Monotasking Vs Multitasking

This parable is very true & relevant to our lifestyles where we feel that doing only one thing (mono tasking) is a waste of time.

Mother saw the child studying and watching TV at the same time. She invited her child to play a game. She said, "we have 5 fingers on each hand lets call them the five senses, thumb is touch, index is smell, middle is taste, fourth is hearing, little finger sight." She then threw a ball at the child asking him to catch it. The child caught it easily with one hand. She then bandaged the little finger with the palm and again threw the ball. The child caught the ball but with difficulty. The mother then tied the thumb and the little finger to the palms then threw the ball at him. Child could not catch the ball.

She explained to the confused child, "as we require all our fingers and our palm to catch the ball, similarly we need all our senses to do things efficiently."

In the ancient scripture Upanishads, our five sense organs are compared to the 5 horses that pull a chariot and our mind to a charioteer. Just as the horses would run wild if the charioteer lost control of them so also our senses would play havoc if not controlled by the mind. Therefore, we should concentrate fully on one activity at a time. No matter how mundane the task at hand seems, but if you give your undivided attention, you end up doing it better & in lesser time.

For this week, list all the tasks that you carry out during the day and analyse which ones are clubbed together with other tasks and what is the outcome of those. e.g talking on phone while driving, eating while watching TV, reading newspapers in the loo............ the list seems endless.

Blowing a Conch

If you are an Indian who has seen various mythological epics finely translated on television then you would agree with me that the sound of conch symbolically represents an onset of battle or a special occasion, worship etc. The importance of blowing a conch while worshipping is also mentioned in the Vedas. A conch is blown three times before a Hindu aarti (a worship ritual). Wikipedia offers a good insight into the world of conchs.

The magazine Eternal Solutions mentions that the sound of conch reduces negative energies in the environment. It removes distressing vibrations and allows the flow of sattva (peaceful, stable, positive) predominant frequencies. The Indian scientists also claim that the sound of conch helps destroy the germs and micro-organisms as far as it reaches. Similar to the effects of the sounds of the Tibetan bells. A good way to clean our surroundings!!

There is more benefit for the person blowing the conch. He usually raises his neck upwards and closes his eyes. This posture activates the sushumna nadi (central channel) and helps in maintaining perfect balance. It improves breathing system, improves lung capacity.

To be honest I didn't have any idea that there was such a thing as a conch blowing competition where the contestants are judged on duration, endurance and the novelty of sounds...... sadly we humans want an adrenaline rush in everything in life. But conch blowing is not a cake-walk. Try it & see for yourself.

Thought for today

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. - Albert Einstein

Panting like a Dog

Stretch you tongue out as much as you can and then inhale & exhale rapidly through the mouth. Exactly like the dogs do. It calms you down completely. It's very cooling. It almost feels like you are sipping lemonade on a hot day. You can do about 30-50 counts in 1 round and do 3-5 such rounds. But do it in fresh unpolluted air specially during hot summer months or when your mind temperature rises.

Clearing the air on eggs

Hello everybody, i was having a few differing opinions on the article "Do you call yourself an eggitarian?", which prompted me to read a little more to find answers. Here's what i want to say now. My previous thinking that eggs are infertile is right(most of them are). I was wrong the next time. As facts state, the hens do not need a cockerel to produce eggs, they do it naturally after attaining maturity. These eggs are infertile i.e. no living chick would come out of it if it were to hatch. Only the eggs laid after the hens mating with cockerel produces fertile eggs. So i think eggs can be safely had if the moral and ethical issues of sourcing (keeping the hens in good surroundings) are answered!!! Thank you Mayuresh & Abhishek for drawing my attention.

I rest my case here :-)

"A pinch of salt"

In her article titled "Take it with a pinch" in Mumbai Mirror dated 21st January 2008, nutritionist Naini Setalvad takes a view on salt. She says that table salt has nothing in common with the original natural salt. Refined table salt is 99.99% sodium chloride. It is made of uniformly fine crystals - made fine by a 648 degrees Celsius oven heating process and then flash cooled. It is then combined with a number of additives; potassium iodine is added to iodise it. However, iodine is very volatile and oxidises immediately when exposed to light. Because of this, dextrose, a simple sugar must be added to stabilize iodine. This would turn the salt purple and therefore a little sodium bicarbonate is mixed in to bleach the colour to a more marketable white. Finally, they are coated with compound such as sodium silico aluminate to make the salt that is 'free flowing'.

I had also addressed a question related to salt in the section on Health queries.

The natural varieties of salt do not contain iodine but fresh fruits, vegetables, sea vegetables, curd etc are also good sources of iodine. Moreover, we need only about 1 teaspoon of iodine throughout our lifetime and the body does not store it. For more on iodine read these articles - 1 & 2.

More than 5 gms of salt per day is not good. Its effects can be varied - water retention, high blood pressure, weight gain, burden on kidneys, not completely soluble in water therefore tends to harden arteries, interferes with elimination of certain wastes from the body etc.

On the other hand, natural salt regulates water content, is vital to nerve cells, balances blood sugar, aids absorption of food, clears sinuses, makes the bone structure firm.

Even our taste buds prefer natural salt. Natural salt tastes slightly sweet, smooth, pleasant and satisfying as against sharp, acrid, lingering, metallic taste of table salt. Try it yourself and see!!!

Mumbai Marathon

Today the 20th January, 2008, Mumbai played host to one of the biggest marathons in the world - The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, 2008. Though I was not a part of it, my husband was; and i feel very happy that he could finish the 21 kms half marathon without a very disciplined practice.

I was being a part of the festive atmosphere of the marathon by gluing myself in front of the television and I was pleasantly happy to see Milind Soman (remember his name is in the list of famous Indian vegetarians, i blogged abt a few days back?) running fittingly to the finish line like a true professional. That strengthens my case for vegetarianism. Also the marathon was inaugurated by another one of my famous vegetarians, John Abraham.

There is also another reason why i am blogging about this. Yes, the role of yoga in a runners' life. A few yoga stretches and pranayamas before the marathon can improve your running ability as the muscles and joints become supple, blood circulation efficient and the chest muscles used for breathing warmed up. Remember that apart from the limb strength, you need a good lung capacity to be able to sustain yourself over a long period without having drastic changes in physiology (read blood pressure, extreme breathlessness, in certain cases even cardiac arrest). I can also not undermine the importance of yoga stretched after you finish the run followed by conscious relaxation (savasana). So all those who prefer going for jogs in the mornings, try this and see yourself improving.

Cheers!!