i rode my bike for 20 miles!

Saturday I participated in the Rosedale Ride. This is a fundraiser for the Rosedale School, the only school in AISD that serves children with multiple disabilities.

I put my bike rack on my car Friday night, and had to wrestle my bike onto it Saturday morning, which made me a tad late. I joined a group at the start line--in FRONT of the sign that said 20+. I assumed the group i joined was only going 20 miles, and I missed connecting with my friend Peggy Lamb. The 20+ sign should have just said 20, and I soon learned that I had joined the 40-mile group. Oh, well, huh?

It was cloudy and cool Saturday morning. I wore bike shorts and the Rosedale Ride t-shirt that was in the packet I picked up Friday night. I wish I had worn layers that I could add or subtract as needed, because not only was it cool, it was windy, and it was hard to get warmed up just from riding. Chalk it up to a lesson learned in this new activity. I was warm enough by the end, 2+ hours later.

More people passed me than I passed. I figured later this was because road bikes with skinny tires are faster than hybrid bikes like mine, which have clunky tires. Oh well, again, because it was a ride, not a race.

The countryside was glorious, out kind of southeast of Pflugerville. Lots of open fields, some with cows, wildflowers, although not many bluebonnets except in one lavishly blue farmyard.

Peggy and I connected at the first rest stop and rode within sight of each other the rest of the race. She had rented a road bike for the race--a $1600 bike from Bicycle Sport Shop. She beat me going down hills, and I caught up going up hills.

I took a photo of my friend John Slatin with me. John passed away last Monday. It seemed fitting to take his liberated spirit with me out under the big sky.

After the rest stop, I got more playful. I would stand on my pedals to stretch. I mooed at cows. I saw buzzards circling. I wove. I like making that movement by steering in a wiggly line.

Peggy and I were both exhausted at the end, but I still felt the thrill of "victory" when I crossed the finish line complete with an arch of balloons, cheers from ride supporters, and even someone holding a sign that said "Pedal Faster"! There was msuic and refreshment at the end.

I plan to do it again next year. I hope it will be a little warmer and a better year for bluebonnets.

scroll to bottom for new photo

Lori just sent her photos from Maui. I loved this one best! We are the HUMUs! The HUMUs rock!

in memory of John Slatin

My friend John Slatin died this week. He wasn't a really close friend, but he was someone I liked a lot. I met him and his wife Anna Carroll through Body Choir, the freeform dance community I participated in for years and still have many social connections with.

Link to his obituary: http://www.legacy.com/statesman/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=106462227

John had leukemia for the last few years and underwent a lot of medical care. I mean, really a lot, including chemo, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. After that, he and Anna lived in isolation for 100 days in Houston. It takes a lot of valour, and he and Anna had it.

John was a man who became blind as an adult. He had a guide dog, Dillon, who has cancer too. I imagine Dillon will follow John to the other side, and that they will have each other as companions in the afterlife. That vision gives me comfort.

I liked John for his adventurousness. Imagine a blind man dancing in a crowded room! Or performing in a choreographed dance at the Kennedy Center. Or becoming blind as an adult and using his UT faculty position to advocate for making the web accessible to those with disabilities. He never seemed to feel sorry for himself--he just adjusted.

John also published a blog for a while, called The Leukemia Letters, that chronicled his journey, and that Anna and others close to him posted on when he was unable. He was a good writer; I enjoyed reading it from time to time. Click the title of this post to go there.

I also liked John's sweet nature and his intelligence. I wish I had known him better.

brain food: the good fats

The brain is extremely metabolically active, and so what we eat very much fuels it well (or not). The fats we consume play a major role in brain health. I found quite a bit of information about fats and the brain. I'll include some findings, and at the end of this post, list the foods with fats that positively influence brain health.

Brain performance requires omega-3 fatty acids, commonly found in fish. Omega-3s are major constituents of brain cell membranes, through which all nerve signals must pass. And, for new nerve connections to be made, new cell membranes must be formed. And, brain cell membranes are in constant need of replenishment. So keep those cell membranes fueled with fish. And fresh or canned fish gets more omega-3s into bodies than omega-3 supplements or refined fish oils.

Warning about fish: a lot of it is high in mercury or PCBs. The Environmental Defense Fund (see www.edf.org/seafood) lists best, okay, and worst choices and notes which of the best choices are both high in omega-3s and low in contaminants.

How often should you eat fish? Two or three times a week.

Note that farm-raised fish are more likely to have been given antibiotics. Also, a lot of fish is sprayed with preservatives. It seems like a prudent idea to rinse fish before cooking.

Walnut oil and canola oil are highly recommended non-fish sources of omega-3s. Other sources include flax seeds***, walnuts***, cooked soybeans***, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, sea vegetables, spirulina, and dark green leafy vegetables (the usual suspects, I suppose, like kale, spinach, collards, romaine, etc.). Chia seeds! Aren't those the little seeds used in chia pets--you stick them into grooves on a ceramic animal-shaped vessel, fill the vessel with water, and sprout a green creature? I've never heard of eating them or seen them sold as a food in a grocery store! Who knew?

A 1:1 balance of omega-3s and omega-6s is required. Most Americans are lacking the omega-3s. Omega-6 is found in red meat and dairy. Americans tend to consume 10 to 20 times more omega-6s than omega-3s. So if you eat dairy, nonfat is best, and limit red meat while boosting sources of omega-3s. Avoid transfats and supermarket oils and salad dressings unless they say cold-pressed or olive oil is labeled extra-virgin.

Really avoid transfats! Transfats are unnatural oils, nearly all man-made. They are partially hydrogenated for longer shelf life, and thus are cheaper. They have a different shape than healthy fatty acids and adversely affect brain cell membranes. The western diet has included them for 50 years without much ado until recently. Who knows the long-term effects of a couple of generations of people blithely consuming them? Which reminds me, have you seen Idiocracy? That movie might turn out to be true, only instead of water being the reason for the dumbing down of the human race, it's transfats.

Another important fat-related brain nutrient is choline. It is a precursor of many neurotransmitters. Choline is a fat-like B vitamin found in eggs. (Sort of gives new meaning to the commercial of the frying egg with voiceover saying, "This is your brain on drugs." Actually, this egg is good for your brain--especially if fried in canola or walnut oil!)

Choline enhances memory and minimizes fatigue.

Oleic acid is a primary constituent of the myelin sheaths in our brains. Sources of oleic acid include oils from olives, almonds, pecans, macadamias, peanuts, and avocados. I imagine you could just eat these foods to get the benefit, but it must be nice to have all these oils on hand in the kitchen. Mmm, salad dressing made with avocado oil. I must try that! A salad of green leafy vegetables, avocados, wild Alaska salmon, and one of the aforementioned oils with lemon juice sounds like a great way to get some great brain food.

