99to1

Essentially I've designed/concocted a sports drink which tastes like lemony sweat. No one seems to like it, go figure. Though Gio has gotten used to it, and even points out when he thinks I've made a good batch, he's a sport.

In a typical over-sized water bottle, add:
A healthy gloop of Tesserier lemon concentrate
A healthy sprinkling of table salt
At least two-thirds tonic water (quinine for the cramps)
And top it off with a bit of filtered water

Drink and enjoy!

So vacation has been getting in the way of [regular] entries...
Two weeks are almost over, back to work on tuesday... good time to start with some blogging. I don't like that word.

Well we've only been able to get out about 4 times this season. We had a very wet spring, in fact the trails are still muddy in spots. Are the days of pre-St.Patrick's day rides over??

The few rides I've been on with Gio and Doug have been really great.
Rougemont is my favorite spot to ride, ever. It's really quite fantastic. There's still more trails to find...that's the best part.

In fact we were on some new trails today, no cramping [I was streching about every 40 minutes or so and drinking enough Salty Dog (see below)], great weather, no injuries, no mechanicals, covered lots of ground [up and down], and that magical feeling of being away from everything, where the world stops. Funny thing is, contrary to the expression, stop the world I want to get off, when the world actually stops the last thing you want to do is get off. It is so wonderful.

I was riding the hard-tail today. Steep trails on the hard-tail remind of of the early days of mountain biking, before suspension forks, and well before fully suspended rigs. Gio mentioned that since we both own fully rigid bikes, we should do a retro ride. He on his circa 1994 Gary Fisher Aquilla, and I on my 1994 Rocky Mountain. We'd take off the clipless pedal systems, and run toe-straps and work gloves instead of our fancy full fingered brand-name cycling gloves. It'd be a blast...though I imagine more than a little jarring on the bones.

This is the first ride this season that I've had a cyclometer ready to go...so on to the stats...(in KM/HR)...

Time 1.59.01
AVS 7.7
MXS 38.5
ODO 15.4 [I reset it before the ride]
DST 15.36

No heart rate values to report...
Hmmm...even though I don't like to wear the HR for regular rides, it might be a good idea to run it to see how the indoor stats contrast against the indoor roller stuff we've been doing. We'll see...
Absolutely fantastic ride!!!

Finally I have some content which may qualify 99to1 as a real ashtanga blog. I'm going to write about a posture-related injury. A few weeks back...maybe 5??? [it was the Thursday after my last Thai-yoga massage with Christine] during Prasarita Padotonasana B, I tweaked my neck. I now know what that really means. I've never liked the expression, and have secretly criticised people for using it, for not finding a better term. So now I know...

Actually I haven't been quite right ever since. Makes relaxation quite stressful in a physiological way. The more my body relaxes, the more discomfort I'm in. Counter productive I assure you. Sleep has been quite affected as well. I had one visit with Karen who said C6, and perhaps also a rib out of place...how much loner will she be in CA??? Hope things are going her way out there.

Managed very few postures over the vacation. Last Thursday was our typical gathering, though Charles was absent. Loren and I sat for 20 minutes each morning for the first week. We did some sun sals up at Hannah's cottage down on the lake-side dock and a 10 minute sit. Very nice start to the day.
Oh yeah... and the Dharma Mitra workshop.
Vacation is almost over...let's see if I can arrange my life with a schedule in line with my intentions...
We'll see...

So it was hard to get a start back to work on a schedule "in line with my intentions" when I realized that I had tickets to see The Bad Plus the night before my return.

To add to it, the show was scheduled to start at 22:30.
To add to that, during the day my back went into one of it's spasms, and had acheived full out status by around 15:00. As in my back is out. Or I've thrown my back out, kind of out.

Any how the show was really wonderful...great playing...the band was hot, and Dave King was kooky in the groove... I love his cymbal playing.

Met Glen and Mitch for a beer and a bite before the show, and met Mitch's sqash buddy Ker.

