in a very
profound way. Each stance relates to a rune and each rune has
specific meanings and associations. When performing the
stances sometimes one is missed out and this should not be seen
as an accident. I have been doing the same 16 stances daily for
almost 8 years now and it still happens to me on occasion. When
it does it is time to stop and consider the association. This is the
intuitive mind trying to tell me something important and a moment's
reflection usually shows me what my real issues are. This
is simply part of the process of coming to "know thyself" which is
inherent in the way of Stáv. It does not require long periods of
introspection or elaborate divination procedures. When the runes
want you to know something the stances provide them with a
method of communicating between your intuitive (subconscious)
mind and rational (conscious) mind and getting it to take notice
and, if necessary, action. G. Butcher
Mott and Megin
Mott and Megin are the intrinsic health energies within the Stáv
tradition. They are related to the Anglo-Saxon terms Might and
Main.
Mott refers to the physical body, the muscle, bone, blood and all
the other parts that make up a physical body. This is the vehicle
from which we experience the world and so it needs to be
maintained and kept in good order so we can experience life to
the full.
This is accomplished by keeping an eye on how it's performing,
noting any problems that seem to be arising and dealing with
them before they get too bad. Regular exercise, a sensible diet
and sufficient rest are the main ingredients to healthy Mott.
If it gets damaged or becomes ill, the body has an array of
devices that it uses to repair itself. These can be assisted by various methods of
healing such as
first aid, surgery,
manipulation techniques
and a bit of
good old fashioned
pampering. These
are all means of
healing the Mott -
the physical body.
Mott can be rather
gruesomely described
as the part
that ends up on the
butcher's slab, or
on the mortuary table.
In this, it demonstrates
one of
the great mysteries
of life - the fact that
a living body and a
dead body are
physically the
same. Eventually
decomposition begins
to occur, but
for a brief time
there is no real difference
between
the state of Life and the state of Death, except that something is
lacking in the latter.
There is no real definition for what that Something is in Western
medicine and science. There are various clinical and philosophical
debates about at what point someone becomes 'dead', and there are many descriptions of the processes within the Mott that
occur in the lead up to death and once death has taken place, but
there is no clear definition of what actually separates a living body
from a dead body. Within Chinese medicine, and various other
cultural beliefs, there is a definition. The Chinese call it Chi, and
say that this is the intrinsic Life Force that flows through a living
body, and it is this Chi that is absent from a dead one. In the Stáv
tradition, this Life Force is called Megin. Megin, like it's cultural
counterparts Chi, Ki, Prana, Odoyle, Orgone etc is much deeper
than 'just' the Life Force, but for the purposes of this booklet only
it's connection to health and healing will be discussed.
Megin is inherent in all life and flows into, through and out of the
body, energising, revitalising and repairing the Mott as it goes.
This flow is continuous and is recognised in other traditions as
meridians and chakras. As with all things that flow, however,
Megin at times becomes blocked or restricted and so prevented
from flowing efficiently through the whole body. Blocked Megin
manifests in the physical body as discomfort or pain and can
result in illness.
Many things can cause Megin to become blocked or restricted.
Improper posture is one, and muscular tension is another. Many
negative states of mind can block Megin and cause discomfort.
Some of these are referred to as expressions, so familiar are they
in the everyday world: butterflies in the stomach, heavy hearted,
a lump in the throat, a weight on the shoulders. Many headaches,
neck aches and back aches are due to blocked Megin, some
through purely physical tensions, others through mental tensions.
These in turn weaken our Mott and leave it less able to fend off
the bacteria and viruses that constantly bombard us, resulting in
physical illness as well as energy imbalance.
In health issues, problems are Mott related when they are purely
physical - cuts, bruises, strains, sprains, broken bones, concussion,
etc. All other ailments are Megin related - illness, fever, infection etc. Even problems that appear to be Mott related, such
as tiredness and exhaustion, are actually Megin related as they
are caused by insufficient Megin flow. Usually, of course, a
problem in either Mott or Megin can create a problem in the other,
which is one of the main reasons it's important to not allow such
problems to develop. Within Stáv there are three basic ways of
healing and maintaining health through the Megin. The first has
already been discussed - remain aware of the condition of your
Megin, correct your posture, learn to relax and above all learn to
release emotional concerns once they are no longer an immediate
problem. This will help to ensure your Megin remains flowing
and performing it's function without interference. The second
method of healing through Megin is to increase your own Megin
levels. This will be particularly effective against physical problems,
such as damage to the Mott. By increasing the level of
Megin in the affected area, it assists with the healing process, but
also frees up some of your intrinsic Megin to continue working on
the rest of your body. This will help reduce the effects of shock,
and ensure the rest of the Mott is healthy and able to function
adequately even with the damage.
