text:
Kid-Friendly schools are schools that put kids and their needs first.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
More Progress!
This morning Younger Daughter read the title of "Why Johnny Can't Read, and What You Can Do About it." In general, she is doing much less guessing and much more sounding out (although if she's being careless, she still guesses — for instance, she tried to read "knight" as "kangaroo" this morning.)
When she makes mistakes now, they are more likely to be what I think of as "good" mistakes — that is, mistakes that result from applying phonetic rules to strangely spelled words. For instance, she was looking over my shoulder the other day, and correctly read "grown", except she pronounced it to rhyme with "crown." In my book, that's a good mistake, but a weird spelling. Why should "grown" and "groan" have wildly different spellings but the same pronunciation?
Posted by FedUpMom at 7:49 AM
2 comments:
Sounds like real progress, FedUpMom! I'm seeing the same things with my second grade daughter. I've decided that I need to be responsible for actually teaching my kids. I don't think our highly regarded school department ("it's the best in the area!") is up to the challenge.ReplyDelete
Kim, I couldn't agree more. I've determined that it's up to me to make sure that Younger Daughter learns to read, and when we've got her reading at a reasonable level, I'll get her started on Singapore Math. It's ridiculous that I need to do this, but I just don't trust schools to teach any more. I also live in a highly regarded school district.ReplyDelete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Posts Tagged 'Op. 13'
Mendelssohn in Love
September 13, 2012
There's a back story – a love story – to the remarkable quartet by Mendelssohn that the Attacca Quartet brings to MT later this month. A love story that lies in the shadow of the powerful, intellectually compelling A minor quartet, Op. 13, the first quartet that Mendelssohn wrote for a public audience. In it, […]

subset: commoncrawl


text:
At long last – the notorious rappin' TV ad for Eve of Destruction that boasted an awesomely cheesy rap song explaining the flick's premise. Few who saw this commercial that ran for only two weeks leading up to the film's release in January 1991 have ever forgotten it. Hero… Before the clock hits zero!
It might be a 30-second commercial jingle rather than an actual song, and it isn't even included in the movie; yet, this previously long lost promo is the epitome of what B-Sides is all about. Not since the Maniac Cop 2 closing credits rap song has there been b-movie hip hop greatness of this caliber.
Charles Jackson a.k.a. C.J. SKYY and Michael Haney a.k.a. Ice Mike busted the rhymes about a thermonuclear cyborg being chased by Gregory Hines.
Yo, Eve of Destruction!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Rock out in the comments section below.


text:
Welcome to Maple UK, you are currently viewing the item:
Refurbished HP DC7900 SFF Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz 80GB 2GB DVD Desktop PC
The SFF computer is ideal for use in offices where space is at a premium, as it has a small footprint when stood upright and it can also be stored horizontally beneath your monitor. These are HP's most stable and secure business PCs.
The HP DC7900 Desktop PC has been professionally reinstalled and is ready to use out of the box.
In the Box
HP DC7900 Desktop PC
Power Cable
Each DC7900 includes a free one year return to base warranty, issued by Maple computers.
For further details about the warranty and what is included, please visit our warranty information page here.
Grade A – Good condition and in perfect working order. Minimal signs of wear and tear.


text:
Free Shipping in Canada / Most Orders Over $199
Call Toll Free 1-888-849-9021 (Canada & USA)
Phone: 905-574-9212
Home » Print Music DVD Video » Music Publishers » Frederick Harris » RCM Theory » RCM The Royal Conservatory Examination Papers » RCM Previous Edition
Folk Instruments We are very pleased to announce that we are carrying a selection of Banjos, Mandolins, Ukuleles and Resonator Guitars.CHECK THEM OUT
Copyright C 2000-2012 Musicians Web Store. All rights reserved.
Features, Specifications and Prices subject to change without notice.
The Music Stand, Hamilton Showroom and Warehouse, 14 Hester Street, Hamilton, Ontario, L9A 2N2
Phone: (905) 574-9212 Fax: (905) 574-9212


text:
Visit the new RAIS blog site
What is the construction outlook for 2010?
Visit RAIS on LinkedIn
RAIS attends Business Matchmaking
conference, Waltham, MA, 10/13/2009
RAIS attends AIIM ECM conference,
Boston, MA 10/06/2009
RAIS attends the annual Center for Women and Enterprise, Destination Success! at Bentley College, 09/25/2009
Tough Decisions in the IT world
The ever changing economy - how is effecting the document management world?
Copyright © 2010 The RAIS Corporation


text:
I'm at Blogworld Expo in Las Vegas working on my presentation for tomorrow about Monetizing Online Video and I remembered that a couple of weeks ago I saw the EepyBird Buy Lexapro Without Prescription, "Diet Coke and Mentos guys" had posted a new Experiment with Stick-Notes for ABC Family promoting Samurai Girl. Comprar en línea Lexapro, comprar Lexapro baratos, When I searched YouTube I found that after 2 weeks of being posted on YouTube it only had 154,213 views as of this posting and it has been reposted (a viral video trick) two days ago as Office Covered in Sticky Notes (watch in high quality) with only 515 views as of this posting.
What's going on here, generic Lexapro. Lexapro from canadian pharmacy, Have the EepyBird guys lost their touch. Are views not being counted, Lexapro no prescription. Herbal Lexapro, Is the ABC Family logo in the bottom right corner turning viewers away?
I think there is a lot going on here.
First let me say that I respect the EepyBird / "Diet Coke and Mentos guys" a lot. I think they are geniuses and left alone to create engaging video spectacles they are unstoppable but knowing what I know about ABC Family and the Disney Cable Network marketing machine I have a feeling this video was "killed by committee."
The video itself feels like something you could get on TV, Buy Lexapro Without Prescription. It's not "Internet Special." It's also missing some key elements of viral video success, Lexapro mg. Where can i buy cheapest Lexapro online,
Let's go back in time for a moment to the early days of filmmaking back to the Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (The Lumière Brothers, 1895) This short film was the "Diet Coke and Mentos" of it's day, where can i cheapest Lexapro online. Lexapro interactions, People paid money to go into theaters to watch this film of a Train pulling into a station. It was a spectacle, Lexapro alternatives, Lexapro treatment, it was emotionally engaging and it moved two or more human emotions. Buy Lexapro Without Prescription, Patrons were mesmerized by these motion pictures and they were terrified as well.
Terrified, Lexapro online cod. Doses Lexapro work, Of a Train pulling into a station?
Tim, are you nuts, Lexapro without prescription. Order Lexapro from United States pharmacy,
Yes. I am nuts and yes they were in fear, buy no prescription Lexapro online. Watching this film they thought they were going to get hit by the train and ran screaming from the theater.
They didn't understand the technology of film.
According to screenwriting guru Robert McKee when ever there is an advance in entertainment technology "Spectacle" comes first then "Story." In the early days of filmmaking people paid money to sit in theaters and watch horses and buggies going down the street and trains pulling into stations but it wasn't until 1903 and Edwin Porter's The Great Train Robbery that someone actually told a story using film, Buy Lexapro Without Prescription. Lexapro description, The same is true of Sound, SFX, Lexapro price, Lexapro over the counter, 3-D and Online Videos. Spectacle comes first and then story.
Once people had seen The Great Train Robbery and other story based films they had no need to go back to just watching a train pull into a station and horses and buggies going down the street.
Have we left "Spectacle" and moved to "Story" in online video?
No, is Lexapro addictive, Where can i buy Lexapro online, not by a long shot but we are on our way.
So why isn't the new EepyBird video getting millions of views on YouTube?
I think there are multiple reasons why the Spectacular Sticky-Note Experiment doesn't have millions of views. It does have spectacle but it doesn't move two or more human emotions and here are a few other reasons:
1, Lexapro gel, ointment, cream, pill, spray, continuous-release, extended-release. Buy Lexapro without prescription, The opening shot doesn't deliver what the video thumbnail promised. Buy Lexapro Without Prescription, When I see that small photo with a bunch of colorful Sticky-Notes and the EepyBird guys I'm expecting to see a bunch of colorful Sticky-Notes and the EepyBird guys right away and I'm expecting to see a funny spectacle right away. Instead I see a guy's hand with a pen tapping on an office desk with an ABC Family logo superimposed on what looks like high quality film or HD, Lexapro from canada. Canada, mexico, india, The first thing that runs through my mind is that this is something someone recorded off TV of ABC Family and uploaded to the Internet. It doesn't look like an Internet video or a EepyBird video.
2, buy Lexapro from canada. Purchase Lexapro for sale, The running time is too long - 3 minutes and 19 seconds. Now 3:19 is by no means too long for a video to go viral but it can be a deterrent if a video doesn't have a lot of views or deliver what the thumbnail promises.
3, Buy Lexapro Without Prescription. I think this video was being advertised across the Google network as a 300 by 250 banner ad and I don't know if that made it a turn off to people or not.
4, online buying Lexapro. Lexapro gel, ointment, cream, pill, spray, continuous-release, extended-release, The video has spectacle but it's not emotionally engaging except for when you first see the EepyBird guys.
I'm sure this played very well on TV (if it did play on TV) and I think it may have played well on ABCFamily.com if it did but it's not really an Internet video. It looks like a TV show clip, discount Lexapro, Lexapro coupon, like a scene out of Ugly Betty placed on the Internet and most of all with the exception of the spectacle of the experiments themselves it doesn't look like an EepyBird production.
Internet video is a new medium just like Television was a new medium and in those early days of TV producers were taking radio programs and placing them on TV and they didn't work so well, Lexapro trusted pharmacy reviews. Cheap Lexapro no rx, New TV formats had to be developed just like new Internet video formats are being developed.
From a business model I was very excited about the Spectacular Sticky-Note Experiment. I'm really, buy Lexapro from mexico, Lexapro brand name, really excited to see a Cable TV network and a brand name sponsor like Sticky Notes get involved with an online video production team. I want this to work.
I hope I'm wrong and that this video is getting millions of views somewhere like Vimeo that I don't know about because I believe in the EepyBird guys and I think they can create emotionally engaging videos full of spectacle that will continue to get millions of views and I want to see talented online video content creators make money, Lexapro photos. Lexapro pharmacy,
Maybe if this video was somehow featured on CNN it could get some more views on YouTube?
What do you think?
Similar posts: Buy Human Growth Hormone Without Prescription. Buy Allopurinol Without Prescription. Buy Ketoconazole Cream Without Prescription. Clonidine For Sale. Buy Plavix Without Prescription. Modalert mg. Celexa recreational. Buy Lumigan no prescription. Buy Toradol without a prescription. Cheap Aldactone.
Trackbacks from: Buy Lexapro Without Prescription. Buy Lexapro Without Prescription. Buy Lexapro Without Prescription. Buy Lexapro Without Prescription. Buy Lexapro Without Prescription. Purchase Lexapro. Where can i find Lexapro online. Online buy Lexapro without a prescription. Lexapro dose. Lexapro price.


