"There are only two movements of energy," my yoga teacher noted as we arranged ourselves in Shavasana – the corpse pose – ready for relaxation, "expansion and contraction."
I adjusted my legs, relaxed my neck, and closed my eyes. I observed my lungs: expand, and then contract.
For the next five minutes or so I meditated on this idea. Expansion and Contraction.
It is true that our bodies are constantly expanding and contracting – whether we are breathing, drinking, or eating.
In
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Apr 30, 2012 | Categories: Truth | Tags: Conflict, Health, philosophy, Weight | 1 Comment »
Do you ever tell yourself to “just relax” and then continue to do the very opposite? Or tell yourself to “forget it”. Or “frick’n focus!” And then find it impossible? Well that what happened to me today. Then it reversed itself in a way I didn't expect.
It started with a 75-minute hot yoga class at Y Yoga, my health retreat since arriving in Vancouver. Today was different: a hundred and one thoughts frolicked through my mind — which means today I was not doing yoga. I was stretching,
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Jan 05, 2012 | Categories: Adventure, Random Life Stuff | Tags: Alan Watts, Health, Travel, United States | Leave A Comment »
The first time I sat on my scoot I trembled with fear. I drove it around the block, parked it, and waited half an hour for the adrenilin to calm and my heart rate to slow.
The second time I did some drills with a friend. My thumb hurt too much the next day to even look at it.
Third time lucky, well sort of. I tried to ride to Bondi, but too scared to change lanes ended up in Double Bay.
The fourth time, still feeling the fear, I rode first to the petrol station (even filling up some strange
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Jan 07, 2011 | Categories: Random Life Stuff | Tags: Health, Life in Oz | 3 Comments »
Before I begin my rant about food, I would like to say a big HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all! I hope it has kicked off to a better start than mine (7am New Years Day I was at the hospital having barnacles taken out of my feet) and that you had a great night celebrating (my night of swimming in the harbour and watching the fireworks was worth this pain the next day).
I thought this post better wait till after Christmas and New Years celebrations. Now is the time that, if you indulged in the delicious
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Jan 03, 2011 | Categories: Beauty | Tags: Food, Health, Potentialism | 3 Comments »
Something many of us probably do not know is that connected to our drive to survive, is an empathic disposition driving the evolution of "civilisation". Humans have a long history of empathy that unfortunately our history books tend to forget about. The book The Empathic Civilisation - The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis, by Jeremy Rifkin, tells another story.
As a commenter on Peace: How Do We Find It? said, "so now all we need to change, is the minds of the entire human population."
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Dec 06, 2010 | Categories: Peace | Tags: Ethics, Health, Narrative | Leave A Comment »
Why do you get up in the morning? Does an answer come into your mind straight away? It does for the people in Okinawa, and it thought to be one of the key factors in their longevity - estimated to lengthen the lives of the people by 7 years! Ikigai is kind of like the French raison d'etre - 'a reason for being'. It could be a creative passion, your relationships, your job... Everyone has a ikigai, even if you don't know it yet.
In Okinawa they do that thing they love until they die. Why do
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Nov 01, 2010 | Categories: Peace, Random Life Stuff | Tags: Health, Japan, Meaning of life | Leave A Comment »
6am "knock knock" my revolting tasting medicine (of who knows what) arrives at my door... 630 yoga; 730 walk and feed monkeys; 830 breakfast (fruit and random-looking-but-delicious Indian vegetarian goop); 10am reflexology; 1030 continue reading "Holy Cow! An Indian Adventure" (awesome book btw); 1230pm massage (naked - completely naked); 130 vegetarian lunch and more gross medicine; 230 massage (thumped with hot pounds of herbs); 3pm intermediate yoga (soooo hard); 4pm ginger tea; 5pm medicine
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Jun 04, 2010 | Categories: Adventure, Random Life Stuff | Tags: Health, India/Nepal, Travel, Yoga | 1 Comment »
Next Thursday I am going to India and I have a feeling I will be making up for the failure of my February detox.
My sister tells me coffee in India sucks, so that's a start. I wonder if they have chocolate? ... Suppose I'll need a little mayhem after presenting my paper at a Peace and Education conference in Mumbai, but I'll for sure make up for that at a 7-days Ayurvedayoga retreat. Following yoga, hot baths, massages and healthy foods, I'll be doing it rough and tough with 10-days on trains
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May 07, 2010 | Categories: Beauty, Random Life Stuff | Tags: Health, India, Travel, Yoga | 2 Comments »
The fourteenth day = detox half-way mark.......
It’s after midnight. I’m a little tipsy. What happened to my detox?
As I've mentioned in my last post, I "fell off the horse" by no fault of my own - the 3rd ankle sprain in three weeks justified a decafe coffee, a small cheat which turned to complete failure when they brought me a real one. Since this day it has become easy to fall off the horse – again, and again.
Oh well.
A new goal for February… To find BALANCE. Balanced habits
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Feb 14, 2010 | Categories: Truth | Tags: balance, Health | Leave A Comment »
So, all was going well, the swelling on my ankle was very slowly starting to disappear when… OUCH!!! I DID AGAIN… On my first morning walk in two weeks, as I enter Trumper Park, it goes on me. I fall to the ground and hit hard. F**K.
I stand up and hobble toward my apartment. I feel faint. The world is spinning. My vision is closing in. I have to stop. I sit on the curb. Then try again. A few steps later I sit. Finally, somehow, I make it home.
