Life in Balance: Amit Chaudhary's Blog
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I came across a very interesting podcast (basically mp3 files recorded by an Author or company) covering Health, Weight loss, Exercise, Motivation, Stress control, Visualization and Personal Development. It has been a revelation and I recommend you try it.
Inside Out Weight Loss: Aligning Mind, Body and Spirit for Lasting Change by Renee Stephens

Caveat: One has to be patient as it has ads and Renee has a slow pace.

Here are a few gems:

-Set a goal everyday. Small or big. From Melinda Gates. Renee’s inside out weight loss, #19: Success journal

 -My journey to health is with ease and enjoyment. Visualize the journey, not just the destination. Renee’s inside out weight loss.

-Move from saying and thinking I am tired, to expanding it. Feel it and say I am sleepy, I have pain, I am hungry. These are steps to awareness and what needs to be done. Renee’s inside out weight loss. Simple Snoozing techniques #1

SiliconValley.com has an article on a bootstrapped startup, which shows the otherside of creating a startup, hardwork and a tough climb: Tech startup life still tough years after dot-com bubble burst

She and her boyfriend, Wan Hsi Yuan, 27, run the business, 8coupons.com, from their 500-square-foot studio apartment, meaning headquarters is, effectively, their couch. The business, which text messages discounts to users’ mobile phones, keeps Yuan and Ung, who is 28, up until 3 a.m. most nights. Then, Ung said, she sometimes finds herself lying awake, worrying.

“I need to watch a little National Geographic special on the rain forest or something before I go to sleep,” she said.

…

Welcome startup life in 2007.

…

“The Aeron chair is out, the Starbucks latte is in,” Shipley said.

…

“We don’t go out anymore,” Yuan said. “For the past two years, all we do is work.”

…

At home, they sleep in a queen bed and their workspace/living area is roughly the size of a king bed. They have Internet-only cable; their flat-screen TV shows their Web site, and Yuan works from the couch on an arrangement of pillows they call “his shrine,” typing braces on both wrists, a serving tray with a wireless keyboard on a pillow on his lap.

…

At the startup camp, a partner at a venture capital firm ran through a PowerPoint slideshow on what VCs are looking for: Companies doing things competitors can’t with technology that’s either patented or incredibly challenging to create.

As he went on, it was clear 8coupons lacked nearly every attribute he listed, but Ung and Yuan shrugged that off.

Ironically enough, it is people who work long hours specially need Ergonomic Furniture like Aeron or Soma Biocomfort chair to avoid long term pain.

I went to a Vipassana course in Aug 2006. I left before the course was over. I wrote a blog post fairly soon after that on the experience: Experience from attending Vipassana Course by S.N Goenka (4 days out of 10): Updated

Here is my current view on it and some other information.

Vipassana Course as taught by S. N Goenka is not for me. Why

1. Mismatch of general philosophy and outlook

I do not believe in the most common refrain that more one does or achieves (Money, Career, etc) in the world, the more one is accumulating bad karma. This is typical of many Buddhist and Hinduism philosophy and also of Vipassana.

My current method seems to be a mix of Yoga (Moral Conduct, Asanas, Meditation as per Yoga Sutras by Patanjali), Law of Attraction\Intention manifestation, though I keep checking what my goals are and updating paths\methods accordingly (Ideas to think consciously about your spiritual goals and evaluating spiritual paths.)

2. There are enough of aches and pain in life on it’s own

In my opinion, in a Vipassana course, pain (in addition to diet detox, less sleep, minimal or no caffeine, deprivation of normal activities and stimuli, etc) is used to break down mental barriers and defenses to self exploration.

I would rather not go through acute pain and potential of injury for my spiritual path. This is more relevant being a computer programmer my body gets repetitive stress on a daily basis. and being in my 30s.

I will, in future seek courses\retreats which include Yoga Asanas to balance Sitting Meditation. Unless Yoga continues to help me in which case I might consider reapplying to a Goenka Vipassana course.

Vipassana Course as taught by S. N Goenka why it might be for you.

1. It is one of the non-controversial spiritual path and it is free.

At the core, it is kind of straight forward. You sit and meditate lots of hours for lots of days, insight happens.
It is free, donations are welcome at the end of the course. This compares well againsts the typical $100 per day at the other Ashrams such Sivaananda or Haridass ones.

2. You do not have acute pains or even better have a young body.

I personally know or saw 55+ year old people doing the course and of many young ones being in utter pain. I believe the course is better handled if you do not have acute pains or even better have a young and healthy body.