The third method of healing with Megin is to decrease the Megin
of the invader. This is particularly effective against bacteria and
viruses. These are life forms which are struggling to survive, just
as you are. Therefore they have their own Megin that is assisting
them. By drawing the Megin away from them, it leaves them
weaker and so the antibodies and defence systems of the body
are able to eliminate them. We have always got sufficient Megin
within our body - if we didn't we'd be dead. Sometimes, though,
the Megin we have isn't used efficiently. There are methods and
techniques within the Stáv system for increasing the efficiency of
Megin, which are described below and in the previous section on
the stances. D. Stone
Practical work with Mott and Megin
One of the ways that I developed an interest and, eventually,
skills, in healing was through teaching martial arts and self
defence to older people. I often found that they simply could not
get into some of the positions necessary for training. Without
regular use joint mobility can decline and without assistance it can
be difficult, if not impossible to recover. Once recovered correct
exercise will maintain mobility in the future but certain steps can
be necessary to make it possible. It became apparent to me that
there were two issues here. One was simply the alignment and
mobility of the joints and the other was muscular tension and
energy blockages. The physical aspect of the body we call "Mott"
and the energy aspect we call "Megin". Each requires the other
for Mott without Megin is dead (and soon decaying meat) and
whether or not Megin can exist outside of a living body is a
philosophical question which I do not intend to debate here.
However it is possible to work on oneself using self manipulation
techniques. In Stáv terms the stances are the basis for this since
they teach us how the body should work, reveal where it is not in
correct alignment and begins the process of correcting this
through daily practice. Also, a simple set of wrist exercises will
enhance mobility, strength and flexibility in this vital part of the
body and go a long way to countering problems such as repetitive
strain injury. See fig. 2 for these. Do these exercises gently, the
idea is not to inflict pain on oneself but to gradually enhance the
range of movement. Then there are the foot massage exercises
which can be done with the fingers or a tein (small wooden wand
with rounded corners.) To massage the feet sit with one leg
straight out in front and the other leg folded and resting on the top
of the extended leg. Begin by grasping the heel and rotating the
ankle through its maximum range of movement. Then crunch the
toes down and up and then take each toe in turn and wiggle it to
its maximum movement. The take 2 fingers (or the tein which
should be oval or diamond in section) and insert between each pair of toes and rotate extending the gap between each toe. Then
massage the whole of the foot beginning at the top of the big toe
and work right down to the heel. Then massage back up the foot
again and finish by gently slapping the foot between the hands to
stimulate blood and megin flow. Then change feet and do the
other one.
When you have got the hang of these try exchanging with a
partner to get the feel of working with some one else's body.
More advanced partner work can be done on the spine, neck,
shoulders and other parts of the body but they are best taught in
a class since they require a profound understanding of the
stances and need supervised tuition. When working with a partner
be gentle as these can be painful. Ask them to tell you when to
stop and do so, it could be your turn next time!
Mott work does have its potential dangers but the are fairly
obvious and so long as you are gentle with yourself and, if
working with a partner, stop when they ask you there should be
no real problems. Working with Megin is more unpredictable and
also more problematical from a scientific point of view. Megin is
the energy which permeates all things and brings vitality to all
living things. It is the life force which David has already discussed
in some detail in the previous chapter. The problem with Megin is
not so much how to use it or get it, (if you are alive then it is
present) but how to avoid the negative effects of someone else's
Megin
A good example is when someone has had chronic long term
pain in their back. This is often located at the back of the
shoulders or lower down under the shoulder blades. It is not
necessarily the consequence of an accident (although it may
originally have been) but it is painful and will reduce mobility. As
a healer you may be asked to do something about this. If you try
rubbing the area (massaging) several things may happen: Firstly
it may be nothing, the body can often hang onto tension and be reluctant to let it go, at least at first. Secondly the tension may
gradually ease up as the muscles un-knot and the back slowly
returns to full mobility. Or, thirdly, the tension and pain may ease
up almost instantly and, rather mysteriously, transfers to exactly
the same spot on the healer's body as if the energy had been
conducted away to a new home. This I believe is most likely to
happen to those whose own Megin is flowing freely thus providing
an easy path.
To someone
who is perform- i
ng energy exercises
(such
as the stances)
on a regular
basis this
should not be
too much of a
problem since
next time the
exercises are
done the excess
Megin
can by
grounded and
dispensed with.
Anyone doing
regular healing
will have to develop
ways of
cleansing the
energy that
they absorb
from those they
heal. Those
trained in Tao-st or Shiatsu methods will describe this as the affect of the Chi or
Ki. Western methods which recognise only the Mott aspect of the
body may have difficulty in recognising the effect of the Megin
phenomenon. But the more the Megin is able to move freely
within the body the
more likely you are
to shift the Megin in
someone else's.
