Saturday, March 19, 2011

Yoga and St. Patties

    Yoga week is over.  So, doing yoga everyday was relaxing and stretching.  Now there are different types of yoga. Like for instance, did you know there is a fighting form of yoga? With the many forms and with multiple facilities offering a wide range of classes I had my choices. However, I chose to simply do it in the comfort of my own home.  I simply stuck to a Wal-mart special DVD.  It was a body sculpting, fat burning, muscle stretching thirty minutes. Yes you can get a full body work out from yoga.  I did all the motions from baby cobra to warrior one to downward facing dog and back to my heart center. At the beginning, the instructor tells you to take a deep breath then asks you if that was your first deep breath of the day. Most days it was and it felt good. I can honestly say afterwards I felt good, stretched, and a little more fit.
    Moving on to St. Patties Day. A wonderful holiday that gives people an excuse to go out drink beer, get drunk and kiss or fight someone. But, did you know that we as Americans have really distorted the holiday.  Now, the Irish do celebrate the patron saint of Ireland but not so extensively. At least not so much in the past but are starting to embrace the monetary value of the tourist that flock to the Emerald Isle in search of a traditional celebration. Saint Patrick himself was actually from England. He was kidnapped and held captive in Ireland when he was sixteen. Six years later he escaped and went back to England where he joined the church. After becoming a saint, he did return to Ireland to share his religious beliefs.  His robes weren’t green either, they were blue.  Now I can’t say that it was Americans or Irish Americans that started the transformation to make money on the holiday but it happened and every college kid from coast to coast is extremely happy they did. So, next year when you decide to put on your green shirt with the phrase “kiss me, I’m Irish” or your plastic green hat, why not throw in a little tradition with a little blue. When your sipping  the green beer at your local watering hole, give a toast, a salute, or a little prayer to St Patrick himself and thank him for being a brave soul and returning to Ireland.
    This week I plan on living a standard life. You may ask yourself, “what does he mean?” Well, a standard life per National Institute of Health means I must follow the food pyramid based on a 2,000 calorie diet, get seven and a half to nine hours of sleep, 64 ounces of water, and do thirty to ninety minutes of exercise.   This should be fun.
    Oh and my challenge from last week. How I measure to the average man. Well I did 34 push ups and 32 sit ups in one minute. it’s a little harder then I though it would be. I struggled and took some breaks in between but I got the push ups and fell a little short of the sit ups. Since I have to do 30 to 90 minutes of exercise this week, I will revaluate myself at the end of the week.
    Keeping with the spirit of getting my body and my mind is shape I’ve been researching some “brain exercises.”  reading helps and listening to piano music apparently.  Along with trying to read a little each day, I’ve been attempting to play a game on the Xbox called Brain Challenge. Hope it helps.
    So for now I’m off to live my standard life. Go fourth and conquer, but don’t forget to flush.

“All that I am, or hope to be,  I owe to my angel mother.”
                        -Abraham Lincoln

1 comment:

  1. I am glad that I got the run-down on St. Patty's. I had never thought to look into the true, non-commercial, meaning of the holiday. I am jealous of your worldly rounding of your life and inspiring experiences. I am hoping that my biking/running combo and healthier eating will fulfill my need for body control and I would like to get into reading or something like that in order to keep my mind stimulated. Thanks for the inspiration PJ. I had to ply catch-up since I missed last weeks post.

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