DHA is the most prevalent fat in the brain. The rise in depression in the 20th century has been associated with a decline in DHA consumption. There's also a link between DHA deficiency and hostility and aggression. It's most important for pregnant women and babies, when the brain is forming.

Fish contains DHA. Now there are two good reasons to eat fish--omega-3s and DHA.

My list of brain foods with good fats:
fish (best are anchovies, Atlantic mackerel, farmed oysters, wild Alaska salmon***, canned pink/sockeye salmon***, sardines, farmed rainbow trout, and U.S. and Canadian albacore tuna; good are Pacific halibut, Pacific cod, U.S. farmed shrimp, farmed bay scallops, U.S. yellowfin tuna)

oils, seeds, and nuts: canola oil, walnuts and walnut oil***, flax seeds and flax seed oil***, chia seeds (if you find them in a store, let me know, please!), olives and olive oil, almonds, pecans, macadamia nuts, peanuts, avocado oil

note: do not cook with these oils--use them for dressings--and store them in dark containers in the fridge--they are sensitive to heat and light

sea vegetables (dulse, kelp, wakame, kombu, arame)

dark green leafy vegetables, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, winter and summer squash, avocados, cooked soybeans including tofu***

cloves, oregano, mustard seeds

eggs, in moderation

*** very high

Avoid transfats!

the primary brain food is water

I've been doing some online research of how diet can enhance brain functioning. My technique was to use Google, read relevant links, and compile the information. I'm presenting it here.

The brain consists of a high percentage of water (either 95% or 85%, sources vary), so it makes sense that brain function is where dehydration will show up quickly. A dehydrated person may be irritable or lethargic. Mental alertness is impaired. Skin becomes dry. Joints begin to ache. The memory suffers, basic math is more difficult, and it is more difficult to focus on small print.

Many people are chronically dehydrated. The Standard American Lifestyle has gotten so far away from healthy bodies that dehydrated people cannot rely on thirst as an indicator of dehydration. Dehydration may create hunger pangs, food cravings, and other symptoms unrelated to drinking water. Seventy-five percent of Americans have mild, chronic dehydration according to one estimate. I even heard a friend say that dehydration may be a cause of Alzheimer's, but I don't know the source.

The standard measure is that adults need to drink 64 ounces (1 gallon) per day. That is for an average person not doing much physical exercise, in moderate temperatures. That does not take into account the vast range of sizes among adults, and it's too much for a young child.

One formula says to take your body weight in pounds, and divide by two, and drink that many ounces of water each day. So a 100-lb. adult needs 50 ounces. A 50-lb. child needs 25 ounces. That's three 8-ounce glasses and a sip at the water fountain. Of course, fruits and vegetables and juices contain water, but most experts say to drink pure water.

Another measure is the color of the urine. The first urination after waking will be yellow. After that, the urine should be practically colorless.

Besides being the primary brain food, drinking enough water also removes toxins, lubricates the body, helps burn fat, regulate temperature, and prevents cancer.

conscious movement: a first-draft definition

I've been trying to come up with a good definition of "conscious movement". Here's my first draft:

i consider conscious movement to include any kind of movement practice that
involves training one's awareness or shifting one's energy. the practices all
have to do with inhabiting our bodies more fully and more deeply.

the intent is more than just having fun, getting exercise, blowing off steam,
although those can definitely occur! the intent is to notice any
shifts in states that may occur as you do the activity and to learn new ways to
shift states.

the result for most people will be feeling more joy, openness, vitality,
well-being, centeredness, empowerment, and brainpower.

conscious movement techniques include yoga, yana chaqui and hula (both shamanistic techniques), trance dance, 5 rhythms, brain gym, eye movements, walking
meditation, mudras, tensegrity, feldenkrais, sufi whirling,
and lots more. i would include breathwork, too. the participant is active,
rather than being a passive recipient.

i'd like feedback, and will continue to refine this definition.

i have done quite a few of these practices.

hallelujah! scoliosis progress!

Last week I went to the chiropractor. Actually, I saw two chiropractors at Active Life Chiropractic, Dr. Steve Hall and Dr. Laura (I don't know her last name). I've been going there for a long time.

Dr. Hall did some deep tissue massage on my upper back, which was tense from working at my computer, and on my lower back--I have a lumbar scoliosis, not severe but the cause of intermittent back problems my entire adult life, discovered last summer. Then he put biofreeze gel all over my back and placed the light therapy pad on my upper back. At the same time, he put e-stim electrodes on the left side of my lumbar spine, where I feel most of the dysfunction.

I had him bump up the e-stim settings. I know from experience that the higher you can tolerate the tingly e-stim shock, the more effective it is. It's great for muscle spasm.

I laid there with biofreeze, light therapy, and e-stim for maybe 20 minutes.

Then Dr. Laura came and did her thing, which is having me make movements on one side and then the other while she observes my back for imbalances and gently taps the bones into place.

When I left, for several hours, my lower back felt completely balanced, with no pain, stiffness, or dysfunction. For the first time in my memory. (I've probably had the scoliosis since adolescence.)

I felt like I didn't have any back problems at all. I felt aligned, healthy, and strong.

Wow.

I realized that I've tolerated chronic low levels of pain, tightness, stiffness, and imbalance for years, and it has taken a toll. It's been a real energy drain. I'm so grateful to finally be getting this help.

The feeling of dysfunction did return after a few hours, but I feel like March 18 was a huge day for me because I now have a sense memory of having a pain-free and aligned back. My progress will be much faster, I hope.

I imagine that with continued treatment from ALC, and doing the specific exercises at home that Dr. Hall prescribed, along with yoga and bike-riding and other physical activities, that I will more and more experience what it's like to really feel strong and healthy.

I really want that.

I also want to credit Nina Davis, my cranio-sacral therapist. Nina works on my back from the inside out, working with my cerebro-spinal fluid, somehow helping me make new connections. With trauma, car accidents and other injuries, in my history, CST is helpful. It's very subtle but sensitive, fine work.

texas round-up

Here's another spring fitness event I've signed up for. My office is participating in the Texas Round-Up in a friendly competition between state agencies to see who can get the most employees involved in a basic level of fitness activities, 150 minutes per week for 6 weeks.

The program culminates on Saturday, April 26, with a race. You can choose a 5K or 10K, and there's a "Family Mile" event for those with little ones. The incentive in my workplace is 4 hours of compensatory leave for participating in the race.

Click the title of this post for details.

