Life in Balance: Amit D. Chaudhary’s Blog
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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

Sierra club published a list of which Gas companies are better than others and reasons for that.

The environment record is a good reason to decide where to fill up gas from. Till now for me, location or credit card acceptance use to be the primary reason, but not any more. So, no more filling up gas at 76, I will be trying Arco and others.
Here is the summary list with links to Google’s local US search, just add your location.

First Tier (The Best):

• BP (Gas Pump Brands: AM/PM, Arco and Amoco Ultimate)
• Sunoco (Gas Pump Brands: Sunoco, Ultra Service Centers, and APlus)

Second Tier (The Average):

• Royal Dutch Shell (Gas Pump Brands: Shell)
• Chevron (Gas Pump Brands: Chevron, Texaco and Caltex)
• Valero Energy Corporation (Gas Pump Brands: Valero, Corner Store, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, Stop N Go, and Beacon)
• Citgo (Gas Pump Brands: Citgo)

Third Tier (The Worse):

• ExxonMobil (Gas Pump Brands: Exxon, Mobil and Esso in Canada)
• ConocoPhillips (Gas Pump Brands: 76, Conoco, Phillips 66 and JET in Europe)

1. Raising HDL and lowering LDL

1.1 Foods to eat
-Eat atleast 2 servings (preferably 4) of foods high in soluble fiber. This includes fruits (Orange, Apple & Grapes), wheat chapati (no white bread, flour\maida, etc), lentils (dals, rajma) and certain cereals like cheerios, wheat bran\flakes.
-For omega-3 fatty acids, eat atleast two dark green vegetable (Spinach\Palak, etc), Fish every week and cook only in oils such as canola, sunflower, safflower, olive, etc.
-Eat small amounts (10) of almonds every other day.

1.2 Foods to avoid
-Stop completely, food every high in cholestrol: Meat, Eggs(especially the yolk, yellow part). Also stop foods with trans fatty acids: Dalda\Vanaspati, Ghee, Chaats, Cakes, french fries, Puris, Parothas.
-Reduce milk products including cheese, have upto 3 tea or coffee and one or two serving of milk(1 cup milk or yogurt) Try to use low fat or fat free milk.
-Reduce sugar and foods containing sugar such as Cookies and biscuits.

1.3 Exercise plan
Consider doing these exercises in the morning.
-Brisk walk or run 3 times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri), atleast 20 minutes and upto max 60 minutes, work up some amount of sweat.
-Do yoga 3 times a week (Tue, Thu, Sat), join some class or do at home using DVD\VCD.
2. Side effects of cholesterol drugs

Serious side effects of long term use (6 months) include memory loss, real life examples, aircraft engineer forgetting all his knowledge from College including that needed for his work.

Update: As was obvious to some of the readers, the above is copied from an email I sent to someone who is a middle aged Indian person. I was sloppy in making it generic, now I choose not to correct as it might render the comment below irrelevant. And the humor is worth it. Do consider exercising in the evenings!

During my current visit in India, some of the discussions included questions about spirituality. These are typically of the form, “Should I do meditation?”, “I have so much access to Reiki and am not feeling the pull” and so on.

I started thinking about how can I help them make a conscious decision about it. Using this line of thinking made me come up with this article. It has helped me identify my own spiritual options better.

My response to the above question is typically another question which goes something like this, “It might seem you are looking at a spiritual path, did you consider what is it that you are looking for?, what would be an ideal goal?”. If there is no response, “If you have not thought, maybe it is worthwhile to consider what are the goals of various spiritual paths and see if any of those goals appeal to you and use that to make your decision ?”

This comes from my personal belief that it can be worthwhile to find out where a teacher or method is leading, before following them.

In a simplified, incomplete and somewhat rough way, I prepared a small list of some non controversial and some controversial methods, some references and their goals as seen by mostly an outsider (myself.)

Disclaimer: Many of these paths develop some common capabilities, for example Awareness to different degree can result from many paths, so the list below does not include all goals for a certain path.

Spiritual Goal: Path leading to that goal (some references)

Balance, Space and Quietness: Yoga Postures (as in Hatha Yoga, Yoga Asanas) like those done at your local Yoga center or Yoga practice at home in silence from written instructions (Think Iyengar\Kripalu Yoga sequences, not a Yoga DVD) and Tai chi.

Personal development and self-growth: Intention manifestation (Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill or Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires by Esther Hicks), A different view of reality (StevePavlina.com Podcast #016 - The True Nature of Reality) and Abundance model versus Scarcity model (Deepak Chopra, etc)

Increasing peace and emotion management: Quiet or Solitary time, see the book Clarity Quest: How to Take a Sabbatical Without Taking More Than a Week Off by Pamela Ammondson for reference and Self-nurturing, a good references for which is the “Clearning the field exercise” in the CD set Yoga for Emotional Flow: Free Your Emotions Through Yoga Breathing, Body Awareness, and Energetic Release by Stephen Cope.

Weight loss: Typical Vinyasa Yoga practice or Hot Bikram Yoga.

