Remembering Guruji

To be vegetarian shouldn't be expensive

The last time I went to Hong Kong, we had dinner in this restaurant.  The menu made me very excited and I wanted to try everything.  How I wish the price was in Philippine peso though.  Sigh.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not complaining about the price as the food was really good and the effort put to prepare each dish was tremendous.  I've spent a good amount of time in the kitchen preparing food for friends and family, and let me just say that it takes a lot of time, energy, and focus.

Tesa Celdran for Yoga for Life

http://www.tesaceldran.blogspot.com/

No wonder yogis look young and live long...

~Next week, another year will be added to this mortal's body.

Slow metabolism seems to be related to longevity according to this study.  How do we reduce our metabolic rates?  The article suggests that we can do that through low calorie diets.  For the yogis, it is called mitahara.

According to exercise scientists, regular moderate intensity exercise is enough for good health.  Now the physiologists are suggesting us to slow down our metabolism by eating moderately.  Isn't that what the ancient yogis have been advocating?

Read the article, "Increased metabolic rate may lead to accelerated aging."

The photo on the left was taken by a famous blogger/ashtangi/UP Prof.  Gratitude.

Ma Durga

Surround me with your loving arms...hold me in your heart.
Let me know that I am loved
and that I can love.
Show me that no matter where I go
That I come and go in You.
I am never out of your loving presence.
That you are the smile behind the smile,
the touch behind the touch
The kiss behind the kiss...
You are the constant presence that I forget until I remember
and when I remember my Self, I remember You.
I sing your Name. What else can I think of? You ARE Love.
And I AM You.

- Ma Durga by Krishna Das

Happy Mother's Day!

Heart Rate Response to Basic Ashtanga Practice (Part 2)

As I mentioned in the previous post, I wanted to observe how my heart rate responds to a basic ashtanga practice.  One of the many definitions of yoga is integration.  Thus, allow me to integrate what I've learned from grad school in answering my question.

Methodology

The subject was a 34 year old Asian male who had been practicing ashtanga yoga regularly for more than 5 years.  The subject has normal BMI (22.0), resting heart rate of 60 bpm, and an estimated VO2max of 37mL/kg/min.  The subject reported no other moderate-to-vigorous physical activities except for ashtanga which he performs 60-120 minutes of ashtanga yoga 3-4 times a week.  Recommended age-predicted training heart rate for the subject is 112bpm-167bpm.  Based on heart rate reserve, his recommended training heart rate is 123bpm-167bpm. 

Heart Rate Response to Basic Ashtanga Practice (Part 1)

A few years ago, I wore my Polar F4 heart rate monitor while I did my ashtanga practice just to see how my heart rate responded and how much calories I'd burn.  There was this idea that ashtanga will help you lose weight and has some cardiovascular benefits (In what I've read lately, asana practice should not be like exercise otherwise it defeats its purpose).

My knowledge about the body and how it works is based on my training in sports science.  Conventional knowledge tells us that in order for us to improve our cardiovascular endurance, we have to train the heart to beat up to a certain rate and maintain that for at least 10 minutes at a time.  Below that, the benefits are minimal.