“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
– Steve Jobs, CEO Apple
Category Archives: Health
The Handstand
The handstand pose is often considered an ego based pose in yoga, however it has been explained that the handstand pose is not at all about ego, rather the headstands (and many inversions) are about overcoming your fears (falling, failing, hurting yourself) and having faith (staying focused, controlling your body, believing in yourself). So what for many starts as an interest in learning a new physical skill can turn into so much more. And you know the experience of focusing on overcoming the fear through faith tends to be a pretty good lesson for life – drop the ego and it is easier to stay balanced in life. You see when you drop the ego, you can face your fears and overcome them with faith in yourself to create a more balanced life, a more concious life.
I was able to learn this paradigm firsthand this weekend during a yoga handstand workout. So the lasts few days have involved me asking if what I am doing is ego based and if it is, what can I do to overcome the fear that created the ego?
Once in a Lifetime Moment
At exactly 06 minutes and 07 seconds after 5 o’clock August 9th of this year, it will be 05:06:07 08/09/10, this will not happen again till year 3010. Have a good 5-6-7-8-9-10 moment!
If you missed it this AM, you can always catch this moment again in the PM.
Life is full of “moments” that once they pass you by you will never get a chance to experience them again. It is only in missing these “moments” will you experience regret, so to that I say – CARPE DIEM!
Reality Check
What do Orange County, New York, Atlanta, New Jersey and Washington DC have in common? Each is home to Bravo’s “Housewives” television series, centered around the lives of Housewives, their families and their day-to-day activities. The Housewives have captured the focus of America. In fact, the recent finale of “Housewives of New Jersey” was the highest-rated season finale for the network’s entire “Housewives” franchise.
Why is it these Housewives have captured the attention of millions? Most live arguably dysfunctional lives. They certainly are not role models. Hour after hour, week after week, millions spend their precious time watching other people’s “reality”, when they could be focusing on improving their own lives.
Kathy Welch said, “We all have the same 24 hours in a day. The difference lies within how we use those 24 hours”.
Just one hour per day would add up to 21,840 minutes per year. Think of positive impact you could create in your life if you spent just one hour a day on self-improvement activities. You could challenge yourself to meet new people, read new books, learn new skills.
While the “Housewives” franchise triggered me to come to this “reality check”, I am not suggesting everyone stop watching the show. Maybe you truly watch for entertainment. Maybe the dysfunctional lives of the Housewives help you escape the challenges in your life. I am however suggesting you be more mindful of the regular activities in your life and challenge yourself to leverage your precious time for activities that could improve your life.
What regular activities in your life have you replaced, in efforts to improve and better yourself?
The Smoke Signal to Quit
I was enjoying a relaxing afternoon on the patio of my favorite independent tea house when I was violated by the smell of burning nicotine. I turn around to see who is choosing to be so rude when I see a gorgeous brunette with a cancer stick. It just killed me that so someone would chose to kill themselves with cigarettes.
After moving to a different location it occurred to me that I should have stopped and asked why she was so inclined to smoke? Was smoking still considered cool in here circle of friends? Did she not know a cigarettes contain more than 4000 chemical compounds and at least 400 toxic substances. How about the age old message that “smoking is bad for you”?
I so wanted to go pull one if my classic lines – “My uncle is the Surgeon General and he told me that smoking is bad for my health.” buy I didn’t I took my tea and headed back inside.
As i got situated at my new table, I kept thinking that I could have stopped and questioned her behavior and than I started to see something different – was it my place to question her behavior? Who am I to judge her and her behaviors and habits?
I didn’t get or understand why she smoked and probably never would, but maybe it was not for me to get.Maybe it is the societal pressure around smoking that made me want to say something, maybe it is a moral obligation to save someone. All I know is that i did not say anything and it is probably for the better.
My energy is better spent looking at the smoke signals in my own life. As I thought more about it, I began to realize there are things that I do that maybe people don’t agree with. It was in that moment I began to reflect on the fact that who was I to judge this smoking hipster?
So what things could be worse than smoking? Well I came up with a list of things that may be going on in your life – I know some of them were happening in my life:
– do you not maintain the exterior of your house decreasing property value in your neighborhood or bringing down the overall appearance and atmosphere of your neighborhood?
– do you play your music or tv too loud making it uncomfortable for housemates, family, neighbors, the person in the car next door?
– do you do things in public that could be considered gross or inappropriate?
– do you always dress appropriately for where you are going and what you are doing or do you have to make sure to stand out?
– do you drink to much or rely other substances to have a good time becoming a liability to those around you?
– do you do other things while driving ultimately affecting the way you drive?
– what am I doing with my professional life am I living up to my potential?
– am I taking care of my body, getting enough rest, eating health, relieving stress from my life?
– do you take people for who they are or judge them based on who they are, what they do, where they live, where they shop, what they are wearing, etc.?
So the next time you are ready to judge someone else for their habits, it is probably better to look inward first and see what area of your life is sending smoke signals.
onedegreecloser 