You can try this for
someone who has a
headache or similar
affliction:
Cup the hands with
the right inside the
left with the tips of
the thumbs gently
touching. Take 9
slow, deep breaths
and relax imagining
the energy circulating
around the body
and connecting
through the hands.
Then slowly place
the hands on either
side of the affected
part of the body you
are healing and
take another 9
breaths while still
imagining the Megin
flowing through a circuit which now includes the patient. Then
slowly withdraw and gently shake the hands away from the body
to break the circuit. See what happens. You should only do this if you are regularly practising some form of energy exercise to
ground the surplus Megin and replenish your own system. G.
Butcher
Diet
The primary concern of Stáv is things that can be done daily as
essential parts of everyday life. As well as breathing the other daily
activity for most of us is eating. Starvation kills in a matter of weeks
yet lack of proper attention to diet may also be responsible for
much of the ill health we see in modern Western society where
food is plentiful. The first point to acknowledge here is that,
generally speaking, Western man has never been healthier and
the ever increasing life span of the average Westerner concurs
with this. Where there is more disease it is often because the
longer people live the more likely they are to get sick. Certainly
diseases such as cancer have always had the potential to occur
but most people didn't live long enough to develop them. Likewise
heart disease which mainly affects people in their forties or even
later. If the average life span is less than fifty, as indeed it was until
well into the 20 th century then incidents of these diseases are
going to be fairly rare.
There have been many theories about different food stuffs and
their relationship to the prevalence of specific diseases. But the
only really proven links are between smoking and lung cancer and
alcohol and cirrhosis of the liver, and neither of these have
anything to do with eating as such. In deed it is likely that many
diseases that were formally thought to be caused as a reaction to
certain foods may in fact be as a result of viral or bacterial
infections.* It is therefore the body's immune system that protects
against disease and the stronger the immune system the less likely
* Consider for example the Helicobacter bacterium which was discovered to be
the cause of alimentary tract ulcers by Barry Marshall in 1984
ref: p.177 of The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine by JLFanau LB 1999
a disease will strike or if it does the more quickly it will be cured.
Thus the emphasis in Stáv for health is on keeping one's Megin
as strong as possible and trying to work in accordance with the
Orlog as we live out our own true Wyrd (personal destiny). The
human digestive system works in accordance with its own Orlog
and it is in co-operating with this principle that we can eat for
health. These are the principles which Ivar Hafskjold emphasises
and practices in his own life. Ivar looks and moves like a man 15
years younger than his real age which speaks for itself.
The first principle of eating for health in the Stáv tradition is the
Staple Diet: We need a staple food in our diet. Every culture has
one as the basis for their nutrition. This is usually something
widely available, reasonably cheap and rich in carbohydrate and
fibre. In the orient it is rice in its 'brown' un-refined state. In cooler
parts of the orient it is wheat. In Southern America it is Maize. In
Ireland it is potatoes and in other parts of Europe various forms of
grain, Wheat, Barley, Rye and in the more Northern parts such as
Scandinavia, Oatmeal. It is Oats that will particularly concern us
here but the principle applies to all staple diets.
The staple should provide slow burning carbohydrate which will
sustain you through a large part of the day. It takes time for the
body to extract all the nutrition available compared to a high fat
and sugar meal which may contain a good deal of energy but
tends to get absorbed by the body too quickly, gets stored as fat
and leaves the body craving for more food soon after. The staple
should contain a high proportion of fibre which gives the gut
something to work on ensuring good bowel movements and will
tend to absorb and carry through any toxins which were in danger
of accumulating in the alimentary tract. Finally the staple provides
a consistent diet for the fauna and flora which colonise our
digestive tracts and provide essential enzymes to assist in the
breaking down of food stuffs and extracting nutrients from them.
The staple is as much for the benefit of our inner residents as it is for us. This thought should certainly help us realise our interdependence
on the natural world.
The second principle has to do with timing our eating. The day
can be evenly divided into 4 hour intervals. This is about the time
that the body needs to go through a digestive cycle and be ready
for the next meal. In Northern Europe we have big differences in
the time we should be awake between summer and winter. If we
start with midnight we should be asleep and only characters in
Enid Blyton boarding school novels should eat at that time. In
summer in Scandinavia it is light before 4 am and on a farm in
summer this may well be when work begins, at the end of the day
labours may not finish until 8 pm. In this case 5 meals a day are
possible and probably necessary. At the equinoxes work may not
start until after 8 am and will probably have to finish at dusk
(around 4 pm). So 3 meals will be sufficient. Apparently in
Scandinavia before electric light and the television messed up our
natural rhythms it was quite normal to be up and about only for a
couple of hours a day in mid winter so one meal was quite
adequate. So try to use this pattern to allow adequate time for full
digestion and if possible have the biggest meal in the middle of
the day and the staple, probably porridge, for breakfast.
