Spring time flowers 

Not an Island

A little poetry for you:

We walk on earth
we look after,
like rainbow sitting on top.
But something underneath,
under the ground.
We don't know.
You don't know.
What do you want to do?
If you touch,
you might get cyclone, heavy rain or flood.
Not just here,
you might kill someone in another place.
Might be kill him in another country.
You cannot touch him.

- Big Bill Neidjie, Gagadju Man
as quoted in the book "The Weather Makers" on climate change. (the US release has a subtitle of "How man is changing the climate and what it means for life on earth")

Big Bill was an aboriginal Australian. With perhaps a more stewardly view of the earth than eager little capitalists...

Yoga

About three years ago, I searched out a local yoga place and went a few times. But they changed from drop-in classes to series only, and I started grad school, so that kind of petered out.

One of my friends has recently gotten back into yoga, and is doing it three times a week! She's been encouraging me to start it back up myself. Since I have been wanting to get some physical activity back in my schedule; since grad school is almost done; since I have six Fridays off in a row (now through the end of the quarter) I determined I would do it.

So this last week I went to a Monday night class near my apartment and a Friday afternoon class my friend attends in Fremont.

And it nearly took till Friday for my muscle soreness to subside from Monday! (ow-hamstring, ow-hamstring). I am super impressed with yoga's ability to really truly provide a Total Body Workout. Most activities will focus on a specific set of muscles (legs, legs&arms..) but yoga can make you fell like every single muscle in your body has been worked over and found wanting.

So I intend to keep this Monday/Friday thing up for the next 5 weeks, and see how my body responds. Some other side effects I wasn't anticipating: more posture awareness, and more environmental awareness. I came back from Monday and felt like it would be a good thing to light candles and have some tea - I don't remember the last time I lit my candles. This morning I am listening to some tabla music.

mmm yoga.