Tooling (a whole slew of eclectic things)
So okay, you don't seriously think that I'm going to be talking more about work at MIT, right?
Sometimes MIT is too overwhelming, so I'll just get into a little bit about what helps keep me sane.Hmmm.... am I growing up? I haven't enjoyed a good junk book in a while.
So anyways, I've just recently discovered the yoga. Yes, yoga. Believe it or not, yoga is hard. I was one of those people that scoffed at the idea of yoga. I mean, seriously, all you do is sit and stretch, right? Where's the challenge? I took phys ed. yoga in high school, and for the most part, all I could remember is lying down, relazing, and basically going to sleep for half the class. But, then again, what can you really expect from a high school p.e. course in yoga? So the real story begins this summer, when I joined World's Gym on the student special. I originally joined because I wanted to get in shape and liked the trial kickboxing class I took. So pretty soon I was trying all the different aerobics classes the gym had to offer: Jazz Step, Cardio Kickboxing, Step Circuit, Recess, Chisel, Spinning, and of course, Yoga.
Let me tell you, the first time I went to yoga, i HATED it. It was HARD. I mean, you have to get into all these weird positions and hold them for a couple breaths. I know you're reading this and thinking, so what? I can hold a stretch, no problem. This is just bs. Well, try getting in downward dog and holding it for forever while the instructor is telling you how good it is for you. Try balancing on your sit bones and lifting and extending your arms and legs out and hold that pose until your abs are spazzing and screaming for release and then hold it for a few more patient breaths. Try standing on one foot, looping your fingers around the other foot's big toe, extending the leg of the foot you're holding parallel with the ground and perpendicular to your body, holding it out for a couple breaths, swooping it to the side and holding it for a couple more breaths, pulling it back to the front and holding it for a couple breaths more, and then finally be able to put it down SLOWLY in a couple breaths. And, of course, doing all this without falling down. It's all about balance and muscle control. Oh yes, and awareness. As my yoga instructor says, it's not about escaping to that happy place where you don't feel the pain. It's about being present in your body and feeling the sensations that go through your body. It's not about just practicing the poses that come easy to you; it's about those hard poses which have the most to offer you.
So your still not convinced, eh? Well, why don't you try a yoga class? And don't say it's because you don't want to waste time on that kind of hippie crap. I mean, how much time have you wasted looking through my webpage? So yeah, try a yoga class. And I mean a REAL yoga class -- at a gym with a real instructor, not just one who teaches by reading off of a beginner's yoga book. You know when you've experienced real yoga when you've gotten to Savasana, the corpse pose, you know you've earned it. Oh yes, and kudos to my wonderful instructor Elena who doesn't know how to count. :) "Hold this pose for five breaths: Five....four....three....three.....three....two....one...."
Jen accomplishments!
Jen embarassments :-/taking 6.003, 6.004, and 6.012 in the same semester and surviving. kicking the sugar addiction sticking with yoga (try this!) arbitrary drooling liking Young Americans (any new WB show, for that matter) owning a Britney Spears CD drinking diet soda
Jen happiness!having clean laundry learning and doing well in school home cooked food watching a chick flick/tv show with my grrlfriends
Jen *poopiness :-(*Alyx-wordplaying too much over-sleeping