With my balance and strength issues these days, I have found a new love and appreciation for THE WALL.

A darkened room, soft music, and reclining bound angle is a combination guaranteed to bring peace of mind and rest my soul. I often remain in the posture for long periods of time, REALLY feeling it, connecting with it, and observing the reaction of my body. It brings soothing relief to sore legs and an aching lower back. While engaged in the pose, I concentrate on mindful breathing, moving my head to each side and then the other on exhale. My movements are careful and deliberate; it is only on the mat or captured in the bliss of meditation do I forget about the daily pain in my physical form, and transcend to a place where the tangible is left behind, and only love is left. Only love is real.

What would happen if I combined yoga and Toastmasters?

A very interesting Table Topics session, I imagine. When it comes to success, I fully embrace creativity. Thinking outside of the box goes part of the distance, but why not score a home run and think outside the entire ball park? The “same old” yields the same old results… they may be good, but I’d rather strive for excellence. I don’t consider myself average, and my actions reflect this! Instead of breeding complacency and comfort, I intend to keep it FLUID, REAL, and IMAGINATIVE. Perhaps I will sign up for Table Topics master this week!

According to D.J. Conway, traits of the modern Celtic warrior are courage, a willingness to see the truth, self-discipline, defense, responsibility, and keeping physically and mentally fit. She recommends certain asana to promote suppleness, balance, and breath control.

Loosely X-posted to www.raidersofthelostspark.org

Tonight: 7pm.

What I really want to do is to go home, play board games, and eat leftover Indian food. What I will do instead is go home and do some juicing, a yoga class, and then play board games and eat my leftover Paneer. I recognize that work stress makes me inherently lazy, but I also know how wonderful I feel when I’m able to overcome this laziness for the greater good.

[Update]: Juicing Recipe

- 3 stalks of celery
- 2 collard leaves
- 1 apple
- 1 whole lemon
- 1 serving of broccoli sprout juice
- 1 serving of wheatgrass

Overall, I would give it a 6/10. Palatable, but not completely delicious.

Last night, I learned just how Toastmasters has indeed helped me in many areas of my life. Although I excel at off-the-cuff speaking, I had never even considered this skill in terms of impromptu guided visual meditations – and I was amazed at the fluid way in which the words flowed and the ideas just materialized in my head.

Since when can it be a wise decision to do push-ups from Urdhva Dhanurasana (Wheel) – head on the floor, lifting into full wheel, and down again – after a challenging upper body workout? My arms are still threatening to fall out of their sockets (since Tuesday) and after yesterday, my legs are sore to match. Hopefully, I will be fully pain-free by next Tuesday so that I can spend next week “challenging myself physically”, only to rest in Iceland the following week.

Analysis of Urdhva Dhanurasana

Translation Key:

urdhva = upward

dhanu = bow

Indications:

• Stretches the chest and lungs
• Strengthens the arms and wrists, legs, buttocks, abdomen, and spine
• Stimulates the thyroid and pituitary
• Increases energy and counteracts depression
• Therapeutic for asthma, back pain, infertility, and osteoporosis

Contraindications and Precautions:

• Back injury
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Diarrhea
• Headache
• Heart problems
• High or low blood pressure

Self Analysis:

• Feet and hands too far apart
• Need more arch in the back
• Feet are not parallel

Affected Muscles / Posture Analysis:

• Neck is extended – scalene, levator scapula
• 3 ligaments extending the length of the vetrbral column, anterior longitudinal ligament acts as a brake to extension
• Erector spinae is extended, affects posterior deltoid, teres major, latissimus dorsi
• Abdominal muscles are stretched – transverse abdominal, internal obliques, external obliques, rectus abdominis
• Fingers are flexed due to the tightening of the flexor tendons; affected muscles are flexor carpi ulnaris, extensor carpi radialis longus
• Stretches the muscles of the thigh – pectineus, adductor longus, gracilis; leg – rectus femoris, hamstrings (semimembranosus, semitendinosus, biceps femoris)
• Dorsiflexion occurs when going on tiptoe to deepen the posture
• Peroneus longus and brevis strengthen and support the lateral arch and stabilize the ankle when standing, especially when on tiptoe

Everything these days is green – it’s definitely the catch phrase of this decade – green, eco, earth-friendly, people-friendly. I am often challenged to treat my body with the respect and integrity that it deserves, both with my diet and my lifestyle choices. Having the support of like-minded individuals would be a wonderful thing, and making a community event of it would be even better. Yesterday, My Green Yoga was born. Once or twice a month, I’m planning to host an evening of yoga, raw foods/juices, and perhaps an inspirational movie.

I haven’t delved too much into the details of the project yet, but I am considering the following:

• A community events calendar
• Juicing recipes
• An Amazon shop of my favourite yoga books and music
• Links to other yogis
• Links to other green/eco-friendly resources