Cricket is my favorite sport?

Some days I don’t want to move my body.  Fortunately, I have a dog who has no idea why I might feel that way and who makes my life a burden to me until I get my behind in gear and take her to walk.  I almost always feel better at the end.

This is an inadvertent example of making life patterns that support healthy choices.  I did not get a dog because I wanted to get out from under the nice warm covers in the dark and trek out into the world.  (It was actually about the cuddles.)  However, we can do this on purpose.  Maybe we decide that we don’t need a car after all and can get to work by a combination of public transit and walking.  Maybe we stop budgeting for eating out and we cook tasty, healthy, cheaper food at home.

The goal is to end up feeling like Treebeard, who says in one of the Lord of the Rings movies that when he walks south he always feels like he is going downhill.  Make the healthy choice the downhill one, the one that feels easier and better.

Monday Workout: Arnold!

Sometimes we get stuck in exercise ruts.  One way to bust out of a rut is to throw in a new exercise.  This week’s workout features Arnold presses, named after the strongest former Governor of California.  Here’s how they work:  begin in the ending position for a curl, elbows bent, weights at the shoulders.  Open the arms out to the sides, keeping the elbows bent.  When the arms are in line with the body, press the weights overhead as with a normal overhead press.  Reverse the motion to return to the starting position.  Try them with light weights first; they are sneaky hard.

There are also options listed for different kinds of jacks.  Choose the one that is appropriate for the state of your body, your knees, and your energy level.  All the options will get the heart rate up.

As always, remember this is YOUR workout.  Substitute other exercises if the ones I’ve listed don’t work for you.

Three rounds.

woodchoppers	30
ball slams	20
rescues	10
mountain climbers	30
squats	20
good mornings	10
plyojacks/jacks/mod jacks	30
Arnold press	20
Russian twist	10

Friday Book Report: The Heart of Yoga

I find it very handy when I happen to like a book that I have to read anyway.  T.K.V. Desikachar’s book, The Heart of Yoga:  Developing a Personal Practice, is one of the texts for the yoga course I’m taking.  It is a lovely book.

For the course, we don’t have to read every chapter, but I read the whole thing anyway because that is how I roll.  Desikachar has a gift for lucid explanation and tells a good story when it is useful to illustrate a point.  There is also a gentleness and humor to his prose, which is welcome given that he has to unpack some complicated ideas and introduce some arcane practices.

The diagrams support the text well.  Even better, many of the (vintage) photographs feature Desikachar’s father and teacher, Krishnamacharya.  They illustrate the poses and ideas, of course, but have a pleasing tone of lightness and fun (and sometimes striped shorts!).

Desikachar lays out the eight limbs of yoga and discusses them at length.  He concludes the book with a translation and commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.  I expect to treasure this book and use it often.