text:
American Airlines is undergoing changes. Not only due to Chapter 11 procedures and a possible (more and more likely) merger with US Airways, but also due to technical reasons. Like the new livery – which is driven by all of these three.
American Airlines has been using the same logo and aircraft livery for more than 40 years. Quite a nice lifecycle for a brand, especially in our fast-paced, marketing driven world of the late 20th and early 21st century. But AA is going through so many changes, that it was about time. Even if the board may have had questions about it – the undebatable technical reasons made it a must.
AA has had the very well known, very well received and very well accepted, famous, landmark aircraft livery with the polished, silver aircraft bodies reflecting the sun so beautifully – having only the red and blue stripes across the planes on the sides below the windows. This now simply HAD to be changed, as it could no longer be maintained with the upcoming new aircraft types (mainly the 777-300ER in the short term), that have a (partial) composite frame: plastic can not be polished the same way as metal (it can't be polished, period), thus it must be painted. (Even the old livery planes had composite parts which are very well visible on this image below on the left side, for example the hold door or the nose – they were painted in simple grey until now and made such planes look somewhat like they were pieced together from left-over aircraft parts with different paint on them…)
Direct links on airliners.net to the above images:
Old livery / New livery
AA took a step forward, and once it had to change the basic color of the fuselage of its planes, it introduced a new logo and an updated, more fresh look – which was the right movement in my opinion. I think personally that the new design is fresh indeed with its dark grey "American" word on the forward part of the plane together with the updated, stylistic Eagle logo and with the new tail design that looks like a flag. But most of all, I think the fact that they still use the silver as the main color of the planes, keeps the heritage alive as well – as much as technically possible. Their planes will now be painted in silver-mica paint.
The American Eagle aircraft will also receive the new livery, the first outfitted airplane slated to begin flying in February. Here is a rendering of an Embraer E175 (ordered for Republic Airways Holding):


text:
Razer unveils two new additions to the Tiamat series
Andy Ruffell / 9 years ago
With Gamescom now being held in Germany, the news are going crazy with loads of new products, although Razer is coming in hard with the Razer Tiamat headset range and the unveiling of two different models: the 2.2 stereo gaming headset and the world's first discrete 7.1 surround sound gaming headset…they're going to rock this place!
As you can see, this thing looks spectacular, which shouldn't come as surprise, but Razer products seem to have this effect on you every single time.
The Razer Tiamat headset range is the pride of our audio engineering, the world's first 10 driver headset, built to deliver the most powerful, clear and accurately produced positional audio gamers will ever need for the competitive edge, said Robert RazerGuy Krakoff, President, Razer USA. Surprise the enemy trying to creep up for a stealth kill, when you can hear their footsteps loud and clear behind you.
Both have a similar design, what differentiates these two is the amount of drivers for the sound, with the 7.1 featuring a mind-blowing 10 drivers for an incredibly realistic experience. With 5 in each circular ear cup to give an unmatched accuracy of the direction of the sound: 2 for center, 1 each for the left and right, surround sound left and right, surround back left and right, and 2 for the subwoofer. With these you're sure to hear every single step of your opponents.
The 2.2 on the other hand only features 4, 2 of which dedicated to bass which is uncommon, I have to say, but should still blow your ears with incredible sound nevertheless.
For advanced customizability of your audio experience, Razer is giving you a sleek control to allow the gamer to be the master of his sound. This control allows you to fine-tune every bit of your headset and for more expandability, you can toogle between your headset's 7.1 setting, 2.0 setting or your external speakers which are plugged into the controller.
Each model is fitted with leatherette ear cushions so that gamers will be able to play for as long as they want without being bothered by the comfort. Also included is a unidirectional noise-cancelling microphone to allow for tactical communication with you partners or just tell your opponent you've just killed him, whichever you prefer.
Both the Tiamat 7.1 and 2.2 will be available during Q4 of this year and the price will be of $179.99/179.9 for the 7.1 and $99.99/99.99 for the 2.2.
Razer is also hosting a contest for the promotion of these new headsets:
The Experience the Power of 7 with the Razer Tiamat 7.1 Contest at Gamescom 2011:
In line with Razer's announcement of their new Razer Tiamat headset range, the world's first 7 Razer Tiamat 7.1 gaming headsets are to be given away to 7 lucky winners. The Razer Tiamat 7.1, the world's first true 7.1 surround sound gaming headset, awaits contestants at www.razerzone.com/Powerof7
For more information, please go to the product's page.


text:
$25 Gift Certificate. Gift certificates are good towards products and services in our store! Gift certificate purchases are non refundable and may not be exchanged for cash value . Fee apply for late cancellations, late rescheduling , and no appointments.
Gift Certificates will be mailed to you within 3 business days.


