Tuesday, April 28, 2009

New York

OK, it is day #3 in New York City. Where did the time go?

We reached New York surprisingly well, considering my non-existent sense of direction (mostly thanks to Tova and GPS). I brought 4 huge boxes of books to my son, so any other modes of transportation, other than a rental car, were out of the question for me. He lives now in a large studio apartment midtown east Manhattan, practically three blocks from his work. Awesome neighborhood - practically everything you need to survive is there within 4 block radius. Though food prices are atrocious.

Anyway, I was a little apprehensive the first day of the classes with Sharath. They were held in a huge gym in Chinatown YMCA. Lots of people, though Tova says that it was not quite as crowded as last time, when Guruji was there. I still thought it was an impressive crowd. The practice itself was not as scary as I imagined. Sharath counts very slowly, but he does it in all poses, hard and easy, so there was lots of time to recover. He does 5 sun salutations A and 3 sun salutations B. He also skips paschimottanasanas B and C, only does A and D. No dropbacks, just holding Urdhva Dhanurasana 3X forever (5 loong counts), then chackrasana, vinyasa and paschimottanasana D for 10 counts. No water for Garbha Pindasana. I had to sneak in a tiny bottle of water, otherwise the pose is inaccessible to me. No help in Supta Kurmasana - no wonder, because for the whole crowd he had only one helper - Eddy Stern. Sirsasana was a killer, though. 20 slow counts, and then the ardha variation for 10 very slow counts, back up again, and only then rest. His favorite form of torture - utpluthee. He counts - one..... and then in half an hour - two..., then smiles and starts counting at a normal pace.
So the primary was not scary. Apparently all the drama was happening in the intermediate section. Lots of people got "tapped at the shoulder", meaning that they were supposed to stop and move to the back. In some cases it was not in any was dictated by the quality of the practice, but by other motives. Today we were allowed to observe the intermediate practice and saw it happening. All the drama aside, it was such an inspiring sight! So many awesome yogis doing awesome practice in one place. Sharath even demonstrated karanda himself - amazing. He snaps into lotus with both legs simultaneously and really fast. And the lift seems to be effortless. Unfortunately no photography was allowed. Pity - my hands were itching to start snapping pictures.
Time for bed. It seems that the days fly so fast that I get a whiplash. In a good way.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

I think I am on vacation today.

I thought I would have more time last week, but I was mistaken. Grading the exams, giving make-up exams and extra-credit assignments, explaining my grading system to students individually - ate all my free time. On top of that my laptop broke, taking away all the grades, changes and notes that I made for the course, as well as all my cronometer data. Normally I am very religious about backing up, but not lately. Had to pay through the nose in terms of time and effort in restoring data.
Oh, well, life lesson I guess.
Thank you all for your birthday wishes! We celebrated it yesterday in a French restaurant and the day was just perfect. One wrinkle - I came home and checked the nutritional values of a creamy mussel soup with saffron that I ordered; and one serving of it turned out to be 566 calories. No wonder it was so tasty!
Tova and I are heading to New York today for Sharath's classes. I will have a chance to try out my new Harmony mat. This is going to be my first vacation in ages (5-6 years?). I think I will just sleep, sleep and sleep some more all the time away from yoga. Though I am taking with me my big camera and lenses, maybe I will manage some quality photography time as well.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Things are looking up.

Things definitely got better this week. Proctored the last exam in my immunology class, graded them yesterday. Today I am battling the onslaught of e-mails with requests to boost a grade a little. Firmly holding my positions so far.


Mysore - 4 times. Not quite brilliant, but a whole lot better than last week. A little sore all over, but this is to be expected. I took an advantage of a spa-week promotions and got myself a facial, mani-pedi and a massage. What a luxury!

And yesterday we had such a glorious weather. Perfect day. I wonder if there is a place on Earth where every day is like this? Hawaii, perhaps?
Tulips are blooming:


Birdies are flying:And here is an alternative view of the Washington memorial:



Cron report. In spite of 112% in calorie consumption, I lost 2 pounds. Maybe I miscalculated the baseline? 4 times Mysore and ~6K steps a day - I think it is quite a moderate level of activity. Perhaps it is active for my age? In any case, I am not complaining. Feels so good to be lighter. And finally I stepped into a "normal" BMI level of 24.8. Whoohoo!
Low on fat, selenium and vitamin D. Everything else is pretty good:
Nutrition Summary
Report generated by CRON-o-Meter v0.9.5
Nutrition Summary
April 12, 2009 to April 18, 2009

Daily Averages over 7 days
General (91%)
Energy2008.1 kcal112%
Protein64.9 g144%
Carbs347.3 g129%
Fiber70.9 g236%
Fat48.1 g65%
Water3260.3 g82%
Vitamins (96%)
Vitamin A45743.8 IU1961%
Folate476.0 µg119%
B1 (Thiamine)1.6 mg147%
B2 (Riboflavin)1.8 mg161%
B3 (Niacin)20.5 mg147%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)6.0 mg120%
B6 (Pyridoxine)10.7 mg824%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin)26.8 µg1116%
Vitamin C1599.9 mg2133%
Vitamin D103.7 IU52%
Vitamin E14.9 mg99%
Vitamin K930.7 µg1034%
Minerals (96%)
Calcium1214.1 mg121%
Copper2.4 mg268%
Iron17.6 mg98%
Magnesium446.2 mg139%
Manganese5.5 mg305%
Phosphorus831.2 mg119%
Potassium4959.2 mg106%
Selenium31.7 µg58%
Sodium2264.6 mg151%
Zinc9.7 mg122%
Lipids (70%)
Saturated8.3 g41%
Omega-33.0 g276%
Omega-612.9 g108%
Cholesterol117.7 mg39%

Sunday, April 12, 2009

One week - done, one to go.

