Mindfulness

A note of some of the links I found interesting on the topic of mindfulness. I do think this stuff does help in becoming more spiritual, less materialistic (from Materialistic I don't mean anything bad, evil or selfish, I just mean the approach of life where gaining material wealth is seen as an end rather than a means to an end).

1. http://www.lotusandlens.com/what-is-mindfulness/
2. http://www.shamanswell.org/shaman/harvard-study-links-happiness-mindfulness

Masajid

source: http://umeraahmed.weebly.com/hum-nay-masjid-kay-meenar-ka-karna-kiya-hai.html

Facebook

Why do I need facebook? Why do I want facebook? Why do I use facebook? What I derive from it? What do I get from it?

If there's one thing I don't use it for, that's keeping in touch. I don't use it for keeping in touch with anybody. There's nobody I stay in touch with through facebook. Really. All my friends don't use it as much, or if they use it, we don't interact that much. I don't have that kind of friends. There was a time when I had such friends, girls mostly, and now is not it. Now, the people I am friends with, are goal oriented people. They talk when they need to. They get their ... updates.. from newspapers and journals. So, one thing that I don't use it for is keeping in touch. It's true that it has often come in handy when trying to locate a number of some long lost friend, but that's only because the number was lost. I could have located it from elsewhere too. In the end, it's the number you need to stay in touch. Pictures? Wedding photos? I guess I can probably do without those updated. After all, really, nobody matters so much that I would benefit in the department of life-satisfaction and general happiness from knowing about these updates.

Then? What do I get from it? Stalking? Uh well, that too, has little use now. Really. I mean, contrary to what it may seem like to some people, I am Not in extrovort. I don't like having a  vast, dilute social circle. I do well with a small, concentrated one. So I am not at all the person to hit up a new person on line, chat him/her up, then be a buddy. No, that's not how I roll. At least, not now.

Having an online presence? Well, maybe. But isn't that what that really does mean is that I want to be public? Like, awami? I want everyone to know me? to know how 'cool' I am? That I read so and so, and that I use so and so, and that I like so and so, and that I have watched so and so? And then feel a sense of oneness with those other people who have 'Liked' the same pages? Truth be told, I never did feel any oneness with anybody. George Carlin, my favorite comedian, atheist, me, a strong monotheist, his page I had liked. And the admin kept sharing his quotes against religion. Fine, his quotes, comedy. Alright. But the comments? All those idiots missing his point entirely, starting to argue once again over whether there is a God or not, and ... on facebook? On a comedian's page? Are you kidding me?! No, having an online presence doesn't work for me. It didn't work me. I never really could connect with the intellectuals, the liberals, or... the religious class. Ah, the irony. The most commonly placed label on me - that religious guy, that molvi. I never did well with those too, either. Why that? Well, the real molvis, I one's I would really have enjoyed with, well, they weren't using Facebook! They may have accounts, but they aren't posting. There Are indeed a couple of people who use facebook as much as I do, why I don't 'interact' with them on fb? Why I have hidden their feed? I guess, facebook is all about how we want to be seen to the world. And the way they want to be seen, on the internet, is not quite the way I want to see them as. I know they're different, which is why we're friends, of course. Reminds me what Oscar Wilde said, 'Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.' I guess on the internet, we're too much 'in our own person'. I guess. No, thank you, I will do without an online presence. Which does make me think what I made this blog for, around two years ago, on the suggestion of a friend, to have an online presence. Ha! It has become a good whiteboard, and rightly so, this is what I need more than an online presence, a place which is Mine. Where I vomit out all that junk I am consuming, and look at it, while it comes out, that what have I been consuming! Look at what's been inside me, and how it feels like when I take it out in front of others. More on that later. This post isn't about this blog. It's about facebook. An exploratory essay into why I do and shouldn't use facebook.