The third principle is to keep the diet as natural as possible. Food
loses a great deal of it's nutritional value as it is processed and
refined in the modern food industry. Essential vitamins are destroyed
and the Megin originally present is lost and preservatives
and flavourings are added in which, if not actually harmful, certainly
have no nutritional value. That is not to say that if you like
kippers, bacon, salami, smoked cheese and pickles that you
should not eat them, I love such things, but they should be eaten
for pleasure and as an extra to a diet of the staple plus fresh fruit,
vegetables and natural grains and pulses. If you can grow your
own, so much the better. In recent years the government has
recommended 5 portions of fresh fruit and vegetables daily and
this is as good a guideline as any. As for the organic set against industrial agriculture debate I don't have a strong opinion one
way or the other. Organic agriculture is almost certainly better for
the environment but how much difference it makes to the consumer
still seems to be open to debate. The quantity and regularity
with which you eat fresh produce is more important than how it
was grown. If you do grow your own then you have the option of
going organic. But when you have had your crop devastated by
ravenous molluscs you may find your yourself being very attracted
to the idea of slug pellets. There is always the possibility
that organic agriculture has a considerable appeal to a public
usually far removed from the actual experience of growing food.
The fourth principle is: Drink enough fresh water. This is one
single factor that can make an enormous difference to health.
Many people claim not to like water and rely on tea, coffee, soft
drinks or beer and other alcoholic drinks for their fluid intake. But
the body needs a regular supply of fresh water to remain genuinely
healthy. There are three good reasons for this:
Firstly it is vital to maintain the fluid level in the body. Luckily our
systems are pretty good at controlling this and genuine dehydration
should only occur if we are stuck in a desert with no access
to drinkable fluids at all. Having said that any A & E doctor or
nurse will confirm that in hot weather many people end up in
casualty departments having collapsed and are suffering from
nothing more than dehydration. So don't assume that just because
you are not in the middle of the Sahara that it couldn't
happen to you. Particularly vulnerable are old people who rely on
others to provided them with drinks. Sometimes allowance is not
made for hot weather and dehydration can set in. If you do find
yourself, or someone complains of, feeling unwell in hot weather
then the first thing to do is drink a pint of fresh water followed by
similar a quantity at hourly intervals. It will usually take care of the
problem.
Secondly; the body relies on water to keep the body cleansed of toxins. The blood is constantly filtered by the kidneys and surplus
water removed along along with these toxins in the form of urine.
The more fresh water taken in the more effectively the kidneys
can do their job. If fluid is taken in in other forms then the
impurities dissolved in them have to be removed by the water
present in the drink. This especially applied to alcoholic drinks.
The classic example of this is a hangover which is mainly the
effect of dehydration due to the body excreting the alcohol along
with more water than was taken in. The only real cure for a
hangover is lots of water.
Thirdly: the liver has to take care of the problems caused by too
little water passing through the system. In extreme cases this
results in the classic alcoholic's disease of cirrhosis of the liver.
If there is insufficient water being taken into the system the
kidneys cut down their activities and reduce the amount of urine
produced to maintain the body fluid level. This means that the
toxins accumulating in the blood stream are not being removed so
the liver has to take on the role and stores the these substances
in fat cells. This results in a less healthy body and more fat being
deposited with obvious consequences for weight and well being.
Also it will affect energy levels. The real task of the liver is to
convert carbohydrate into glycogen for the muscles to use for
energy. If the liver is tied up with toxin management it will not be
able to devote as much effort to this as it should resulting in
fatigue. Thus for endurance the most important factors are unrefined
carbohydrate and a lot of water. So called high energy
foods such as chocolate or mint cake will probably exacerbate the
situation.
This can be why a properly conducted detoxification diet often
results in headaches, a furred tongue, skin reactions and other
rather unpleasant reactions at first. The liver is at last able to start
breaking down the toxins stored in the fat and release them from
the body.
So those are our simple principles: A staple in the diet. A regular
pattern of eating throughout the day. As much natural food as
possible and a regular intake of fresh water (at least 4 pints a day
and more in hot weather). There is no "Stáv Diet" as such, just a
sensible approach
to eating
and drinking
based on
these simple
principles. G.
Butcher
Sleep
One of the
main methods
of maintaining
and improving
the flow of
Megin in the
Stáv system is
through sleep.
Many people in
the modern,
Western culture
have lost
track of just
how important
sleep is, and of
getting the right
sort of sleep.
Something that is certainly forgotten is the old country maxim that
'one hours sleep before midnight is worth two hours after.' This
has been demonstrated to be accurate, and reminds us of the turning cycle of the day. Midnight in this instance is not the time
according to the clock, but rather it is the mid point between
sunset and sunrise. Therefore, the hours before midnight are
getting darker and further from the sun, while during the hours
after the world is becoming lighter and waking up again.