text:
Dear Sir/Madam,
Warmest Greetings from Nest Holidays !!!!!
Nest holidays is a professional, quality service provider in the field of Tour, Travel & Hospitality Management and is one of the upcoming Tour Operator of North East India with its head office at Tezpur (ASSAM), and two other operational offices at Kaziranga National Park and Namdapha Tiger Reserve providing services to individuals and tour operators for whom 'only the best will do'. The wide range of services provided by the agency includes Inbound tours , hotel Booking , Car booking , River Cruises reservations, Birding, Bicycle, Leisure vacation packages , Honeymoon Packages, Tribal tours, Himalayan Tea tour , Eco Friendly Excursion , Tracking & Adventure Tour . Apart from the well-known tourist destinations we are promoting tour packages to the new tourist destinations of the North East India which deserves special attention in the tourist map of North East India.
We would like to invite you to explore the unparalleled beauty of this stunning paradise North East of India. Guwahati, capital of Assam, is the gateway of the North-East which comprises seven statesAssam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura.Also we are promoting some Eco friendly destination ofAndaman Nicobar Islands, West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand & the Shark Countries Nepal, Bhutan. Each state & Country has its own unique characteristics and different set of activities to offer to the discerning travelers.
Our vision is to provide the perfect travel related service for our guests as we believe that in our customer's satisfaction lays our triumph.
Nest Holidays envisions:–
>Absolute Customer Satisfaction
>Continuous enhancement to be a National Brand in the near future
We, as tour operator are promoting the interiors and untouched tourist destinations of North East India,Your support can help us grow.
Thanks & Regards
ALOKE DAS Proprietor
+91 9435083787
North Eastern States Tourism
Village – Uttar Gingia , Post Office – Gingia , Police Station – Gingia
District Headquarter – Tezpur , District – Sonitpur , Assam , India , Pin – 784184
Land Line – +91 03715 247109 Mobile No – +91 9435083787 / 9830140712
E Mail – email@example.com / firstname.lastname@example.com
Nest Holidays
1 No. Kohora, Post – Kaziranga National Park
P.S – Bokakhat, Dist – Golaghat
Assam, Pin – 784609
E-Mail – email@example.com
Nandapha Tiger Reserve
Nest Holidays
Miao, Post office Miao,District Changlang, Arunachal Pradesh ,Pin – 792122
E-Mail – email@example.com
Find us at – https://nestholidays.wordpress.com
Yours efforts can save a tree. Go green…………………….


text:
tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post3656877375273536050..comments2020-05-25T08:28:46.393-04:00Comments on In the Middle: Animal Vegetable Mineral: 20 questionsJeffrey Cohenhttp://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-2650996211790707042011-03-15T11:10:28.183-04:002011-03-15T11:10:28.183-04:00Gil asked us such a rich set of questions at the c...Gil asked us such a rich set of questions at the closing of the conference, and the commentary here is very rich. As Jeffrey noted, we're all likely too exhausted to go through ALL of Gil's questions [many books have already been written on some of them]. As to the question, implicit [I think] in several of Gil's question--

what do we mean by "life"?

--I think one [longer] response to that must be Eugene Thacker's recent book "After Life," where his project is partly to to raise the "challenge of thinking a concept of life that is foundationally, and not incidentally, a nonhuman or unhuman concept of life," and where he spends most of his time excavating philosophies of life from Aristotle to Aquinas to Kant to Deleuze to Bataille to Badiou [with many philosophical pit-stops in between]. Thacker is trying [I think] to make the argument that thinking upon "life" and the history of thought itself [at least, within a certain Western tradition] have historically been so inextricably entwined as to be difficult to think apart from each other, and therefore the idea of "life" itself has actually limited thinking itself [in different ways in different "eras" of thought]--amazing argument, actually. Can we think "life" outside a certain tradition of "thought"? would be another question, then, to add to Gil's other questions.

As to Karl's nods to theories about multi-verses and worlds being "ejected" from black holes [or in my example in DC, being "projected" out of them], I still maintain [I guess, following Timothy Morton, who does a lot of reading in physics, too] that there is only one "universe" whose totality is impossible to grasp. So, for me, black holes and whatever is *in* them or comes *out* of them, is still all folded together--if anything were truly "somewhere else" and completely non-contiguous with "here," then how would we think that? How do you get from "here" to "over there" [even mathematically]?

As to Gil's provocative comment here, too, about the tears possibly shed after each morning's shower for all of the lost microbes, as funny as that is, it does raise really interesting questions about the function of mourning/grief in human and nonhuman groups/worlds. Without going [maybe] to ridiculous lengths, I sometimes like to think of the humanities as a place that could help us to broaden the ranges of what would "count" as mournable subjects, while at the same time, that very same humanities would increase our capabilities to see the vast absurdities of this world, its innate humor, such that mourning would one day be completely unnecessary.Eileen Joyhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-64243646734691337592011-03-14T16:52:00.002-04:002011-03-14T16:52:00.002-04:00JGH: exactly. In related news, see hereJGH: exactly.

In related news, see hereKarl Steelhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-52671303809665123752011-03-14T15:07:35.271-04:002011-03-14T15:07:35.271-04:00I like the idea of the inescapable parochialism of...I like the idea of the inescapable parochialism of catastrophe. At micro- and macro-levels that our ethical as much as physiological senses do not routinely grasp, catastrophes are always unfolding. Is there a (nonhuman) community of actants that sheds (nonhuman) tears every time the vast bacteria colonies on our elbows -- referenced by both Karl and Jane in their plenary talks -- get decimated by our morning showers?Unknownhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-50927700735976231742011-03-14T15:01:46.387-04:002011-03-14T15:01:46.387-04:00(And because Karl has diligently reposted his exce...(And because Karl has diligently reposted his excellent response to my post, I must repost my response to his response:)

Love it! Ejector black holes mean that excretory immanence = the new transcendence?Unknownhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-22860401094911113402011-03-14T14:22:58.371-04:002011-03-14T14:22:58.371-04:00I do believe that the aspiration of vital material...I do believe that the aspiration of vital materialism and even actor network theory is a more just, more ethical world. What does thinking critically and communally about animals, vegetables and minerals have to offer when faced by catastrophe?

And, as you know Jeffrey, what does VM, ANT, or OOO give us for any particular ethical concern. Why should I care in particular about these arrangements of stuff? If I see things at another speed (sped up or slowed down from my human time), then will any of what seems to be catastrophe even register? Are all ethical stances always necessarily parochial?

And here I obviously need to read Émilie Hache and Bruno Latour (warning PDF).Karl Steelhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-4113042301503992242011-03-14T14:19:18.150-04:002011-03-14T14:19:18.150-04:00Lateral response to some of what JGH says: "E...Lateral response to some of what JGH says:
"Eileen's vision of a universe in which nothing leaves, and therefore nothing is lost."
I heard this as paraphrase of the laws of conservation of matter and energy. We might also think of 'energy' as (matter) memory.

But contra conservation, and in re: 'nothing leaving': see hypotheses of multiverses and black holes as ejector sites for other universes, not all of which play by the same physical rules of our universe. The Platonic self-containing self-identical anal ball of the universe is a model that we should be prepared to abandon. Here as elsewhere math may know more than we do (Badiou).

Finally (and disjointedly), I think less about the worry of my not hearing and more about the wonder of an OOO world in which things call to each other all the time, each hearing what its unwelt allows, each being touched by what its umwelt allows (per Radiolab, again: "sound is touch at a distance," but per Harman or Morton, there is NO touch at a distance: all touch is immediate, or, if not immediate, then in the midst of a new object created by contact between a real and sensual object). Here the hoarder is the model of the OO philosopher, someone aware of the interactions (ANT) or inter-relations (OOO) of nonhuman others, someone wanting not to let these interactions or inter-relations slip from them, which is, I think, what Bennett was getting at.Karl Steelhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-21371377368864121602011-03-14T14:16:21.142-04:002011-03-14T14:16:21.142-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Karl Steelhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-83306175713315011822011-03-14T13:22:24.772-04:002011-03-14T13:22:24.772-04:00Here is a better link to that video, embedded with...Here is a better link to that video, embedded with two links to donation sites.Jeffrey Cohenhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-91056232782969149922011-03-14T13:16:37.204-04:002011-03-14T13:16:37.204-04:00The most ambitious part of me wants to answer each...The most ambitious part of me wants to answer each of Gil's questions in order, but the exhausted other parts insist I refrain. For the time being I will mention that one question in particular seemed quietly to me to limn the conference: "How do the terms "nonhuman" and "lives" invite us to think of their nominal opposites?"

We all knew that there had been a catastrophic tsunami in Japan, that thousands had lost their lives, and many many more lost everything they own. When Eileen invoked the tsunami during her plenary, I asked how we properly mourn within a vibrant materialism, which tends toward the positive, aesthetically pleasing and affirmative (though not exclusively, as anyone who has read the "Life of Metals" chapter of Vibrant Matter knows). Eileen also invoked a sentence from Whitehead of which she is justifiably fond, a statement in which he builds upon Heraclitus's "everything flows" (ta panta rhei) as the fundamental metaphysical problem. Or as Whitehead also put it "the flux of things is one ultimate generalization around which we must weave our philosophical system." (Sorry Eileen I can't remember your exact quote.)