Ah! The updates! The constant Dopamine hit! The bananas for the monkey. I won't negotiate over that. I won't argue I don't get that, or that I am not a monkey. I won't say that I don't get hooked on to the endless memes there, or that I am not on the lookout for the next interesting status update, or the next catchy picture. But it gets too much out too quickly. Isn't it when we notice all wrong? When it gets 'out of hand'? When it's too much than what's considered Normal? Haha... It's wrong when it's too much, it's right when it's normal much? Wow! Well, with me, most things get out of hand. Most things. I'm an indulgent person by nature. And I don't Give. A. Damn. I will lose X? Whatever. I will be seen as Y? Whatever. I will have to live with Z. Whatever. So, I slip in to the 'unhealthy amoung' very soon. I know immediately what thing is wrong, because immediately I slide towards doing a lot of it, and see the harm in it, and see that the harm is there even when you're doing less of it. And then I try to cut it off entirely, totally. That's when people call me crazy. Hahahaha... Whatever. If you really have a point other than 'thora sa tou chalta hai' (I can tolerate a little bit of it, but not a lot of it) then come argue, and then call me crazy. Or put a label before opening your mind to it. I am used to either kind of treatment. You're welcome.

Is that it? All I seek is pointless, endless, directionless, mental activity? Really?

I would have been ashamed of myself on discovering this, if this indeed was a discovery. Whatever.

Tragedy

The supreme tragedy of the intellectual is not that what he considers insightful enough to share, others find too abstract to appreciate; but that what he considers too obvious to state, others find too significant to overlook.

Wednesday

Tonight (i.e. Wednesday January 24) I did as I promised on my blog I would.

I did:

1 squat, 10 push-ups, 25-60 rope-skips,
2 squats, 9 push-ups and 25-60 rope-skips,
...
10 squats, 1 push-up.

Obviously I was out of breath many time, sometimes so much so that I couldn't go on, there were many 30-second (or longer) rests sprinkled in between. I remember taking a few water breaks too :)

Then I removed rope-skipping and mountain climbers from the circuit mentioned in the link above and it became like this:

1) Side-to-side jumping - 15 reps
2) Alternate Dumbbell Curls - 10 reps
3) Bent Dumbbell Rows - 10 reps
4) Military Press - 10 reps

And I did two such circuits. Only taking a break when I was too out of breath to go on. Since I am not lifting too heavy, and the volume is totally non existence, I could afford to be so hard. After all, I was treating this as cardio, and not as bodybuilding.

Since I didn't give myself any day to rest after yesterday's push-ups, I was kinda weak today after the first 18 or so reps. I resorted to knee push-ups, then gained some strength, and was back to full push-ups, but I didn't go all the way down. Anyway, I am happy with substituting 2 sets of rope skipping and 2 of mountain climbers with 10 of rope skipping.

Let's see what I do tonight. I am planning on doing the same though, perhaps doing curling instead of push-ups in the 55, and doing mountain climbers instead of curling in the circuits.

A week gone by

In Urdu we have this phrase jumma jumma aath din which is often used to condescendingly say that something is very new in the market, so much so that it hasn't even completed eight days, eight days means even the weekday it was started on, hasn't come back around yet. So, today, Tuesday, I it's been eight days since I have been working out. Mujhay jumma jumma aath din hogaye hain! Haha...

For now, my focus has been to just do anything for more than 15 minutes that could be classified as physical exercise. So I had been doing. As discussed earlier, I had been doing a mix of squats with either pushups, curling, or military press, followed by one or two circuits of rope skipping, jumping side to side and mountain climbers. Anyway, it's time for me to formalize my routine a little bit, or at least, note down the quantity I do, so the progress can be gauged. For now, the only progress is doing more exercise with less rest within the same amount of time. I have been keeping any metrics, so I can't comment on those. Though I should. One other improvement I have noticed indeed is that regular exercise automatically keeps you from having a bad diet, and that's what's happening. It won't miraculously make you eat a perfect diet like pros, experts or hobbyists; but it will save you from capital diet offences, which usually go un-apprehended when you aren't working out.  For example, if I am eating right after workout, I won't even be able to pig out, because personally I am too tired to keep eating beyond what's enough to kill the hunger, and also, because the stomach muscles have been worked, I feel like vomiting if I overeat right after exercise. Also, if you are eating before workout, you will eat less, because if you don't, you won't be able to exercise at all. So that's what I was talking about. Automatic fix.