Our sleep pattern consists of four levels. All of them occur
throughout sleep, but the first two levels predominate in the first
half of sleep while the third and fourth predominate in the second.
Level three is deep sleep and level four is dreaming or REM
(Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. It would seem that levels one and
two, which are lighter levels of sleep, are best taken as the cycle
of the day is winding towards midnight, while the deeper levels
are best once the day has turned and is heading back towards
daylight. While we sleep, the Mott is completely relaxed and
releases many of the tensions that build up in it. Similarly, the
mind is relaxed. Both these factors help the Megin to flow unimpeded
through the body, strengthening it and allowing it to heal
any problems that have cropped up during the day. Mental
problems are also soothed during this time. Quite apart from the
fact we get a few hours of not having to think about them, many
seemingly insurmountable problems become resolved during the
sleep period.
Certain techniques can be employed to help to relax the body and
mind prior to sleep to ensure it is as restful as possible. Your bed
should not be too soft as a sagging mattress causes the spine to
curve. The pillow should allow your head to lie without your neck
being bent upwards or downwards. Ensure your bedroom has
good ventilation to allow a ready supply of oxygen. This is
particularly important in modern, central heated houses in which
the air can take several days to be completely renewed. As you
lie in bed, focus on the different parts of the body and notice
where there are any tensions. Tense them harder, then allow
them to relax. Similarly with your mind, look for thoughts and
images that are running around, acknowledge them and release them. Go to bed calm. Many people hang on to problems long
after they've ceased to be immediate issues - problems at work,
issues to be resolved, money worries. Consider the fact that none
of them are actually affecting you right at this moment. Worrying
about things creates a cocktail of chemicals in your body as your
'primal self' attempts to ready your body to deal with them.
Worrying means that this cocktail is still being produced, even
though the problems are far away. By acknowledging that they
are no longer an immediate concern it becomes easier to let them
go and relax. Listening to some gentle music or reading something
inspirational can help calm your thoughts. Certainly trying to
sleep straight after an argument or dramatic film won't help. Allow
time for your mind to calm down from the activity and images of
the day. When random thoughts continue to run around your mind
and won't settle down, there are meditation techniques that can
be applied. One of the simplest is to slowly and deliberately
count from 100 down to 1, allowing your breathing to dictate the
speed you count. This requires enough concentration that your
mind has to focus on it and so has to abandon the random
thoughts, but not so much concentration that it keeps you awake.
Very often this will quieten your mind into a relaxed state so that,
even if you are still awake, you will be gaining some of the
benefits of sleep.
When an animal becomes ill or is badly hurt, it invariably finds a
safe place to curl up in and it goes to sleep. It stays there until it
has healed sufficiently to continue living, or it dies. This is a
natural way of dealing with illness and injury, and one that is
employed within the Stáv tradition.
When we are unwell, the best thing is to go to bed and sleep.
Don't read, don't lie there watching television, sleep. This is very
often all we need and will cure the ailment before it has a chance
to take a firm hold. Obviously, this relates to the basic principles
of health through Stáv, and being aware of our state of health: As soon as we realise we're becoming unwell, or we've had an injury,
go to bed. Don't struggle on regardless, no one will thank you for
making yourself worse, and it's often better to take an evening or
a day in bed and get the problem sorted than to soldier on, feeling
lousy, and end up making yourself really ill.
Many people protest that they can't go to sleep 'just like that.'
That doesn't matter. Go to bed, get the room as dark as you can
and lie there with your eyes closed. It can help to use breathing
patterns similar to those used in the performance of the stances.
The important thing is that you relax, with your eyes closed and
your mind still. The very fact you are unwell will assist and you will
soon drift off to sleep.
These points, obviously, can be employed on a nightly basis to
help you get the most out your night's sleep. The fact of sleeping
for health maintenance doesn't mean it should only be used for
when you are actually ill and ignored the rest of the time. Listen to
your body and go to bed when you are feeling sleepy, regardless
of whether the clock says it's too early. Your own body is a much
better indicator of when it's time to sleep than any clock. If you
wait until you are feeling tired, you are actually in the early stages
of sleep deprivation. In this instance you will go straight into the
deeper sleep levels and miss out on the first two, lighter, levels of
sleep. By going to bed early, not only do you get a better balance
of sleep during the night, but it is also easier to wake up without
the need of dream-shattering alarm clocks. By waking up naturally,
you are refreshed and ready to face the day.
To finish this section, what better than to give the last word to
Odin for his advice on the subject of sleep from the Havamal:
'No man will blame you if you go early to bed.' stanza 19 'The
foolish man lies awake all night and worries about things; he's
tired out when morning comes and everything's as bad as it was.'
stanza 23
'Don't get up at night, except to look around or if you need to visit the privy outside.' stanza 112
'Much he neglects, the man who sleeps in in the mornings.