So what do we do when that flow is lethal? The internet is full of video of the tsunami (eg) in which human-made objects that used to seem substantial (cars, trucks, sailing vessels, houses, stores) are pushed along by the relentless black waters, perversely animated objects that are whirled and crushed by a deadly -- or, let's face it -- utterly indifferent flow. We can't think about these objects separately from the those who made them, those who dwelt within them (and drowned or were crushed when the waters overcame them), those whose livelihoods depended upon them.

I do believe that the aspiration of vital materialism and even actor network theory is a more just, more ethical world. What does thinking critically and communally about animals, vegetables and minerals have to offer when faced by catastrophe?Jeffrey Cohenhttps://email@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-7763889386287531072011-03-14T11:33:15.328-04:002011-03-14T11:33:15.328-04:00Because I wrote many of these questions on the fly...Because I wrote many of these questions on the fly at the conference other, perhaps more compelling, questions that have taken me a couple of days to formulate didn't get raised here.

I'm thinking in particular now about Jane Bennett's discussion of hoarded objects, and how these might have a unique power to call us. I'm seeing resonances between Jane's talk and Eileen's compelling vision of a universe in which nothing leaves, and therefore nothing is lost. This is, in effect, a cosmology of the universe as hoard. But I also wonder about how much the call of things in such a universe is really a prosopoeia born of our desire, like that of Kathy Bates's character in "Misery," not to let go, or, like that of Norman Bates in "Psycho," to speak for and as the dead. Is the universe as hoard a Bates-and-switch? What room does it leave for us to hear the call of things that haven't been captured or stilled - evanescent things, speeding things, exploding things, shifting techtonic plates and their radically deterritorializing assemblages, tsunamis - and things that move into non-transcendent places where they can no longer be found, known, remembered?Unknownhttps://firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
1110 Cove Pointe Drive, Panama City, FL 32401 (MLS# 625890) is a Lots/Land property with a lot size of 0.30 acres. 1110 Cove Pointe Drive is currently listed for $159,000 and was received on October 06, 2015. Want to learn more about 1110 Cove Pointe Drive? Do you have questions about finding other Lots/Land real estate for sale in Panama City? You can browse all Panama City real estate or contact a Coldwell Banker agent to request more information.
Sign inClose


text:
It happens EVERY week, doesn't it? We all have one of those days when we get to the fridge and we can't figure out what to eat. I'm a big fan of planning ahead, so what I try and do is keep a well-stocked pantry, and a fairly well-stocked fridge so that I can almost always put something together that is delicious, easy and nutritious. I have staple items that go into my shopping basket each week so that I have good "colors" around: organic red bell pepper, carrots, sweet potatoes, kale/chard/collards, romaine, a bunch of herbs – usually parsley or cilantro, and red onions and garlic. I also keep my pantry stocked with bulk items like quinoa, millet, brown rice (basmati, sweet brown, and a brown rice mix), wild rice, and amaranth, plus raw seeds and nuts: sunflower, pepita (pumpkin), sesame, walnuts, almonds and cashews. For canned goods, it's always helpful to have a few cans of beans on hand – garbanzo beans (chickpeas), black beans, and white beans. When it comes time to needing quick food, I know that I have the foundation for a healthful meal – good carbohydrates, healthful proteins, good fats, and loads of minerals and vitamins plus all the extras – think antioxident-rich phytonutrients.
This recipe is one of my favorites. Chock full of vitamins, minerals, protein, folate and antioxidents, this easy recipe makes a great, quick weeknight meal and converts to a perfect, packable lunch.
Lemony Quinoa and Chickpea Pilaf
Serves 4 – 6
1 cup quinoa (white, red or black – it doesn't matter)
2 cups vegetable stock or bouillon (veggie or chicken)
1 teaspoon cumin, ground or whole seed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
1 small organic red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 bunch kale, ribs removed and finely chopped
2 to 3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 cups cooked chickpeas or 1 14-oz. can, drained
1/3 cup freshly squeezed organic lemon juice
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
Rinse quinoa several times in a bowl of cold water.* Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan and add the bouillon or stock and the quinoa. Lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the spiral of the quinoa germ is visible, about 15 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes or until ready to serve.
Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, add the olive oil and then the onion, garlic, red pepper, and kale. Sauté, stirring, until the onion is translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes, and then add the cumin. Sauté for about 30 seconds, then stir in the quinoa and chickpeas. Stir together for a few minutes, then add the lemon juice and parsley. Combine well, add salt and pepper to taste, and remove from heat. Serve hot or at room temperature. Tastes great cold the next day.
*Rinsing removes the saponin – a protective coating that naturally coats the grains of quinoa as it grows. If not rinsed, the saponin leaves a bitter or soapy taste on the grain.


text:
Join Founders Space at the SVIEF International Conference.
The 6th SVIEF will take place on 9.30-10.1 at Santa Clara Convention Center with 10k+ attendees, and 100+ booths will be open. SVIEF is now calling for exhibitors. Companies/Startups recommended by Founders Space will receive special discount!
Visit http://www.svief.org/2016 for more info! Email [email protected] if you're interested!
Silicon Valley Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum (SVIEF) is an international conference designed to foster innovation and promote business partnerships connecting US and Asia-Pacific region. It is a leading venue in high-tech industry field gathering multi-tech and business professional while providing a platform for talent, technology and capital exchange.
You must be logged in to post a comment.


text:
South America, Bolivia, Gigante Grande, Cordillera Quimsa Cruz
Publication Year: 1994.
Gigante Grande, Cordillera Quimsa Cruz. On August 9 and 10, Kevin Starr and I climbed the western face of Gigante Grande (5749 meters, 18,862 feet), bivouacking near the summit and finishing the climb in a total whiteout at midday during an unseasonal snowstorm. The climb involved some 600 meters of mixed, ice, rock and snow up the center of the face. Because of the whiteout, we were unable to find our descent route and ended up crossing the Cordillera, coming out at Mina Pacuni on August 11.
Dakin Cook


text:
Shritech Consulting is a California based international consulting company committed to improving global communities. We have some business development experience in Asia and Africa.
Shritech Consulting brings North American, Asian and European resources together with business and non-business leaders in Asia, Africa and Middle East for infrastructure, energy and internet technology, based upon open involvement with organizations and business partners from around the world. We identify and facilitate business opportunities in Asian, Middle Eastern and African countries, we are active in:
* Establishing business contacts
|Copyright © Shritech Consulting, Inc.


text:
Resources for Idvas
Here you can find an array of information for Idvas to help you manage your caseload more effectively. Gain a quick and accurate understanding of the risk clients face with our Dash risk checklist, deepen your expertise with the latest practice briefings and streamline your approach with our case management pack.
We are currently in the process of updating all of our forms and guidance in line with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). When using our Marac referral forms and Dash forms, the completed form should be returned to the Marac you are referring into. Please do not send it to SafeLives; to do so would be a breach of the Data Protection Act and GDPR.
- « first
- ‹ previous
- 1
- 2
- 3


text:
Would you like to improve your overall health, sleep better and have more energy? Then join the other Cook + Phillip members who are kicking goals with our Face2Face Program. If you join our 360 Membership now you will receive our Face2Face personalised fitness and wellness program for FREE (valued at $250!).
We tailor your personal fitness plan using the latest scientific approach and most time efficient techniques so you never get bored or have to quit because you are too busy. Results are guaranteed. If you attend all the Face2Face consultations within 6 weeks, stick to your workout plan and don't see any results, then you'll get your money back. Some conditions apply.
We commit to 5 one on one sessions with our highly skilled trainers over the initial 5 weeks of your membership. If after that you need more help - we're still here and will revisit your program every 8 weeks to keep you on track.
No. You only pay for your normal 360 membership (Pro or Active*) and the Face2Face program is free. If you wish to book any subsequent personal training sessions, then this will incur an additional cost however we do have discounted rates when you buy three or more sessions.
*Only available at Victoria Park Pool
Contact us or visit http://360card.com.au/ for more information
Join today and start your journey to better heath.
Join 360 now and receive a personalised fitness and wellness program free (value $250)
Register for free to join our email newsletter group that provides information such as…
Enter your email address to subscribe


text:
After BMW determined to stop the CS undertaking, the Munich manufacturer search an answer to counter booming Zuffenhausen enemies, to learn Porsche Panamera. You'll be afraid to apperceive that a few of these repossessed vehicles are in solid fresh condition. Moreover a used car could come with more add-on goodies which the owner must have put for his own comfort but you are not made to pay for it extra.
When you change into a affiliate of arrangement bedeviled cars web site you'll get an accomplished account to recommendation you save money and time with a abundant database armpit and considerable added about government and accompaniment auctions sites and their acquaintance buzz numbers.
Vehicles such because the Jaguar XK , Porsche Boxster , MINI Convertible and BMW Z4 can all be found listed. Get all the advice it is advisable purchase a automotive and skim evaluations on the most recent automobiles to be driven by our motoring experts.
We specialize in New and Used Ford Vehicles , Vehicles, and SUVs in Kansas Metropolis, however we've different departments that help to make us unique. Yearly, these vehicles lose about 20{daa3950248ea7c837ce59b4d8e3e9a61030c7905a3098288a828e72fc0950623} in value, making it simpler so that you can purchase a used car for nearly half the original worth.
Used cars are available in good condition and buyers can have the pre-owned cars at a a lot lesser value than the model-new models. It has all of the choices accessible even if you are occurring finance or trying to lease a New Audi A4 Automobiles or a New Audi Q5 Cars for you and your loved ones.


