Gray Wolf Productions

Tag: yoga

  • Finding That Perfect Brain Time

    Hmmmm Is there a perfect brain time?

    As part of the ongoing blog challenge, and honestly part of my almost every day personal/business challenge, is making a specific time to work only on a specific goal – usually part of a long-range goal. I do that during the day but I don’t have a specific time, it is more random from day to day and therefore on many days I let other things get in the way and then all of a sudden it’s time to go to bed and it’s the next day and I haven’t done the one or two things I know I need to do to keep working towards a specific goal. Another part of my problem is that my goal[s] tends to vary from day today – that’s me and that something I’m working on.

    But, and this is good for me, as part of the challenge today I am to figure out a 15 to 20 minute part of the day where I will work on my goals. Only 20 minutes or 15 minutes? I think I can figure out what times of the day that can happen and happen daily.

    Puppy Energy

     I’ve done something like this before and I know it works. But me, being me, stops using tactics like this after I finish one major project and I get into other stuff and then get off track again. So what I am going to do is go back to what I know worked before. That is to start my day with my coffee and my first 20 or 25 of focused activity. Given that I have a dog and I eat and I drink more coffee I will take a break after that 25 minutes and have breakfast. I will also have more coffee and then take the dog for her morning stroll. Then I shall come back and do another 20 minutes or 25 minutes. I know I work better with breaks so that will be session number two and I will take a break after that and do fun type stuff. Then I will come back and do another 20 or 25 minutes of work.

     I know my best work hours are between 9 AM and 1 PM so I shall do these 20 or 25 minutes segments in that period of time and not try to push myself past that 1 PM timeframe. I may do yoga in between some of the 25-minute work sessions because I also think yoga helps me get my mind back on track. It certainly keeps my body feeling better.

    What I will do that is a bit different than what I have done in the past is to spend the first part of the first 20 minutes session prioritizing what it is I am going to be doing that day. When I tried making myself a priority list the night before I forget about it – it’s written down and my brain considers it done. So I have to get back to prioritizing my day after I am awake and while I’m having my coffee.

    As it is now mid afternoon and I’m still on a roll I may get some of my focused work done today even though it’s past my usual work hour. Part of what I’m also working on is the ability to refocus at different times of the day or night.

    Thoughts? Ideas? Comments? Thank you!!

    This blog post is in response to Natalie’s 10 Day Freedom Plan Blog Challenge Day 5

  • In A Funk On: New Habits Day 4

  • Yoga: Good For Your Heart

  • Puppies, Exercise, and Eating

    walkingSome self reflections…

    When I let my hair grow, I decided that long hair went with better health [less weight, more flexibility, etc.]

    Why? Just one of my quirks.

    I’ve always exercised but not always that regularly…it’s been a stop and go thing for me… little moderation…

    Then I got my puppy and that was after two years of not having a dog – so there was a lot of walking once she got all her grown-up shots.

    But given my knowledge of exercise and bodies I knew that walking tightens muscles.

    Most exercise tightens muscles.

    So I started doing yoga again but like usual –  sporadically. I have some old tapes I put in my VCR player and do different yoga programs.

    I started off with two or three times a week and then it was every other day and I felt good.  Along with the longer dog walks this was feeling healthy.

    But there was still the weight issue. I was not at a weight that I thought I needed to be at for no other reason just that as I’ve gotten older I’ve shrunk and I figured you know carrying the same weight around on the shorter body was not good – and then there was the long hair.

    So for some reason I decided to pay attention to some of the things I write about nutrition and realized I had to stop eating bread and drinking milk.

    So – I cut out most wheat and I started using to almond milk for my coffee. I didn’t stop eating cheese or yogurt but I cut back on those as well.

    And upped the yoga to at least 15-20 minutes A DAY – every day!

    Guess what?

    The weight and the inches went off! And went off quickly.

    My guess is that “modern” wheat has stuff in it that keeps bodies from losing weight and inches. Ditto milk.

    I’m not sure of my science on this, but as I’ve said – food is no longer food and maybe we do have to stop and take a serious look at what we put in our bodies.

