| Valley Spirit Journal | ||
| December 2005 |
December |
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By Michael P.
Garofalo Red Bluff, California |
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Paul Garofalo, Mike Garofalo, Phil Garofalo
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Valley Spirit Websites |
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December 1, Thursday, 2005
Personal Objective for December 2005 Physical Body-Mind Training Objectives: Strength Training four days a week with Jeff Crow Personal Ojectives: Renew Cal drivers license
Home Chores Finish master bathroom
floor.
Thursday, 12/1
Work for CUESD from 8:30-4. Update EETT3 budgets, prepare status report, follow up on project details. Gym at 4:30: calisthenics, weights, then teach yoga from 5:30-6:45 pm. Three spoke of wanting to chant and spiritual side of yoga. Karen sick at night.
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Publications Cuttings Above the Fog Pulling Onions Valley Spirit Journal Photographs Green Way Blog History of Gardening Categories
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December 2, Friday, 2005
Off work. Strength training with Jeff from 5:30-6:45 am. Bench press up to max then down to 225x4r, seated dumbell military press 3sx10-15, seated rows 5sx10-15, dumbell press curls ins to chest 4sx10-15r. Karen sick at home. Take in Karen's car to Red Bluff to have its fan fixed. Take care of personal business objectives. Started BlogRolling sidebar. Purchase Karen's computer at Best Buy in Redding.
Thoughts for the
day. "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have
"Students leaving a meditation retreat will sometimes ask me to recommend a mindfulness practice they can incorporate into their daily routine that will keep them in touch with the experiences they've had during the retreat. There are many such practices, but occasionally I suggest one that almost always surprises them and sometimes draws skepticism—the mindful cultivation of gratitude. Gratitude is the sweetest of all the practices for living the dharma in daily life and the most easily cultivated, requiring the least sacrifice for what is gained in return. It is a very powerful form of mindfulness practice, particularly for students who have depressive or self-defeating feelings, those who have access to wonder as an ecstatic state, and those with a reactive personality who habitually notice everything that's wrong in a situation." "Practicing mindfulness of gratitude consistently leads to a direct experience of being connected to life and the realization that there is a larger context in which your personal story is unfolding. Being relieved of the endless wants and worries of your life's drama, even temporarily, is liberating. Cultivating thankfulness for being part of life blossoms into a feeling of being blessed, not in the sense of winning the lottery, but in a more refined appreciation for the interdependent nature of life. It also elicits feelings of generosity, which create further joy. Gratitude can soften a heart that has become too guarded, and it builds the capacity for forgiveness, which creates the clarity of mind that is ideal for spiritual development." - Philipp Moffitt, Selfless Gratitude
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T'ai Chi Ch'uan
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December 3, Saturday, 2005 Walking and taijiquan in early morning. 9 am: TFFC heavy weightlifting: wide lat pull downs, reverse leg curls, and hyperextensions. 10-12:15 am: Teach Tai Chi and Yoga class at TFFC.
USC #1 vs UCLA #11 in football game starting at 1:30 pm on ABC TV. The Big Game!
Work on updating and improving November and December webpages. All the autumn months should look the same. Start preparing Karen's new computer for her use.
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General Beauty Chan Poetry Cold Mountain Buddhas Concrete Poetry Earth Fitness Flowers Green Wizard Haiku History of Gardening Labyrinths Meditation Seeing Simplicity String Figures Taijiquan Trees Walking Will Power Yoga Zen Poetry |
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December 4, Sunday, 2005
Karen and I work on the master bathroom floor. Cracking walnuts in garage. Walking and taijiquan in the afternoon. Gym workout: weight training in afternoon. Dead lifts, seated rows, ab work.
"Hidden in a remote corner of Beijing's Ditan ("Temple of the Earth") Park is a small area with gongfu enthusiasts practicing their eight directions exercises. The men (and all visitors to this area seem to be men) balance precariously on a series of bricks and stones, carefully stepping from one to the next, the best proponents able to make many rounds." - Xiaming, Flickr Photos and Notes
Many instructional DVDs/videotapes and books by the outstanding Taijiquan Master, Yang Jwing-Ming, include this kind of exercise.
