The Raramuri, or Tarahumara, Indian tribe of northern Mexico’s remote Copper Canyons have all but isolated themselves from modern society. And they appear to be the better for it in mind, body, and soul.
In their near-inaccessible mountain hideaway, the tribe of around 50,000 men, women and children experience little if any crime or theft. Murder is unheard of. There are no cars, no buses, and no pollution. They are a non-violent, gentle people who seem to exhibit no obesity, no high blood pressure, no depression, no child abuse or any other symptoms of distress or disease. Their incidence rate is near or at 0 for most cancers, heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes. They are honest and hard-working - one researcher speculates that the Raramuri brain is chemically incapable of telling a lie.
Their culture is built around running and climbing, often barefoot, in the harsh, rocky, mountainous landscape that surrounds their modest homes. A popular game involving running lasts a minimum 24 to 48 hours and participants log a routine 100 or more miles during its duration. A champion of the game once ran 435 miles, non-stop. Men and women in their 50s are known to be world-class competitors, and most Raramuri run hundreds of miles each week as a matter of routine. A physiologist said, “Probably not since the days of the ancient Spartans has a people achieved such a high state of physical conditioning.”
An anthropologist said, “As a culture, they’re one of the great unsolved mysteries.” It seems their entire existence is a paradox; a complete contradiction. As a rule, a Raramuri is self-conscious and shy and generous and unselfish. He lives a subsistence lifestyle and remains free of stress. He runs hundreds of miles each week, barefoot or in thin sandals, across mountains and remains healthy and uninjured. He eats and drinks a diet high in corn and a type of grain beer andremains almost untouched by disease or sickness. He neither stretches nor warms-up nor trains for any specific run and he is able to run a hundred miles at a time, smiling and laughing throughout.
Learn from the riddle that is their existence. Step back in time like the Raramuri, to a day bereft of modern conveniences and creature comforts and advance further along the path of your potential. Want less and be more.
From September 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com
In their near-inaccessible mountain hideaway, the tribe of around 50,000 men, women and children experience little if any crime or theft. Murder is unheard of. There are no cars, no buses, and no pollution. They are a non-violent, gentle people who seem to exhibit no obesity, no high blood pressure, no depression, no child abuse or any other symptoms of distress or disease. Their incidence rate is near or at 0 for most cancers, heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes. They are honest and hard-working - one researcher speculates that the Raramuri brain is chemically incapable of telling a lie.
Their culture is built around running and climbing, often barefoot, in the harsh, rocky, mountainous landscape that surrounds their modest homes. A popular game involving running lasts a minimum 24 to 48 hours and participants log a routine 100 or more miles during its duration. A champion of the game once ran 435 miles, non-stop. Men and women in their 50s are known to be world-class competitors, and most Raramuri run hundreds of miles each week as a matter of routine. A physiologist said, “Probably not since the days of the ancient Spartans has a people achieved such a high state of physical conditioning.”
An anthropologist said, “As a culture, they’re one of the great unsolved mysteries.” It seems their entire existence is a paradox; a complete contradiction. As a rule, a Raramuri is self-conscious and shy and generous and unselfish. He lives a subsistence lifestyle and remains free of stress. He runs hundreds of miles each week, barefoot or in thin sandals, across mountains and remains healthy and uninjured. He eats and drinks a diet high in corn and a type of grain beer andremains almost untouched by disease or sickness. He neither stretches nor warms-up nor trains for any specific run and he is able to run a hundred miles at a time, smiling and laughing throughout.
Learn from the riddle that is their existence. Step back in time like the Raramuri, to a day bereft of modern conveniences and creature comforts and advance further along the path of your potential. Want less and be more.
From September 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com
RSS Feed
