Hello Again everyone,
Another crazy and eventful week here in the STAN. First off I would like to thank everyone for all of the supportive e-mails and packages that have been sent. My guys and I really appreciate all of the support.
This week started off on a down note though. One of our supply FOBs, (Forward Operating Base), was hit by a suicide bomber. Two US killed, and 7 wounded, plus several local vendors. This occurred on FOB Lightning, about 20 Km away from us. It was at the Saturday and Sunday local bazaar that they host up there. It is an initiative for local vendors to sell some cultural stuff to the soldiers and airmen who are up on that particular base. The bomber was dressed like an AUP (Afghan Uniformed Police). However, the intel we have received was that he was not associated with any ANSF, (Afghan National Security Force). The insurgents do this to discredit the Afghan forces and try and drive a wedge between the Afghan forces and the US and ISAF forces operating here.
I know that this hit the news, because my mother brought it up while I was able to talk to her on a phone this last week. I had been to this bazaar back in October when I first visited FOB Lightning. I noticed that it was an extremely soft target. When my team arrived in late October, I told them that if they were going to go to one of these Bazaars that they would need to go with a battle buddy and alway keep their guard up because of the lack of security and all of the local nationals that were around. In this case the attack took place, and there were several casualties. Several of the vendors were also hurt in the explosion. There is good news about this story which I am quite sure none of you have heard about.
You see, my deployment to Iraq back in 2007-2008 introduced me to a lot of technology which we use to fight the conflict over here, which is really quite spooky. We have the same stuff here, and in fact we even have newer items that I have not even been read in on. However, when you walk around, all you have to do is look up, and look for the different and very cool antennas that are hanging off of towers around the military installations. The cooler they look the more hard core they are. At least thats what I like to believe. Back to the story...
So one of the guys who planned and assisted with this attack just happened to get on his cell phone on his way back to the hideout. Unbeknownst to him, his conversation was picked up by some of this technology, and because he stayed on the phone for 30 mins while riding back to the hideout bragging about his success to all of his little bad guy friends, well, they traced him all the way back to his home. They are called Qalats, which are mud walled compounds with usually one to four buildings in them. Anyway, that night in the middle of their celebrations, they had some unexpected visitors, who rolled them all up, and took them home. If you know what I mean. This goes to show, that even though the bad guys get their licks in once and a while, there really is no place to hide.
Changing the tone of the letter a bit. My team SGT and I were supposed to go out to one of the AFCOPs this week, but between the security changes with the suicide bomber and confirmation that we are having several Afghan Technical Engineers coming to assess the bazaar water tower, we have been quite busy. In the next couple of days we are going out to the family who lost four men to the IED which blew up their tractor. I will be happy to finally put that to rest, and support the local government and CF Soldiers out there to demonstrate their condolences. We had a local Mullah speak on the radio this past week as well. Boy he let the bad guys have it. After speaking from the Holy Quran, he basicly stated that those people who kill innocent or help kill innocent people here in Zormat and throughout Afghanistan are not Muslims, and will be judged by Allah, and will go directly to hell. It was a pretty powerful speech which took nearly 20 minutes. It shows that the majority of people here do not want the insurgents here, and just want to live a quite and peaceful life. Many of the people I have contact with, too include my local assets are tired of war and conflict. Many of the older men have never known peace, and many of the younger kids that we talk to, have never lived without US military being in their country. Kind of strange....
Well that is all for this week. I know not much on our part. Many of the activities that I participated in this week are not things I am aloud to share right now. My team is doing fine, and we are in good spirits. I was able to arrange it that my entire team could go home for the holidays, but that meant I had to stay back. No issue though, it will not be my first holiday season away from the family. Plus, my team chief is staying back up in Gardez and has invited me to dinner up there. So in a week or so, I will be up there for a couple of days. I would like to wish everyone happy holidays in advance. And thanks again for all of your support.
Sincerely,
Tristan
Friday, December 10, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Holidays are Stressing Me Out.
This week I have been using the theme 'To mine a well, you have to dig vertically, not horizontally' from Bapuji. He is so right, in order to find solutions to what ever may be working or not working, we have to look at ourselves, our habits and repeated behavior. A good hard look will let us know right away if what we are doing is working in our lives.
I hope you are able to channel the Holiday stress into productive exercise in these coming weeks. To make yourself feel better you may want to create a morning/ evening routine that you do everyday to keep you focused. Taking stress to bed? Try to not watch T.V. An hour before sleeping which leaves the brain over stimulated.
