How it feels to have a stroke

Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.

Ageless Mobility – Scott Sonnon

Ageless Mobility Part 1

Ageless Mobility Part 2

Ageless Mobility Part 3

Ageless Mobility Part 4

Ageless Mobility Part 5

Intuflow Joint Mobility

Intuflow Joint Mobility Beginner Part 1

Intuflow Joint Mobility Beginner Part 2

Intuflow Joint Mobility Beginner Part 3

Intuflow Joint Mobility Beginner Part 4

Intuflow Joint Mobility Beginner Part 5

Intuflow Joint Mobility Beginner Part 6

A Description of Open Space Technology

From http://www.openingspace.net/openSpaceTechnology_method_DescriptionOpenSpaceTechnology.shtml by Lisa Heft

What is Open Space Technology? This is a way to format a group meeting, retreat or conference that generates communication, collaboration, innovation, and other solutions to challenges and transitions. When your organization or community has a complex problem, you are completely out of ideas regarding a solution, you have a diversity of people that you can bring to the process, and the time for resolving this situation was yesterday — this is a great time for Open Space Technology (OST). Group members emerge from the process invigorated, refreshed, and proud of their individual and collective accomplishments. Committees, task forces and design teams can take weeks, months and even years to accomplish their goal – or in some cases simply to define their goal. Much of this same work can be accomplished by holding an Open Space. A half- or one-day Open Space can help people to quickly bring forth emerging issues and opportunities and to build mutual understandings and networking; a 2.5 day Open Space includes issues, opportunities and action planning, resulting in a complete written report of the proceedings for all participants plus identification and prioritization of next steps. Open Space is an interactive process — participants meet in concurrent and overlapping mini-discussions around a theme or an issue, across departmental, hierarchal or historically opposite lines. The cross-pollination of moving from group to group and topic to topic in a non-linear way allows participants to jump quickly from familiar ways of thinking into innovation and action. The use of Open Space Technology has been effective since the mid-1980’s in a diversity of settings, cultures and countries. The method has been used by communities working towards peace, chemists designing new polymers, tribal and governmental leaders planning land use, community advocates and local government designing literacy programs, conference organizers holding conferences in this format, architects designing pavilions for the Olympics, an entire town having a simultaneous discussion town meeting, and community workers helping communities rebuild and heal after times of war. This tool can be utilized by groups of 5 to over 2000 and the dynamics and the results are always the same: input from stakeholders at all levels, new ways of thinking and working, large amounts of work done rapidly, bringing perceived competitors together on issues and projects, organizational flexibility, interdepartmental or intercommunity teamwork, a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of passion and energy for the challenges ahead. Guidelines for an Open Space Meeting The rules are simple, although setting up the parameters for a meeting or conference in Open Space is based on the theories of complexity, self-organization and open systems. Do you know how sometimes when you go to a conference or a meeting, the best ideas, networking, brainstorming and deal making happen during the coffee breaks? Open Space Technology is designed to simulate that natural way people find each other and share ideas in all different cultures and countries. It is also based on the understanding that there is a great amount of wisdom and experience in any gathered group of people – that we are all ‘experts’ and can all contribute – a true democratic process. It all starts with a circle of chairs, without a pre-designed agenda. The group sets their own agenda by identifying issues and topics that have heart and meaning for them; topics for which they have passion and interest and for which they are willing to host a discussion group. Small group discussions happen throughout the day, with participants moving from group to group whenever they feel that they can no longer learn or contribute to a discussion, or when they feel drawn to another topic.

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The Tantric Sex Teacher (Sex Health Guru Real Stories)

A Japanese tantric sex teacher talks about discovering tantra, her new sexual awareness, and what it did for her life. See more real stories: http://www.sexhealthguru.com

Dynamic Flow Yoga: Revolving Kundinya cycle

Rickson Gracie Workout

and here is an excerpt from:

Rickson Gracie – Exploring Genius

by Eddie Edmunds

@ http://www.grapplearts.com/Rickson-Gracie-Exploring-Genius.htm

Body’s Intelligence
Another source of Rickson’s skill is termed as Bodily/Kinesthetic skill. This talent defined by Dr. Howard Gardner in his book Creating Minds (also the author of the bestseller, Multiple Intelligences) is the ability to use many parts of the body to express ideas and feelings and to interpret and invoke effective body language. Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Lance Armstrong and Rickson Gracie would be individuals Dr. Gardner would designate as having extraordinary bodily/kinesthetic ability. I will always remember a seminar Rickson taught in Salt Lake City because Rickson told us over and over that the way we grapple reveals our personality. So, for Rickson, a way of understanding people is not through a verbal conversation but he was able to glean personality types through “rolling.” This information indicates that Rickson’s body, functions as antennae for the brain. And as Gardner states, this knowledge could only be acquired through the body. Bruce Lee may have had this same type of highly refined Bodily/Kinesthetic intelligence. I remember a statement by Dan Inosanto where he spoke about a conversation with Bruce Lee and Bruce said (paraphrasing), “Dan, the secret is in the body.” It is no secret the Bruce Lee was hyperactive and his emphasis on “swimming in the water” and experiencing true reality was foremost for him.

I hear and forget. I see and remember. I do and I understand. The operative word “do” suggests that learning something is not just through passive understanding (reading, conversation, watching others) but also through the physical act of doing.

A noted Brazilian Yoga master, Orlando Cani who has trained numerous Brazilian sports champions (Rickson included), spoke about Rickson’s bodily/kinesthetic intelligence in this way:

“Rickson is special. Rickson Gracie was the best student I had. He was the one to assimilate best the process. He’s a very special fighter. Everything he learns he has a strong ability to assimilate and develop it. He has a clever way to assimilate and protect anything he likes.”

In conclusion, an appropriate quote by Shakespeare states: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” I would assert that Rickson’s path to greatness was that he had a father whose single-mindedness and fanatical attention to detail was passed directly to his son. And when speaking of Rickson Gracie’s extraordinary Jiu-Jitsu skills we might envision that when Rickson is grappling he sees Jiu-Jitsu in a three-dimensional world. This capacity allows him to spar, not only from his viewpoint but also from other viewpoints. Thus, a three-dimensioned view. And finally, Rickson’s supreme body-intelligence enhances his understanding of Jiu-Jitsu and is gained from the body having superb skills of sensitivity, adaptability and kinesthetic perception that are gleaned physiologically rather than cerebrally. This then is the difference between being great and Greatness.

Taming the body, taming the mind…

Below is a great blog post that I stumbled upon in my research. I found it to be very inspiring as I continue to struggle with keeping a daily practice. As the title suggests, it touches on the body mind connection, a topic that I hope to expand on very soon. I hope you enjoy this post, and be sure to visit the original source for more.

http://ibanepal.wordpress.com/2007/08/20/taming-the-body-taming-the-mind%e2%80%a6/

Almost one year ago, inspired by H.H. Sakya Trizin´s Vajrayogini teachings in Spain, I started to practice yoga on a daily basis, and seeing the results in my body(more flexibility, strength and vitality) the desire to become a yoga teacher-practitioner developed, too. But what surprised me most was the endurance that yoga gives, and the fact that with this endurance, the body can easily stand longer hours of meditation without so many bodily aches and pains, and without feeling one has to move positions so often. The body’s activity is accompanied by the activity of the mind, and as a result I have found that I can bear new, uncomfortable situations in life with more peace and tranquillity. I don’t experience so much mental stress or anxiety because I trust things more and don’t react to them as I used to. This immediate benefit makes me want to get out of bed when it is so cosy and nice in there, and my mind would like to dwell in old habitual thinking patterns of laziness and procrastination. This is another effect of yoga, it has the power to ignite positive energy and enthusiasm in one´s day, while providing a stable platform on which to build new, healthy and positive habits for oneself. I like having yoga practice as my breakfast, as my travel companion everywhere, stretching at a bus stop or at airports. It feels as if a sudden breath of fresh air comes into my mind and makes me appreciate everything and everyone with a new light…it makes mind transformation easier when we can accompany it with the body, and we can become more agile and lighter in the process. It is so joyful to feel no pain in the body and to know, with meditation, that it is, after all, impermanent.

High Intensity Road Work

by Tom Elliott

via: http://itsmandatory.com/2008/04/18/high-intensity-road-work/

Working out and taking care of your body should be a mandatory part of everyone’s life routine.  I’ve been working out in one form or another since I was 6 years old.  It’s become a part of who I am and I truly believe it has played a large part in all of my successes.