I'm not much of a runner, probably due to having a small degree of lumbar scoliosis, which is exacerbated by the pounding that accompanies running. But, according to my chiropractors, I've made great strides in getting re-aligned after really starting to focus on this aspect of my fitness last summer, and I'm willing to give running some effort again.

I can always walk the 5K or 10K if I need to! I'm looking forward to my 4 hours off.

the rosedale ride

I have signed up for my first bicycle tour! The Rosedale Ride is Saturday, March 29. Click the title of this post to learn more.

Here's a promo blurb: "Open to cyclists of all abilities, the ride offers different courses to suit anyone. This year the Rosedale Ride has four courses to choose from: a Kid’s Fun Ride; or courses of 20+, 42+ or 62+ miles. The ride begins and ends at Samsung, winding through the gently rolling countryside east of Austin."

Also, there's food, live music, and a silent auction benefitting the Rosedale School, which, I learned, is the only AISD school for children with multiple disabilities.

In case you don't know, a bicycle tour is a group ride for a number of miles. It is not a race. There are pit stops every few miles with energy-boosting food and drink and porta-potties.

I signed up for 20 miles, not really having any idea how far I'll be able to ride. The good news is I can change my mind the day of the tour and stop any time I want to! They have "sag vehicles" for those who can't ride any more. They pick you and your bike up and take you back to the starting place.

I believe I'll challenge myself to find out how far I can ride my bike without getting too sore or drained of energy. I'll post here afterwards.

saint patrick's day poem

As a Child Enters the World

(click the title of this post to read them poem set to Irish music and view a beautiful photo of the cliffs of Moher, Ireland's top tourist attraction)

by John O'Donohue

As I enter my new family,
May they be delighted
At how their kindness
Comes into blossom.

Unknown to me and them,
May I be exactly the one
To restore in their forlorn places
New vitality and promise.

May the hearts of others
Hear again the music
In the lost echoes
Of their neglected wonder.

If my destiny is sheltered,
May the grace of this privilege
Reach and bless the other infants
Who are destined for torn places.

If my destiny is bleak,
May I find in myself
A secret stillness
And tranquility
Beneath the turmoil.

May my eyes never lose sight
Of why I have come here,
That I never be claimed
By the falsity of fear
Or eat the bread of bitterness.

In everything I do, think,
Feel, and say,
May I allow the light
Of the world I am leaving
To shine through and carry me home.

tips for pumping gas and buying US gas

Thanks to Amanda Winters for posting this on her CatalystForFun newsletter. Click the title of this post to go to a page where you can subscribe to this great newsletter full of spiritual and progressive events.

TIPS ON PUMPING and Buying US GAS

I don't know what you guys are paying for gasoline...but here in
California we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my
line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are
some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every gallon.

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose, CA, we
deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the
pipeline. One day is diesel, the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline,
regular and premium grades. We have 34 storage tanks here with a
total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the
ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations
have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground,
the more dense the gasoline. When it gets warmer, gasoline expands, so
buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not
exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and
the temperature of the gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol, and other
petroleum products play an important role.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But
the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the
pumps.

When you're filling up, do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a
fast mode. If you look, you will see that the trigger has three (3)
stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode, you should be pumping on
low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you
are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are
pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank
becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the
underground storage tank, so you're getting less for your money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is
HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is the more gas you
have in your tank, the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline
evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have
an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between
the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike
service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is
temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact
amount.

Another reminder: if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the
storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely
the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and
you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the
bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

TIPS ON WHERE TO BUY USA GAS. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ
ON:

Gas rationing in the 1980s worked, even though we grumbled about it. It
might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods.
We should return the favor.

An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS.

Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into
the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don't
import their oil from the Saudis.

Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill
up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill
me, my family, and my friends.

I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies
are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle
Eastern oil.

These companies import Middle Eastern oil:

Shell........................... 205,742,000 barrels

Chevron/Texaco......... 144,332,000 barrels

Exxon /Mobil............... 130,082,000 barrels

Marathon/Speedway... 117,740,000 barrels

Amoco............................62,231,000 barrels

Citgo gas is from Venezuela, from a dictator who hates Americans.

If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18
BILLION! (oil is now $90 - $100 a barrel)

Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:

Sunoco..................0 barrels

Conoco..................0 barrels

Sinclair.................0 barrels

BP/Phillips............0 barrels

Hess.......................0 barrels

ARCO....................0 barrels

If you go to Sunoco.com, you will get a list of the station locations
near you.

All of this information is available from the Department of Energy
and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much
they are importing.

fragrant downtown

Kudos to whomever at the city decided to put planters of mountain laurel at each corner on Congress between Cesar Chavez and 11th St. Those mountain laurels are in bloom now, and what a pleasant surprise it was to take a mid-day stroll up and down Congress and occasionally get a noseful of their delightful purple perfume.

It was so balmy today, I considered whether it was a perfect day. I remembered Maui and decided that it was perfect for Austin today. It's balmy and fragrant year-round in Maui.

Sixth Street is blocked off for SWSX, I saw as I was riding my bike. Parking anywhere central is going to be expensive or impossible tonight.

I'll be biking over to Flipnotics in a bit to catch Sarah Temple's show, and also Michael Fracasso, Jane Bond, and maybe even Matt the Electrician and Beaver Nelson, if I stay that late.

Sarah Temple is a fabulous young Latin singer--she sings in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and her native Catalan. For a listen, go to her MySpace page: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=288467281

Just hope that the SWSXers smitten with Austin know about the terrible summer heat and humidity here and decide it's better to visit Austin than to live here.

after the master cleanse

Ahh! This is better. Had fresh squeezed orange juice and grapefruit juice throughout yesterday and today. Last night I made veggie soup. It was a pleasure to cook again.

Besides drinking as much broth as I wanted for dinner, the best part was picking carrots and spinach out of my garden and putting them into the soup. Hannah and I planted them in the fall. When she returns after spring break, it will be fun to show her our veggies!

Wow, that broth was delicious! It had onions, celery, garlic, golden beets, beet greens, parsnips, carrots, spinach, broccoli, garbanzos, roasted red peppers, parsley, and seasonings.

Had some veggies with the broth for lunch today. Will be eating simply and kindly for a few days before reintroducing dairy, eggs, and fish.

I feel terrific, and I lost about 6 pounds. I'm calling "the monster cleanse" a success, and I'm glad to be done with it for this year.

must-see video: author of my stroke of insight

The author of the book I reviewed earlier this month, called My Stroke of Insight, gave a presentation at a conference. An 18-minute video of her presentation is available on the New York Times, along with a brief article.

