Problem Shower Plumbing Headaches

Leaky faucets, clogged shower heads, cold water instead of hot and poor drainage are all a part of the headaches associated with shower plumbing. Most of us do not want to deal with these problems and will call a plumber. On the other hand, we want to save a little money and may decide the job will be easy and try it ourselves.

By knowing a few simple plumbing facts, you might be able to fix the shower stall yourself. You will need the right tools, but some jobs can be done relatively easy. It all depends on your determination and ability to do some simple steps.

The Shower is Clogged

The problem most people experience in the bathroom is the shower clog. The first thing to check with the shower plumbing is the drain cap to make sure it is free of hair and other debris. In addition, the drain has an inside part that sometimes collects hair and debris that flows through the drain cap. You need to remove the cap and then check to see if the clog appears in this area. You can use a wire of some kind to pull the clog out of the drain.

If you discover that these steps do not clear the shower plumbing problem, you next would try the plunger to see if you can loosen and debris that could be farther down the pipe. After plunging the drain a few times, you can run water to see if you have loosened the clog and the water now drains. If not, you may need to try one more thing before calling for help. Try some Drano and follow the directions and you should clear the clog if it is nothing more serious than a clogged drain.

Shower Plumbing and the Shower Installation

If you want to, you can install your own shower and plumbing without the help of a plumber. Once you have your shower picked out and the plumbing materials in order, you can begin the installation project. You usually receive instructions to follow when installing the shower and plumbing; therefore, you need to follow the directions systematically.

After you turn off your water supply, you can then begin installing the pipes and then check for leaks before sealing up the wall. Many people put a mirror or something over the opening for quick and easy access in emergencies. After the showerhead and all plumbing are installed, you are ready for the first run. Turn the shower plumbing on and see how things flow. All should be fine if you followed directions. It is not very hard to install and fix problems with shower plumbing as long as you follow directions.

You can also find more info on Toilet Plumbing and Plumbers. i-plumbing.com is a comprehensive resource to known about plumbing.

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Resurrecting Your Sexuality: Two Yoga/Qigong Practices

The Taoist world-view, and its associated yoga/qigong practices, is based largely upon an understanding of the flow of energy, within and outside of the human body, and includes an understanding of sexual energy which is far more sophisticated than anything produced by western culture. Integral to this understanding are what are known as The Three Treasures. These Three Treasures represent three types (or vibratory frequencies) of energy found in the human body: (1) Jing, or generative energy, (2) Qi, or life-force energy, and (3) Shen, or spiritual energy. Fundamental to all qigong/Taoist yoga practice, including sexual/consort practices, is the waking up of Jing/generative energy and its subsequent transformation into Qi/life-force energy and Shen/spiritual energy. And then, conversely, the transformation of Shen into Qi into Jing. In other words, the Taoist practitioner cultivates the capacity to circulate energy freely between its various forms/frequencies: from the most primal/mundane to the most refined/ephemeral and back again!

How exactly this happens is the subject of a vast field of enquiry & practice called Internal Alchemy. If youre interested in reading about internal alchemy via classical Taoist texts, please see Eva Wongs translations (from the Chinese into English): Harmonizing Yin and Yang, and Holding Yin, Embracing Yang. For a wonderful presentation of a sequence of qigong practices (which include sexual practices), please check out Eric Yudeloves book Taoist yoga and Sexual Energy. In this and subsequent postings, Ill be introducing some of these (and related) practices, but theyre best done in the kind of long sequence that Eric Yudelove lays out and/or with the guidance of a flesh-and-blood teacher.

Heres a simple practice that you can try: sit at the very edge of a firm straight-backed chair (a wooden kitchen chair is ideal), with your feet on the floor and your knees directly above your heels. Your sitting bones should be firmly planted on the chair, at the same time as most of the length of your thighs extends out in front of it. Place your hands, palms down, on the front of your thighs, in a way that allows your shoulders to be relaxed, and let your belly be soft. Take a couple of deep breaths, letting go of any tension you find in your face, jaw, or neck/throat. Smile gently. Then, as you exhale, hinge forward at your hips, bringing your head down toward the space between your knees. With the very next inhale, reverse the process so youre once again sitting up-right. And repeat: exhale~down, inhale~up (like a crane, taking sips of water from a lake) Do your best, with each forward rotation, to rest the entire front-side of your torso onto the front of your thighs. Continue for a minute or two, then pause again in the upright position, and notice how you feel.

The second part of the practice is done entirely from the upright position (still sitting right at the edge of the chair, with your feet planted firmly on the ground). It involves coordinating the movement of your breath with the movement of your attention. As you inhale, feel your sitting bones becoming more heavy, releasing more completely into the chair. (You can imagine that your sitting bones are two heavy diamonds, which youre going to return to their home in the center of the earth.) As you exhale, feel a spaciousness, expansion & gentle effervescence at the center of your heart-space (that place behind the sternum/breastbone and in front of the thoracic spine). And repeat: inhale~sitting-bones heavy, exhale~heart-center spacious Continue for a minute or two, then pause, and notice how you feel.

This simple practice, if done regularly, has the power to wake up fields of sensation which are quite interesting, and enjoyable And can serve as a ground for the continuing cultivation of Jing, Qi & Shen: the Three Treasures which ~ from the point of view of Taoism ~ are the key ingredients of a healthy sexuality, among many other things

Elizabeth Reninger holds Masters degrees in Sociology & Chinese medicine, is a published poet, and has been exploring yoga ~ in its Taoist, Buddhist & Hindu varieties ~ for more than twenty years. Her teachers include Richard Freeman and Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. For more essays on yoga-related topics, please visit her website at http://www.writingup.com/blog/elizabeth_reninger.

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