Increase connection to universe, expand knowledge: Dreaming (Conscious Dreaming: A Spiritual Path for Everyday Life by Robert Moss), Erich Schiffman’s Moving into stillness teachings and Increasing Psychic capabilities (Erin Pavlina’s recommendations)

Getting near to God: Most classical religions (Christanity, Hinduism, Jewism, Islam, Sikhism, etc), Using sound as energy (The Yoga of Sound by Paul, Russill and Classical Indian and Western music) and Devotion\Bhakti Yoga including ISKCON.

Indian Multi-aspect system: Eight steps of Yoga as mentioned in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and expanded by ancient teachings such as Tantra and recent teachers such as Krishnamacharya and Sivananda and their disciples.

Companionship\Sangha: Local church, temple, meetup.com, online groups, small retreats.

Healing others: Massage, Reiki, Increasing Psychic capabilities (Erin Pavlina’s recommendations)

Increasing self-energy: Reiki, Following a code of conduct such as Yamas and Niyamas or the precepts in Goenka Vipassana course.

Helping others: Volunteering at Local charities, Soup kitches, Red Cross or similar areas, People examples include Bono, Mother Teresa, Charity Focus people including Nipun.

Happiness through deattachment as everything is fleeting: Buddhist paths including hardcore retreats like Goenka Vipassana and Zen retreats as well as more balanced approaches as taught by Erich Schiffman, most American Buddhist Teachers, etc.

Ruthlessness and\or build discipline: Mexico Native American Indian methods such as those advocated by Carlos Castaneda, Chinmoy, Goenka Vipassana, etc

Mindfulness and thereby self-knowledge: Most meditation methods help in this areas, the quieter the better.

Some examples of using the above in your spiritual path:

-If helping others is not your main calling, Reiki might not be the best match for you.

-If peace is what you seek, consider getting some sleep, some quiet time, follow exercises in Yoga for Emotional Flow instead of volunteering where you will need to provide peace to others.

Some guiding words:

1. Embrace your choice, keep your eyes open and start, answers and other methods will come as you progress.

2. Find someone who has been there and liked it. Also try and find someone who has not liked it. Treat each view as an opinion. 43things.com is a good resource for this.

3. In order to be successful, the spiritual pilgrim needs three distinct qualities in approximately equal measures: Common Sense, Skepticism and Openness. by Jacob Needleman in the book, Spiritual Choices: The Problems of Recognizing Authentic Paths to Inner Transformation by Dick Anthony, Bruce Ecker, and Ken Wilber.

4. Do not go knocking on doors you do not want opened or want to go through.

Finally as a counter-view to the above, from the wisdom deck card I read the day I was thinking of writing this entry:

All different types of meditation and mysticism are means for realizing God. From Srimad Bhagavatam, 2.5.16.

Thanks to Flickr and Skinnyde for the image.

Update: Changed link above to a more highly recommended edition with the original text intact of Think and Grow Rich.

What is Hot Yoga\Bikram Yoga

Hot Yoga or Bikram yoga is a set of 26 yoga asanas, two sets of each and 2 breathing exercises for 90 minutes in a room heated to 105 degree F. That is hot, expect to sweat. The asanas are held for 60 or 30 seconds. To see all the asanas in the series, please use Bikram Yoga Asanas link 1 or Bikram Yoga Asanas link 2.
There is no background music during the class, no props are used, hands on alignments are rarely provided. The instructor\teacher is continuously talking during the class, either giving the directions and tips or encouraging.

The name comes from the creator of the concept of yoga classes in heated studios and the sequence arrangement, Bikram Choudhary (No relation to me). See picture on left, some information from the official website.
The complete list of Hot Yoga studios around the world. None in India yet.

What’s the big deal about it?

• It is an intense aerobic and stretching exercise which means one loses weight (my rough guess ~900 calories spent in a single class)
• The heat and sweating makes it detoxing and leaves on feeling great later. The heat is great even colder places like Seattle, WA.
• The non-impact method avoids injury and the yoga makes it great health and flexibility wise.
• I also like that it is the same set of asanas in every class, the selection is an all around good mix and it helps to measure each session against the earlier ones.

What does one have to be aware of?

• The heat takes some getting used to.
• It is not calming like a typical yoga class. It is more of a intense workout and draining. Since the instructors are continuously talking as I mentioned earlier there is not much of quiet time, except for one two minute savasana.
• Each teacher uses almost the same instructions and words, you will hear a lot of “Go back, push back, wayyyy back”, “full body stretch” and “full body sensation”.
• Be careful, the teachers tend to push the students, you will hear “If you are feeling pain in your back, you are doing it right” or equivalent. I do not go that far to avoid potential for injuries

How to prepare for your first three Hot Yoga classes:

What to carry: A Yoga mat, Large towel for mat and a smaller one for sweat, and a large water bottle (32 oz\500 ml or more)

What to wear: See above picture, the mirrors make the room seem larger than it is (If wearing a T-shirt, do not wear cotton, go for polypropylene or similar material)

General tips:

• Expect a good workout and a lot of sweat.
• If feeling dizzy (which I did 3 times in the first session), pause and catch your breath in either tadasana(standing), sitting down or savasana(lying down), till you feel better.
• Remember to be cautious the first few times and do not over-extend, the instructions are also for advanced students.