text:
Just two days after Bill O'Reilly attacked Stephen Colbert as an "ideological fanatic" with a small audience who was also somehow to blame for the recent UConn riot, Colbert has been named as David Letterman's replacement on CBS' Late Show. I'm sure it doesn't help O'Reilly's mood that Colbert's comedy persona is a satire of none other than O'Reilly, himself.
On Monday night, O'Reilly blamed the UConn riot on a "breakdown of respect for property and authority" that was, according to O'Reilly, driven by "the destructive mindset (of) grievance and entitlement." He added. "The primary grievance right now is alleged inequality."
O'Reilly then dragged Colbert into the mix:
The left-wing media legitimizes that nonsense and one of the biggest mouthpieces for the progressive movement is Stephen Colbert. Only a million people watch his late-night program at 11:30 but he is the darling of the far-left internet which rhapsodizes over him.
Like many ideological fanatics, Colbert is misguided in the extreme. His analysis is delivered under the guise of comedy but, believe me, he is a true progressive believer, playing exclusively to other believers. Colbert can be dismissed as clueless but the guy does do damage.
Well, Bill, it looks like Colbert's platform just got a lot bigger. And it may well be - at least partially - at your expense. Or, as you might put it: Here comes "more destruction in America."
We couldn't be more delighted. Congratulations, Mr. Colbert!
Below is O'Reilly's rant about Colbert as well as the Colbert Report segment that set O'Reilly off.
You are too old for the demos. Move aside and let a younger host take over.
But his current role/character that takes a big poke at all that is absurd in the media/political world has been a real positive to the political discourse in America. BOR and others of his ilk don't get to ride roughshod over whoever they want and expect to just get away with their outrageous behavior/comments anymore – and that's largely due to shows like Colbert's and Jon's. I mean, really, how hysterical is it that serious media loud-mouths like BOR and politicians actually have to be concerned about getting called out by the humor shows at freakin' Comedy Central? It's genius the way they make BOR et al squirm and attempt to play down the quips and jokes of some very insightful and politically astute comedians. To have Colbert's sort of satire disappear for the Comedy Central lineup would be a real bummer. Hopefully, CC would come up with something good as they have a lot of talent there (such as John Oliver, etc.) who might be able to step in after Jon.
All I hope is that the dinosaurs at CBS don't try to control Colbert too much or make him interview Kardashians – let him do his thing and bring his own style of humor/sarcasm to the network.
Then again, I knew Jimmy Fallon's 4th walling would make him a hell of a talk show host, and while I was right about his delivery, look at how he's wasting it. Not to mention that Fallon's trying waaaay, waaaaay too hard to look like he's gone Teabag because he's obviously afraid of Fox.
Which brings me to my concern: Colbert has balls, but these shows are the big boys, so he's standing against some considerably stiffer opposition when him and the brass don't see eye to eye. Will they be able to crack him, or will he stay true to form?


