Yoga: Moving Towards More Than Just Flexibility

Yoga is something that I have danced with, off and on, over the last 5-years, However, it is only in the past five months that I have come to appreciate the balance it offers in my life.

I find that I am more willing to accept the inconsistencies and curve balls thrown my way because I see the benefits in going with the flow rather than obsessing over the details. Even more, the beauty and simplicity of the things around me have become magnified in such a way that it’s become impossible for me not to find some level of gratification in even the most mundane moments.

Granted, I still have times where my anger and frustration get the best of me but I feel, for the most part, that I am much more centered and focused on my life as a “work in progress” as opposed to a completed picture with no hope of getting better—I am rediscovering myself as a wife, mother, woman, and friend and enjoying the lessons I’m learning along the way.

I credit yoga for allowing me the avenue to do such things without feeling the pain and disappointment that I might have in the past.

It’s as if I have come to accept my bad parts for what they were/are and decided to no longer let them define me. I finally started to realize that the only consistency in this life is that things will always change and my place in that cycle is up to me.

I guess what I’m saying is, the journey does not come in trying to overcome the obstacles that these “changes” represent, but rather in taking those obstacles as symbols of how much stronger your becoming as a person because you have found a way to overcome them on your own.

Yoga has opened up a world within myself that I might otherwise never have found and I am loving it.

Now…if I could just master that darned crane (see photo).

Related articles

• Making Yoga a Priority Tops My To Do List (lifeissublime.wordpress.com)
• Yoga is a powerful practice (fr33domhall.wordpress.com)

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Proof That Not Everyone Should Wear High Heels

This young lady may need to stick with flats for a little while longer:

Funny – Funny Videos

Ay yi yi.

Malaysia: Should It Be Okay to Add BMI to Report Cards?

As if A’s and B’s weren’t enough for your elementary schooler to be concerned about, now there’s at least one school that is taking your child’s overall health one step further.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, schools are adding body mass index (or BMI) to the report cards of each student. BMI is the tool most used to determine obesity in individuals.

The decision to do so is one that adds more credence to Malaysia’s attempt to combat the growing population of overweight and obese children in the school system.

While I can definitely appreciate an aggressive approach to battling this progressively worsening issue, I don’t think it’s useful to send home a number (especially one as confusing as the BMI) without adding nutritional health education into the mix.

It would make more sense to leave the placement of BMI data on report cards out of the equation and replace it with one-on-one dietary counseling for the family—chances are good that the child isn’t the only one struggling with their weight.

However, if all you’re planning to do is send home a score and leave it up to the parent to do something about it, then you’re not only leaving a negative imprint on the mental development of that child but you’re placing the sole responsibility of righting the ship on the parent—who may or may not have the resources available to make the necessary changes.

That said, at least send pamphlets home on obesity and the inherent health dangers it causes to, not only children, but adults as well, and offer a viable resource for said parent to find more information if they choose to do something about it—otherwise this move doesn’t seem to matter much.

Related articles

• Talk About Physical Education: Malaysian Report Cards to Include Body Mass Index (newsfeed.time.com)
• Malaysia report cards to grade students on weight (sfgate.com)
• Malaysian school pupils to be scored on weight (telegraph.co.uk)
• Malaysia schools put fat on record in anti-obesity drive (bbc.co.uk)