Update! Read all about it.
I notice that I'm the kind of blogger who pauses and stops writing for a long time for a variety of reasons. Then, I somehow get inspired and I pick it up again. So here I am. Back. Almost one and half years later. Lots have happened since March 08.
Celebrated my 10 year college reunion. The weekend was amazing and it made me realize how much I missed my 4 years at school.
Barack was elected president! Woot! I still love me some Hillary and was disappointed when she lost to Obama. Nevertheless, I'm happy with how things turned out.
I became an official TripVlogger for a travelsite called TripFilms and I'll be posting some of the videos I made for them on our trip to Hong Kong. We owe them videos on the Philippines so I'll be posting those soon too. In the meantime, you can check out my videos at Tripfilms here.
MoJo and I went to Hong Kong for New Year 2009 and then on to the Philippines for two weeks to visit my family.
I started practicing Bikram yoga in mid-March and I am an official Bikram junkie!!! I was inspired to try it because of the inspiring healing story of the creator of this yoga, Bikram Choudhury. He crushed his knee in a weightlifting accident as a young adult and Western doctors proclaimed he would never walk again. He proved them wrong. This practice has healed countless people physically, mentally, & emotionally including myself.
I had arthroscopic surgery back in 1991 and my knee was never the same. I always likened my knee to a shattered vase pieced together. Over the years, it would lock out, feel tight, feel like there were air bubbles in. I didn't have any strength in it nor flexibility. In March 09, I was leaning heavily on a banister to go down stairs because my knee didn't feel strong enough. I've been an active person despite working out at the gym, running, power walking, hiring a trainer. But over the years, my knee just weakened. Besides the knee, I had other joint/muscle issues: I pulled my back out several times, the tendons in my shoulder were starting to fray causing severe paine, my wrists hurt (I thought I had carpel tunnel), my ankles were starting to hurt. In fact, you can read me blog about it back in 2005. I felt like I was a 30 year old living in a 60 year old body. It was depressing to say the least. One acupuncturist friend who treated me told me that my body has a tendency to produce high levels of acid (caused mainly by stress, anger, and the food I eat) that is causing my joint pain/injury. She recommended that I sweat the acid out. Enter Bikram yoga and the inspiring story of healing by Bikram himself. I made a commitment to practicing 5-6 days a week and after 5 months I am so happy to say that all my joint paint has virtually disappeared. I say virtually because my knee pain has decreased tremendously and is on its way to healing fully. I feel like I've been given a new body with my regular practice. In addition to all the physical benefits (did I mention that I've lost weight), emotionally and mentally I'm also a different person. I am happier, more centered and at peace, and most importantly, I've been able to manage the stress in my daily life so well. Things that would make me fly off the handle before, don't bother me anymore. It's been an amazing and transformative experience. But I had to earn it. Healing on any level is not passive; it is an active engagement of your mind, body, and spirit. It takes commitment, hard work, discipline, and yes, sometimes pain to achieve breakthroughs. There's a time and place for medicine. Yes. However, I feel our society has become so dependent on pills to solve our issues when in fact pills just treat the symptom (and create more problems with side effects) and don't target the cause.
And most recently, we just came back from vacation. We went on a 9-day cruise to the Caribbean. Let's just say I'm not running to sign up for my next cruise. It was good to spend time with MoJo's family and not have to work for 9 days. The best part was sitting on a deck chair, facing the horizon and reading a book. Other than that, I can do without the overconsumption of food, alcohol, and goods. I'll stick to off-the-beaten path traveling unless it's a cruise to the Galapagos or the South Pacific!
