Physical health

I seem to have gotten deep into the spiritual realm of my journey.  I'm also looking into the physical aspect of health.  I'm still exercising at least four times a week. I've revised it to better match my goals. 

I want to build the muscles in my arms, so twice a week I work out with the P90X Shoulders and Arms work out DVD.  I want to be limber because I notice that most elderly people are stiff. I notice that I am stiff in the morning but limber up a bit as the day progresses.  Therefore, I chose to work the P90X X Stretch DVD and two days of my modified version of Bikram Yoga. I'm no way as limber as the pictures, so I do my best in poses that work for me.  I also included a couple of other stretches. 

I seemed to have slacked off on the Liamgong.  Hopefully I can get back to it this week.

Food-wise, I'm still mostly eating a raw food diet.  It's the time of year when I get invited to functions and I don't want to be rude by not eating. I was invited to one party and the hostess made a vegetarian dish just for me.  It was cooked, but I figured she had it prepared out of kindness. She was so excited that she had remembered I didn't eat meat that I couldn't refuse. 

I was surprised when I read in my tenth lesson from Practicing Spirituality with His Holiness the Dalai Lama that not all Buddhist monks are necessarily vegetarian. The reason is because, they go out asking for alms, which include food. Whatever they get is what they eat without complaint.  The idea is to practice contentment.  I want special food, namely uncooked, for health reasons. Society doesn't live like that, so what interpretation my friends have on my diet is what I get. They always try in earnest to bring me something so I won't be left out.  Like the monks in the Dalai Lama's example, I choose to be content with the food and not cause anxiety for any misconception on their part. Therefore, I have eaten rice without meat which was especially made with me in mind.  How could I hurt the feelings of my hostess?  I can easily detox it out with a short fruit fast.


3 A's = Affection (Thoughtfulness), Attention (Listening), Appreciation (Gratitude)

Often times it happens, we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we have the key