text:
The following article is a transcript of a paper presented by Andy Davis, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, at the 25th national Asian Studies Development Program conference: "Wellbeing in Asian Traditions of Thought and Practice."
The paper is partially based on an interview that Andy conducted with me in November 2018 while he was participating in my Mysore style classes and pranayama course.
– Iain Grysak
Introducing the Edge
The word 'wellbeing' often suggests ease or comfort, a sense of pleasantness and satisfaction. But in my talk today, I would like to examine how a pursuit of wellbeing involves the seeming opposite, discomfort and struggle, due to wellbeing requiring intense work at the limit of one's current capability. I aim to articulate how wellbeing is linked with learning and learning with growth and growth with a certain amount of discomfort and challenge. To this end, I look at the "Mysore style" of teaching and learning from the Mysore style Ashtanga yoga tradition to see how it supports this uncomfortable work. I then adapt some lessons from the Mysore room to a discussion of challenge and risk in the university classroom.
The general idea for this paper is inspired by some comments made by my yoga teacher, Iain Grysak.[1] In an interview I conducted with him about teaching Mysore style Ashtanga yoga, he remarked that, in his view, the teacher's primary task is to create an "energetic container" where students are "brought to their edge."[2] In context, this was offered as a contrast to the predominant expectation that a teacher's job is to provide physical adjustments for students.[3] Grysak takes a wider view of the learning process and the learning environment, suggesting that physical adjustment is only one of many ways that students can be "brought to their edge."
What does it mean, to be brought to one's edge? The 'edge' is a term used in yoga circles to refer to the limit of a practitioner's physical ability. When I press up into a backbend and go up just about as far as I can without causing myself too much pain, I am working at my edge.
That seems simple enough. However, the same shape that brings me to my edge might be very easily accomplished by another student. She will need a deeper backbend, such as kapotasana, to encounter her edge. This brings us to the crux of the problem of teaching yoga: every body has a different edge. Even the same body, on different days, will work at different edges. How does a student, a relative beginner, know when he has reached his edge? What does it feel like, and what level of discomfort or pain is acceptable? How much should I push myself in trying to get my body to take the shape of an upward-facing bow?
The yoga student, with good reason, goes to a yoga teacher for help answering this question—that is, to someone with more experience and therefore expertise in working at the limit's of the body's ability. However, the yoga teacher cannot inhabit the student's body. The yoga teacher has only external access to the limitations of the student's body. To feel something from the inside, as one's own, is meaningfully different. Even if the teacher has the skill to recognize the general nature of a limitation and also suspects what might address it, the teacher cannot do the work for the student. Being adjusted into a posture (with external pressure or support) will have important differences from pressing and supporting the body from within. This inconvenient truth underlies Grysak's concerns about teaching styles that are heavy on adjustments, and explains why physical adjustments are an imperfect tool for finding and working at a student's edge. Once a student develops some amount of bodily awareness, she will be better at sensing the contours of her personal edge.
If this is so, what use is a teacher at all? Here the rest of Grysak's suggestion comes in to play. The teacher provides an "energetic container" for the student. The teacher offers a space, a room, a place, with conditions that are conducive to seriousness, attention to detail, moral support, focus, patience, calmness, and collective effort. The teacher's main work is intentional, but it is not a doing, but rather, an allowing and enabling. The student experiences the work of her practice as produced neither by herself alone nor by the teacher alone. Or rather, the work is hers, but has been brought out and made possible by the learning environment and the relationships that constitute it.
An "energetic container" is created by a combination of elements that are numerous and subtle. These could include everything from the colors of the walls and the presence or absence of pictures of gurus or deities to the teacher's tone of voice, gestures and attire. We will later turn to see how this can be compared with a university classroom. The notion of creating an energetic container is applicable especially with teachers that emphasize their role as listeners rather than talkers, who view their work not as depositing packets of information, but as cultivating the student's own work at an analogous sort of edge, or rather, the edge broadly conceived.
For the edge, even in a yoga asana practice, is not just the limit of the body's ability to take a certain shape. It is also the limit of the practitioner's self-conception, the shape of his ego, the idea he has of who he is and what he can do. I may believe today that I can go further in my back-bending posture, I may be utterly convinced with righteous certainty that I can straighten my legs and arms and walk my hands in closer to my feet, but today I find that I cannot. I encounter a limit of discomfort and exhaustion. How do I deal with this? Do I get frustrated and force my body further? Do I immediately back off without any exploration, content to do less than I know is possible? Or will I take interest in this limit as it presents itself and investigate it, looking for space around it? The character of the yoga practice is revealed in the way we negotiate this interaction between body and self-conception. Whether it has the character of a battle, or a friendly dialogue, a yoga practice is a constant encounter between sensation and imagination, between the body and the idea of the body.
Sensation and Imagination
Negotiating the encounter between sensation and imagination is essential not only to achieving bendy postures, but to our most fundamental capacities as animals. When an animal senses something (with eyes, ears, skin etc.), the sensation is brought into relation with images of sensations that linger in the imagination, i.e. sensations from the near and distant past.[4] Take, for example, when something looks heavy. Here we are combining past tactile sensations of this object or similar objects with present visual sensations. In this way, a quality that is actually absent from sensation (heaviness) is made present to the moment of sensation not through sensation but through the work of the imagination. Imagination completes or fills out the always partial picture of sensation in countless ways. Much of the imagination's work is unconscious and seamlessly integrated with the work of the senses.
By making present otherwise absent elements of experience, the imagination helps an animal orient itself and move from place to place, seeking out what seems best.[5] By preserving and re-presenting sensory images, the imagination gives the animal an intuitive understanding of the continuity of itself and of the world around it. Locomotion requires holding an action together in the imagination even as the body goes through the motion only one step at a time. The animal must believe, at each step, that even though it has not yet reached its goal, the goal remains ahead of it. Our wellbeing depends on how well we navigate these daily encounters between imagination and sensation, between memory and the present, between the various parts of a single motion, between one desire and another, between who we were, who we are and who we are becoming.
The imagination is sometimes misunderstood as a source of only fictitious notions or illusions that should always be replaced. Some yoga theorists, leaning on classical Indian sources, describe yoga practice as if it could leave the normal conditions of embodied human life behind, as if it released us from all imagined self-conceptions (ahaṃkāra) and all past habits (samskaras).[6] If humans are a special kind of spiritual being with an accidental animal body, then perhaps this makes sense. If, however, we grant that humans are animals through and through, then memory, imagination, desire and habit cannot be discarded or left behind. They must be trained or educated. This indicates to me that meditative absorption is likely not a sudden lightning flash where the material shell is discarded but rather the cumulative result of years of re-patterning the relationship between sensation and imagination to better reflect the way things are.
For the most part, sensation and imagination integrate well. As long as the experience of navigating our world seems to be going smoothly, our retained images have no reason to re-structure in relation to incoming sensation. Yet if we are striving for change in our lives, we must change from the root and begin to sense the world differently so that we can desire differently.[7] This seems difficult to accomplish because no amount of thinking about it will change the pleasant taste of unhealthy foods or other misleading sensations and the memories around them. If, however, we bring ourselves to an edge, a limit, even a kind of crisis of perception, we will no longer rely on retained images and we begin to acquire new sensations to become part of the imagination's repertoire. This is one reason why it is easier to change habits in unfamiliar settings. At the edge, we draft a new relationship between sensations and the images that attend them and fill them out. It is not uncommon for hard-working yoga practitioners to suddenly alter diet, sleep, hygiene or other habits without exerting any effort or 'willpower' merely as a consequence of increased attention to their edge.
Finding and working at the edge of one's current capabilities is not just for adrenaline junkies, therefore, but for all of us. Further, the ability to work at the edge is a revealing definition of wellbeing. To live a healthy life, a person must be ready to respond to the environment, ready to pursue or avoid what it is best to pursue or avoid. If we do not attend to fresh aspects of incoming sensation, if we do not accept what is unexpected or even contrary to expectation, then experience becomes routine, blunted, and unintelligent. If we only work with imagination and memories, then the idea of the body becomes a fantasy, abstract and divorced from lived experience. A person may imagine that he can still run or jump like he did ten years ago, even while struggling to get up from a desk chair. Or he may imagine that he is incapable of getting up from the chair without pain, when, with practice, his body is capable of much more. Because Mysore style Ashtanga yoga is a strenuous, six days per week practice, the attentive Ashtanga student constantly refreshes her own self-conception and lives as what she is: a growing, changing animal.
Without daily meditative movement at the edge, a person lives with an outdated idea of her own body. And without an analogous kind of attentive, consistent study and inquiry, a person works with an outdated idea of her own self. The Mysore style of yoga teaching cultivates work at the edge in a powerful yet sustainable way. By reflecting on the features that make this learning environment effective, we can offer parallel suggestions for other learning environments.
Mysore style Ashtanga
Mysore style Ashtanga yoga is the name used to describe the tradition of yoga practice transmitted by K. Patthabi Jois.[8] It is so named because it was developed in the city of Mysore (now Mysuru) in Karnataka, India. Ashtanga yoga has a few distinctive features worth noting up front. First, the Ashtanga practice is a set sequence of postures (asanas) performed in the same order each time. Second, the postures are interconnected by moving transitions or vinyasas. Third, in each posture the practitioner is to pay close attention to the movement of the breath, the placement of internal energy (bandha) and the location of the gaze (drishti). Finally, the Ashtanga practice should be practiced every day except Saturdays, full moons and new moons. Taken together, these guidelines help to ensure that Mysore style Ashtanga yoga is a demanding yet meditative asana practice.
Mysore style classes look quite different from other yoga classes. In the Mysore style, each student practices independently at his or her own pace and skill level, watched over by a teacher who has mastered the series of poses. One student may practice the Primary series, another may practice only half of the Primary series, and another may practice the Intermediate series, all in a row next to one another. The different series (Primary, Intermediate, Advanced) are fixed, and poses are given sequentially as the student achieves a certain level of competence in the previous pose. An individual practice usually lasts from one to two hours.
While students practice in the Mysore style, a teacher circles through the room watching them to see if they would benefit from brief verbal reminders about the placement of parts of the body or from hands-on physical adjustments. As noted earlier, Iain Grysak suggests that physical adjustment should be minimal. He writes that a skilled teacher will "give [students] the minimum amount of input necessary for them to understand where they should be going, and then leave it up to them to work it out for themselves." Grysak concludes that "[t]his approach produces the strongest, most stable and most integrated result in the students, and it gives the students greater strength, confidence and power in the long run."[9] This pedagogy takes the independent streak inherent in the Mysore style and amplifies it. Following this model, the teacher will tend to adjust only when a certain action is very difficult to engage without help (such as dropping back from standing into a backbend).
What stands out in the Mysore style of teaching is the combination of set structure and independence or freedom. Because the sequence of poses is fixed, the student can show up and practice without being told what to do by the teacher. In non-Mysore yoga classes, the sequence is invented by the instructor and is not known in advance by the student, making the student dependent upon the teacher for sequencing. In this way, the Mysore method defers a portion of authority from the teacher to the sequence itself. A student works not to follow the instructions of a teacher, nor to discover the intended insight that the teacher has in mind, but to deepen the practice of the already available sequence, sometimes with a teacher's hands-on help, but often without it.
Bringing Out the Edge
The Mysore method offers several distinct advantages for the student who wants to find and work at her own edge.
Practicing the same sequences every day offers significant benefits. From the time of its birth, a human body begins to be shaped by the repetitive motions demanded of it. From the way standing and walking bring structure to the developing spine of a toddler, to the way hunching over a cellphone causes the shoulders and head of an adult to slouch forward, to the way smiles or frowns develop wrinkles on our faces, repeated motions give us our shapes. And repetition, having shaped the body, is likely the best way to re-shape it. Imagine how many backbends it takes to reverse the effects of twenty years (and counting) spent hunching over philosophy books.
Further, repeated motion provides a constant against which the student can measure deviations and changes. By paying attention to sensations in the practice from day to day, the student learns how to distinguish subtle differences in herself. If the practice were different every time, it would be that much more difficult to identify patterns or changes in the sensations. The repeated sequence effectively facilitates the observed experience of the body. It provides ample opportunity for the practitioner to become skilled at self-observation, a necessary prerequisite for self-teaching.
Another advantage of the Mysore method results from its concreteness, or the lack of abstract conceptualization in its instruction. In the Mysore room, verbal cues are minimal and concern gross actions. Little instruction is offered on how to achieve "perfection" in a posture, and few external standards of symmetry or geometry are applied to the poses. Such external standards impose a normative, imaginary ideal on the shape of the body. If a yoga practitioner follows the instruction of a zealous teacher, he may achieve a specific goal. But he may also lose sensitivity in his practice, over-stretch the body's tissues, and cause damage. It is easy to push toward an imaginary ideal, based on a description from a teacher, ignoring the cues of one's own body. No other person can feel the sensations of the practitioner's body, and so no one can effectively specify where the right balance of tension and relaxation will be found. The more we favor someone else's description, the harder it becomes to follow our own sensations, and the more apt we are to cause ourselves harm.[10]