Daily practice these days is 4-4-4-4
4 minutes in sirsasana, 4 in balasana, 4 salamba virasana (block) 4 cycles of alternate nostril breathing (as shown by Dharma Mittra during his workshop at Darby's

And then Thursday night with the guys, and once a month with Christine, and the boys.

So as far as I can understand this thing which happens with my back, I think it is a sacrum issue. The sacrum shifts slightly, due to over sleeping/napping, assisted usually by over eating, and helped further by any stress or anxiety, further assisted by the lack of any regular asana practice...and then some of the muscles connected to it, well they sort of freak out. In a way you could say all these elements were present during my vacation by the way, in varrying degrees.

At work Liz says I look like the leaning tower of pizza. My trunk emerges from my pelvis at an angle. And extends at that angle. It also (painfully) shifts from one side to the other a couple of times during the day.

About six years ago I could suffer form this condition perhaps three or four times a year. Since I started with a regular asana practice, it's now about once a year, if at all.

I think I'm going to call in sick. Yesterday most people were telling me I should have stayed home to rest it. It's another day where I'll probably have trouble putting my own socks on, I had to call Loren yesterday for help. That is somewhat humbling, not being able to dress yourself.

A couple of muscle relaxants and a hot tub is probably in order for the expected level of activity today. I put a call in to Hilary to see if she could fit me in tonight for an emergency session. She's only heard of this spasm thing, and never seen me while it's occuring. I'm eager to hear from her...

With the back spasm.
It's difficult being slowed down, and impaired in almost every way you've grown accousomed to moving. It seems that most of the time I am shifting the weight to be centered over my right leg.

Though today is the best it's been since Monday. A couple os sessions on my back with a block under my sacrum and a sandbag on my abdomen seems to have triggered a shift towards realignment. Will do another few times today.

When I was speaking with Colin about it, he suggested that I keep a journal (ha) so I could track what may be triggering it (as it happens about once a year). I'm confident that I know what the primary triggers are.
1 overeating regularly
2 oversleeping
3 lack of regular exercise/asana
4 stress

So the first three conditions were present indde this year during my full 2 week vacation. A surprise it didn't happen sooner.

If I could see only 2 shows a year at the jazzfest and have them be as rewarding as the 2 I caught this year I'd be a very happy man. What was the 2nd show [you ask]?

Daniel Lanois and EmmyLou Harris.
WOW!!

I'd say in the top ten concerts of my life. Here's what the Ga-GaZette had to say:

Notes from the Jazz Fest
The Gazette
Published: Saturday, July 08, 2006
Thursday

Why can't there be more shows like the Daniel Lanois-Emmylou Harris double bill at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts? Leaving aside the top-notch musical content for a second, the duo hit the stage at 8 and played straight through - no time-wasting support act, no jive 30-minute intermission. Just music.

Harris, beautiful as ever, duetted with Lanois on seven songs, including show-opener The Maker and Bob Dylan's Every Grain of Sand, then left the stage. And it was carte blanche for Lanois, ably backed by his three-piece band, to unleash some of his blue-chip catalogue material, often punctuated by torrents of apocalyptic guitar that crossed Neil Young's primitive attack with Jack White's idiot-savant garage blues. Harris returned at the end to join Lanois on, among other things, a surreal version of Jimi Hendrix's May This Be Love.

Was any of this jazz? Well ... nah. But were there Everly Brothers-type harmonies, weird psychedelic soundscapes and just plain great songs? You bet. Purists could nurse their wounds at shows by Aldo Romano, the Pierre Francois Quartet or the Joelle Leandre Trio, all of whom were playing elsewhere at the same time.

Are here for six months...
They start in class with me for 2 weeks as a kick off...starting today...better get a move on!!

Back is still out...though slowly returning to normal...

