Gee, Think.

Our June 9th I returned to my ashtanga practice.  I went back to the studio where my wife has been going with great commitment for the past year.  It was a sentimental moment as I thought back on all the good memories we had of going to classes together while my train was approaching the station.  Yoga presents a lot of challenges, and for me, brought some of my mind patterns to the fore front.  It was not just a physical challenge, but an opportunity for introspection and growth.

I was sore for the whole week following June 9th.  I will likely be sore for the week after tonight, which is only my second class in my return to Ashtanga.  However it will soon pass, and I believe I will find myself stronger, more flexible, and less sore after getting back into it.

For the uninitiated I would like to say that yoga is like baskin robins.  There’s 32 flavors or more.  Some styles are slow, others are fast, some hold positions longer, some focus on movement, other on stillness.  There’s a great variety, so dont be surprised when someone tells you that their yoga class was challenging or exhausting.  I find ashtanga to be a very challenging workout.  I usually leave drenched in sweat, even in the cold winter months.

During my time away from ashtanga, I focused more on Hung Ga.  Hung Ga has many aspects, and its root is horse stance.  There is a strong emphasis on building the foundation, which is most notably horse stance.  I have no great experience in this martial art, but I can say that my legs are much stronger than they used to be.  I have found this training to have really improved some aspects of my yoga practice.  I felt myself sinking further  into Warrior 1 and other postures that focused on bending the knee to support nearly the full body weight.  Some of my training brothers may cringe to hear it, but I find that the two methods of training, though they are very different, compliment each other nicely.  Today I had a landmark realization in my vinyasas.  I realized that I could nearly swing my body between my arms from sitting by clenching my abdomen as if i was being kicked in the stomach.   That sudden contraction while lifting my body with my arms would cause my legs to swing backward.  I felt more momentum in this vinyasa transition that ever before, and it felt good.  I could really see it developing into real yoga someday.  Another bit of fun was finally being able to transiton from insect (or firefly) into crow. I never understood how this was humanly possible, until I watched my wife do it  next to me tonight.  I thought I would give it a try, and though my feet touched the floor a bit as I moved them from front to back, I was able to do it!  Twice!  I was never able to do this before tonight, so I’m quite pleased.  It’s so encouraging to be able to understand new transitions and movements.

I have attained a new level of upper body strength. I just now did a set of 6 pull ups! This is a new personal record! I am coming from barely being able to do 3 in a single set. About a month later, I’m doing 6! Wahoo!

Here’s the video to prove it:

I swear I’m not standing on anything

Okay folks. Those of you that know me well have heard me say “be on the lookout for amazing things all around you” many many times. You know why I keep saying that? Because the truth is that there are incredible occurrences, amazing happenings literally all around you. Here’s an analogy. I imagine we’re standing on a beach covered in small flat stones. You know, the kind that are best for skipping across the surface. I tell you that there is a $20 dollar bill under one of these stones. So you pick up one stone to look at it, and there it is! You found the 20 on the first try! So encouraged, you pick up another stone, and there’s another 20! And a then third under the next stone, the fourth… and so on. But if you never looked, you never would have found that treasure. Yet all the time, it was there, waiting only for you to look.

Why am I writing about this again?

Yesterday was our last day in Colorado. Since our flight was at 5pm we thought we’d make the most of the afternoon. We went back to Chimney Rock, determined to make it to the summit. This was our second visit. The first visit did not allow enough time for the 8 mile round trip hike. So Kitty and I are getting ready to set out on the trail when a volvo rolls up. Out step two friendly people, let’s call them Tom and Jane, with their lovely dog Rover. Names changed to protect the innocent.

We start chatting a bit about the trail, then we’re shaking hands, and the next thing you know we’re hiking together. The conversation is lively and before long Tom tells us that he’s recently recovered from sudden hearing loss. Can you believe it? This blows my mind. I couldn’t believe it when he started talking about this. We have been on the lookout for hearing cures for quite some time. Kitty has some hearing loss that she’s been dealing with for years. In her case, the doctors have not been able to diagnose it. They have no explanation, only guesses. Tom had the same issue with his doctor. He didn’t know how to help him. To top it off, Tom’s a professional musician. Hearing is his livelihood.

Tom said that he only had to deal with hearing loss (and tinnitus) for about six months. He was fortunate to have a friend that recommended a regimen of Wobenzym.  The regimen consisted of 30 pills each day for 3 months. After that he was cured!! Tom said that there is a doctor who has prescribed this to over 3,000 patients, nearly all of whom have improvement if not dramatic recovery of hearing. That even includes patients who have had hearing loss for years, not just recent onset cases.

