Sunday was the first warm day of the year. It was shorts weather. Do we celebrate the abundance of nature? No, that’s not today’s American values. What are today’s American values? You can tell by our behavior. We buy doof, not food. We don’t prepare it. We buy it pre-prepared, which means overloaded with salt, sugar, and fat, then packaged. We don’t even eat fresh fruit on its own. We[…] Keep reading →

I write about sidchas and standard procedures a fair amount. I don’t remember how often I clarify the main reasons for doing them. You might think the point of fitness-related ones to be fitness. I’m proud of fitness results, but they’re more a side effect. One of the big benefits is mental freedom. I think many people consider diet and exercise sources of stress, never knowing if they’re doing enough[…] Keep reading →

I don’t pretend to be operating at the level of a top Olympic athlete in one of the most grueling sports (though my resting heart rate of 38 bpm probably indicates something) but the words of Jessie Diggins quoted below have resonated with me. Who is she? According to Wikipedia: She is the most accomplished cross-country skier from the United States in the sport’s history having won three World Cup[…] Keep reading →

A few of my sidchas involve lifting weights. I don’t lift to get big or strong, though I like that those results happen. I might like attaining those results more for their being side-effects rather than specific goals. My two main reasons are 1) because our ancestors for hundreds of thousands of years didn’t eat by just walking to the fridge, they had to climb trees, dig up roots, and[…] Keep reading →

Doing things consistently and daily for a long time enables you to notice nuances, which increases self-awareness. Since I have a six-day exercise cycle that I begin on the first of each month, in months with 31 days, I like to vary what I do with the extra day. In December I did two things. Sorry for the long post, but what I describe below felt like a meaningful experience[…] Keep reading →

I was 40 years old when I did my first burpee in 2011. Today I’m 54 and haven’t missed a day. Now I do more than burpees in what I call “my twice daily burpee-based calisthenics.” Daily burpees helped me develop the sidcha concept, which I consider one of the most important developments of my life. I’ve come to see sidchas as the most effective way to reach one’s potential.[…] Keep reading →

Following up my posts Another 70-pound Turkish Get-Up, also more lifting personal bests and Two personal bests in a week: Freedom—and, speaking of health and fitness, New resting pulse: 38 bpm—I forgot to mention I finally achieved my third 70-pound Turkish Get-Up. For the meaning of the achievement, read the first link above. It’s funny that after at least a year of thinking about and planning it, the first one[…] Keep reading →

I got my annual checkup yesterday. They took my vital statistics. Reading 1: the blood pressure machine As usual, my resting heart rate was lower than they’re used to. The nurse taking my blood pressure saw my pulse was showing 42 bpm while the blood pressure machine was doing its pressure cycle. I was looking forward to taking a picture of that rate, when she started asking me questions, the[…] Keep reading →

When did a 5,000-year-old practice to attain liberation and promote physical and emotional well-being come to hurt people for centuries, even millennia? Here’s a definition of yoga I found online: Yoga : a Hindu theistic philosophy teaching the suppression of all activity of body, mind, and will in order that the self may realize its distinction from them and attain liberation : a system of physical postures, breathing techniques, and[…] Keep reading →