Ashtanga teaching does, however, instruct the breath. The vinyasa sequence is designed to pair with inhalations and exhalations. On inhalation, the practitioner moves into one posture (usually involving spinal extension) and on exhalation she moves into the next posture (usually involving spinal flexion). In the Mysore room, the practitioner is able to move the body freely with the breath, because he is able to work at his own pace. When he arrives at a held pose, which is usually held for five breaths, he has already forged a link between the motion of the body and the motion of the breath. This means that even a pose that looks motionless on the outside will continue to move, just as the vinyasa moved, but on a deeper, more subtle level.[11] Inhalation might accompany a sensation of lengthening, expanding, or releasing, while exhalation might accompany a sensation of stabilizing, containment, or deepening. The cycle of breathing shapes the posture bit by bit, finding new space within the body. Here, it is the breath that begins to work at the practitioner's edge, and the breath that seeks out new territory in the practice. Breathing is a deeply original self-motion, so much that it seems to make a bridge between our conscious actions and our unconscious biological processes. We both do and do not control our own breathing, in the same way that we do and do not control our own being alive. In the Ashtanga practice, breath becomes the pioneer, the explorer of the edge, while the gross physical body—and the practitioner—follows.
Breathing is also closely connected to the function of the nervous system. Close work with the breath results in better awareness of the nervous system and the states of excitation and relaxation that emerge from its work. The breath thus forges a link between the imagined body and the actual sensations of the body. The practitioner's idea of the body is distorted by habitual over- and under-stimulation. An overexcited nervous system is likely to under-react to sensory stimulus and a lethargic nervous system is likely to overreact. If, using the breath, a practitioner can even out the stimulation of the nervous system, she can open up a new attitude toward sensation in the present moment, one that is not pulled toward anxious or depressive responses.
It is a difficult task, to learn to breathe smoothly and without forceful exertion while putting the body through strenuous athletic motions. But it is learnable. The body gains cardiovascular endurance, and the practitioner learns not to panic and gulp for air, even if a pose feels uncomfortable or seems impossible. By learning to breathe slowly and smoothly through the course of a challenging sequence, the practitioner learns to maintain a calm and focussed presence of mind. This, in turn, enables a clear evaluation of the body's sensations, influenced neither by fear nor by ambition. In this way, attention to the breath helps one see through all the distractions, the messy emotions and social cues, so that one might know best when and where to stop.
Another advantage of the Mysore method is in the one-on-one teacher-student interactions. Typical yoga classes involve instructions given to all students, at the same time and in the same way, despite the fact that every student has a different body. In the Mysore room, every teacher-student interaction is one-on-one. This means they may take place as a concrete communication referring to a given body at a present moment, with immediate relevance and applicability. There is virtually no theory in it. The adjustment or instruction from the teacher serves as a reminder rather than a transmission of knowledge. When a teacher touches the body lightly or issues a simple correction, the student is given the opportunity to realize that his attention has lapsed and he has forgotten to hold the body together in the posture. Diffuse attention leads to a scattered way of holding the body. This is often a clear reminder that the idea of the body and the sensation of the body have diverged. This is also a sign that we hold ourselves in a careless way outside of the practice as well. Repeatedly addressing these attention lapses day by day gradually reduces such lapses and increases focus.
When focus is present, sensation and imagination work together at the crest of arising experience. The focused practitioner holds each moment of sensation in relation not to an abstract standard (imagination gone lifeless and dull), but to the relevant whole of a single arc of activity or motion (imagination alive and in-the-moment). Focus thus tends to arise most clearly at the edge, at the limit of capability, because it is here that each arising sensation bears the most significance. It is here that each decision has meaningful consequences the practitioner may observe immediately within or soon after the practice. At the edge, a practitioner can follow arising sensation toward evolving self-understanding.
Over time, a practitioner might notice attention constantly fleeing from certain areas or actions of the body. Through repeated actions and interventions, the practitioner begins to track his dark zones and blind spots, all the places in himself that he habitually avoids. In the practice, the practitioner may discover a map of his habits, and in these habits, a map of his choices and values. These are not the values we articulate to ourselves and to others, the stories we tell about ourselves, but the values we enact on a daily basis. I may tell myself that I am not stressed out, that I am kind and compassionate toward myself and others, or that I do not harbor deep and unspoken angers and fears; but my body tells a different story.
Discomfort and Wellbeing
Daily Mysore style Ashtanga yoga is an intense practice and makes consistent, systemic demands on the body. As the body begins to re-structure to better support itself in the practice, the practitioner experiences regular soreness, pain and occasional strains that belong to this process and can be considered good signs rather than warnings or reasons to abandon the practice. These discomforts often indicate that the student is in fact working at the edge of current limitations and cultivating a new relationship of the body to itself.
It often seems taken for granted that the point of practicing yoga is to feel good. Yoga is popularly presented as an exercise that is balancing, centering and calming. It may be more accurate to say that the point of a yoga asana practice is not to feel good, but to feel more deeply—not to feel better, but to feel better. If there is pain, anger, tension, doubt, pride, shame, strength, stability, softness, balance, anxiety, depression or uneasiness in the practitioner, asana practice is a powerful way to become sensitive to these deep stirrings of body and soul. This is necessarily a difficult path. Nobody finds it easy. Often, what the yoga practice reveals will be encountered with frustration, despair, fear, or just plain confusion. The practice is, after all, a daily encounter with one's limits, a daily attempt to make headway into what seems—what feels—impossible. If it becomes a transformative practice, this means that it involves losing one's past self. Dying to oneself, even if it prefaces rebirth, is never pleasant, never easy. Nevertheless, it is better to know oneself than to remain blind to psycho-physical habits.
It is hard to find as reliable a daily measure of embodied experience as an Ashtanga yoga practice, which is both consistent and consistently diverse in its demands. Without the clarifying light of such a practice, we are likely to feel our body-souls as mediated through shifting moods and ideas or images that have no embodied reality. Human beings act in strange ways. We will claim that everything is okay, until one day we erupt, like a volcano, from a deep swell of anger. Or we will claim that we love a partner, until one day we realize that we haven't shared our true selves with them in decades. We will do things because they are socially acceptable, without acknowledging how they trouble us to the core. We will choose what is familiar over what could lead to our own happiness. Without some kind of practice that teaches the practitioner to navigate the boundaries of potential, and to do so as a self-directed, self-sensing activity, we become helpless in the face of our unknown selves. We remain unprepared for our feelings and unequipped to respond well to them.
With such a daily practice, however, one conducts a daily survey of what it is like to be living in one's body on that particular day. One has confronted negative feelings about oneself and areas of stiffness and tension. One has taken the time and effort to practice observing oneself, being sensitive to one's limits, and persevering in the face of discomfort. This increased awareness can be carried from the practice into the rest of the day. It is difficult to assess the value of yoga practice for personal change and wellbeing because so much depends on what the student does with what he discovers in himself during practice. But the more self-directed and self-applied the practice is, the more likely it is to instill the habit of self-reflection.
It is never a solipsistic practice, however. In the Mysore room, one's practice is both self-directed, and also observed by a teacher, making it not only an incubator for insights, but also a reminder to apply those insights diligently. When teachers simply talk, students miss out on discovering insights for themselves. They become disengaged, bored, or dutiful in an instrumental way. When students work without teachers at all, they often lack the motivation or capacity for discipline and consistency. The stakes may not feel high enough, the situation does not seem pressing, one feels sore and stiff, and one's trust in the practice wavers. One is apt to postpone one's work to the next day, or the next.
This brings us to the problem of pain. Pains, from minor discomforts, to aching limbs, to chronic strains, to tissue tears, present an obstacle and a puzzle to the most perceptive of students. Animals naturally withdraw from pain. This is a healthy response that generally leads to wellbeing, as it assists in survival. However, just as the avoidance of pain can be detrimental in the pursuit of self-knowledge, it can be detrimental in the pursuit of wellbeing. Someone with experience is sometimes needed to remind us that staying with a pain can be good. Pain is not always a signal of harm, even if we are apt to interpret it as such. While on the one hand I must let my body be my teacher, on the other hand, bodies have their own prejudices. A good teacher, who has endured the pains and discomforts herself, helps to mediate the body's work when bodily distress prevents us from recognizing things as they are.
Learning at the Edge
From this look at Mysore style teaching and practice, a few general conclusions arise. A learning environment should help students find their own personal edge and not an abstract target designated in advance by the teacher. To support this, the learning environment should cultivate consistency, challenge, introspection and independence.
I would argue that these qualities can be applied to liberal arts courses in modern universities to help bring students to the edge of their current capabilities. A class discussion or seminar can potentially offer a flexible learning environment where students can engage fruitfully with varying levels of competence. Unlike an interactive lecture, which rewards only those students who approach the content in a way similar to the professor, a seminar discussion can make space for divergent approaches. In a good discussion, each participant can test the differing limits of their own competence as a reader, thinker and speaker at the same time.
As in the Mysore room, a consistent learning environment should allow students to prepare properly. Continual change at the whim of the teacher invites students to stop preparing for class because it is unclear what preparation is worthwhile. Inconsistency or unpredictability causes students to feel at the mercy of the teacher, and as though they have no personal grasp on the trajectory of their learning. At the same time, the teacher should be prepared to provide diverse challenges to students. If the teacher seems easy to impress or content with a rehearsal of what is obvious—or worse, a rehearsal of what the teacher wants to hear—students are not invited to try for more. To promote introspection, a seminar group should acclimate itself to silence. If the teacher seems anxious or creates the expectation that silences should be filled, there is no space to think in the classroom. The class becomes a place to rehearse ideas rather than a place to discover or test them. Finally, independence can arise in a classroom when it is clear that the teacher does not have an agenda that must be followed. When students begin to see that their decisions and contributions have consequences on the quality of the conversation each day, personal responsibility and independence are cultivated.
While this is all somewhat formulaic, it may help us work past some prevalent assumptions. Yoga pedagogy and liberal arts pedagogy are both dominated by instructional models that treat education as a transmission of information from teacher to student rather than as a catalyst for genuine self-exploration in pursuit of holistic wellbeing. When a student learns, she does not learn the subject matter in abstraction, but in concrete relation to what she already knows and believes. This means that the student is in a better position to know how to integrate the subject into her own particular body and soul than the teacher. The teacher may be more expert on this technique or that book, but not at the technique in relation to my body or the book in relation to my soul.
Working at the edge demands, above all, that we—as teachers and students—be willing to endure confusion. As we push to the limits of the familiar, we are bound to become disoriented. Thus education at the edge requires trust. A student must be willing to go backwards (or what seems to be backwards), believing the path will eventually lead forwards again. The teacher must also be willing to go backwards, to accompany the student as she works through her edge, and to show by example that disorientation does not warrant despair. In Ashtanga yoga pedagogy, nothing encapsulates this need for trust better than when a teacher stops a student at a pose the student himself believes he has mastered. With time, the student may come to see the value in being set back, when it helps him re-discover his edge in a place he had stopped looking for it. Likewise, seminars abound with conversational tangents that seem to lead nowhere. But then, if pursued with a collective trust and sensitivity to the unknown, such tangents can turn up insights in places we would never have thought to look.
Both approaches are rooted in the belief that real insight transcends a person's ability to encapsulate and represent things to himself in advance. Seeking wellbeing at the edge is a matter of remaining open, loosening the ego's grasp on the self and making space for an unexpected self, an emergent self. If we seek wellbeing in this way, the self is no longer a detached image or a static representation, no longer a fantasy we have of who we are. The self becomes the work of the self.[12] In this work, there is no distinction between the body and its life, no distinction between the self and its wellbeing.
Note: I would like to thank Iain Grysak for his essays and for his energetic container, "Spacious Yoga" in Ubud, Bali. I would also like to thank Elizabeth Hejtmancik for her helpful suggestions and extensive revisions to this essay.
Andy Davis
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Belmont University
[1] Iain Grysak is a KPJAYI Level II authorized teacher of Mysore style Ashtanga yoga currently based in Ubud, Bali. The formation of this talk was guided by two interviews with him (conducted in November 2018) and also by his written essays, found at www.spaciousyoga.com/blog.
[2] From an interview recorded on November 9th, 2018.
[3] An adjustment typically involves bringing the student's body more deeply into a particular posture (pressing the back into a deeper forward bend, helping the hands bind in a seated twist, etc.).
[4] 'Image' here is a generic term for absent sensory elements made present and could include sound images, visual images, tactile images, etc.
[5] It is for this reason that Aristotle reasons that all animals with the capacity for locomotion must have an imagination/memory/desire, while plants and stationary animals (e.g. corals) may have 'pure' sensation without imagination, memory and desire. See Aristotle, On the Soul Book III, Chapters 9-11.
[6] Bhagavad Gita 3.27 and Yoga Sutras 2.15-17 are example texts that might be used to support this problematic view (but need not be interpreted in this way).
[7] Aristotle implies something like this in Nicomachean Ethics Book VII, Chapter 3 (1147a25-1147b5).
[8] The published text outlining Jois' method is his Yoga Mala. The method seems to be based on the method of Jois' own teacher, T. Krishnamacharya, as he taught it to Jois in the 1930's and 40's (see Singleton, Yoga Body, p. 176). Krishnamacharya went on to teach in different ways (see Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga p. 28-29).
[9] From the short essay "You Stop There" published January 22nd, 2015 [https://spaciousyoga.com/you-stop-there-lessons-from-sharath-jois/]
[10] For more on this see Iain Grysak's "Teaching vs. Preaching: Embodiment as the Gateway to Authentic Understanding and Integration" published on December 5th, 2018 [https://spaciousyoga.com/teaching-vs-preaching-embodiment/]
[11] This insight is based on comments made by Iain Grysak in a Pranayama Workshop held in November 2018.
[12] The insight that to-be-something is not a passive inheritance but an active doing can be explored in Aristotle's Physics and Metaphysics, especially Metaphysics Theta (i.e. Book IX). Two recent, helpful interpretations of these arguments are Aryeh Kosman's The Activity of Being and Jonathan Beere's Doing and Being.