So needless to say, we are very excited to find out more about Wobenzym. Since I have had such wonderful results in asking for help here, I’m going to do it again. If you know anything about Wobenzym, please contact me by leaving a comment. I would love to hear about what you know, information you’ve found, or best of all, your story of healing! Don’t be shy! I can’t wait to hear from you!

I’ve found the words to express what I had asked earlier in a video I uploaded to You Tube. Personal Legend. I read it in Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist”. I literally finished the book minutes ago and would highly recommend it to anyone. Personal Legend, as I understand it, is similar to “the meaning of life” or “life’s purpose”. Perhaps it can even mean destiny, except that the personal legend is more based on choice. It is something that must be actively pursued with conscious effort and awareness. Otherwise it could be lost.

Earlier I had asked to hear what inspires people. I wanted to know what it is that excites, motivates, challenges or empowers you. Now I know that a simple way to ask that question is to say “Have you discovered your personal legend?” In “The Alchemist”, the personal legend is a calling. It is a path that is signaled with omens sent by God, the universal power. The personal legend is something that each person is meant to discover. It is your purpose. A task or quest you must follow. Or rather, you may follow. Following the path leads to great discoveries, trials, and rewards but many people never set out on this path for fear of failure.

So I have to ask again. What is your personal legend? Are you following it now? Do you feel like you know what it is, but have denied it so far? I’m trying to listen to truly know my personal legend. I have a feeling that I know what it is, but am not yet ready to say.

Here’s the original video that I posted:

One word of advice for those adventurous souls planning to snow shoe the slopes of Colorado…. SUNSCREEN!  I have what could be the worst facial sunburn that I’ve ever had.  Not that I’m in agony or anything, but I am surprised.  The skies were clear, the sun was bright, and the air was thin.  I guess I should have seen it coming.  It’s just that getting a sunburn something  I normally associate with the beach.  So take this advice from one mountain newbie to another.  Sunscreen is prudent.

Yesterday the missus and I hiked Lobo overlook near the continental divide.  It was truly stunning.  The dramatic vistas inspire grand postures, like this one:

Happiness, joy, and spontaneous modeling are also side effects of such beautiful surroundings.  Take this for example:

This was the view from our flight with United Airlines, Denver to Durango.  We went right over the rockies.  This picture does a decent job of capturing the spectacle, but its hard to describe the sight.  It’s truly awe inspiring.  There are just so many peaks.  They go on for miles and miles.  I had to wonder, do they all have names?  It doesn’t seem possible to me.  I wonder if anyone really knows these mountains.  They are so far removed from civilization, and seemingly impossible to get to.  There’s range after range.  Even if people could actively explore and know the first ranges it seems like that would still leave many peaks unexplored.  Of course, that’s the impression I got from 30,000 ft.  It could be much different on the ground.

I’ve just returned from the most amazing honeymoon vacation.  We went to the Yucatan pennisula for 8 spectacular days at the Aventura Spa Palace resort.  This vacation was beyond my wildest dreams.  Truly refreshing.

Last week I posted a picture of the r month daily Qs chart and noted that the price was failling below a trendline which has offered three months of support. Since the Qs had already broken through the line I wrote that this could be the start of a trend reversal. Apparently not!!
The Qs have bounced back with avengance! The Qs fund made its intrady high at 43.31 on January 14th of this year. Will the fund be able to break this high? Currently 43.31 is in about the middle of the trend channel. If the Qs are to reach the upper end of the channel again they would easily roll past that high.
I hope to post a chart which illustrates what I’ve just described. This morning I had a little technical difficulty with the “mail chart” functionality at the optionsxpress website while I was on the train.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Here we see the Nasdaq 100 breaking below long term support.  The bottom trendline shown here extends since the trust began its upturn on July 21st of this year. In fact, we also see the typical kiss goodbye occur twice on Thursday.  On that day the index pops up to touch the trendline before falling down again.  This looks like a very bad sign for the QQQQs.  Ithink it could be a reversal in trend. 

I’ve also included a three month chart to show that the trend has been holding for a while now.  This chart shows the trend from August 7th.

 

Click the images to view the charts in more detail.

I’m working on a better way of displaying stock charts in my blog.  The last attempt wasn’t so good.  I’m going to do a little design engineering and come back with some comments and notes!