My friend takes me to a physio. It’s not
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Feb 10, 2010 | Categories: Random Life Stuff | Tags: Health, Yoga | Leave A Comment »
It is interesting to see you operate with no drugs in your system. No using coffee and chocolate to wake me up and stimulate my mind. No using alcohol to relax and escape.
Following a big night to farewell to the month of binges, the first day of detox I slept in quite late. I did a short 20 minute pilates DVD. I had a decent amount of energy. My ankle was sore and I was resting it. No real cravings.
The second day of detox I had less energy. I did a 40 minute pilates DVD and spend the day
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Feb 05, 2010 | Categories: Random Life Stuff | Tags: Health | Leave A Comment »
I walk, ideas come, I write.
I don't walk, my mind slows, and good blog entries become few and far between.
Just over a week ago I twisted my ankle and ignored it. I think I inherited my Opa's high pain tolerance. But now it hurts. Not physically, it's more a mental pain. The ankle is as swollen as ever, and although it's a frustrating pain, I have to rest.
Walking is my meditation, information-processing, keeping-me-sane time. It is after a long walk I sit down and feel like I write my
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Feb 03, 2010 | Categories: Adventure, Random Life Stuff | Tags: Health, Life in Oz | Leave A Comment »
Today I'm doing a little report for my Dad's business which is in the Aged Care sector. And I tell you what - I'm learning some VERY interesting (and frightening) facts along the way...
"Around two million Australians are aged 70 years or older. That's 9 percent of our population. Four per cent of the population are over 80 years of age. The proportion of Australia's population aged over 70 is expected to rise to 13 per cent by 2021 and to 20 percent (around 5.7 million people) by 2051." (Australian
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Jan 22, 2010 | Categories: Peace | Tags: Health, population | Leave A Comment »
Last night during some deep anthropological discussions, the subject of depression came up.
"Depression is the incongruence between creations of your mind and soul, and the creations you are manifesting in the material world." Lauren explained. "A depressed person feels as if their mind is disconnected from their emotions and from their body. One's feelings take over their body and although their mind might be wanting one thing, their energy levels prevent them doing it. It's like the disconnection
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Jan 20, 2010 | Categories: Truth | Tags: Health, Narrative, philosophy | Leave A Comment »
So I borrowed my mum’s scales to check the Christmas damage. 64 kilos. What the f??? I don’t step on scales so often, judging by measurement more than kilos. But, well, “in the day” I weighed 55kgs. And on average I think I’m around 58-60kgs. I’ve seen myself at 62kgs, and I know I’ve complained about feeling fat on this website before. But 64???
Ok, time to get back into routine: a walk in the morning before breakfast to reconnect my mind and body; a yoga or pilates session a few
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Jan 04, 2010 | Categories: Adventure, Random Life Stuff | Tags: Chocolate, Health, Life in Oz, Yoga | Leave A Comment »
Today is 010110. Another year gone by, we farewell another decade. As a society following a human-made calendar we have reached our century's teenager years.
Time is ticking on, the completion of a rotation. I count my age, evaluate my place. I think about the future, scenarios I desire, those I hope to avoid. It’s a time to reflect. A time to resolve. A time to dream.
I ask myself where I see myself in ten years? Where will I be come 2020?
Will I be rich? Famous? Am I a writer? An
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Jan 01, 2010 | Categories: Peace, Truth | Tags: Health, Meaning of life, philosophy, purpose | Leave A Comment »
“What do you think?” She asked me.
“Ah… It’s ok.” I said
id, frowning at my reflection. “I’m not quite sure how you got that,” I looked to the mirror, “from this” observing the photo in my hands. The cut is not so bad. Nor is the colour. But it does NOT in the slightest look like the picture I had diligently printed out in hope of clearly communicating the colour and cut I was after.
I’ll survive. I’ve definitely had worse. After giving me green hair (from a henna
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Dec 23, 2009 | Categories: Adventure, Random Life Stuff | Tags: Health, Life in Oz | 1 Comment »
Back at bikram yoga yesterday I looked back into the big horrible mirrors and smiled - my tummy looked thin and flat. This was only my third class and I was already getting great results. Then I stepped to the left and the image changed before my eyes. My tummy was round and tubby again. What the...??? I tested a few more locations on the mirror and confirmed it - THE MIRROR WAS WARPED.
Neither the fat version nor the thin version was me. Yet at the same time both were me. Even if neither reflections
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Oct 02, 2009 | Categories: Random Life Stuff, Truth | Tags: Health, Yoga | Leave A Comment »
Ok I know that's a shocking photo (it's from a family celebration for my sister's engagement last night which makes it even worse)... but I think it's worth a laugh. And I tell you what, the chocolate semi fredo I'm licking is the very best dessert in the world... and today I could tell...
I went to my first bikram yoga class tonight and in the 40+ degree heat I had a revelation.
Mirrors are commonplace in yoga studios but the nature of bikram leads one to strip off to bare essentials and in
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Sep 28, 2009 | Categories: Random Life Stuff | Tags: balance, Chocolate, Health, Yoga | Leave A Comment »
"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder"
In Japan, people would look at me and gasp "Kirre!” “SagoiI!” “Chiisai!" (translation: "Beautiful! Wow! Small!") as they motioned a small circle with their hands and touched the skin on their face. This was followed by broken English "Small head.” “Beeeeaaauuutiful." The Japanese love small heads and are obsessed with pale skin – the mirror opposite of Hollywood’s chocolate lollypops with big heads and tanned bodies. I guess the grass is
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Sep 13, 2009 | Categories: Peace | Tags: fashion, Health, Potentialism | 5 Comments »