You can click the title of this post to view the video. If you watch it, please watch it all. It's very compelling. She's a remarkable woman.

Also, I learned in the article that the author has a website. Go to http://www.drjilltaylor.com/index.html if you're interested.

musical congratulations

I was pleased to learn this morning that my next-door neighbor, Bruce Hughes (also my daughter's boyfriend), won Best Bassist at this year's Austin Music Awards. I know how hard he works--it's high time he won.

Bruce has been playing both bass and guitar since childhood. Besides playing with the Texas Bluegrass Massacre, the Scabs, and the Resentments, he has his own band playing songs he wrote, Bruce Hughes and the All Nude Army. Bruce sings and plays guitar. They play at the Saxon Pub on Tuesday nights. Go hear them--they have an original rocking sound and are very very tight--a wall of sound. Their music has been described as funk, blues, pop, rock. Plus, Bruce has a fantastic lyrical singing voice.

My friend Diane, who was also at Bruce's show at the Saxon on Tuesday, says, "...Bruce is great. He's also an added surprise for those who actually listen to lyrics. Generally it's the odd combination of bluesy funky with happy and uplifting lyrics - great! Actually it's hard to categorize - the style of music differs from song to song. Never boring. He plays in the Resentments who are also very fun. If they play anywhere else I'd like to know because the dance floor is so small there."

Check Bruce out on MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=30869512

John Chipman, who plays drums for both the Resentments and Bruce Hughes and the All Nude Army, won best drummer. John is my new friend. After going to hear the Resentments play at the Saxon numerous times, we have finally been formally introduced, and he even remembers my name! (The guy at the Saxon door knows me as "Lela's mom".)

Stephen Bruton, founder of the Resentments, won best guitarist.

Texas Bluegrass Massacre won best bluegrass band.

Blaze, featuring family friend Brannen Temple, won best jazz band AND they (plus Roky Erickson) are on the cover of this week's Chronicle. Click the title to see the photo!

Congratulations to all these hard-working, talented musicians and the people who love them.

dancing makes you smarter!

i knew it! i just knew it! dancing makes you smarter, and here's proof. click the title to go to the article.

it's split-second decision making that creates more neural pathways and prevents dementia. so not just any dancing, especially not choreographed dancing. dancing with spontaneity, reading your partner, reading the space, reading the music and responding responding responding. dancing where you are mentally engaged moment by moment.

master cleanse, day 9

i committed to 10 days, and so tomorrow just might be my last day!

i have been fantasizing a lot about food--outrageous fantasies like juicy burgers, pesto-laden pasta, carrot cake--rich foods i can't have anyway because of the wheat. i know that to end the fast, it's important to go slowly, starting with orange juice, then veggie broth, then cooked veggies.

i remember the last time i did the master cleanse how fantastic it felt to sip on warm vegetable broth, unsalted, yet! i could feel my cells saying in unison, "YES!!!" that was an eye-opener to me. i actually felt deeply nourished by food, and i felt it as it was happening.

i weighed 110 this morning. i had hoped to get down to 107, but maybe 110 will do. after all, i have gained muscle from all the biking i've been doing. i can feel it in my quads. i go all out, getting up hills. monday i had to get off my bike and walk up a steep hill; today i made it up several hills, with determined effort. i also felt strong at yoga yesterday.

the last few days i have noticed times when it's hard to get warm. last night i came home and soaked in a hot tub with some dr. singha's mustard bath, then rinsed with a cold shower, dried myself and got into my nice warm bed, where i read for several hours.

it's nice to have that kind of time on my hands from not having to make, eat, and clean up after an evening meal.

so i will see what i feel like thursday morning. do i want to drink the lemonade for another day or two, or am i ready for several glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice? time will tell.

i do feel it has been very detoxifying, even though i've cheated (but not badly).

another thing to love about austin--clean water

I have a filter on my kitchen faucet at home and a filtered pitcher at work for my drinking water.

I have drunk local tap water after reading that the standards for bottled water are not as high as for municipal drinking water. But there is chlorine in the municipal water supply. Chlorine can kill probiotics in the gut. I worked hard to get my gut microflora balanced and don't want to jeopardize that. Filters do remove chlorine, so I began filtering my drinking water again.

I just read something in today's Statesman that was at first shocking, but on second thought, understandable. Many cities and towns in America have been found to have pharmaceuticals in their drinking water, including antibiotics, anticonvulsants, mood stabilizers, and sex hormones.

AP (Associated Press) did the study. That was also surprising. I didn't know AP did investigative research. (Back in the day, AP and UPI were the two sources of news sent "over the wire" to daily newspaper newsrooms around the world. I remember it coming in, seeing it being typed on yellow paper before my very eyes.)

I would have expected a study like this to come from Consumer Reports or the Environmental Working Group. Things change.

Anyway, they studied 50 major metropolitan areas. Austin was one of three with no pharmaceuticals in its water supply. Austin's water also had no herbicides. So yay! Here's another reason to love Austin. Clean water.

The water supplies of 41 million people are affected. Even though the dosage is far smaller than prescription strength, scientists are (rightly, in my opinion) concerned about the long-term effects. There are a lot of things happening, like the huge increase in autism, that there is no explanation for.

And if Austin's water had pharmaceuticals in it, filters would be useless. They don't screen for drugs. So those 41 million Americans are kind of helpless about this. I think they might be angry and demand action from elected officials. I am, and it doesn't even affect me.

How do pharmaceuticals get into the water supply? People take pills, and livestock growers give pharmaceuticals to chickens, cattle, pigs, etc. The body absorbs some, and the rest goes down the toilet (or out into the field, where rain washes it into surface water and aquifers).

Municipal wastewater is treated before being released (usually into rivers), and drinking water also gets treated before being sent through the pipes to our faucets. But treatments do not completely purify the water. They also don't screen for pharmaceuticals.

The reasons given for Austin's clean water is that our water supply comes from the Highland Lakes, and there are no major cities upstream.

Philadelphia had 56 pharmaceuticals in its water supply. Washington DC had 6. San Francisco (do I hear snickers?) had sex hormones in its water.

Tellingly, officials at several municipal or regional water providers told AP there were no pharmaceuticals in their supplies, but AP, through independent testing, found otherwise. So people are lying about this. And, get this. Some officials are refusing to release results because of post-9-11 concerns. With this news, I'm imagining terrorists laughing their asses off.

The article says, "...small amounts of medication have affected human embryonic kidney cells, human blood cells and human breast cancer cells. The cancer cells proliferated too quickly, the kidney cells grew too slowly, and the blood cells showed biological activity associated with inflammation."