Wealth is half-won by the vigorous.' stanza 59
'The slumbering wolf does not get the ham, nor a sleeping man
the victory.' stanza 58. D. Stone
Balanced Lifestyle
One of the main things any student of Stáv learns is that it is
important to find and maintain balance. This is most graphically
obvious in the martial aspects of Stáv when to lose one's balance
can be to lose the fight, but it is important to remember that
balance is not just a physical matter of standing upright. Just as
our body needs to be balanced, so do our mind and spirit.
The following Bind Rune demonstrates the balances that must be
maintained in order to achieve a healthy, balanced lifestyle. See
fig. 3
Activity needs to be offset by Rest. If we perform a physical
activity, we have to rest to allow our body to rejuvenate. The
same can be said of the mind: many people don't realise that
excessive mental activity leaves one just as tired as physical
activity. Therefore the mind needs to be rested when it's been
exerted, too.
The reverse of this duo is also true: Rest needs to be offset by
Activity. Too much physical rest leads to the body getting out of
condition and not being ready and able when called upon. Many
unemployed people find themselves unable to build up motivation
for the simplest of tasks, due to excessive Rest.
The second pair, Company and Solitude, also need to offset each
other. As gregarious beings, we all need companionship, a time
to be with others. No one is an island, everyone needs other
people around them, sometimes for the fun of it, sometimes for
support in difficult times, sometimes to explore ideas that different people have.
Companionship, however, also needs to be offset by solitude. We
are all individual beings, and as such we need a time to get off by
ourselves to listen to the quiet, inner voice and reflect upon our
own ideas. This solitude might involve utsette or similar - the Stáv
practise of taking oneself out into the natural world to be alone -
or simply slipping outside or into another room for a few moments.
'If you've a friend, one whom you trust, go to see him
often.' stanza 119
'The loved man is loathed if he sits too long in someone else's
hall.' stanza 35
'...I found myself going astray. Rich I thought myself when I met
someone else, for man is the joy of man.' stanza 47
The final pair, Feast and Fast need to be offset by one another.
We need to eat in order to stay alive, and many health problems
can be resolved by reviewing our diet. Eating is a pleasure, and
not one to be forcibly avoided.
Nevertheless, eating needs to be offset by periods of not eating.
This allows our body time to digest and utilise what has already
been eaten, and also helps to prevent weight problems.
The Havamal says on this subject:
'Should you happen to be travelling, make sure you are well fed.'
stanza 116
'The greedy man, unless he guards against this tendency, will eat
himself into life long trouble.' stanza 20
This Bind Rune can be summed up as finding the balance
between Indulgence and Abstinence.
Indulgence and Abstinence offset each other and could be regarded
as being the two halves of the Bind Rune, although this is
not entirely the case. The obvious association with Indulgence
and Abstinence is in what are commonly known as 'vices' - over eating, drinking, smoking etc. - but their meanings go much
deeper than this. Indulgence is allowing yourself excess in anything,
be it food, drink or something like rest or company. It is
acknowledging that you want this, and allowing yourself.
This is offset by Abstinence, the realisation that going to extreme
of Indulgence causes problems. Indulgence in food makes us sick
and/or fat, Indulgence in activity makes us exhausted, Indulgence
in solitude makes us isolated and shut in. Similarly, Abstinence to
extreme is just as bad: Abstinence in food makes us ill and/or
malnourished, Abstinence in activity makes us lazy and slow,
abstinence in solitude makes us over dependent on others and a
bother to them. This is a holistic view, that all extremes are
harmful, even ones that seem to be opposing something bad.
Within life it is sometimes necessary to go to either extreme, but
it must be remembered that we need to offset each extreme and
not allow them to take over our lives. A healthy lifestyle comes
from this balance. We shouldn't deny ourselves as this only
makes us want it more, but neither should be give in too easily as
this makes it all the easier to indulge the next time. By finding the
balance between the six headings around the Bind Rune, we will
find our mind calmer and our body better tuned, and then we can
get in touch with our spirit and find a deeper balance.
Odin comments and gives advice on this general idea of balance
in the Havamal:
'Much too early I've come to many places, but sometimes too late;
The ale was all drunk, or sometimes it wasn't yet brewed: the
unpopular man seldom chooses the right occasion.' stanza 66
'A man shouldn't hold onto the cup, but drink mead in moderation.'
stanza 19
'[Sometimes] it is necessary to speak, or to be silent' stanza 19
'I tell you to be cautious, but not over cautious.' stanza 131 D.
