Ed on Yoga

Hi all

Yesterday evening, Xena invited me to another of her Yoga classes. I listened to Xena talking to her students about yoga and this is what I understood from what she was saying. There seem to be many reasons for practicing yoga and different people do it for different reasons. Practicing the postures, the breathing exercises and meditation makes you healthier in body, mind and spirit.

 Xena, Sharon and me

I think it’s a bit like the oceans. For the oceans to be healthy everything needs to be in good conditions and working properly. All the habitats in the ocean need to be healthy for the oceans to be functioning properly. The oceans create our climate, provide us with freshwater through the water cycle and many other things which take place to give us a healthy planet.

Xena's class

Yoga seems to be similar. Our bodies, human and bears, need lots of things to keep them healthy and all our body organs (such as our heart, kidney, liver) and other processes in our bodies must be working properly for us to be in perfect health.. Breathing properly and having a good body posture helps the rest of our body work more effectively. It is easy to get into bad habits, both what we eat and how we sit, that can make our bodies unhealthier.

Meditation is a good way to relax and reduce stress. It’s also a good way to reflect on who we are (as individuals, whether human or bear) and what we do and how we get on and affect the world around us. It also appears that although people do yoga together, the meaning of yoga is quite individual to each person.

This time I found it a little bit easier and could have a go at the postures on my own. It was very physical, even though we were not moving very much, but at the same time it was also very calming. I will certainly try to carry on some of these postures when I get back home.

Thanks Xena

I was amazed this morning to find an island which seemed to appear from nowhere.  This was La Gomera.

When the conditions are right the island dominates the view from the balcony. On others days, the island is not visible. 

This is why I had not seen it before.

Today I had a nice relaxing day at the Oasis Swimming Pool.

 That evening, I volunteered to water the garden, while everyone else was out.

 Afterwards I sat on the balcony and enjoyed the beautiful sunset 

Bye for now, Ed