Stick Shift Life Advice

Learning to drive a stick shift has been enlightening.  Today I learned how to manage stop and go traffic. I use the term manage loosely.
Basically I have been driving a stick before I really should. It's a challenging thing at first but I'm handling it.  It's even more challenging not reacting to stalling in stop and go traffic. People are in such a rush and not used to cars stalling out. They zoom up on you thinking your going to go and stop suddenly in your rear.  It's exhilarating. 
Today I realized I keep killing the car by slamming on my breaks instead of the clutch and the brake.   I then shift into neutral and pull the car to a stop.  Shift to first and go.  Any time I'm uncertain about what to do I remember my new mantra.  'Pause,  put it in neutral,  take it to first, make double sure it is in first,  breath, break if needed. '
After not realizing I was in third instead of first from takeoff and feeling like the engine was going to shoot out from under the hood I knew I needed a mantra.
Then I realised it was familiar.  Non reaction is a work in progress for me.   When I feel a reaction coming up in me to something that is creating a reaction now I tell my self to step back. Same thing as shifting, get out of gear into neutral. 
I'm going to merge the two,  stop,  get into neutral,  assess the situation,  when ready,  move forward.
Happily shifting forward,
Namaste,  Troy.

The world is F!#*ed up. .

I attended a Sally Kempton workshop in Berkeley last Sunday and she ended it with the funniest line.
The workshop was based on the Gita, one of my favorite Yoga texts.  Heck, I named my cat Arjuna. None of the information was new but she presented it in a new way to me.  She used four challenges presented to Arjuna as the basis of the course. 
It was interesting, but I love her book on meditation and thought the talk was going to be based on that subject plus the air in the studio was so stuffy and everyone seemed so serious.  My Guru is funny and gets us to laugh a bit but the people here were not laughing at Sallys jokes.
Then she hit us with what I call a wake up.  If your a presenter and you feel everyone is drifting or becoming comatose a good tool is to change the tone.  So out it came from this sweet mediator:
"The world is Fucked up so just do the best you can".
I'm going to have to steal that line.
Doing the best I can is my personal mantra.  I have a critic mind. People tease me for always changing my environs,  What they don't know is its because my mind is consistently telling me how things, including myself and others can be better.  It's very frustrating.  Meditation had helped a little.  Now when it points out this about Me I counter with "The world is Fd and I'm doing the best I can".
See you on the mat,
Troy

Soul Adventurer

The best thing about traveling is seeing what I'm missing at home. Walking around Rockridge last night,  a lovely little village slipped in between Berkley and Oakland my mind was doing little back flips.  All the diversity of Manhattan but at a laid back California pace.  Had a fresh made to order garlic free Samosa to go from an authentic,  super clean walk up then around the corner a Greek yogurt soup and Baklava. 
Ok,  in list of places to live goes Rickridge. Off to meditate with Sally Kempton.

an Yoga Keep a Person Healthy?

Can Yoga Keep a Person Healthy?  http://www.sunsaluteyoga.com

Staying healthy and fit is a desire many people have, and those who practice yoga are no different. However, there is a premise that yoga alone can maintain good health, which may seem like more of a marketing gimmick than a viable, exercise conclusion. However, yoga is far more than an exercise or sport. It represents and incorporates a fundamental balance of physical and mental performance. So there’s a viable possibility that yoga can be very effective in improving and maintaining good health.
Fitness in general is a vague term used to define people being healthy and capable of performing the physical feats they want to on a regular basis. This includes being able to physical move and exercise without pain, delay, loss of breath, strength and similar. Traditionally, many use cardiovascular exercise and weightlifting or resistance to develop a state of fitness. However, yoga can do the same as well.
Yoga helps improve health in four different ways:

• Cardiovascular performance
• Strength-building
• Flexibility
• Improved body composition

Cardio
Many of yoga’s forms, movements and exercises uniquely designed to settle, strengthen and improve cardiovascular performance. The ability to breathe better and stronger is improved over time through coordinated breathing exercises will holding positions, stretches and more. That, over time, helps create a stronger internal system for bringing oxygen into the body. It also helps reduce heart problems, cholesterol buildup, and weak blood vessels. The more pressure the body pushes through the cardiovascular system, the stronger the heart and related blood vessels become as a result.
Strength
Clearly, long-term yoga redefines the body and its ability to hold positions, weight, angles and forms. Using the body’s own weight as resistance, the entire body from the core to the legs and arms build up capacity. That in turn provides strength to do more and more, even when a person grows older. Pulled muscles, strains and sprains, and ligament twists don’t happen near as much, even when active, because regular yoga provides consistent stretching and strength-building year round. The muscle-building also helps a person burn more calories everyday as well, reducing or preventing weight gain with a good diet.
Better Flexibility
Yoga is well known for developing good flexibility in practitioners, especially in the back, core, and limbs. This type of stretching and position-holding helps people perform better without tissue or ligament tears that become common with older age. Increased stretching also allows the body’s muscles to handle greater strain without weakness as they can be stretched farther without damage.
Overall Body Makeup
Yoga provides a comprehensive approach to body development and balance. As a result, it will, over time, change a person’s body composition to perform better. This includes increased muscle mass, better flexibility, better breathing and reduced fat. It also helps of course to adjust one’s diet and not engaging in damage behavior such as smoking. That said, yoga can definitely create a far better physical makeup with consistent practice and application. That, in turn, improves mental confidence and capacity, which improves mental outlook as well. The two become a circle of improvement, moving a person to a better and better stage overall.
In Summary
Yoga isn't a perfect solution for overall health maintenance. People still get sick, catch viruses and grow older. However, the activity can definitely improve a person's overall health, which in turn creates long-term benefits. These improvements do contribute to a less sedentary lifestyle and a better physical maintenance of the body. That also helps contribute to enjoying life more, staying healthier, and a better mental outlook. When so much of being fit and healthy involves balance of the body and mind, yoga is definitely an approach worth looking into for long-term health.

Birthday Party Saturday

My Birthday Party

How To

How to decide what's right and what's wrong? Who's right and who's wrong? Am I living by what I believe our someone else's programming.
Who's to say what balance is? Should I do a little abstaining and a little indulging, or one or the other?
How to decide?