I prolongled a stretch yesterday morning rolling over in bed, before the alarm rang.
As I balanced some rotational tension in my hips, I sensed/heard a definite click, a small pop if you will...from deep in my pelvis. The effect throught my system was immeadiate and clear, in fact it was clearing.

My body settled, the pain dissapated, like someone turned down the volume on my nervous system and inner ear.
And my mind experienced similiar quieting.

The tissue and muscles are still sore and a bit in trauma, though I think my spasm is now very close to off the radar altogether.

Liberation in a small dose.

Just a few quickies from the past couple of months...

Day Lillies

Cottage Naps

Cottage Reading

Cottage Breakfast

Rising From Another Cottage Nap

Someone Come Here and Rub My Belly

Well the first complex moving about I have done since that wonderful poping repositioning of whatever it is that was out in my lower back, was some sun salutations, and a couple of warrior IIs.

It was quite wonderful really...I'm longing to get back to regular practice. Which, as a reminder, was a minimum once a week session of primary series to JanuB and finishing sequence with the motley crew.

The second complex movement I engaged in, was biking. Gio and were back at rougemont today. We first stopped by to have a chat with the land owner whose trails we have taken a liking to, to see if he would continue to let us on his land. And he did, thank goodness. He's really a nice guy.

So today we were riding on the other side of the lake on the two smaller peaks. Those are some wonderful trails I must say. Light rain and kind of cool...low 20s maybe. First ride on the rebuilt shock. It feels great though I think I'll have to dial it in some. RockShox amy have upgraded some of the interriors...I'll have to verrify with them if any of the spring settings have changed. Sorry no stats to report.

It's late...and I wanted to post these with the poem. Zen and Loren are sleeping so I'll wait until tomorrow to fetch the card with the poem...yeah it's the only place I wrote it down...

from the moment before words
before worlds
where moon yields night
to early morning
my love is with you
emerging

Affordable older model Nikon on sale... CoolPix L4 4Mp.
Yeah it's low res compared to today's offerings, though it'll buy me some time to save for a good Nikon slr. I think our old Fuji, which we hold together with elastic bands, was a 20Mp.

Here's a few shots of aroud the house of just trying it out...

Floor and Feet

Counter Still Life

Ganesh From Doug

Ganesh from Kishore and Vudhu

Loren's Birthday Gift 1990...a little dusty

Loren and I have planned to do a 30 minute sit.
That is long for me, though today it managable. It taks a couple of minutes to get bloodflow back in my legs. From feet to half way up lower legs, I am pretty much numb after 30 minutes. Right now we're doing 6:00-6:30, that may make for a long day when traffic returns to normal.

Well with this AM sit scheduled with Loren, I should have a whole new take on the morning routine. Last night I setup an improved arsonal of alarms. I use my mobile phone's alarm feature as my wake-up alarm. I've arranged a series of increasingly more annoying ring-tones to help me remember how I really do want to be out of bed when they ring. If I only do one snooze, then I can get in about 30 minutes of drum practice, and have time for a small pot of tea, before heading over to sit.

3 As and 3 Bs last night.
Still some ongoing movement/settling in the pelvis. I have almost recovered, probably 70-80%. The muscles are still sore, and quite tight. Also 4 miuntes (each) sirsana, balasana, and virasana (block) before bed. Lsat night was the first time I could do this little routine since day 2 of my recent back episode.

This week I'm expecting the return of the motley crew.
And then within a couple of weeks, our second session with Christine.

I'm going to start using them...

Hopefully Gio and I can back to Rougemont this week/end. Might be able to get Rick to join us if we give him early enough warining. Ceclie's in France with Nicholas for a month. I think Rick will like the new trails...though he'll probably find some of them too steep.

Perhaps it'll be dry enough to ride McDome...a nice little slickrock descent we have not ridden yet...

Now I can almost always bring a camera since the Fuji has been relegated to secondary duties.

Placeed on the short side for this morning's sit. Much more comfortable...Just a wee bit higher. I've opted for the Nike blocks, instead of the hardwood ones. They're dense foam and very firm, with a bit of give.