Stone
The Herbs and Trees Important in Stáv
Rune Association
Tree Herb, Grain or Berry
F Fe Hazel Barley
u Ur Pine Plantain
J Thor Rowan Burdock
O As Ash Oats
R Rei Elder Coltsfoot
K Kreft Spruce Wormwood
H Hagl Beach Bear Berry
N Nod (Urd) Alder Nettle
N Nod (Verdandi) Willow Raspberry/Strawberry
N Nod (Skuld) Elm Dandelion
I Is Juniper Mugwort
A Ar Holly Bilberry
S Sol Oak Camomile
T Tyr Linden Comfrey
B Bjork Birch Flax
m Mann Hawthorn Lilly-of-the-Valley
L Laug Apple Leek (Garlic or Onion)
Y Yr Yew Yarrow
Tein Seid
Tein Seid is a practise within Stáv that can be loosely defined
as herbalism. Tein means stick or wand, but it also refers to
plants. Seid is a deep philosophical concept, but for the
purposes of this it can be defined as inner knowledge. Therefore,
a loose interpretation of Tein Seid could be 'thorough
knowledge of plants'.
This is more than the basic practise that is referred to as
herbalism these days. Tein Seid can include use of many
different plants, not just specifically herbs, and use of them in
many different ways. Such things as homeopathy, Bach remedies,
aromatherapy come under the heading of Tein Seid. It
can also refer to the practise of cooking plants, not just to
make herbal brews and remedies, but for normal eating,
demonstrating how Tein Seid can be related to the Stáv
aspects of dietary principles.
The ability of herbs to assist with restoring or maintaining
health is defined through Megin. A plant is a living organism,
and so has Megin flowing through it. As Megin flows through
different organisms, it forms different 'patterns', unique to that
structure. These patterns within plants affects our own Megin
patterns in different ways. This accounts for the properties, or
Virtues, found in herbs. Some Virtues assist our Megin flow,
and are regarded as medicines, others oppose the flow of our
own Megin and are called poisons.
The use of herbs for healing and health maintenance, like all
other aspects of Stáv, can be used both for symptomatic and
holistic treatments. Herbal 'first aid' is as far as most people
get who only dabble in Tein Seid. They consider their symptoms,
such as a sore throat or stomach disorder, and find
herbs that can relieve them. This is fine as far as it goes, but Tein Seid goes much deeper than this and can be used to
help relieve the underlying problems as well as the symptoms.
This short introduction can not offer any realistic instruction on
this subject, but there are many books available for both these
ways of using herbs.
Tein Seid also goes into the more magical aspects of using
herbs for healing, including the use of herbs as charms. There
were many different types of plants that were supposed to
ward off various diseases and also to keep evil spirits away or
to encourage good luck. These may have had a placebo
effect on the carrier - they believed the charm would do them
good, so they were free from worries and stress, which
allowed their own Megin to flow un-impeded and so kept them
healthy. On a more esoteric level, it's possible that the Megin
patterns of the plants were able in some way to work with the
Megin patterns of the carrier's own body, and so lend their
support. Whether this is even possible is unknown and unknowable,
but there are many instances of charms being used
and having a positive effect.
There are eighteen herbs and eighteen trees that are part of
traditional Stáv, but really the best way of using plants for
health is to look around at what you have growing locally. It is
best to use plants from your own locality as they are part of
the place you live in and are therefore on more of a wavelength
with you. When using herbs in this way, the best
approach is not to say "I've got X problem, what will help with
it?", but to find out, while you are still healthy, what plants
there are and what they will do. In this way, whenever you
need them you know exactly what to get and where it is. This
works when treat health matters in both symptomatic and
holistic way.
When gathering wild herbs from the countryside, there are a few points to bear in mind. Most can also be applied when
taking from your garden:
Make absolutely sure of what you are picking. There are
medicines and poisons growing side by side in the natural
world, and some can be very similar in appearance.
Ensure that what you are looking for is all right to gather - some
wild plants and flowers are protected by law. Gather herbs on a
dry day, preferably in the morning, but after the dew has dried.
Don't gather near busy roads or fields that have been sprayed
with chemicals.
Don't take too much, especially from a single plant. Take only
what you need. Use scissors or secateurs rather than tearing
the plant - a cut plant can rejuvenate, one ripped up by the
roots can't.
Use the herbs as soon as possible, or else preserve them
straight away, before the Virtues can leach out.
If you buy herbs ready dried from a herbal shop, try to find out
how long they've been stored, and in what conditions they were
grown. If the shop keeper is reluctant to tell you, it may be that
they have been stored a long time, and so may not be as
efficient as fresher ones.
