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Introduction Text May 3, 2020, beginning yet again! We're in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in earnest around March 1. Since my last SP weigh-in I'm up 17.6 lbs. and feeling very uncomfortable and bloated. My eating has been purdy much non-stop. My first action in the current weight loss strategy was to eliminate buying all trigger foods, a biggie for me. Next is moving toward potion control as I begin logging my food intake. Exercise-wise, it's bike riding, qigong, and yoga. I'm ready for some positive change. And the beat goes on. "The trouble is, you think you have time," said the Buddha. And although I know the importance of daily meditation, pranayama (breathing practices), exercise/movement, and moderate daily food intake, sadly I haven't been consistent. I am, though, committed to optimal body-mind-spirit health,and will start over as many times as it takes. I intend to "have patience with everything unresolved in my heart, and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language, not searching for the answers, which could not be given to me now because I would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now." (Rainer Maria Rilke) The shape my life will morph into in the foreseeable future is a mystery -- I'm trying to "live the questions now" with grace, letting go of anxiety about the future. Oh, and anyway T. S. Eliot tells us, "We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time." Bottom line in all of this is, "Don't take life too serious -- it's all just so mysterious!" (George Gershwin) And a bit more kitchen table wisdom: In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few. ----Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind Everything that happens to me is my teacher. The trick is to sit at the feet of my own life and let myself be taught by it. --Unknown An always useful tool for me -- The Seven Habits of Mindful Eating: http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=3026

~ know joy ~ no judgment Reshape yourself by the power of your will; never let yourself be degraded by self-will. The will is the only friend of the Self, and the will is the only enemy of the Self. To those who have conquered themselves, the will is a friend. But it is the enemy of those who have not found the Self within them. --Bhagavad Gita 6:5-6

GOAL ~ Daily meditation and pranayama practice ~ Daily gratitudes journaling ~ Exercise at least 10 min./day ~ 20 min. strength training every-other day

I'm a California native, and I have lived primarily in northern CA/San Francisco Bay Area when not traveling or living out-of-state or internationally. I currently live near Little Rock, AR. I returned to school to pick up another undergrad degree, in Spanish, and finished it in Dec, 2013. I've been a volunteer in a services project for women prisoners. I also volunteer and have worked for El Zocalo Immigrant Resources Center. I am a Yogic-Buddhist-Sufi-Christian mystic -- heh heh. Swami Satchidananda is my root teacher (Diksha Guru).. As a lacto-ovo vegetarian I have eaten a whole, mostly organic, plant-based diet since 1980. I enjoy cooking delicious food with *attitude.*

I love a good movie (e.g., The Visitor; Iris; The Man Who Sued God; Bella) or read (authors Mary Catherine Bateson and Jill Ker Conway are current favorites). I also read sacred texts and other spiritual books, and Swami Satchidananda, Pema Chodron, and Thich Nhat Hanh are among favorite wisdom writers. As a wimpy Pisces swimming around in the cosmic ocean with lots of air influence, I don't like books or movies too negative, or intense or horrific. My delicate sensibility is easily thrown off-balance. Really. Mary Oliver, Naomi Shihab Nye, David Whyte, John O'Donohue, Pablo Neruda and Rumi are favorite poets. And music! From Angelique Kidjo and Amadeus Mozart to Diana Krall and Krishna Das...and a world in-between!

Add a Link Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. -- Mahatma Gandhi Never eat more than you can lift. -- Miss Piggy <link>www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=3026 </link>
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