Center of all centers, core of cores, Now you feel how nothing clings to you; - Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926) Completely freed from yes and no; - Robert Aitken, Roshi, Verse of the Han Green Way Wisdom - Zen Poems # 4
Today, we spent a few hours in the garage cracking Hartley walnuts, black walnuts, pecans and almonds. Both dogs hung around the action, hoping to get a bite or two of the succulent nut meats. The compost pile gained a layer of broken shells. The kitchen shelves gained sealed containers of nut meats. We talked and laughed, listened to music, bundled up against the cold air, and cracked, cracked, cracked away. I don’t know enough about the Great Emptiness Charged Within, vast universe, infinite peace, or how self and Self merged … but tasting the delicious walnuts and pecans made this simple chore a delight to remember.
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Valley Spirit Journal Archives December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 2004 2003 Index |
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December 5, Monday, 2005 Walking and taijiquan in early morning. Sun 73 practice. Home projects and personal objectives accomplished. Afternoon workout at gym from 4:30 pm. Calisthenics and weights, spin class with Nicole, strenght training with Jeff till 7:15 pm: dynamic bench, board press, military press with dumbells, chin ups on floor, reverse flys.
"We ask for the blessing of the Inner
Guardians of the Order and of our Druid forebears that this Grove might
become a truly holy and sanctified place. - Druid
Ceremony for Planting a Grove
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Gardening
Air Beauty Clichés Earth Fire Flowers History Humor Green Way Blog Green Wizard History Index Jokes Months Olives Seeing Simplicity Timeline Trees Tree Lore Water Weeding |
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December 6, Tuesday, 2005 Strength training from 5:46 to 7 am at TFFC with Jeff Crow: very low squats volume, Rumanian deadlifts, back hyper extensions, ab work. Work from 8:30-4 pm for CUESD. Maureen Lasley does United-Streaming presentation. Work on grant projects. Gym at 4:30: Light warmups. Teach yoga from 5:30-6:45 pm.
"Under the unlikely assumption that they endured economy class seating, the Buddhist travelling twelve will be responsible for a warming effect equivalent to that of about 75.6 tonnes of CO2 emission. For comparative purposes, it's interesting to note that the total 2001 greenhouse emissions of the average UK family - for all purposes, both direct and indirect (the latter including "eneric emissions from livestock") - measured (PDF) one-third of those generated by the Japanese jaunt." "The Green ideology is a broad church, embracing as it does both wealthy
urban hypocrites and earnest, impoverished dwellers in tree-hugging squalour.
All that's needed for membership is outward piety." Be sure to check out the link to the online estimator for calculating the tonnes of of CO2 emission when flying. In my entire lifetime of 59 years, I have flown 12 times, and 8 times for required business purposes, all within the United States. This has resulted in quite a few tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. My motorcycles and automobiles, in addition, have, I'm sure, emitted tonnes of emissions since I have been driving since 1962. So, I've done more than my share to contribute to global warming disproportionate to third world dwellers not living my comfy American middle class lifestyle. The facts of overuse, however, in no way diminish the need to make personal "Green" efforts to strive to reduce our personal impact. Having only two children, Zero Population Growth, was one effort. Staying home and gardening more is one effort. Engaging in simple non-polluting sports at or near home is one effort. Eating lower on the food chain is one effort. Recycling is one effort. Contributing to knowledge on the topic is one effort. Seeking a right occupation is one effort. Setting specific objectives for improving our home life is one effort. Properly maintaining our home and community is one effort. Not supporting wasteful war mongering by U.S. flag wavers is one effort. The fact that nearly all of us at times are weak, lazy, selfish, hypocritical, avaricious, self-serving, contradictory, stupid, ignorant, ego driven, and even downright evil is part of the nature of being a human being. We can criticize everyone for these faults. It ain't a perfect world - ain't a perfect life. Nevertheless, we can admit our shortcomings and strive to make practical, specific, concrete improvements. Less talk, less guilt, less criticism, fewer arguments, and more simple practical actions towards improving self and the world. Even the Buddha might agree with this plan of action.
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Biographies Reginald H. Blyth Han Shan Sun Lu-Tang Chang San-Feng |
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December 7, Wednesday, 2005
Get medical testing done at Lassen Medical in the morning - fasting blood work. I post to the Green Way Blog and Cloud Hands Blog every day. Work from 10:30 to 4 for CUESD (3S). Reading First grant follow up, AR/SRC work project, ordering. Rest at home in the evening.
FeedMap - Where Blogs Meet Maps
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Mysticism Nature Mysticism Green Way Blog Green Wizard Spirituality Tree Lore Eight Trigrams Taoism Green Way Blog Taiji Classics Bagua I Ching Religion |
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December 8, Thursday, 2005 Strength training from 5:45 am to 7 am at TFFC with Jeff Crow. No work for CUESD today. Home work projects. Gym at 4:30: Weightlifting and calisthenics. Teach yoga from 5:30-6:45 pm. I put up a few Christmas lights in front of the house. Many of the houses on our street put up elaborate Christmas light displays.