The eighteen traditional herbs and trees in the Stáv system, for
reference, are shown on fig. 4 D. Stone
Exercise
We all seem to take it for granted that exercise is good for us
and we should all be fit. But what is meant by fitness and what
is the sensible and healthy approach to taking exercise? If you
join the military or a sports team the fitness instructors will have
their own ideas of what is necessary to get you fit for service or
competition. In this book we are more concerned with everyday life where your health and fitness is your responsibility and no
one else can be expected to take charge of it for you.
So give yourself a test. (Or be honest with yourself and
consider whether you could even contemplate trying these
suggestions.) Can you walk three miles and run one hundred
yards (as if to catch a bus)? Can you lift half your body weight
from the floor, pull yourself up on a bar from the floor twice in
succession or perform five push-ups? Can you climb in and
out of a low slung sports car? Pick an object off the floor
without bending the knees? Put the hands behind the head
and pull the elbows into a straight line with the head?
These are fairly arbitrary tests but they represent the kind of
challenge that may present itself if a car breaks down and you
have to walk for help, picking up a hurt child, pulling yourself
out of a ditch or pit or even just accepting a lift in a friend's
new car and not looking like a complete idiot when its time to
get out again. Should you wish to take up hill walking, a
vigorous sport, horticulture or a fairly ambitious do-it-yourself
project then the demands could be heavier than those imposed
by my suggested tests.
There are three aspects of fitness being tested here. Firstly,
there is stamina, this is the ability to sustain activity over a
period of time, serious walking, running, swimming or cycling
all require a degree of stamina. So would digging over a patch
of ground or sawing up a quantity of logs. Stamina basically
requires a strong heart and efficient lungs with good circulation.
A sudden and otherwise inexplicable loss of stamina
should be investigated medically since it could indicate the
early stages of a serious problem such as blocked arteries.
Plenty of fuel for the body is equally vital, see Chapter Five on
healthy eating. Assuming there are no medical obstacles and
nutrition is adequate then stamina is best developed by activity
sustained for at least thirty minutes three times a week.
Secondly there is strength, the ability to exert force with the
body, either against another object, by lifting, pushing or
distorting, or by moving the body's own mass by lifting, jumping
or pulling. Assuming that bones, joints, ligaments and
tendons are all in good order then strength depends upon the
condition of the muscles. Strength depends upon regular
exertion of the muscles against resistance, this may be
weights or devices which achieve a similar effect by friction or
hydraulic methods. A training session three times a week will
bring benefits, there is usually little point in training more
frequently than this since the muscles need time to recover
fully between each session.
Thirdly there is flexibility or suppleness. This refer's to the
body's ability to move freely in all the directions it was meant
to be able to. This depends upon muscle fibres, joints,
ligaments and tendons being able to move and extend fully.
To achieve this depends upon regular extension of all the
joints in the body. This is one of the benefits of practising the
Stances on a daily basis, or an activity such as Yoga or Tai
Chi where a comprehensive, yet gentle, stretching takes
place.
It would be unwise to try and suggest specific exercises in a
booklet of this kind since direct supervision from an experienced
teacher is the only way to develop a really effective and
safe exercise program. Just be careful of teachers who
subscribe to the 'no pain, no gain' school of thought. This may
be fine for Marines in training or budding first division foot ball
players.
For the rest of us I would suggest that three principles are
essential: Relaxation, technique and patience.
Firstly, relaxation. We should always approach training, or
indeed any activity in a relaxed frame of mind, if you do find
yourself getting tense and anxious during training then the first priority should be to relax again. This will keep the activity
enjoyable, actually maximise progress because no energy is
being wasted and minimise the chances of injury.
Secondly, correct technique is also crucial, whatever activity
you embark upon study and practice the best possible technique.
This includes walking the dog or digging the garden as
much as seemingly more sophisticated activities such as fencing
or dancing. Be fully conscious and mindful of what you
are doing at all times and then the greatest benefit will come
from it. You will also be making the best use of the stamina or
strength that you do have, it is more important not to waste
energy than it is to exert our selves.
Thirdly, cultivate patience, do activities regularly with the emphasis
on doing them as well as possible and with a truly
relaxed state of mind and body without being concerned about
abstract 'results'. Simply see the pleasure of the doing as its
own reward. Don't try and measure yourself against what
others have succeeded or failed at, there will always be
someone better than you and some one worse. It is your own
health and well being that matters. By developing a cheerful
and relaxed approach to improving our own fitness we may
also inspire others to work on theirs. G. Butcher
Conclusion
We hope that you have found this booklet both interesting and
informative. We had fun learning what we have shared with
you here and we benefit from practising it in our everyday
lives.
But, as with all books, the contents are only helpful if acted
upon. So, if you already practice a way of mind/body/spirit
development then we hope that we encouraged you and
maybe gave you something extra to work with. If not then we
suggest that you get out of that armchair and get on with
something.
If you think that Stáv may be of interest to you then details of
publications and training opportunities can be found on the
inside of the cover. G. Butcher