Went through the full range of the alarm arsenal this AM...silly set up really.

This morning, they were the mood music background to some very vivid and strange dreams. In one dream I was watching my father and Glen's father (uncle Mel) working/playing. I was seeing them as I did when I was a kid of about six years old. It was a joyful experience. It's been already 15 years since my dad passed away, it was touching to have a glimpse of him in that way. It was as if a personal emotion or memory had been pulled from my psyche and played out, or projected in front of me.

In another (or really part of the same one just a few dream moments later) I watched as my father climbed up on the tail section of a large commercial airliner. It was motionless, and damaged. It was perched on a concrete platform and the engines were not powered. It slowly rolled forward, and dropped off the edge.

It dropped in such a way where it glided as it left the platform. My father atop the fuselage near the tail...it glided a short distance and crashed into an airport hangar, there was no fire or smoke, though I knew my father had perished (once again).

In a way, this dream too was like an inner perception projected into a visual scene. This aspect was enhanced, as I was an observer of the event, and had no personal interaction with the happenings.

No wonder my father has been on my mind recently. I have been watching the Stevie Ray Vaughn dvd. Couldn't Stand the Weather is conspicuously missing from that one..."Time to get ready for the storm"

Why does that guy at the bus stop have no shoes on?
2 days in a row I've seen him standing there with calf-high socks...and no shoes.
One of those things I guess.

Mind was playing tricks this AM during our sit. About 3 times I was convinced that the alarm had sounded and that I should get up. Of course it hadn't, and I stayed put, though it was close all three times. I flet my body ever so slightly start the movement to get up and that seemed to be enough to snap me out of my imagined scenario.
The sit is a good start to the day.

Rick and I went out for a bite to eat last night. Turns out some one leased/bought/rented one of the binocular photos we did and it was Rick's treat. We had tapas at a Portugese place on Cresent, and a beer at Brutopia. Was late getting home to help with cleaning the house for our dinner guests tonight.

Having Kishore, Vidhu, and Aashish over for dinner tonight. Should be fun, going to take some pictures. Perhaps I'll even wear the Kurtha/Pyjamma outfit they offered me as a gift when I left India...we'll see...

Loren sent me this shot of Zen...

Just Gilles and I last night. Charles is a soccer dad these Thursdays, and Colin is too busy with his preparations for a New York show.
Neither one of us had done any regular asana since a few weeks ago, or maybe even more than a month now??

We did suryanamaskar 5A and 5B, Standing postures (forgetting ardha bahddha padmotanasana), back bends and finishing.
These few postures worked up a good sweat for both of us. I've noticed that my breathing seems to be elongating at the ends. As in, the end of an inhalation seems to go on for quite some time, and the same for the tail end of the exhalation... well ok... at least in the sun sals.

Then a light snack afterwards...
Sushi
Loren's rice and kidneybean salade
Turkey and Pork meatballs
Greek salad

May all beings be free from sorrow and the causes of sorrow
May all beings know bliss and the causes of bliss

Wonderful ride...great weather.
Excellent conditions...
Dry enough for me to ride McDome with confidence...Gio is close though still not too sure it's as easy as I'm making it out to be...he'll see.

We went for a swim in Lac des Peres. Totally refreshing and recharging!
I think Gio and Rick faded after the swim...but I felt like a champ.
Good food after...at the mountain and at the cafe...

I am no longer in pain, though my back is still not fully recovered. Still some sensitive movements...though my mobility is almost fully recovered and I'm not struggling to get simple things done anymore.

This marks the start of the 2nd week that Loren and I are doing our week-days off with a 30 minute sit.

I've spent 3 hours in supported virasana in the last 8 days. It seems quite managable, I though it would be mentally tougher than it's turning out to be. I like starting the day off this way. I'm going to slowly start adding some sunsals either in the evening or try getting up with my earlier alarms and doing them then.