People drink a lot of water every day.

We are cautioned not to mix pharmaceuticals, to be sure our pharmacist and doctor know about every prescription we are taking, because they can negatively interact.

Well, who knows what kind of cocktails people are innocently consuming every time they go to the water fountain?

Think about that, and then do something. Demand change.

dharma yoga

i attended a hatha yoga class this morning at dharma yoga. the teacher was keith, the owner of the studio, which is at 41st and guadalupe in hyde park. this was my first time there. lela went to the basics class there on wednesday evening and liked it. basics is not necessarily for beginners, i learned. instead, it's more of a teaching class, with a focus on different aspects of yoga.

i really liked the hatha class. we did some chanting, led by keith, and he gave us a reading at the beginning. we also drew cards (mine was "grace") from his deck to help us set an intention for today's class. i enjoyed the broader focus than just the body.

i did some asanas i hadn't done before, which i like. keith adjusted my posture, which i like. i felt challenged with strength and balance. i didn't feel as strong as usual, perhaps due to the master cleanse or just the experience of a new studio, new teacher, new class.

the class seemed true to the name of the studio: the focus was on yoga, and also on dharma, doing the work to awaken. i enjoyed that combination.

i bought a 3-class pass and intend to check out other classes.

i'm doing this because i love what yoga has done for my body and energy, and i'm considering a new livelihood as a yoga teacher after i retire from my job in a short few years. i want to expand my practice and find other good teachers in austin besides eleanor. even though i am fit, i do have a 55-year-old body that is only going to get older, and i want to stay fit and able into very old age. so stay tuned! i'll post what i learn.

thoughts on the master cleanse and other food-related matters

i'm doing the master cleanse. today was day 7. i have to confess, i've cheated a little most days, having from 1-5 bites of solid food. not disciplined, i know. i don't feel good about that.

still, i was hungry, and i really missed having different mouth-feels and tastes. i cheated with chicken, chocolate, and cheese. (wow, that sentence has a lot of alliteration!)

this is my second time on the master cleanse. the first was at least 5 years ago.

i did well at lara and mat's wedding reception yesterday, especially sitting next to clarita, who was really enjoying her food. the salad looked good, and clarita said the stuffing for the macaroni shells was delicious.

sometimes i wish i could eat mindlessly. just whatever and whenever and however much i want. i mean, i COULD do that, but there are consequences if i do: weight gain and feeling yucky. so mostly i stick to simple organic foods. yogurt and a variety of fruit and nuts for breakfast, salad at lunch, meat or grain and veggies for dinner. no caffeine, no alcohol, no sugar.

and no pasta, bread, cake, or anything with wheat in it, because of my food sensitivities. i have other sensitivities (yeast, cherries, snapper, peas, amaranth, kidney beans), but wheat is the worst. if you don't believe me, try going a month without wheat. no sandwiches. no gravy. nothing breaded, so no fried chicken or fried okra. no quesadillas. no burritos. no croutons. no pasta. no biscuits or rolls right out of the oven. no cookies. no pizza. it sucks! sob!

it's not like i loved or craved wheat before. i have never been a big bread eater. wheat was just present in the background, a quiet but ubiquitous food in the standard american diet.

pasta is a good carrier for sauces and parmesan, which i love. so either i substitute spaghetti squash or cook pasta made of grains other than wheat. it doesn't have the same texture, though. wheat, especially white flour, really doesn't do much for anyone, and more and more people are finding they are sensitive to it. but it has a great texture that transforms many other foods and elevates them.

it's tough to go without solid food and only drink that lemonade drink for 10 days. it's like, hmm, what am i going to eat today? oh, i know! filtered water with fresh squeezed organic lemon juice, maple syrup, and a dash of cayenne! oh yum!

yet it really can quell hunger pangs for an hour or two.

i bought sweet limes and organic lemons, and a couple of times i made the lemonade with grapefruit. just craving variety.

i think about food a lot while being (mostly) detached from consuming it. because i am not shopping or cooking or cleaning up, i have a LOT more time.

in fact, that is the best thing about the master cleanse. if i ever need to be working a lot on something, i can just go on the master cleanse to create more time.

i'm not even going to mention laxative tea or salt water flushes. i would NEVER do those things if not part of this cleanse. i haven't done them regularly because i don't like being tied to the potty and i don't like intestinal cramps. i've done them enough to know that i'm flushing toxins out of my system, and that's good enough for me.

okay, i know this is a gripy post, but that's how i'm feeling right now. grrrr! i'm counting the days until it's over. wednesday is my last fast day. then i can start slowly with orange juice, vegetable broth, and then soup. that is going to feel so great! i'm so looking forward to that nourishment.

energy dynamics

It's impossible for me to ...not touch on the subjects of energy dynamics and intuition. For those of you who have very sensitive right hemispheres, I know you understand what I am talking about. At the same time, I appreciate that for many of us, if our left mind cannot smell it, taste it, hear it, see it or touch it, then we are skeptical as to whether or not it exists. Our right brain is capable of detecting energy beyond the limitations of our left mind because of the way it is designed. I hope your level of discomfort about such things as energy dynamics and intuition has decreased as you have increased your understanding about the fundamental differences in the way our two hemispheres collaborate to create our single perception of reality.

Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D., in My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey

(click title to go to purchase page)

book review: my stroke of insight

My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, is a remarkable book. One day Jill Bolte Taylor, a Ph.D. research scientist in brain anatomy at Harvard, woke up with a terrible headache. Over the next 4 hours, she watched her mind lose its many of its abilities. She had an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in the left hemisphere of her brain, and when a blood vessel blew out, the spreading leak of blood gradually shut down her abilities to create and understand speech, to move and sense the world, and to perceive physical boundaries, time, and space.

What was left was her right brain.

Somehow she managed to orchestrate her own rescue.

Taylor takes the reader through her experience with the skill of an anatomist teaching college freshmen and the zest of a natural storyteller. Taylor was profoundly changed by her experience, and her description of what it is like to perceive "in one's right mind" is worth the price of the book alone.

I learned that mental chatter (aka "monkey mind") is completely a left brain function. A sense of boundaries, of being solid and separate, also comes from the left brain, as do our perceptions of time and space. What remained, in Taylor's experience, without this left brain operating was deep inner peace, a feeling of bliss, silence, open-ended moments following one another, a sense of being enormous and expansive, and at the same time, of being composed of liquid cells.

I'll have what she's having.

