Thursday Book Report: Our Pristine Mind

Wanting to be happy seems to be a universal human trait, at least most of the time.  (We can make exceptions for our 13-year-old selves, who occasionally glory in the misery of it all…)  How to go about being happy, however, appears to have a more… multiplicitous… sort of existence.

One possible answer is provided by Orgyen Chowang’s book Our Pristine Mind:  A Practical Guide to Unconditional Happiness.  Chowang provides an approach rooted in Buddhist practice.

What I found interesting in the book was the contention that meditation can and should go beyond mindfulness.  Admittedly, many of us could do with more mindfulness, however we manage to achieve it.  Going beyond that place to Pristine Mind may seem daunting.

There is much to think about for anyone with an interest in meditation.  I am not sure I would describe the book as “practical” myself; the reader will need to do some work to parse out the actual practical steps to follow.

For me, the book touched on issues that are beyond the scope of a simple book report; I may get around to writing a more in-depth piece on that stuff or I may not.  For the purpose of this post, I will say that the book seems to be worth reading, if somewhat of a slog.

The pelican has nothing to do with the topic, but it is cool, right?

I happen to like to cook.  I think this is a good thing, since I also like to eat and eating happens multiple times a day.  Cooking is one of the most beneficial things we can do for our health.

To clarify, cooking is not about throwing a prepackaged dinner in the microwave, even if we put it on a real plate afterward.  It is about chopping up vegetables and slicing fruit and choosing seasonings and herbs.  While there are many advantages to cooking, I will focus on three.

One:  it gives us control.  When we are doing the cooking, we have the power over how much sugar, salt, and fat we add or omit.  We don’t have to worry about colorings and preservatives.  Heck, we can even leave out the cilantro, just because we don’t like it (or double the amount if we do…).

Two:  it saves money.  Processed food costs more because the food processors have to add energy.  Cooking our own food saves on packaging costs.  The farmers who grow our food do not need to recoup the costs of the huge marketing campaigns they have mounted to get us to buy the Super Branded Snack-o-Rama Food of the Month in the New Improved Cheese and Bacon Flavor.

Three:  it increases pleasure.  Homemade food generally tastes better.  Also, there is the sensory pleasure of cooking:  the smell of herbs, the sizzle of hot pans, the colors of fresh vegetables.

Give it a try.  It’s good for us.

Don't play hurt

I do not like it when famous sports figures play through injuries.  It sets a bad example.  And I am, unfortunately, as subject to the influence as anyone.  A lot of fitness has a “suck it up” mentality when it comes to stuff that hurts.

I am not talking about soreness.  Soreness is a good thing.  It tells us that we have been doing what we need to do to grow.  I’m talking about pain.

When we are injured, the first thing we need to remember is to stop doing what we were doing that hurt us.  If the injury happened in some sort of freak accident way, that is simple enough.  (You know the joke.  Patient:  Doctor, I hurt my leg in three places.  Doctor:  Don’t go to those places!)  It is more challenging if the injury comes from repetitive stress.

RICE is the acronym for home remedies.  Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.  Ibuprofin is not bad either.  None of these things substitutes for professional help.

This is where massage therapists, chiropractors, physical therapists, and doctors come in.  Don’t be afraid to consult them.  They want us to be well!

And after all those folks have fixed us up, we can work with our trainers to correct the form issues that cause our injuries in the first place. 

But don’t play hurt.  It isn’t worth it.

Need protection from the bludgers!

Fitness is a team sport, not unlike Quidditch.  We all need chasers, keepers, beaters, and seekers to win the game.  (No, I am not going to spin the analogy all the way out with detailed comparisons between position players and those we need to help us get and stay fit.  You can complete the activity on your own…)

Some of those team members are our team members, when we play football or baseball or tennis or hockey.  We need coaches.  We need trainers, referees, doctors, massage therapists, chiropractors, cheerleaders, and fans.

Some team members push us to do more.  Some explain what we need to practice and why.  Some put us back together when we are broken.  Some motivate us to keep going.

Let’s find our teams and win big.

Friday Exercise: Quadruped

The Amazing Stickie likes variety in her abdominal workouts.  She also likes to work on her stability in multiple positions.  Quadruped is a great exercise for both of those things.

She begins on all fours (hey, maybe that’s why the exercise is called quadruped!!!!) with her shoulders directly over her wrists and her hips directly over her knees.  Then, keeping her shoulders and hips level, she raises her left arm and right leg out until they are in line with her spine.  She strongly resists the temptation to tilt her hips.  Sometimes visualizing a glass of water resting on her sacrum helps with that; she does not want to get damp!  After she lowers her arm and leg back to the ground, she repeats with the other arm and leg.

She usually does sets of ten repetitions.

Thursday Book Report: The Art of Racing in the Rain

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein is Andrew Luck’s book club pick for adults right now.  (The kid pick, Hatchet, by Gary Paulson, is a great book and highly recommended.  I read it with my younger kid when he was in sixth grade or so…)  Everyone should join this book club. 

The book.  Right.  It is a great, funny, sad story about a guy who drives race cars and his family told from the perspective of the dog.  The story includes plenty of adversity and, better, the overcoming of adversity through hard work and character.  Also, a possessed stuffed zebra.  Enzo, the dog, is hilarious and wise.

At one point, Enzo tells us, “I know this much about racing in the rain.  I know it is about balance.  It is about anticipation and patience.  I know all of the driving skills that are necessary for one to be successful in the rain.  But racing in the rain is also about the mind!  It is about owning one’s own body.  About believing that one’s car is merely an extension of one’s body.  About believing that the track is an extension of the car, and the rain is an extension of the track, and the sky is an extension of the rain.  It is about believing that you are not you; you are everything.  And everything is you.”

Read it and laugh and cry and triumph along with Enzo.

Salty air is better than salty food, right?

I don’t write that much about the intake end of fitness.  I am not a nutritionist, but rather a certified personal trainer.  That means that it is beyond the scope of my practice to design an eating plan for clients, for example.

However, it is part of my practice to encourage everyone to choose foods that are high in nutritional quality and to consume them in appropriate amounts.  No matter how perfect the exercise program I design for myself or anyone else, it will not have the desired result if we eat too many calories.  We will not feel good if we choose primarily highly processed sugary, fatty, salty foods.

Let’s choose wisely for best results.