There was a time..

There was a time when an economy class ticket would still get you a warm smile from the air hostesses, warm blankets, a kit with toothpaste, socks, eye patch, ear plugs for everyone, another kit with fun stuff to do for every kid that gets on the plane, veggie noodles for snacks between meals, and among other things, a deck of playing cards to pass time.

We have been playing cards at home recently with the kids as the little one is turning into a rummy champion of sorts!

The one deck of cards that has still survived in the house is this one.

This deck pre dates both Jr. and the little one. We got it in the late nineties I think. I kept it as a souvenier of what air travel used to be like. The box is all taped up and the cards were handled with care over 16 years. 

Now we are playing with it. I am tempted to return it back into my shoe box and buy a new deck of cards to play with the kids. Given it is the first time we will be paying for a deck of cards, want it to be a memorable deck for the kids.

Who knows? Maybe they will tape it all up and show it to me in 20 years? 

Golpeando en el mismo lugar..

During my dancing days, used to listen to a lot of Latin music. One of my favorite artists was and is Franco de Vita and one of my favorite songs is "Golpeando en el mismo lugar".. the funny thing is that we have a similar phrase in Tamil.. "Patta kaalaye padum" which translates to "the leg that gets hit, get hits again".  

Why bring all this up? It is all in a day's thoughts inside my hamster brain. 

Recently, I tried to catch a falling heavy lens with my foot and paid a painful price for it. Then the same thing repeated. My glass lunch box, which is reasonably heavy was in the trunk. While holding it in its flimsy plastic bag and trying to close the trunk, the bag basically ruptured and my lunch box was going to hit the floor. I tried to catch it with my foot.. same foot. Now the right toe area is bruised and hurts when any weight is put on it.

This didn't stop me from going to Yoga class the last couple of days, just that my favorite poses become painful experiences. Nevertheless, I did try and sit through some poses and finish the class. 

Do not know how long it will take to heal. So far using Tiger Balm patches and warm compresses to help manage it.  So far it is getting better. 

The jet lag added to my problems. Recently I have figured out the perfect way to beat jet lag.. or so I thought. Come home on a 40 hour day and go to Yoga class before going to bed. That gets the sleep cycle back. However, what I am learning is that there is two pieces to jet lag. Sleep timings and stomach request timings. Do not know what it takes to adjust the stomach rumble times. Given the tummy wants things at odd times, ignoring that request and sleeping is not a good idea. The stomach acid catches up with you and at odd times. Have to do some more research on beating this part of jet lag. 

The only good thing that came out of this accident? I put that old CD back on the CD player and listened to it. Brought back so many memories from college days! 

Resistance is futile

Recently, one of my favorite yoga teachers told the class "what are you resisting right now? find out and let it go. it is like driving. you see the red light. you want it to be green, but it is not. it is red. you are all tense. if you accept it is red and relax till it becomes green you are much better off. I used to tense up at red signals.. now I acccept. whatever it is you are resisting, be it the fact that your water bottle is almost empty, something at work, some local tension in your body.. let it go!" 

At first I was worried for the teacher because this dude is very happy go lucky and for a few seconds I saw a side of him that I have not seen before... a very philosophical deeply introspective person. There was a seriousness in his eyes when he said it that was a "I have been here, done that and I am not saying this to be taken lightly"

The very next day, another favorite teacher of mine comes back to the hot room. Have missed him the last three months because every day when I start doing the standing bow, I will start wrong and correct myself and would think of this guy. The last two three weeks, there is no correcting, but that tells you that any changes to the practice over the last many years has a 2 month plus time to take permanence. It is not easy to break habits. 

So "El Fuego" shows up and is watching me.. he even remembers what he told me before leaving and at that moment I get "teacheritis". It is a condition where the fact that the teacher is watching you makes you conscious, and you try to do the best you can be, over do it, and fall off in a small heap on your mat.

After a few attempts I pulled off what was the best standing bow to date and he comes and pulls my leg and hand "up" and says "you have fixed the hand to chin and the kick, but now you are too down and you push your hip out in the last moment.. start working on that"

It is going to be another two months to get that one down!

As for resistance, that part is absolutely true. You can go from San Jose to San Francisco in the same car and spend different amounts of gas depending on how you drive. If you drive without constant braking, you get better gas mileage and don't wear off your brake pads. If you speed up and slow down with minimal use of the brakes, it is a much more comfortable ride.

My recent experiences in the yoga room are all about the brakes. I can do the poses. Have significantly improved over the last year. Can also do the class without sighing or any heavy breathing. So the breathing is getting better. The real issue is to focus and be in the room instead of having the mind wander.

Takes me 20 minutes sometimes to forget work, home, the guy who tailgated me for no reason etc. before the class. Then when we get down on the floor and are lying on the mat looking at the glass or ceiling, it is the little corrosion behind the mirror, the one tile that is slightly off on the ceiling, or an ant that is about to die when my 747 lands on it (we fly like planes in the yoga room at one point). 

Have been working consciously to reduce this 20 minutes down. So far it is ~5 minutes.

If that 5 minutes can come down to a few seconds, that would be awesome!