Taylor no longer experienced herself as the personality she knew, and not surprisingly, in eight years of recovery, she repeatedly made conscious choices to leave behind emotional patterns from her pre-stroke personality that she didn't like, such as hostility and unhappiness. She learned that emotions are physical, that joy and peace are feelings in the body, that the chemicals of emotions surge through us and are flushed out of our systems in 90 second or less, and that she could choose to prolong a feeling's presence in her body or let it go after that.

In her "right mind," she processed information as images of the present moment, rather than in words. Later she learned to use her left brain's language abilities to talk to her brain as a whole and tell it what she wanted and didn't want.

It's like a scientist is telling us what the mystics and meditators have been saying all along. She's telling us that these experiences are accessible to all, if only we can allow our right brains to experience existence without so many left brain intrusions. (And in fact, she cites research on nuns and monks that says that's what happens in deep prayer and meditation.)

Taylor believes our brain hemispheres have two different characters, and that our inner conflicts are usually splits between our left and right brains. With very little guidance, she says, people can distinguish these characters in those they are close to and even in themselves.

She does not slam the left brain, however. It allows each of us to communicate in the external world, organizes information, multitasks, thinks sequentially, identifies patterns, processes information quickly, sees sharp boundaries between objects, and tunes into higher frequencies. It is a master storyteller, filling in the blanks where there are gaps. It can imagine alternative scenarios.

Taylor firmly believes that the more time we spend running our inner peace and compassion circuits, the more of those we will project into the world and the more peace and compassion we will have on the planet.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in the brain and anyone interested in experiencing more joy and peace in their lives and in the world, and who doesn't want that?

(click title to purchase on lulu.com)

blog analytics

I occasionally run Google Analytics to see how many people visit this blog. Since February 11, when I first got it set up right, I've had 77 visits, 235 pageviews, 3.05 pages viewed per visit on average, the average visitor stays 6 minutes and 19 seconds, and 33.77% are new visits, out of 26 unique visitors overall.

The rest of the information is stuff I don't understand. Maybe I need to take a class in blogging. Or something.

I did get a request from a prospective advertiser. It was an advertiser that I didn't feel repulsed by, too. I said I wasn't ready for advertising yet and thanked them for considering me.

How do you readers feel about seeing ads on this blog? Would it be annoying, or would that be selling out? Let's hear from you.

blog readability

I just used the Blog Readability Test on this blog. Turns out this blog is "college (postgrad)" reading level. I searched for a description of how they figured that but couldn't find anything.

They gave me HTML code to place this icon on my blog:

If this blog is not at [insert your reading level here], then you're probably in the wrong place!

Seriously, I'm seeking feedback from you, readers, as to whether this blog is too much high-brow intellectual snobbery to enjoy reading, and if I should dumb this li'l ol' blog down. Let the comments roll!

lunchtime yogis stay in shape

(I wrote this for the March 2008 newsletter where I work. What I wrote was cut to fit. Here's the entire article. It was written to share with non-yogi colleagues what we do in yoga class.)

If you’re curious about where your colleagues carrying yoga mats are heading right before noon on Mondays and Wednesdays, you may be interested in knowing that Eleanor Harris has been teaching yoga at REJ for the last five years.

Eleanor, a certified Iyengar yoga instructor also registered with the Yoga Alliance as a trainer of yoga teachers, has been studying and teaching yoga for over 20 years. After working as a massage therapist to business executives in New York City for 10 years, Eleanor realized that although massage helped with repetitive stress problems, yoga was a way to prevent those problems in the first place. She chose Iyengar yoga because it addresses issues in the body, focusing on structural alignment to promote well-being.

“Even though I was strong and flexible, with Iyengar, I found where I was imbalanced in my body, where I needed to work,” she said. By teaching Iyengar yoga, she could help her students do the same.

Eleanor began studying with master teachers in 1987, a practice she continues, most recently studying with Shiva Rea, an internationally known teacher of vinyasa flow yoga.

(Some clarification for non-yogis: Iyengar classes are verbal and precise, with teachers occasionally adjusting students’ postures so they can feel and learn proper alignment. In vinyasa flow, teachers instruct students in fluid movement from one pose into another, coordinating movement and breath. Eleanor draws on both styles in her classes.)

Eleanor says the biggest benefit of a yoga practice is “learning to recognize where you are now. It has physical benefits, it’s emotionally calming, and it can have spiritual benefits, like feeling at one with the world.”

She says her own yoga practice has changed in response to changes her life, including the death of her mother, extra weight gain during pregnancy, and a difficult childbirth. She has been inspired to add Reiki, acupressure, and craniosacral therapy—healing modalities that assist the body’s energy flows—to her skills, enhancing both her yoga and massage practices.

Eleanor sees her own yoga practice as a way of developing resilience and taking balanced risks in life as well as practice. “To me now, yoga is not so much about doing poses. Yoga gives me the ability to put myself back into tree pose when I fall out of the tree—and it also gives me the ability to go out on a limb of that tree.”

I got serious about yoga after a car wreck in 1996 left me with lingering pain, weakness, and alignment problems. Yoga helped me regain and improve my flexibility, strength, balance, focus, and overall well-being.

Therefore, I was thrilled to learn about Eleanor’s lunchtime classes after I started work here in 2004. Having yoga available at work with a suggested donation of $5 (most yoga classes are $12-16) and especially having a teacher with Eleanor’s experience was a perk too good to pass up.

Over a dozen current LBB employees are on the mailing list for Eleanor’s classes, with about eight attending regularly. The other students come from other agencies in this building and from nearby buildings. About 15 students attend on average at present. Here’s what some of the LBBers say.

John O’Brien, who’s attended Eleanor’s class for nearly two years, says, “Some of my early experiences with yoga were with a style that required more coordination—almost like dance. Eleanor’s laid-back progression through a series of yoga positions better fits my needs and comfort level.”

Melitta Berger, who’s been attending for about six months, says, “This was my first structured yoga class, and I have really enjoyed the relaxation, stretching, and strength exercises. I was a bit nervous starting out, but Eleanor teaches to all levels. My balance and strength have really improved! Plus the mental ‘time-out’ forces me to focus just on what I'm doing and not the work waiting in the office.”

“Eleanor’s yoga class has been a great complement for my other workout and sports activities. I’ve been able to avoid a lot of the muscle pulls and stiffness that I normally experience by stretching in yoga each week,” says Garron Guszak.

Ursula Parks says, “I appreciate Eleanor's noon yoga class for its combination of solid yoga fundamentals—all of the benefits of asana [AH-sa-na in Sanskrit, the yoga postures] are present, including strength, flexibility, mental focus, and deep relaxation. I am also grateful for her clear instruction, attention to detail with each student, and sense of humor. The convenience of the class being right here in our building makes it an easy choice to attend!”

