Getting Started

Yesterday after work, I went over to Bria's and we worked with a Yoga DVD she got a while back. It was her first time using the DVD, so neither of us knew just what to expect from it. As it turns out, it was generally a decent routine, but they had these weird "anti-transitions" where they just finished describing a pose and you were supposed to hold it, but then the video would straight cut to them in a completely different pose and it was awkward and you weren't quite sure if you were supposed to continue holding the original pose or move yourself into the position they were now shown in. Besides that weirdness, it was pretty good, though.

I also found my old Yoga journal from when I took Yoga at university.
I found descriptions of the Five Rites and decided that I wanted to start those back up again. I started this morning with a few Sun Salutations to warm up then moved on to the Five Rites. It was actually tougher than I would like to admit. I only did 5 reps of each and I still felt like I was pushing myself. I used to do 20 reps of each and be perfectly fine. I'm way out of shape. I hope the Yoga aspect of this project will help me re-energize physically and start getting back into decent shape. I'm thinking a decent bit of Downward Dog is in order to start building up my shoulder and upper arm strength. I'm going to start looking into which Yoga positions will help build and tone which muscles. Should definitely be interesting!

I got my writing in with my blogging yesterday but didn't get around to any other writing. I'd

like to get really rolling with some of those other writing tasks I've got in mind. Especially the ones where I get some things written for work. I've sort of gotten a start on one about barbecues. I'm still going back and forth between the ideas of writing about a single, specific barbecue for a product highlight or writing about how to design and build your perfect outdoor kitchen.

Based on the economy, I feel like the product highlight would be more logical, but who doesn't dream of having their own outdoor kitchen? Okay, so I don't dream of having one... I just wouldn't say no to it. Mmm.... outdoor kitchen. Now I'm thinking about them, I'm even more intrigued by the idea. What would have to be done to fully convince someone that an outdoor kitchen was what they wanted? I certainly don't know, but if I was a salesperson, I'm sure I'd figure it out. Thank all that is good in the world that I don't have to deal with that nonsense!

Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent, aren't I? I wanted to end this by sharing a passage from The Way We're Working Isn't Working that I read yesterday. In addition to it allowing me to reflect on myself, it actually brought about thoughts about some of my closest friends. I feel like they would benefit from considering the following paragraph, but would fight it tooth and nail if I tried to send it their way:

"The fear of what we'll see keeps us from looking at ourselves more honestly. Denial prompts a cycle that feeds on itself. 'Each violation of one's standard brings a negative affect that makes it unpleasant to be self-aware,' writes the psychologist Roy Baumeister. 'The person avoids monitoring his or her own behavior, which makes further violations possible. The longer this goes on, the more unpleasant it is to resume monitoring oneself, because one must recognize that one has severely violated desired patterns of behavior.'" (The Way We're Working Isn't Working pg. 28)