Map of the the area near our home #1, near Proberta, California.
Daily
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Indexes Quotes - Gardening Taijiquan Months Zen |
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December 9,
Friday, 2005
Powerlifting with Jeff at dawn. Light walking. Drive to Sacramento for YogaFit Level I Retraining-Integration (5-9 pm). Beautiful autumn colors in Sacramento. The yellow leaves of many ginkos were stunning.
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Search Amazon Wikipedia |
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December 10,
Saturday, 2005
Walking, Taiji and calisthenics for 2 hours in the early morning. YogaFit training from 12-6 pm at Health Habits. Stuart Rice was our Level I trainer.
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Webmaster Notes PostNuke WordPress CMS: GWR |
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December 11,
Sunday, 2005
YogaFit Level I training from 8am to 5 pm. I was very tired and sore.
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Qigong Eight Section Brocade Wild Goose Cloud Hands Blog Five Animal Frolics Standing Meditation Breathing Links T'ai Chi Ch'uan Relaxation (Sung) Silk Reeling Bibliography Eight Trigrams Taoism |
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December 12,
Monday, 2005
Walked in the early morning for 90 minutes. Worked for the California Department of Education, Technology Division. I was a grant reviewer. Teams reviewed Enhancing Education Through Technology grants for Round 4 and Round 5. Check out: True words are not fine-sounding;
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Months Winter January February March Spring April May June Summer July August September Autumn October November December Index |
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December 13,
Tuesday, 2005
Reviewed grants all day. Members from our team (Shobhana, Mike and Linda) all walked to old town, to the downtown mall and back to our hotel (La Quinta). Then we all went to dinner at Monterey Bay Cannery Restaurant. It was a fun evening.
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Blogs Valley Spirit Journal Photographs Cloud Hands Blog Green Way Blog |
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December 14,
Wednesday, 2005
Reviewed grants all day. We probably read, studied and evaluated over 750 pages in three days. Drove back to Red Bluff. Gave a presentation at the CUESD Board meeting on Reading Comprehension software.
The Art of Peace by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969) http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/users/paloma/Aikido/artpeace.html
"The Art of Peace begins with you. Work on yourself and your appointed task in the Art of Peace. Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here for no other purpose than to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment. Foster peace in your own life and then apply the Art to all that you encounter." "One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the Art of Peace. Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train." "Eight forces sustain creation:
Intertwined with others,
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Photography Valley Spirit Photos Home Gardens |
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December 15,
Thursday, 2005
Gym Workout: Strength training from 5:45 am - 7 am. Work for CUESD from 8:30-4:30 pm. RFG Grant, orders, paperwork, catchup. Gym at 4:30: Weightlifting and calisthenics. Teach yoga from 5:30-6:45 pm. Started a webpage on Green Policits: Bibliography, Links, Resources, Quotes.
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Michael
P. Garofalo Brief Biography Resume Internal Arts Practices Work Yoga Instructor Home Gardens Websites |
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December 16,
Friday, 2005
Off CUESD work until Tuesday, January 3, 2006. Start Winter Holiday break from school. Work on projects around the house, helping Karen, gardening, cleaning up, painting, paperwork, banking, roof and window repairs, etc.. Perseus, a web survey firm, estimates that only 0.3% of the Internet's estimated 53.4 million bloggers are age 50 or older. Nearly half of specialty drug spending goes for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, with multiple sclerosis making up another 21 percent and the rest divided among cancer, anemia and other diseases according to Medco's 2005 Drug Trend Report. AARP Bulletin 46:11.
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December 17,
Saturday, 2005
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December 18,
Sunday, 2005
Annual Usage Report for:
Detailed statistics are available for the exact usage per webpage for all webpages at the www.gardendigest.com domain. All statistics are for .htm or .html webpages served; and exclude counts for graphics files (.jpg or .gif) served as part of these webpages. In November, 2005, the usage report showed the following number of webpages (.htm or .html) served from the domain: Spirit of
Gardening
112, 523 Cuttings: Haiku
Poetry
35,444 Concrete
Poetry
19,597 Zen
Poetry
11,655 String
Figures
7,439
Total
186,658
Annual Estimates for 2005 www.gardendigest.com Factoring in the fact that the summer months (June - September) have less usage than the October - May period, I can make a reasonable estimate of usage of the webpages (.htm or .hrml) at the www.gardendigest.com domain, excluding graphics files (.jpg and .gif) served. In 2005, I estimate that www.gardendigest.com served the following number of webpages (excluding graphics: .jpg and .gif) to people around the world:
Spirit of
Gardening
1,148,000 Cuttings: Haiku
Poetry
362,000 Concrete
Poetry
200,000 Zen
Poetry
119,000 String
Figures
76,000
Total
1,905,000
The Spirit of Gardening website has served up over 8 million webpages from
January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2005.