OK, this week was dismal from the yoga point of view. I do not remember anything worse in years. I did ONE mysore practice and zero home practices. There was no even teaching yoga, since it was a spring break between sessions in our studio. Ladies holiday and hectic schedule are official excuses, deep seeded exhaustion is probably the real one. This week is the last one for my teaching immunology, so hopefully life will get back to normal after that. Average steps - 5348, aerobic - 1255. I am telling you, just dismal.

Food - did not pay too much attention to what I was eating, just trying not to overeat too grossly. Result - did not get enogh of folate, B3, b5, D, E, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium and zinc. Weight is the same, 75.4 kg (BMI - 25.2).

Nutrition Summary
Report generated by CRON-o-Meter v0.9.5

Nutrition Summary

April 5, 2009 to April 11, 2009
Daily Averages over 7 days



General (89%)
Energy2034.0 kcal113%
Protein75.3 g167%
Carbs291.2 g108%
Fiber44.5 g148%
Fat57.6 g78%
Water2150.9 g54%
Vitamins (89%)
Vitamin A19213.1 IU824%
Folate302.4 µg76%
B1 (Thiamine)1.2 mg109%
B2 (Riboflavin)1.3 mg115%
B3 (Niacin)12.5 mg90%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)4.1 mg83%
B6 (Pyridoxine)7.2 mg557%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin)15.0 µg626%
Vitamin C814.7 mg1086%
Vitamin D142.0 IU71%
Vitamin E8.0 mg53%
Vitamin K312.4 µg347%
Minerals (87%)
Calcium998.1 mg100%
Copper1.4 mg154%
Iron13.8 mg77%
Magnesium306.4 mg96%
Manganese4.6 mg253%
Phosphorus646.8 mg92%
Potassium3362.7 mg72%
Selenium31.8 µg58%
Sodium2071.2 mg138%
Zinc6.3 mg79%
Lipids (76%)
Saturated13.7 g68%
Omega-32.0 g183%
Omega-69.8 g82%
Cholesterol155.6 mg52%

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Another week is gone.

The week zipped through, felt like a day. This is the final stretch in my immunology course; only 3 lectures and 1 exam left. My students are nervous and are constantly asking to give them some extra work to improve the grades. For me this extra work is what it is - extra work, and lots of it. Next time around I will do things a little differentlly.

It seems the DMV tickets became a part of my weekly routine. This time I got a speeding ticket. I do feel the need to slow down,which is now monetarily reinforced. Breathe...

Yoga - again, a 3 day Mysore week. I am not going to beat myself up for that. Of course, 3 days are far from ideal, but it is 3 times better than no Mysore at all. Leg is aching, lower back - too. Got myself a portable ultrasound (thank you, Boodiba!); we'll see if it makes any difference. Practically no home practice this week.

On a positive news - my son graduated from his school! Whew. He already got a job, found an apartment and moved to NYC. We might all go to his commencement ceremony in June. I will get to see him and his apartment when I go to Sharath's week in the end of April. So excited!

Nothing changed in my eating patterns, except now I am lacking iron and potassium. 5K steps weekly average. Need to move my ass more! :)

Report generated by CRON-o-Meter v0.9.5

Nutrition Summary
March 16, 2009 to March 22, 2009
Daily Averages over 7 days


Energy2170.5 kcal121%
Protein115.5 g257%
Carbs305.7 g114%
Fiber52.5 g175%
Fat62.0 g84%
Water1747.4 g44%
Vitamins (100%)
Vitamin A24621.5 IU1055%
Folate561.2 µg140%
B1 (Thiamine)5.1 mg460%
B2 (Riboflavin)5.6 mg513%
B3 (Niacin)21.8 mg156%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid)13.4 mg268%
B6 (Pyridoxine)15.2 mg1166%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin)58.7 µg2446%
Vitamin C1787.5 mg2383%
Vitamin D410.9 IU205%
Vitamin E28.9 mg193%
Vitamin K386.0 µg429%
Minerals (97%)
Calcium1144.1 mg114%
Copper1.6 mg178%
Iron16.1 mg89%
Magnesium401.9 mg126%
Manganese3.8 mg209%
Phosphorus775.7 mg111%
Potassium3579.2 mg76%
Selenium77.6 µg141%
Sodium2708.8 mg181%
Zinc9.9 mg124%
Lipids (87%)
Saturated13.8 g69%
Omega-34.1 g372%
Omega-614.7 g122%
Cholesterol237.0 mg79%


Happy Sunday!

 

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