Get anxious in the middle of the day? Try three deep breaths, then picture a silver, white ball surrounding you. Feel it protecting you. See your skin glowing from it and repeat 'I am safe and protected' three times.
Do you know any one that needs/ wants training? Word of mouth is the best tool. My business survives on it. Let me know if I can call on anyone and get them fit.
And since your out and about town, if you come across/ see any places that you think I should be teaching for, please let me know. Any suggestions are so helpful and we never know where they lead. And if I can help your business grow too, let me know how.
Stay moving, Troy
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
How to Focus Now
I start every Yoga class I teach with an optional tool or technique that we can use throughout the class to learn something about ourselves. I say optional, because I can see as I introduce the idea that some students are uncomfortable with the idea of doing or learning something other than postures.
Today I opened my Guru's book (Sayings of Swami Kripalu) to a page on meditation: 'Meditation is integral to yoga. Because people are different, various approaches to meditation have evolved to suit their needs. Seekers should experiment with a variety of techniques until they find one to their liking. But if there is no meditation in the practice, it can not be called yoga.'
With this I set the intention to use this in our practice. Any time we feel distracted in life or a Yoga class, we can use a 'meditation' or for this purpose we will use the word 'focus' technique. This can be any tool in our tool box, such as listening to the sound of the breath, feeling the flow of the breath, focusing on the feeling of the body, the temperature of the room, the smell of our environment, the sound of music, or a spot across the room. Noticing when we become scattered by distractions such as a noisy person, a negative conversation, our ego mind, a hot room, or any variety of things that are trying to 'steal' our energy is half the battle. If we practice noticing our attention flowing away from us this is step one. Once we notice that we have become distracted, we can move on to step two.
Finding a 'meditation' or focus technique that works for us becomes a trigger that brings us back to where we want to be. The list is endless and it takes experimentation and practice to find the one that works for you. Once you find your focus technique implementing it is step two. Use it as a method of bringing you into the present moment and draw your attention back to you. For me, I find that breathing a long breath in through my nostrils, retaining the oxygen in my lungs and then taking a long exhale out of my nostrils dials me in immediately. I have used it in the middle of an argument, in traffic, on the phone, in class, and even in the middle of a store. It just takes me right into myself.
Step three is practicing this technique, frequently and often. It can change over time, evolving as you do. I used to just make a Mudra with my hand, but that no longer has the effect it used to.
Play around with this concept, put many techniques into your tool box, see which one works for you and don't be afraid to use it. Keep your focus and stay centered and notice how much happier and unaffected you are by all the distractions in the world.
Troy
Today I opened my Guru's book (Sayings of Swami Kripalu) to a page on meditation: 'Meditation is integral to yoga. Because people are different, various approaches to meditation have evolved to suit their needs. Seekers should experiment with a variety of techniques until they find one to their liking. But if there is no meditation in the practice, it can not be called yoga.'
With this I set the intention to use this in our practice. Any time we feel distracted in life or a Yoga class, we can use a 'meditation' or for this purpose we will use the word 'focus' technique. This can be any tool in our tool box, such as listening to the sound of the breath, feeling the flow of the breath, focusing on the feeling of the body, the temperature of the room, the smell of our environment, the sound of music, or a spot across the room. Noticing when we become scattered by distractions such as a noisy person, a negative conversation, our ego mind, a hot room, or any variety of things that are trying to 'steal' our energy is half the battle. If we practice noticing our attention flowing away from us this is step one. Once we notice that we have become distracted, we can move on to step two.
Finding a 'meditation' or focus technique that works for us becomes a trigger that brings us back to where we want to be. The list is endless and it takes experimentation and practice to find the one that works for you. Once you find your focus technique implementing it is step two. Use it as a method of bringing you into the present moment and draw your attention back to you. For me, I find that breathing a long breath in through my nostrils, retaining the oxygen in my lungs and then taking a long exhale out of my nostrils dials me in immediately. I have used it in the middle of an argument, in traffic, on the phone, in class, and even in the middle of a store. It just takes me right into myself.
Step three is practicing this technique, frequently and often. It can change over time, evolving as you do. I used to just make a Mudra with my hand, but that no longer has the effect it used to.
Play around with this concept, put many techniques into your tool box, see which one works for you and don't be afraid to use it. Keep your focus and stay centered and notice how much happier and unaffected you are by all the distractions in the world.
Troy
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