The Cloud Hands: Taijiquan and Qigong website has served up over 1,240,000
webpages from January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2005.
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December 19,
Monday, 2005
Working around the house today: clean up, wrapping presents, reading,
writing. Gym from 4:30-7. Basketball, spin class with Tonya, strength training with Jeff Crow. I was able to do a personal best strict bench press of 248 pounds. "The magickal paradigms of Yoga and Chi Kung are mostly based around an
energetic model of the universe. It’s appealing to more pragmatic,
scientifically minded people who are turned off by worldviews involving numerous
deities and “other worldy realms” that sound too fantastical to have any
basis in reality. The idea that a subtle, immaterial energy is pulsing through
channels in your energetic body and that you can work with this energy in
various ways is not quite as strange or daunting as some fantastical dark ritual
like speaking with a god."
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December 20,
Tuesday, 2005
Gym 6-7 am: strength training with Jeff. Dynamic, fast workout: box squats, 1.5 pod kettlebell deadlifts 5sx15r, 18" bench step ups 5sx12r, reverse leg lifts 5x10r, incline situps 5sx10r. Cool and very overcast cloudy day. Appointment with Dr. Plett (general physician) and Dr. Swaim (podiatrist). Tai food lunch with Karen. Gym 4:30 -7: Calisthenics, rowing, teach Yoga class. Updated statistics for www.gardendigest.com Worked on Karen's new computer.
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December 21,
Wednesday, 2005
Reading, writing, home chores. 7 hours of Edge Play. Dinner with Debbie, Jordan, and Karen. Exchange presents.
Tai Chi in a San Francisco Park
despite fascination
Last day of Autumn, First day of Winter,
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December 22,
Thursday, 2005
The Buddha replied, "Do not speak that way, Subhuti. Five hundred years after the Tathagata has passed away, there will still be people who enjoy the happiness that comes from observing the precepts. When such people hear these words, they will have faith and confidence that here is the truth. We should know that such people have sown seeds not only during the lifetime of one Buddha, or even two, three, four, or five Buddhas, but have, in truth, planted wholesome seeds during the lifetimes of tens of thousands of Buddhas. Anyone who, for only a second, gives rise to a pure and clear confidence upon hearing these words of the Tathagata, the Tathagata sees and knows that person, and he or she will attain immeasurable happiness because of this understanding. Why? "Because that kind of person is not caught up in the idea of a self, a person, a living being, or a life span. They are not caught up in the idea of a dharma or the idea of a non-dharma. They are not caught up in the notion that this is a sign and that is not a sign. Why? If you are caught up in the idea of a dharma, you are also caught up in the ideas of a self, a person, a living being, and a life span. If you are caught up in the idea that there is no dharma, you are still caught up in the ideas of a self, a person, a living being, and a life span. That is why we should not get caught up in dharmas or in the idea that dharmas do not exist. This is the hidden meaning when the Tathagata says,'Bhiksus, you should know that all of the teachings I give to you are a raft. All teachings must be abandoned, not to mention non-teachings." - The Buddha, The Diamond Sutra, #6 The Diamond Sutra: Bibliography, Links, Resources, Quotes
Gym: 4:20-7 pm. Weightlifting, teach yoga.
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December 23,
Friday, 2005
Drove to Portland - 470 miles. Italian dinner with Alicia and Sean. Slept at their home. Fog and light rain all day. "Everything about Tai Chi is relaxed, deliberate and focused in the
moment. The simple truth is, when you engage in Tai Chi you?re temporarily
disconnecting your awareness from your present life situations---be it family,
work, friends etc. Think of it as a momentary retreat from life to regroup your
energies. If properly learned and practiced, the resulting benefits of bringing
your life energy into a balanced, harmonized and integrated state can serve to
increase your vitality, reduce stress, better control your emotions, modify your
habits and much, much more!"
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December 24,
Saturday, 2005
Visiting with family and friends. Christmas Eve dinner at Mick and April's - pizza and cippaineo (San Francisco style bouillabaisse) shellfish soup, wine, pastries. Watched DVDs, played games, listened to music. Light rain all day.