Now, back to the formalization. I have noticed, on all the days, I find 55 to be a very comfortable way of doing 55 reps for any one muscle group, coupled with lightly working my legs daily. And since getting bigger is not a priority at the moment, that's alright. Secondly, I have been able to complete it within 10-15 minutes. Thirdly, I can squeeze in one or two circuits of 3-4 cardio exercises. And that also makes 30 minutes. Also, I learned that I can't do burpees with other exercises, it doesn't leave any energy in me to go on, and that I have gotten good at rope-skipping, I can do them seamlessly for longer if I concentrate mentally. So here's the map for what I am gonna follow, for the next week at least:

Warm up: 2-5 minute of jogging in place.
55: squats + pushups or curling or military presses. Recovery time needed na!

Followed by 1 or 2 circuits of:
1. Rope-skipping, 25-60 reps.
2. Jumping side-to-side, 15 reps.
3. Standing dumbell rowing: 15 reps.
4. Military press or curling depending on what's been done in 55.
5. Mountain climbers, 10 reps.

The original workout that I looked up on the internet didn't have 1, 3 and 4. And it instead had burpees and crabwalking. But I am skipping those for now, as I can't do them properly, may be later, and replacing them with anaerobic exercises, because I find them easier to do.

This shows that my workout is 25% and 75% anabolic. But that's not how it should be. It should be the other way around, 75% cardio and 25% anabolic. In fact, I don't even need anabolic right now, but I do it only to feel quick visible results and stay motivated. So I am thinking what I will do is, instead of just resting 30 seconds in between the rounds in 55, I will do a set of rope skipping. That will give me ten additional sets of rope-skipping. And if I can do that, I think eventually I will get used to doing rope-skipping, which is great because in my opinion it's a very fun and effective exercise. It's not just cardio, but also leg strength, core strength, agility and coordination.

That's all for now!

Seventh Day

Today is the seventh day since I have been working out. I am thinking of resting, skipping it. I actually feel like I am more tired, swollen , even fatter because of working out. I don't know what happened to the feelings of energy and enthusiasm which come with exercising, though I must say I have been feeling happier, more confident since last Tuesday, when I started, but today... I don't know... Whatever.

On Saturday night, papa was giving us a treat. For what? Nobody knows, even he didn't. It was more we bullying a treat out of him, than he giving us a treat. So, all the Saturday, I was under the impression that he will manage the treat all by himself, the menu, the place, the delivery, everything. But as it turns out, the friend that he was depending on to ride with, didn't show up in the evening. So it was all on to me. If I had imagined this would happened, I would have worked out earlier, but since I hadn't, so I didn't.

So, after Isha, I came back home early. Skipped sitting in the taleem after Isha, also didn't offer witr rakaat. Anyway, I came home, did some quick small workout, I was gonna write here what I did, but I don't even remember! But, I kept moving for 20-25 minutes, which was essentially the point. Then took a cold water shower, and set out to Meerath Kebab House.

I wish I had noted down the workout, I am thinking of keeping a diary of the exercises I do. Because I always exercise in terms of time (20-25 minutes), the amount of work done in that time could be a good measurement of performance, hence a good gauge of results. The stamina, the endurance, the strength is the result. Fatloss/Muscle gain can come when they may. The first goal is always to be regular.

Post written on Monday, Jan 21. 

My Small Workouts

I have been working out for four days now! (Wow!) Well, I wouldn't actually call them 'workouts', because they're too small. I wish I could come up with another name for them. How about worky or ... small workout? I don't feel very creative. Alright? Okay.

So last Friday, or it would have been some time before that, I thought, man I need to start doing something to stop looking like I am forty. So, the thought was in the pipeline, and I was also googling the shortest and the easiest workouts, and the browser window that contained the workouts stayed open a good four days in my computer too. But well, I didn't quite get myself to do it. On Monday, I met friends, and asked them what's up and all, and a friend told me he's been really 'busy' lately, which basically meant he has not been giving himself time. I told him to workout, and well, told him to do a small workout ® . I told him such a thing can be fitted into the busiest of days, because all it takes is 15 minutes of one's time. And if one is worried one would have to take a bath after it, just because of the workout, well, to that I would say, just do it right before you shower! And those who shower in the morning, can do their workouts in the night, if they're too lazy to wake up Fifteen minutes earlier.

Since I have been reading up on small workouts, and since I had planned two workouts for myself. First I had stumbled upon the one called '55' and since that seemed like too little to have any effect, I kept googling until I came up one 'Beginner Men's Indoor Cardio' workout. So I was thinking I would do these both. And this is what I told Russell about, about 55. That it's a simple workout, and can be done in 15 minutes. And that he should do it. He didn't do it. But I ended up doing it the very next day. See? This is also the blessing of inviting someone to do good, you end up doing it yourself.