“Eleanor is excellent about gradually building on poses so that they are done correctly. I have been practicing yoga for almost 10 years, and I think I have only through Eleanor learned the proper positioning of some poses. She is also great with adapting the day’s practice to what we need or want to do,” says Emily Brownlow, who has attended for the past two years. “I am always thankful I attended class afterwards.”

Susan Dow, who just started in February, says, “Eleanor’s knowledge level and presentation style as an instructor provide a quality environment for class members. As a beginner participant, I understand her exercise instructions and feel quite comfortable, which is sometimes difficult when learning new poses. The yoga stretching movements complement the other physical activities I do.”

I’ve attended Eleanor’s class for three years. To me, yoga is about being present in my body, with patience and kindness, and focusing and expanding my awareness. I discover that my ability to hold a balance pose changes from foot to foot and from day to day. I notice how a spinal twist miraculously wrings all the tension out of my back. I stretch to my limit, breathe, and discover I can stretch a little further. Yoga gives me more vitality and keeps me on an even keel.

I appreciate Eleanor’s attention to detail. For instance, for adho mukha svanasana (downward-facing dog), she will give directions about what our hands, feet, shoulders, head, thigh muscles, and breath are doing; meanwhile, she is adjusting new students’ bodies so they can learn and receive the full benefit of the aligned pose. Her voice is calm and reassuring, her touch is gentle but firm, and she really notices what we’re doing.

Eleanor prefers that new yoga students attend on Mondays, keeping Wednesdays for a more advanced class. (Some students attend both days.) She says a student’s current fitness level doesn’t matter, because she can have them adapt poses to any level of strength and flexibility or substitute a similar pose.

Iyengar yoga sometimes uses props. Eleanor supplies belts for students who don’t bring their own, and some students bring blocks or blankets as well. A yoga mat is the only required gear, along with clothing you can move in. We practice with bare feet.

The classes are moderately paced and not so vigorous that students need a shower afterward. Eleanor always asks students at the beginning of each class what they would like to work on that day. Usually a couple of people respond with body parts, and we have a focus for the day—although since everything connects to everything else, we end up with a good all-around workout.

Eleanor always ends her classes with the deeply restful savasana (corpse pose).

Eleanor is also our massage therapist, coming in twice a month, usually on Wednesday afternoons. She does massage work at Cocoon, 1210 S. Congress, as well, and teaches yoga and Pilates at both Joy Moves and Pure studios. To contact Eleanor, email harriseleanor@sbcglobal.net or call 698-9642.

the birth of enlightenment

from oceanofdharma list, a quote from chogyam trungpa rinpoche:

We have the idea that an enlightened person is supposed to be more or less an old-wise-man type: not quite like an old professor, but perhaps an old father who can supply sound advice on how to handle all of life's problems or an old grandmother who knows all the recipes and all the cures. That seems to be the current fantasy that exists in our culture concerning enlightened beings. They are old and wise, grown-up and solid. Tantra has a different notion of enlightenment, which is connected with youth and innocence. We can see this pattern in Padmasambhava's life, the life of the great teacher who brought the tantric teachings of Buddhism to Tibet. Here the awakened state of mind is portrayed not as old and adult but as young and free. Youth and freedom in this case are connected with the birth of the awakened state of mind. The awakened state of mind has the quality of morning, of dawn -- fresh and sparkling, completely awake.

From "Primordial Innocence," in CRAZY WISDOM, pages 26 to 27.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

funny movies, funny people

To avoid having to reinvent the wheel every time someone asks about funny movies, I'm putting this list on my blog. It has my own favorites and favorites from John, Pauline, Keith, Keith's friend Tony, Alec, Spike, Elizabeth, Nicky, Kathleen, Clarita, and Zoe, so it covers a variety of tastes as to just what is funny.

I'll update it as I hear from more people and if my memory about a funny film that I've forgotten gets jogged. And okay, okay, I know a few of these are TV shows, but you can rent them at the video store or online same as movies.

Here are 97 funny films and 26 funny people that will make you laugh, or at least cheer you up:

The 40-Year-Old Virgin - Tony
48 Hours - John
A Fish Called Wanda - Mary
All of Me - Pauline
Always - John
And Now for Something Completely Different - Alec
Annie Hall - Mary
As You Like It - Pauline
Back to the Future 1 - John
Being There - Mary, Pauline
Best of Saturday Night Live - John
Beverly Hills Cop - John
The Big Lebowski - Mary
Blazing Saddles - Mary, John, Kathleen
The Blues Brothers - John
Brain Donors - Alec
Bruce Almighty - Alec
Bugs Bunny classics, especially What's Opera, Doc? - Mary
Caddyshack - John
City Lights - John
Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker - Zoe
The Dish (Australian) - Tony
Down and Out in Beverly Hills - Pauline
Dr. Strangelove - Mary
Duck Soup - Mary
Ed Wood - Mary
Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill - Mary
Fargo - Mary
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - John
The Fifth Element - John
Forget Paris - John
Galaxy Quest - John
Ghostbusters - John
The Gods Must Be Crazy - Kathleen
Gold Rush - John
The Goodbye Girl - John
The Great Race (old one, not the remake) - John
Groundhog Day - John, Mary, Tony
Happy Feet - Pauline
Honey I Shrunk the Kids - Pauline
Idiocracy - Mary
The Incredible Shrinking Woman - Pauline
It Happened One Night - Mary
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (old one, not the remake) - John
The Jerk - Pauline
LA Story - John
Lethal Weapon II - John
Liar, Liar - Alec, Pauline
Life of Brian - John, Alec
The Little Children - Nicky
Little Miss Sunshine - Mary, Tony
The Little Rascals/Our Gang - John
Love & Death - John
M.A.S.H. - Mary
MASH (old TV show) - John
The Mask - Pauline
Modern Times - John
Moonlighting (old TV show) - John
The Monster (Italian) - Clarita [stars Robert Benigni, need I say more?]
Monty Python and the Holy Grail - John, Alec, Spike
Monty Python's Flying Circus (old tv show) - John
Moonstruck - Mary, Clarita
Napoleon Dynamite - Spike
Nurse Betty - Nicky
O Brother Where Art Thou? - Mary
Office Space - Mary
Old screwball comedies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screwball_comedy - John [It Happened One Night being the best]
Parenthood - John
Patch Adams - Alec
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure - John
Pee-Wee's Playhouse - John
The Pink Panther - Kathleen
Play It Again, Sam - John
The Princess Bride - Mary, Pauline
The Producers - Mary
Purple Rose of Cairo - John
Raising Arizona - Mary
Road Runner cartoons (pre-60s) - John
Roxanne - John
Saving Grace - Pauline
Shrek 1 - Mary, John, Pauline
Shrek 2 - Pauline
Singin' in the Rain - John
Sister Act - Mary
Sleeper - Mary
Some Like It Hot - Mary
South Park - Mary
Stalag 17 - John
The Sting - John
Stripes - John
The Tall Guy - Spike
There's Something About Mary - Mary, Tony
The Thin Man films - Mary
Tom & Jerry cartoons (pre-60s) - John
Tommy Boy - Tony
Trading Places - John, Pauline
True Lies - Pauline
Tootsie - Mary
Wedding Crashers - Clarita
What About Bob - Elizabeth
What Women Want - Mary, Pauline
What's Up Doc - John
When Harry Met Sally - Mary
Young Frankenstein - Mary
Zoolander - Spike