Review of Bellevue Hot Yoga (Now called Bellevue Bikram Yoga):

The studio I go to is Bellevue Bikram Yoga. It is also the most popular Yoga studio in the Bellevue Redmond area by far. The evening classes tend to have 15-20 people atleast.

The key for any yoga studio is the teachers. Here is my opinion and experience about the Bellevue Bikram Yoga teachers (number of classes I have attended by each.)
Teachers:

• Katy(5+): Great teacher and very good attitude. Timings: Tue & Wed evenings.

• Hilarie (5+): Again Great teacher, explains reasonings, Owner of Bellevue Bikram Yoga. Timings: Fri evenings, Sat & Sun mornings.

• Elliot (10+): good teacher, consistent instructions and quite a nice guy. Timings: Thu & Fri evenings.

• Amber (10+): Excellent teacher, respects your space and the best teacher. Currently teaches mostly at West Seattle Bikram Yoga

• Tracy (2+) and Saiko(1): Overall pretty good teachers. Timings: Varies.

• Loressa (2): Unbearable and I have returned from the studio without taking a class, if she is teaching. She is overbearing, rude and physical(snatches towels, etc), though her instructions are not bad. My suggestion, avoid her as she will kill the Hot Yoga experience for you. If you want to read more, see my earlier post: Immaturities by Bikram Hot Yoga Teachers

Studio and facilities:

The studio address is 626 120th NE, Bellevue, Washington, 98005 and phone no is:425-637-9642

There are showers and the studio wall has glass on two sides to check alignment. Mats, Towels are available for rental and water bottles are available for purchase.

Following is a test to evaluate your Gunas (attributes) as per the Samkhya philosophy. This I believe is a core part of Yoga and Ayurveda and can appeal to you as a self-evaluation, even if you do not believe in any of the other stuff.

For an introduction to Gunas, the amazing wikipedia.

My simpified version, a high Sattva means you are working on your spiritual quest, a high Rajas you are the typical go-getter\achiever, high on Tamas means you are not living to your potential.
This particular test is derived from Yoga and Ayurveda by David Frawley (Dr Vamadev Sashtri. Fill in a cross for each section that matches your current position and then total each column at the bottom to see your current leanings.

Guna\MENTAL CONSTITUTION CHART

DIET: Vegetarian__________Some meat_____________Heavy meat diet__________

DRUGS, ALCOHOL AND STIMULANTS: Never___________Occasionally_________Frequently______________

SENSORY IMPRESSIONS: Calm, pure______Mixed_______Disturbed__________

NEED FOR SLEEP: Little__________Moderate__________High________________

SEXUAL ACTIVITY: Low_________Moderate__________High________________

CONTROL OF SENSES: Good______Moderate__________Weak_______________

SPEECH: Calm and peaceful________Agitated___________Dull________________

CLEANLINESS: High_____________Moderate___________Low_______________

WORK: Selfless_______________For personal goals_______Lazy_______________

ANGER: Rarely______________Sometimes___________Frequently_____________

FEAR: Rarely________________Sometimes___________Frequently_____________

DESIRE: Little_______________Frequent_____________Excessive______________

PRIDE: Modest_______________Some Ego____________Vain_________________

DEPRESSION: Never___________Sometimes_________Frequently_____________

LOVE: Universal_______________Personal___________Lacking in love_________

VIOLENT BEHAVIOR: Never______Sometimes_______Frequently_____________

ATTACHMENT TO MONEY: Little______Some_________A lot_______________

CONTENTMENT: Usually____________Partly___________Never______________

FORGIVENESS: Easily__________With effort________Holds grudges___________

CONCENTRATION: Good_______Moderate_____________Poor________________

MEMORY: Good_______________ Moderate____________Poor_________________

WILL POWER: Strong___________Variable_____________Weak________________

TRUTHFULNESS: Always______Most of the Time_______Rarely_______________

HONESTY: Always____________Most of the Time_______Rarely_______________

PEACE OF MIND: Generally______Partly______________Rarely_______________

CREATIVITY: High_____________Moderate____________Low________________

SPIRITUAL STUDY: Daily________Occasionally________Never______________

MANTRA, PRAYER: Daily________Occasionally________Never______________

MEDITATION: Daily_____________Occasionally________Never______________

SERVICE: Much_________________Some______________None________________

Total: Sattva_____________Rajas_____________________Tamas________________

I read Niniane’s post: wherein I learn about my twisted back

and her experience during the free Google Massage (Now that is a great perk, second only to allowing afternoon naps).

When he got to my right shoulder, it became much more painful. “This must be your mouse hand,” he said. “Years of stretching forward to use the mouse has caused this muscle to deform. Your rib is sticking out in the back, and your shoulder is contorted forward.”

Been there done that, over extending my body many times, particularly with extended sessions of computer programming. The methods I use to build my body again.

-Sleep (7:30-8:30 hours)

-Yoga (Particularly poses which one stays in for 10-30 seconds, called Iyengar Yoga in the US)

-Hot Soak in a bath tub. Doing this less than I would like.