text:
San Diego, CA 92130
Phone: 858-481-0882
Fax: 858-481-8583
"Although Andrew has only attended Cal Coast Academy for a few months, his experience and performance has been exceptional thanks to the teachers and staff. His grades have improved and his attitude towards learning is making a difference in his self-confidence. Now, he is ready to realize his full potential. Andrew can be a great student with your help!"
Mr. Bruce Bracizewski
"I wanted to let you know how happy we are that we made the switch to Cal Coast! I could go on and on about the many reasons we are pleased, but instead I'll mention just a few. Each of Thomas's classes have been inspiring and satisfying. His math and physics teacher has made these subjects - never Thomas's strength - interesting and clear, and has given Thomas some confidence. His Italian teacher is teaching the language as it should be taught - rigorously! (Tony and I are also language teachers, so we have a few opinions about that!). His US History class has been engaging and has helped Thomas to develop his scholarship skills; also, we have been quite surprised at times in family discussions with the amount Thomas seems to have learned about US History! He alsoreally enjoyed the research paper. last but certainly not least has been his English class. Thomas has gained so much enthusiasm for literature this year, and is eager to read as much as possible. He loves to talk about books, and to recommend his favorites to us and his friends. Besided his positive experiences in each of his classes, we are also thrilled to see that he is once again excited about learning. Homework is substantial, but not a burden and not tedious busy work as it was at his prior school. He has time to reflect, and also time to practice his instuments, go swimming, and socialize with friends. Thank you so much for understanding and putting into practice the principles of a solid education! All the best".
Mrs. Leslie Edwards
"Jan Dunning, has achieved the impossible at Cal Coast Academy. She has, with a nurturing and caring staff, created an environment that meets the needs of every student. The first day my son stepped foot in Cal Coast for tutoring, he came out wanting to attend full-time because he knew he could be successful. He has proved that, and had fun learning along the way".
Mrs. Wendy Theno
"We have had nothing but positive results from Cal Coast. My son was struggling and overwhelmed at his prior school and was therefore not caring nor attending. With the individual help he gets at CCA, he is thriving. He's a much happier kid."
Mr. & Mrs. Rolf Benirschke