People who are funny:
Woody Allen - John
Lucille Ball - Pauline
Lewis Black - John
Victor Borge - Alec
Mel Brooks - Mary
Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig - Mary
Jim Carrey - Mary, Pauline
Charlie Chaplin - John
Ellen DeGeneres - John
Jackie Chan - Mary
Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean - Mary
Whoopi Goldberg - Mary
Cary Grant - Mary
Goldie Hawn - Pauline
Danny Kaye - Pauline
Larry the Cable Guy - John
Harold Lloyd - John
Steve Martin - Mary, Keith, John
The Marx Brothers - Mary
Larry Miller - John
Ninja Turtles - Pauline
Paula Poundstone - John
Chris Rock - Zoe
Jerry Seinfeld - John
Peter Sellers - Mary
Gene Wilder - Pauline
Robin Williams in concert - Alec

And last but certainly not least, I'm adding a link to the 50 greatest comedy sketches. Click the title of this post to view. Many of them have video clips. Thanks, John!

my waking protocol

Last fall, I came up with some exercises that I do each day before I get out of bed. Several people have asked about them recently, so I'm writing it up and posting it here.

I got started with ankle rotations to prevent plantar fasciitis several years ago. I've added exercises for hip flexibility (some from Feldenkrais), for lymph flow (courtesy Nina Davis, my cranio-sacral therapist, and EFT), for brain enhancement (from Brain Gym and Smart Moves by Dr. Carla Hannaford), for neural pathways to representational systems (courtesy NLP), some yoga, exercises to release energy blocks (shamanism), and for life force (chanting).

I don't always do all of them, and I don't always do them in the same order, although I always work from foot to head.

Another main principle is that I do an odd number of repetitions, although sometimes I just do however many feels like enough.

I make sure each side of my body gets balanced exercise.

I notice where I feel tight, achy, and uneven, and work for relaxation, pain-free, and balance. Awareness is a big part of this. I have a mild lumbar scoliosis, and getting my back and hips aligned has been a major ongoing project since last summer. I do several yoga classes each week, and see a chiropractor and cranio-sacral therapist. Some of the morning exercises I do are designed to increase flexibility and strength in the areas where i have an imbalance.

I start lying flat on my back, legs extended.

ankle rotation: rotate ankles in each direction (circles), then outline a square with toes each direction--prevents plantar fasciitis

hip wiggle: alternate right and left hip and leg stretching down--scoliosis

hip circle (actually an oval): round and round--for scoliosis

hip figure eight--for scoliosis and cross-lateral nervous system

sacrum circles: with knees bent and feet on bed, move head in synchrony with pelvis. go slowly for places with hitches. After doing both sides, I move pelvis and head in opposite directions. --for scoliosis and coordination

lymphatic massage where legs join torso--for cleansing toxins from lower body

bridge pose while breathing into lower back--for scoliosis

cross-crawl (opposite elbow to knee)--cross-lateral nervous system

hug knees to chest--for scoliosis

spinal twist with legs extended--for scoliosis

tap upper chest and collarbone while affirming "I, Mary, completely and unconditionally love myself."

lymphatic massage at collarbone--for cleansing toxins from upper body

chant "om" three times--makes my energy field feel sparkly!

thinking caps (unroll edges of ears)--stimulates brain center for hearing

massage skin behind ears--ditto, also for cerebellum

massage triangle where with open mount, jaw and skull meet--for speech and hearing

eye rolling and +X pattern--creating neural pathways

tap face--for lymph flow, prevents wrinkles

pico-pico breathing: inhale earth energy through feet, bring up to fill body and head, exhale through crown chakra (prana for developing the undeveloped selves); then inhale cosmic energy through crown chakra, fill body, and exhale through legs (release baggage, stuckness, unconscious destructive patterns and habits)

alternate nostril breathing--balances brain hemispheres

By now, I'm fully awake and ready to get out of bed and go about my day. I know it must look silly, but I don't care--it really helps me prepare for whatever may happen that day, and I believe that doing these exercises daily builds long-term resources.

I'm willing to add to these as needed, and perhaps I will start an evening protocol. Right now I usually just collapse with a smile of gratitude and drift off to sleep.

a poem by David Whyte

This is the Panhala poem for the day. (See Links to subscribe for yourself.) I think of it as how to understand that you are one with the universe. Find connection all around you, living in the moment.

EVERYTHING IS WAITING FOR YOU
(After Derek Mahon)

Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice. You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.

~ David Whyte ~

biking in the rain

On Friday, I was riding my bike home from work and felt like I had just not had enough riding yet, so I decided to hit the Lady Bird Lake trail. The sky was dark with gray clouds, and I felt a few small drops on reaching the trail and decided to ride in the opposite direction from the storm.

I headed west toward the MoPac bridge. Not a lot of people were out. Maybe it was because of the threatening skies, or maybe Friday evening just isn't a very popular time to be on the trail. Whatever.

I caught some great views of the downtown skyline just lighting up as the day began to end, with dark clouds behind the skyscrapers. Wonderful view!

I was on the south side of the lake and crossed the MoPac bridge. Somewhere east of the kayak rental place, I felt raindrops again. I wasn't feeling too happy about getting wet, and there was no place to take cover, except under trees, which wouldn't keep me dry for long.

So I kept riding and decided to just surrender to the rain. As I headed toward the Pfluger bridge, the fronts of my thighs got wet. My whole front side was damp.

I noticed the faces of those I met, running, walking, or on bikes. Mostly they were smiling, delighted--as I was by now--to be out in the rain.

Can't remember how many years it's been since I rode my bike in the rain. Maybe since I was 12? Anyway, it felt like a delicious thrill, a return to childhood, a joyful exemption from being an adult, to be pedaling and rained upon. How sweet it felt to be able to do that again.