-=-namaste-=-

saturday, september 1

It can be done!! Denver, a city who has failed to have to meet federal ozone standards since 1978, has become one of the first cities to achieve full compliance with the Clean Air Act. You can read about it here. The city cleaned itself up in many ways, such as switching old coal-burning power plants to cleaner burning natural gas and altering gasoline to keep carbon monoxide emissions down. Also, car pool lanes and new emission standards for cars!! In the fall, they are introducing a light rail system. Way to go, denver... Hopefully other cities will watch and learn. Yeah, I'm talking to you LA...
2:06 PM 0 comments

friday, august 31

My brother Lee is coming to visit!!! He gets here tomorrow night. He is a spider monkey rock climber, and he's going to climb at Yosemite for a few weeks. I'm going to ride there with him and do some hiking and chillin in the outdoors, soaking up the energy of the mountains. Recharge!!

Any places that any one knows of and loves in yosemite, give me an email about it Harper@honan.net. I've never been. I'm psyched...
11:07 AM 0 comments

I must clarify... I don't think that ALL yoga product catalogs are horrible (see previous post). This one was just horrible in particular. The people in the pictures all had make-up, hairspray, perfect figures, and were decked out in perfect clothes with ancient sanskrit symbols carelessly splashed across them. Not very men in the pictures. Not an overweight person, tatooed person, elderly person, any person of any other race but white and Asian, and certainly not a hairy armpit in sight. No organic cotton products. "You must have this STUFF to correctly practice yoga..."

Social conditioning. Now they're trying to break into yoga too....
10:50 AM 0 comments

I got this horrible catalog in the mail yesterday from Yoga Zone. I don't want to sound mean or judgemental, but the catalog was just the epidemy (sp?) of the recent commercialization of yoga. Reducing an ancient and holy practice to the exchange of money for goods that make you look spiritual is an awful thing.
Anyway, I think that this site is associated with that catalog, BUT they do have a nice outline of maha namaskar, the great salute. It is kind of like a suryanamaskar A and B (sun salutations) plus several other standing poses to total 22. If you are just starting a home practice on your own and need a little guidance to get started this is a good foundation.
10:33 AM 0 comments

thursday, august 30

There is about to be a World Food Summit sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. It could be a great opportunity for the discussion of sustainable agriculture and coming up with real methods of feeding our world's people without ravaging our planet. Or it could be a big meeting further supporting big corporate agribusiness and factory farming with its heinous animal rights violations. So, if this is an issue that speaks to you, go ahead and sign this petition
1:24 PM 0 comments

"I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being. Cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It is the ultimate success in life."

The Dalai Lama
1:02 PM 0 comments

wednesday, august 29

OK. everyone reading this, I want you to try something. This is called Nadi Shodhana,a relaxing yogic breathing technique. It is also called alternate nostril breathing. One of the main parts of a yoga practice is the control of the breath, or pranayama. Nadi Shodhana is one of many pranayama techniques, and it is one of my favorite to practice at work. It is excellent at calming the body and mind and reducing stress.

The yogis believe that when the right nostril is open the surya, or sun/heating element, is dominant, and that when the left nostril is open the chandra, of moon/cooling element is dominant. By alternating the flow of the air into your nose in a regulated way, you can create a balance in the two branches of the autonomic nervous system and a balance between excitation and relaxation... excellent for centering the mind.
2:08 PM 0 comments

So, anyone who loves Golden Gate park on Sundays because there are no cars allowed, read on!! This is an excerpt from the latest newsletter for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition... www.sfbike.org

Legislation was introduced yesterday at the SF Board of Supervisors to make Golden Gate Park's JFK Drive more like a park on Saturdays (like it is on Sunday). Huge thanks to Supervisor Matt Gonzalez for introducing this. The legislation is a compromise: close JFK to cars from Kezar to 8th Ave. right away, and begin hearings on the rest of the proposal (which will take more time to implement). Now we need your help in convincing all the Supervisors (or at least a solid majority!) to support this. Please call your District Supervisor this week -- before they go on a 3-week recess and tell them:
1) You support Supervisor Gonzalez's legislation
2) This is a great compromise that accommodates many varied interests in the Park
3) You live in his/her District and urge them to support the proposal

For your Supervisor's contact info., see http://www.sfbike.org/campaigns/instant_activist/contact_your_leaders.html
1:15 PM 0 comments

So, this is my first ever web log. Not really sure what I'm going to do with it. It's amazing the possibilities that fly into my head when faced with a beautiful green blank page. I think that I want this space to be all about growth... hence, the green. I will post things that contribute to my growth as a human, as an energetic being, as a friend, family member, and wife.
Pretty broad but it should be interesting.
Oh yeah, and I will save a little space for some activism stuff too...
12:52 PM 0 comments