    I am also working on a nutrition course for Udemy and if you sign up below, I will send you a major discount coupon for the course once it is done…






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  • Technology, Stress, and Backup Plans

    OY OY OY

    • My computer stopped working.
    • The hard drive crashed.
    • I have all my work on it.
    • I am totally stressed out.

    What do I do to survive all this stress?

     ###########

    We now live in a high-tech culture.

    Technology is part of our everyday lives.

     our worl is technology

    • We use computers.
    • We have Wi-Fi all over the place!
    • We have iPads and tablets.
    • We have iPhones and smart phones.

    Many of us work online, bank and pay bills online, communicate online, and generally love the technology available to us.

    That is until it does not work.

    ISPs stop working, or work so slowly that they are useless.

    Programs don’t do what we thought they should do.

    And then there is the:

    “OMG – my hard drive crashed!”

    Any of the above issues, especially the last one, can lead to stress – so we have to figure out how to cope with that stress – preferably planning for it ahead of time.

    Why? Because technology issues are a part of our lives.

    Having had many hard drives crash over the years, you’d think I’d have learned to back up but I never did. I only made copies of some of my writings.

    But the last time I bought a computer, I bought a Mac laptop. Laptops are more prone to issues because they can get dropped, they can get stolen and they can get things bumped into them, etc.

    Especially if you have pets.

    When I got the new computer, I actually bought a years worth of a backup plan called Crashplan. When you buy such a plan, it is with the hope that you never ever have to use it and see if it really works.

    So when my “OMG the hard drive crashed” happened, I was sort of stress-ready.

    Having read good things about Crashplan, a bulk of my stress was alleviated because I knew that all of what had been on my computer was somewhere up there in the “cloud.” [Fingers crossed.]

    yoga

     

    But a dead hard drive is still stressful. So to get more calmed down, I did some yoga and meditating. I also took my puppy on a few walks and talked to my son and a friend…. And vocalizing the stress helped.

    It all came down to this…I kept telling myself that there really was nothing else for me to do…the worst-case scenario was that I’d have to start all that work all over again.

    The ending?

    I picked up the computer and started the restore process.

    A few glitches and errors on my part and it was working – slowly [ISP issues] – but working.

    Then many [many, many] hours later, the message was on my screen that my restore was done.

    Everything was restored to where it had been…amazing technology!

    All in the clouds……cloud storage

    That I was tired for a few days after this was a signal that I had been more stressed than I thought….so more yoga, more puppy walks, and more relaxing in the sun was called for….

    Lessons learned…you need:

    • back up plans
    • yoga
    • healthy eating
    • great tech support
    • great customer service
    • patience

     

    Thoughts? Comments?

     

    Thank you…

     

     

     

  • Finally – Shoes I love To Wear

    5fingers and nasturtiums

    Vibram fivefingers with nasturtiums

     

    I love my fivefingers! A shoe that I am not in a hurry to take off when I get home.

     

    I don't rave about shoes but I love them so much I even wrote a review for REI [where I bought them.]

    Shoe shopping and I have a love/hate relationship. I know I need shoes but the process of getting them is no fun so I do it as infrequently as is possible.

    My feet are not made like the manufacturers think all women's feet should be made and I've learned to buy men's shoes –  but that only works for sandals and running shoes. When I need to get "dressed up" I am stuck with uncomfortable shoes.

    I tried on a pair of the fivefinfgers late last year but waited until REI had it's member's get 20% off sale to buy them. Also wasn't sure how they would manage winter.

    Anyway – they are comfy and not too many people think they are odd [but I do live in Portland where one motto is: Keep Portland Weird.]

    If you don't go barefoot a lot of the time, these may take some getting used to. But if you do yoga and have learned to separate your toes [like you did as a kid] then these will not feel odd.

    They are much the same a walking barefoot and you feel the gravel and rocks underfoot but they don't puncture the shoe or your foot. I'm going to wear them for a run and a bike ride this week and am tempted to wear them to the next event for which I need to get "dressed up."

    And for next winter I shall get a pair that are a bit heavier and also some finger socks!

    **********

    For those who like shoes without flowers, here is another picture

    fivefingers

     

    Comments?  Questions?

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