3. You have difficultly starting some spiritual practice on your own.

A retreat, any retreat is a good way to get a boost, a jump start and if the general Buddhist philosophy appeals to you, give a try.

Few other things

1. Retreats or meditation break\vacation are useful

They revitalize one’s path, resulting in progress and highlighting the benefits of a spiritual practice if one has been drifting.

2. If I ever get the temptation to get tough and try it out, I will remember to sit at home for 2 days or I might just try something else equally tougher like climb Mt. Rainier.
3. I found a disturbing trend is that some educational institutes (For example, MBA HR students at SCM HRD, Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development in Pune, India) are forcing their students to take the Vipassana course.

Nipun wrote about such a group in Vipassana Day 2: Dharma Works. Excerpt: “Right then, the director of the college calls just as a routine check-up. He is furious to learn of the plans of these 17 students (to leave early); he blatantly informs them that they will be expelled from college if they return.” and “if they get expelled, not only will they lose their valuable admission here but they won’t be allowed to enter another business school elsewhere.”, though they do not agree with it “And everyone at the meditation center here is in full agreement that such a scenario should never ever happen again. Fear simply can’t be the motivation for meditation.”

4. Vipassana course did and still does has that feel of being able to provide a way to go to the other side (Spiritual, More knowledge, etc) and make quicker progress, it is in sheer hours, equivalent of many months of regular meditation.
5. Do consider it when you are serious about a spiritual path. As I wrote earlier in Ideas to think consciously about your spiritual goals and evaluating spiritual paths, “Do not go knocking on doors you do not want opened or want to go through”.

On what to expect at a Vipasana Center and what to take

• Keep the items to take at a bare minimum, the place is rustic. You will not get a drawer or cupboard, so be ready to use your luggage bag as your cupboard.
• The beds are bunk beds with one of top accessible using a ladder.
• The toilets and bathrooms are rustic but more or less clean. The waterless ones in NorthWest Vipassana Center in Onalaska smelt pretty bad most of the time.
• Carry
• a water bottle and a mug, it will save you trips.
• a meditation cushion, though they do have some and provide a thin one for all.
• a light shawl\throw for the temperature change.
• Consumables like Soap, ToothPaste, Sleeping bag, etc
• The food is excellent, it is modern vegetarian with lots of whole grains, vegetables, etc.

Last updated: 2nd June 2007.

Custom Google Map: Yoga studios in Bellevue, Redmond, Mercer Island, Kirkland & Issaquah (Seattle Eastside)

I have visited most of these Yoga Studios.

Includes:

	Yoga Centers: Iyengar \ Hatha Yoga (Personal Favorite) 2255 140th Ave NE, Suite F Bellevue, WA 98005 Yoga
	Bikram Hot Yoga Bellevue (Personal Favorite) 626 120th Ave NE Bellevue, WA 98005
	Yoga House of Bellevue: JivaMukti Yoga 12015 NE 8th St Bellevue, WA 98005
	Hot Yoga of Kirkland: Bikram and Power 434 Parkplace Center Kirkland, WA 98033
	Discover Yoga: Vini Yoga 16615 Redmond Way, Suite 201 Redmond, WA 98052
	Shakti Vinyasa East: Baptise 10245 Main St, Suite 104 Bellevue, WA 98004
	Hot Yoga of Issaquah: Bikram & Power 485 Front St N, Suite D-2, Issaquah, WA 98027
	The Sanctuary Spa & Yoga: Various incl. Hot & Power 8862 161st Ave NE, Ste 107, Redmond, WA 98052
	Yoga Bliss: Kripalu(Greg Owen), Power, etc 7650 SE 27th St, #134, Mercer Island, WA 98040 Yog

Lavender’s Hormone Havoc
Lavender and other fragrant oils may cause breast growth in boys. Pediatric endocrinologist Clifford Bloch of the University of Colorado at Denver diagnosed three otherwise healthy boys–ages four, seven and 10– with prepubertal gynecomastia, a rare condition that leads to breast growth in prepubescent males. They all had used lavender-scented soap and skin lotions, or shampoos or styling products that contained lavender oil and tea tree oil… From the Scientific American, Apr 2007 issue.

The condition went away when the lavender treatment was stopped. Lavender is quite popular in many products due to it’s superb smell and known effects on stress reduction, this was my first reading on any adverse effect. This was surely surprising to I read\learn.

And here is another article for contrast on not getting too cautious when raising kids: We Protect Kids From Everything But Fear