OPEN SESAME,
OR ANOTHER THING THEY'VE BEEN KEEPING FROM US

This is what I've learned so far at this weekend's Scott Blossom* workshop on ayurveda and hatha yoga:

You can cure insomnia by rubbing sesame oil** into the soles of the feet before bed (it's supposed to be grounding). You should then put on nylon or old socks so the oil doesn't seep all over everything. This last part appears to be a western innovation.

We also learned that the optimum bedtime is 10PM. Which is funny, since we weren't dismissed until 9:45.



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*Scott Blossom is a new-ish Bay Area teacher who's studied with Dr. Robert Svoboda and Shandor Remete, which means we'll probably be doing a slow-moving martial-artsy type practice tomorrow.

**Perhaps it's best to get a big bottle of sesame oil; I've known for some time that the cure for winter's bloody boogers is to line the nostrils with a thin coat of sesame oil; heaven!

**Or go Costco; the cure for dry winter skin is to slather the body in sesame oil and then take a bath or shower (using an old towel to dry off of course). It's also meant to be quite calming. No soap is used except on one's stinky bits -- armpits, feet and genitals.