Whether it’s working out to relieve stress, to have fun, to rehab an injury or to simply push personal limits and barriers – it’s mandatory.  Within this blog I will be posting all of my workouts, each of which will have a unique name of sorts representing a unique aspect of the workout.

There can be many variations of High Intensity Road Work depending on the exercises you decide to plug in but the foundation will always remain the same.  The foundation is the running intervals – the exercises filled in along the road are up to you.

High Intensity Road Work – Variation One

The Warm Up

For me, I prefer a light 10 minute warm-up.  It usually consists of a short walk from my apartment to the Santa Monica boardwalk followed up with 5 minutes of full body stretching and core stabilization.  It’s a mixture of movements that flow from one to the next almost like a hybrid version of ashtanga yoga.  I never used to stretch as a young buck but after a few lower body injuries during HS sports and the military it’s now a mandatory part of my workout routines.

The Work Out

• Using a watch to time your intervals and total time – I break into a steady jog and maintain that pace for 5 minutes.
• At the 5 minute mark I pick up the pace to 90% full speed and maintain that pace for a minute.
• Once that minute is up, I pull off the strand onto the grass or the sand and knock out the first exercise (Push-Ups) I always shoot for 50 push-ups on this first set – depending on the previous days workouts I’ll go over or fall short – either way I push to one rep shy of muscle failure to push myself but to also maintain energy to keep the intensity high throughout the entire 45 minutes.
• Get up and pick up your pace to a steady jog.  even though it’s early in the workout, you should already be winded – the key is to focus on your breathing in preparation for your next minute sprint and exercise set.
• Kick it into high gear again, focus on your form and pick something in the distance to get to by the end of the minute.  I find that by doing this the minute goes by faster and it gives you a visual goal to shoot for.
• Hit the sand, grass, gravel, whatever you’ve got and begin your next exercise.  At this point I’ll typically break into a variation of burpies.  Make sure you have some room. Start standing > bend your knees til you can touch your hands to the ground > kick your feet behind you and knock out a push up > pull your feet back underneath you while keeping your hands on the ground and explode into the air like you’re trying to touch a basketball rim.  I’ll do 10-15 of these depending on my wind.
• Get back into your light jog and get your wind back.  What’s funny is by the end of the 5 minutes you should have just gotten your wind back, then you’re back into a sprint. gotta love this workout.
• Hit your sprint hard and focus on your breathing and form.
• Next exercise: Power Squats – Get in position, keep your feet a little wider than shoulder width and point your toes outward enough so when you bend into a squat position the tips of your knees don’t pass the tips of your toes.  Ass out, head up and go down til the tops of your quads are parallel with the ground.  Knock out 75-100 of these as fast as you can.
• Hit your steady jog in the opposite direction as it’s time to turn around.
• Hit your sprint for a minute.
• Next exercise: Bear Crawls – by far one of my favorite exercises.  One of the most painful at this point in the workout but definitely one of the most rewarding after a few months of work at it.  Depending on how fired up I am at this point or which song is on the ipod – I’ll do these on the sand or grass.  For these – I’ll go til my arms buckle down being it’s the second to last exercise of the workout.  The pump you feel in your arms, shoulders, abs, and thighs is truly incredible.
• Hit your jog – after crushing the bear crawls your jog should be a true “jog” – the first minute you should want to puke from all the lactic acid built up but it will wear off just in time for your last sprint.
• Hit the sprint and run through the jello feeling in your legs.  Don’t worry you’re almost done.
• Last exercise: Walking Alternating Lunges. This is the last exercise so you should be blown out at this point.  Hammer it out til you feel like you’re knees are about to buckle.  Be smart – if you feel like you’re about to be hurt – stop.  You always have next week to do more reps.
• Cool down.  Walk it out til you catch your breath entirely then head back to the pad for a plenty of water and a healthy recovery meal.

That my friends is High Intensity Road Work.  Throw this workout into your routine once a week and you’ll see drastic improvements to all of your workouts and over-all strength and cardio.

This workout is MANDATORY, not an option.

brainstorm online

bubbl.us

http://www.bubbl.us/

Blog

http://blog.bubbl.us/ 

Bubbl.us is a simple and free web application that lets you brainstorm online. You can:

• Create colourful mind maps online
• Share and Collaborate with friends
• Embed your mind map in your blog or website
• Email and print your mind map
• Save your mind map as an image

(this post is based on the http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/Top100Tools/bubblus.html blurb)