Category: Beautiful Places

Categories
Beautiful Places

Rain Forecast Today

Precipitation is anticipated according to the weather report – it’s Autumn.

“Grace surrounds us and holds us like the sky holds everything in it … and as soon as I find a way to let go of my story, I keep seeing over and over again that grace is always here and it includes the forgetting and the remembering. The practice is the opening of the hand to catch the raindrops, which are always falling. If you don’t open your hand, you get wet, but you don’t get much to drink.”

– Krishna Das


Rain to put out the fire, allowing us to capture the fleeting moments of abundance whilst sustaining a loss so great. Getting wet, drink up, shake it off and then we will welcome with courage, this season of abundance. Gratitude.

Categories
Beautiful People Beautiful Places Healthy Living Yoga

Fire & Air Quality*

Check your local air quality and take care of yourself and your family:)

A grocery store cashier and I struck up a conversation – he says he’s glad to stay indoor because he has asthma. Confides he’s had trouble breathing since 4am Monday morning when he was getting into work (they start early!) – then he says, I have nothing to complain though. Those people lost everything and I’m here okay, he says, as he bagged the apples and basil. There’s so much humanity out there. So truth be told, me too I say – since Monday morning, I’ve been sneezing uncontrollably and my eyes are itchy and if I am like this, I could imagine what inhaling denser smoke can do to you at the sight of devastation. We nodded and agreed. Praying for the winds to quiet down to give the Napa/Sonoma residents the needed relief. Dear Nature (though it’s usually human’s own doing even if it’s called “wild” fire) – please settle down and heed them – have some mercy.

Speaking of relief, the air quality of the studio I teach is so … PURE, I am practically in tears, so grateful. It’s heavenly when you come in from the smoke and dust. It’s something I had taken for granted – I did not know they had installed a special filtering vent system !!! OMG, just read this – I am tearing up with gratitude – I need this kind of purity when I practice – and same for the students. Breath we take is everything:

Our new climate control system is state of art and the best in the Bay Area. Designed by the leading industry consultant, our system combines the optimum ingredients of consistent, evenly distributed heat, cleaned fresh air and warm humidity. It also has CO2 monitoring, allergen removal and pathogen control. The room is virtually odor free.

The system removes contaminants and allergens before they get introduced into the yoga room. Germicidal ultraviolet light rays eliminate and destroy: Bacteria, Odor, Mold & Mildew, Viruses, V.O.C.’s, Cleaning Chemicals, Smog and other Airborne Pollution. The benefits of a clean air environment are enormous, clean air will; help prevent colds and influenza; prevent headaches after class; provide relief from asthma, hay fever and sinus problems; reduce fatigue, and breathing problems; and relieve sore throats, runny noses, wheezing and sneezing. In addition to constantly purifying the air from harmful bacteria, we also installed a humidity system designed to remove excess humidity when too high or to add moisture when too dry. As a result, our students are energized and can focus on their yoga practice without being concerned about the room environment.

Our flooring is anti bacterial, prime cherry wood look-alike, however, is in fact made from 100% recycled rubber. This flooring is used in many hospital operating rooms because of its cleanliness. It also has a slight texture for gripping during postures. It is 100% sealed and therefore easy to keep cleaned. We use an energy efficient gas powered furnace, NOT radiant heating. We do NOT use sweat absorbing carpets.

Wow, just wow in awe. I am so grateful for this place and looking forward to finding refuge there tonight to be connected to that “humanity”.

As I take refuge indoors, I am reminded how much I really need to get out of this smoke filled air that’s giving me a migraine headache and a sore throat. Being super sensitive to scents and dusts, I too now suffering from asthma as I work so distracted with a brain fuzz.

Praying – May we all have clean fresh air to breathe soon.
Mantra of the day – Inhaling Pure white light – Oxygen; Exhaling stale grey smoke …

Break out of that dullness and inertia with a fitness program that does not drain you but rather, recharges you.

To our respiratory health for all this Autumn day – Namaste.

*Told local AQI (Air Quality Index) reached over 100 (out of scale of 500) – while yesterday, it was 60 … for those with respiratory issues, masks that filter out up to even 99% is apparently NOT recommended as you have to breathe even harder with masks creating more stress …stay calm, stretch, yogic heart openers, stay indoors, if lucky enough, find space with air purifiers. Check with your healthcare provider if you need more protection.

This is a helpful link … Breathe

* Here’s another … LINK

Categories
Beautiful Places Healthy Living

@Silicon Valley’s NVidia

So cool to bring attention to this cause!

Surprised to see these fashion displayed at their beautifully designed new headquarter building of this innovative company. It’s a sleek brand new space … something resembling a cross between star wars-ish futuristic structure of an airport, a museum and a college campus under one dome …that’s their new headquarter building. So taken aback to see these apparel on display by their gift shop entry …seemed so unrelated.

BUT THEN, not so surprised when you stop to consider this: Their state of the art technology GPU is not just for gaming anymore – it’s helping cancer research in the area of early detection to customized care. Their product is also helping in scientific research to the level unimaginable before … So stopping to consider this startling fact, for example – Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer in women – so it is no wonder. While the survival rate has dramatically improved in recent years due to advances in screening and treatments, it is still second main cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer. There are around 3.1 million breast cancer survivors in the United States (U.S.). The chance of any woman dying from breast cancer is around 1 in 37, or 2.7 percent; while each year 1 in 8 women are diagnosed with this disease. According to the World Health Organization, on a global scale, the number of new cases is expected to rise by about 70 percent over the next two decades. Given that grim fact, it’s refreshing to see how tech companies are stepping up to make a difference.

Whether in the areas of prevention or in the midst of the battle or in recovery, we have learned how we manage the stress greatly influences the outcome. We know some stress is good for us; the kind of stress that brings people closer and make community more tightly knit; and good stress motivates us to improve, achieve and accomplish, i.e., to get things done. Good stress is even empowering as each time we overcome that challenge = stress, we feel stronger; but chronic stress, the kind of degenerative and relentless stress; where there’s little breaks during the accumulative onslaught, that kind of toxic stress can weaken and compromise our immune system and slow down our healing. This kind of stress weakens us – For some of us, the latter has become the norm so much, we don’t even notice what it’s like to live without that burden, that weight – the tension. Is it possible to just be? To simply embody our body with gratitude (even if one may feel betrayed by it – loving kindness to self first:); To feel the clarity, the pure energy and lightness … of being? And if it is possible, how, then, HOW? That’s when tools and techniques of yoga comes to the rescue.

Support of appropriate exercise, and mindful practices such as yoga and meditation is said to really help. Tech workers can “compute the cure” and “PWN Cancer” while also practice yoga to boost their immunity and improve their stress resilience.