So the next day, I was thinking, that I am a lazy ass. Instead of doing the cardio workout plus 55, I will just do 55, which started seeming tough enough once I got down to doing it. It goes like this:

You do 1 squat and 10 push-ups, then 30 second rest. Then 2 squats and 9 pushups, then 30 seconds rest. And so on, till you do 10 squats and 1 pushups. That way, you've completed 55 squats and 55 pushups, hence the name. I liked this because I could do it and complete it within 15 minutes. Secondly, when a guy my weight does pushups and squats with only 30 seconds of rest in between, the workout is automatically a cardio workout too, albeit a very very short okay. But that's okay.

That was it for the first day. On second day, I thought, why not also give those cardio exercises a shot too, which I had initially intended to do along with 55. And main reason was that, having done 55 pushups in 15 minutes (I had never done more than 40 pushups in any one day before that workout) I couldn't even do a single pushup. Sore arms and all. So the second workout was like this: Walking/Jogging in place, Side to side jumps, Burpees, Mountain Climbers, Crab walk. Each to done 25 times in one circuit, and a total of two circuits to be done with 1 minute rest in between. Now, I had already ruled out crab walk, I wasn't gonna do that! And when I did attempt Burpees and Mountain Climbers after the first two exercises, I couldn't do them. They were just too tough for me. So, well. I just kept doing one thing or the other till 20 minutes passed. But then, I knew how to plan my next session.

On Thursday night, I introduced rope skipping to the mix. Well, I am very heavy for it, and there are hurdles I face when doing it. The joints hurt like crazy, coordination is not there, and I am out of breath before I can say 'sixty'... So I thought, I would call it a set if I can do more than 25 jumps in one go. And if let's than that, the set will have to repeated. And I did a new version of 55, my triceps still hurting, I decided I would let them recover some more. I did bicep curling along with squats. And did side to side jumps and walking/jogging in place. I did try mountain climbers again, but couldn't get them to work, so left them alone after 10 reps.

On Friday night, it was pretty much the same as Thursday night, except that instead of increasing the number of squats in from 1 to 10, I just did 10 in each round. I really wanted to hit my quads and hams, but haven't been feeling anything there. And I did military presses this time with squats. The cardio was the same, though I noticed some improvement in coordination while skipping rope.

Tonight I guess I will do the actual 55. Followed by some three sets of Jogging-in-place, side-to-side, mountain-climbers, and rope skipping. And if there's still time remaining, I will more something for the lats too.

I am happy I have been sticking with for at least 4 days now. I am not aiming for quick results, or visible, prominent results. If nothing else, the endorphin feel great.

Per Ardua Ad Astra

The insignia of the Royal New Zealand Air Force is the kiwi, a flightless bird.

source: http://www.futilitycloset.com/2013/01/17/per-ardua-ad-astra/

Aku

Some things, you just can't get over. Some favorite childhood cartoons are one of those things. As a child, I absolutely loved cartoons. Loveddddddd them! And I still have a lingering taste for them. The thing is, some cartoons respect basic logic and psychology, and those are the ones you can watch and enjoy no matter how old you are, you can indulge in them, suspend some disbelief, and be in the story. With others that don't do that, and violate their own assumptions, have plot holes (Swat Cats, anyone?), the back of your mind stands up with its arms wide open and says with with a disappointing face "That's not even possible when, even in cartoons!" Anyway, so as a child, I used to watch this cartoon, and I simply Loved it. It's called Samurai Jack. I loved everything about it from the animation to graphics to the dialogues to the story to the characters to the soundtrack! Down to the time it was aired. One thing I really can't get out of my mind was the 'Back-to-Back' soundtrack of it, and the dialogue that's said by The Aku before the cartoon begins. Here it is:

Long ago in a distant land, I, Aku, the shape-shifting Master of Darkness, unleashed an unspeakable evil! But a foolish Samurai warrior wielding a magic sword stepped forth to oppose me. Before the final blow was struck, I tore open a portal in time and flung him into the future, where my evil is law! Now the fool seeks to return to the past, and undo the future that is Aku!

:)