Visiting Seattle

I am in Seattle this week visiting my daughter and her family.  I have three grandchildren.  They are 10, 7, and 3 years of age.  I have to say after one day, the children seem somewhat more balanced than I have ever seen them before.  My daughter also seems more balanced than I have seen her in some time.  This makes for a pleasant visiting environment.

It is gray and gloomy here so far and yin force dominates with the moist air and lack of sunshine.  We will make the best of it with sunshine from winter squash and other winter vegetables which store sunshine as they grow and give it back to you when you consume them.  It's a beautiful arrangement.

We will take advantage of the yin force with some skiing on a couple of days.  Yee Haw!!

Take care and thanks for reading.

Still Yin dominating

Only a few more weeks until we start transitioning to warm weather.  Hang in there.  Here in Dayton, Ohio the snow has melted after a week in the 50's and 60's.  Those of you who are in the northern regions still have some winter left.  Yin force is dominant now so continue to lightly cook vegetables and fruit and avoid extreme yin foods such as alcohol, cold foods like ice cream, and sugar.  Use grains that are small and compact like short grain brown rice and amaranth.  Buckwheat is also very warming.  It was the main grain in Russia historically.  Eat meat sparingly to support active physical activity.

Be observant and you can perceive the yin and yang force working in your body.  You have to pay close attention.  Also notice the vast intelligence that is demonstrated by the nature around you.  You can not help but be in reverence for all creation.

My blessings.

Thanks for reading.

India and back in 21 weeks

I recently returned from India (Nov. 30) after 21 weeks there.  I participated in the first Hata Yoga Teacher Training school designed and given by Isha Foundation at the Isha Yoga Center about an hour and a half southwest of Coimbatore in the state of Tamil Nadu.  The Isha Yoga Center sits at the base of mountains that are locally known as the Velliangiri Foothills   When I say at the base I mean that the ashram adjoins a nature preserve and you can walk from the ashram to the mountain in about thirty minutes.  We climbed the mountain to various waterfalls a few times while we were there.

One of our overnight treks took us to a river flowing down the mountain about 5 hours hike from the ashram.  It was a beautiful spot and the water was pristine.  You could actually drink the water without purification.  This is so rare in the world of my experience that there are still places that are this pristine.

The energy generated by the falling water is invigorating and the yin energy is very intense being so close to the equator and at elevation (maybe 4000 ft, 1500 m.).  This intense yin energy is often manifested as mist and the mountains are often shrouded in clouds.  The energy rolls down the mountain and settles in the valley below including the ashram.  If you go on Google Earth and type in Isha Yoga Center you can see what I am writing about.

The center is at the 11th parallel and so is quite close to the equator.  This is where the yin force (centrifugal) is the strongest.  Yogis like to be below the 30th parallel as the strong yin forces help their energies rise.  Some yogis would remain vertical at all times, even during sleep to insure that the yin force always moved outward through the body.

Anyway, I am back home in Ohio and it is an adjustment to jump directly into winter.  Needless to say I am in excess yin and have had to be very careful to readjust my diet to align with the cold weather.  Remember, in extreme adjustments like this, always adjust to the center for the place where you are living.

Thanks for reading.

Mood swings

Today I was riding in a car as my daughter was driving.  She is 16 and a newly licensed driver.  As we approached a traffic light controlled intersection, she asked me if she should turn right at the light.  I was confused and so did not answer immediately because there was no reason to turn and I did not know why she would ask.  In the meantime she pressed her question and the light turned red as she drifted into the intersection.  Luckily the traffic was light and she managed to get out of the intersection without an accident.

At that point she became somewhat moody and not herself.  This continued till we arrived home in about 5 minutes.  She left for a few minutes and then returned.  In the meantime, I had a chance to think over what had happened in the car and then it struck me that the incident had been caused by a drop in her blood sugar.  I have seen this so many times but not recently so I was a little slow to recognize the symptoms.

This indicates that she is consuming too many sugar and white flower products and not enough complex carbohydrates.  So later we had a discussion about this because I wanted her to be aware of what was happening and that she was making some problematic food choices.  She doesn't take my advice very gracefully but the mood swings brought on by a drop in blood sugar can be disorienting and debilitating in many ways.

My daughter has been so balanced all her life and I hope that she can use her intelligence enough to maintain this balance in the face of very strong peer pressure.  It is not easy.

I am saddened by the lack of healthy food choices I observe among teenagers these days.  There is a high price to pay.

Thanks for reading.