"In the life of a man, his time is but a moment.... his sense, a dim rushlight.
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December 25,
Sunday, 2005
Christmas Day: dinner at Alicia
and Sean's (prime rib, potatoes, vegetables, wine). Light rain all day.
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December 26,
Monday, 2005
2004 Tsunami from the Indian Ocean
((((The Jolt))))
Awakened - Mike Garofalo, One Short of a Baker's Dozen
Mick took us on a tour of his workplaces: Voodoo Lounge downtown, Be
Zinful Catering and Deli, Urban Fondue, and Bartini's Lounge. He
prepared a wonderful fondue for us all. We visited Powell's
bookstore, shopped downtown, and went on a drive in the country south of
Gresham. Fine dining, conversation, games, and DVD.
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December 27,
Tuesday, 2005
Drove home from Portland - 470 miles. Rained all day. Personal Bests in Strength Training 2005 Box Squat 18" 265 lbs Bench Press 245 lbs Dead Lift 300 lbs Z Board Bench 255 lbs Box Squat 15" 195lbs Floor Press 245 lbs
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December 28,
Wednesday, 2005
Home chores, reading, writing. 9 hours of Edge Play.
"The true object of all human life is play. "It is a happy talent to know how to play."
"We don't stop playing because we grow old;
"The fastest way to succeed is to look as if you're playing by somebody else's rules, while quietly playing by your own."
"The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both."
"When was the last time you spent a quiet moment just doing nothing - just sitting and looking at the sea, or watching the wind blowing the tree limbs, or waves rippling on a pond, a flickering candle or children playing in the park?"
"We are never more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing."
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December 29,
Thursday, 2005
I really enjoy reading the e-mail neweletter from Yoga Journal. You can sign up for the excellent Yoga Journal E-mail Newsletter by visiting their webpage. Anyone interested in Chinese Qigong will find much useful information in this newsletter. I'm of the opionion that Qigong (Chi-Kung, Dao-Yin) is a type of Yoga, probably older than Hatha Yoga from India. The earliest Yoga Sutra by Pantanjali (200 A.D.), does not have any detailed instructions on postures or breathing exercises. These instructions began to appear in published works in India by the 16th century. Chinese Qigong (Dao-Yin) postures and breathing exercises have a documented history back to 300 B.C.. I'm sure cross-fertilization of mind-body arts occurred between India, Tibet and China since 1,000 B.C.. In many ways the country, source, or time of origin of a mind-body-spirit practice is irrelevant to a person practicing in 2005. "Just Do It" and do it everyday is what really matters.
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December 30,
Friday, 2005
A "To Do List" is actually a "We Will Never Get It All Done List."
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December 31,
Saturday, 2005
Feedback, Kudos, Questions, Comments in December 2005:
"Hello! This was my fist time visiting your web site and I really
enjoyed it. Moreover, I am a student at College of the Redwoods and I was
wondering if I my use some of the quotes from your web site in a paper I am
doing for my soils class. I would greatly appreciate it, and of course, I would
give you a reference in my works cited page. Again I really enjoyed your
collection of quotes."
"Thank you Michael for all of these wonderful resources... much
appreciation and respect! Metta Peace."
"Hi Mike! I have a question for you. I am part of a group called SF Parkour. Parkour is a new sport that is kind of like urban gymnastics. We run around and jump off, over and through things, trying to be as fluid and interactive with our (urban) environment as possible. So we're trying to find a slogan for our group. I thought that starting with a cliche or platitude and altering it somehow to be relevant to our sport might sound cool, so I did a google search for common cliches and found your site - a smorgasbord of cliches. Half way through the B section I thought well crap, this guy's thought about cliches a lot, I should just ask him if he's got any suggestions. Info about the site and sport (if you can call it that) can be found here: http://www.sfparkour.com/pkforum/phpBB2/index.php If you have any good suggestions, post 'em, or email me and I will. Also, if
it helps your inspiration, whoever's slogan wins gets $50 and a T-shirt.
Meanwhile, I'll be making my way down the list..."
Meatlad Jeff doing some precision jumps over posts and pipes "Hi Michael. I am student of Master
Aiping Cheng and am basically surfing the web to make sure links and info on
our school is accurate. I noticed that the link to our school on your Sun style
tai chi website does not work. Is it possible to update the link to direct it
to: www.aiping-taichi.com? BTW - I think your Sun style tai chi project is a
great thing. It is wonderful to see a site that provides unbiased information
and lineage."
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