When there’s a wiggle, do not ignore . when going straight, the wheel should be steady. if it flicks out of your hand or fingers (even slightly) or jerks to the left or right then back, even lightly but suddenly, it means you’re not balanced.
(first three photos shot yesterday, while getting my balance).
If you don’t get your balance, you could spin when going too fast.
(in journalism, you should be balanced — present all sides, don’t spin it — Gosh, i’m punning again, going to town with this aren’t i. … out of town — oh, no… punning now incorrigible)
But not quite as smart as this art piece (see photo below), this art work is a pun — it consists of some kind of metal parts that look like they’ve been welded or screwed together piece by piece. (Goodyear Servitek), shot while getting my alignment. Being exhibited in an “alignment” shop — witty.
Next photo, balancing pose, “bound” tree pose (a variation of the tree pose), shot after a run, posted cropped Dec.9. This is supposed to look like a perfect vertical line when viewed from the side . For that to happen, the leg that’s bound should form a perfect zero-degree angle , horizontally, (a flat plane)
with your torso and hip — IT’S NOT HAPPENING HERE!!! It looks like a question mark. My seated bent poses look like mathematical symbols, my balancing poses look like punctuation marks (and not the exclamation kind) but ones like these%@&.
The balancing poses make your ankles, legs, and core, strong. ( — i think… that’s how it feels to me, i’m not an expert).
Get your balance and alignment this New Year!
Dec. 28 sun. shot eight hours ago… after trying to get an alignment, but long queue; gotta get it tomorrow, or rather, later. early. Hey, my sky series is
back.
archives here show the last one was in the last week of May. After that, no more sky series. trying to figure. around that time, the work got thicker or maybe that’s just a coincidence — the sun never showed itself again when the “rush” work, one then the next, then more, sapped me out; that’s alright– i always recover and one activity replaces another. then my yoga went out. blog posts on the great big flood, and donations and support for victims — no sky series for that. blog posts on the Maguindanao massacre; countdown; then martial law — no sky series for that. maybe those have nothing to do with the sun not showing again – just coincidences.
(the sun always showed itself, just didn’t see it)
Thank God it’s 2010! (that will be my mantra)
endings and beginnings — can’t wait!
Mommy hanging out with the grandkids on Hollywood Boulevard, El Capitan Theatre, to see “The Christmas Carol” (all photos by Myra Lambino-Ramos)
(Final installment, continued from the article in the other day’s blog post. Studies show that more people suffer a heart stroke in the Christmas month than at any other month.)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2009. from joncagas.blogpost.com
Quote”Before you start exercising…
Quote “… answer the questions found in the Physical Activity Readiness
Photo rightclicked from yogaqc.multiply..com
Questionnaire (PAR-Q) to make sure that it is safe for you to become more active as some people need to check with their doctors first before they can engage in moderately to vigorously intense physical activities.
Quote “Download a copy of the PAR-Q here.
(at http://www.csep.ca/CMFiles/publications/parq/par-q.pdf )
* * *
“Physical Activity, Exercise and Current Recommendations” by Prof. Jon Cagas, MSc (Final installment)
Quote “In conjunction with proper diet, increased physical activity provides a cheap but effective method of preventing non-communicable diseases such as the diseases of the heart. It is not easy though as there are also other factors to be considered. For now, let us remember that in order to gain health benefits from physical activities, the minimum recommendations are to perform 20-30 minutes of moderately to vigorously intense aerobic activities 3-5 times a week and to do 8-10 strength-training exercises for 8-12 repetitions 2x a week.
Quote “The Australian Government Department of Health and Aging (2005) has this to offer:
Quote “Think of movement as an opportunity, not an inconvenience.
Quote “Be active every day in as many ways as you can.
Quote “Put together at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days.
Quote “If you can, also enjoy some regular, vigorous activity for extra health and fitness.
Merry Christmas everyJUAN!
* * *
additional notes, JC:
Quote “Physical Activity Prescription for Filipinos is currently being developed.
Morelos, M. (2009, January 29). Nat’l Policy drafted to fight obesity. Available online from Inquirer.net
December 25, 2009 6:18 PM
* * *
Additional Note 2, Prof. Jon Cagas
Quote “Key Areas of Actions for Promoting Physical Activity
Quote “* develop and implement national guidelines on physical activity for health;
Quote “* implement school-based programmes
Quote “* ensure that physical environments support safe active commuting, and create space for recreational activity, by the following:
Photo by Joji Balcita, from yogaqc.multiply.com, cropped & lit
Quote “• ensuring that walking, cycling and other forms of physical activity are accessible to and safe for all;
Quote “• introducing transport policies that promote active and safe methods of travelling to and from schools and workplaces, such as walking or cycling;
Quote “• improving sports, recreation and leisure facilities;
Quote “• increasing the number of safe spaces available for active play.
Quote “Go, J. J. (2008, July 24). Global and Regional Perspectives in NCD Prevention and Control. Presented at the 4th Public Health Convention on NCD Prevention and Control. Available online from the Department of Health.
December 25, 2009 6:25 PM
* * *
Additional Note 3, Prof. Jon Cagas
Quote “Too lazy to walk? Take the pedicab.
Quote “Healthbridge (2009. Promoting Non Motorized Transportation in the Philippines. Retrieved on December 25, 2009 from Healthbridge Website
December 25, 2009 6:37 PM
* * *
Additional Note 4, Prof. Jon Cagas
Quote “Data on physical activity was collected via observation. The researchers focused more on energy intake and requirements of Filipino older adults and did not discuss much about physical activities.
Quote “Risonar, M.G., Rayco-Solon, P., Ribaya-Mercado, J., Solon, J.A., Cabalda, A., et al. (2009). Physical activity, energy requirements, and adequacy of dietary intakes of older persons in a rural Filipino community. Nutrition Journal,8,19. doi: 10.1186/1475-2891-8-19” closed-quote.
December 25, 2009 6:53 PM
Yoga Master Jon Cagas teaches in graduate school; on research mode at Christmas Day
A physician interviewed on TV (ABS-CBN-DZMM) said that more people suffered from hypertension and heart stroke during Christmas month than at any other month. (Actually, what he said was: more people keeled over due to heart stroke during Christmas time than at any other season, but i wanted to sound pleasant today.)
This comprehensive research by top yoga teacher Prof. Jon Cagas, who teaches in graduate school, two courses, and is, as of last count,
photo rightclicked from flowyogaqc.yolasite.com
uber-loaded (overloaded) with something like 21 units [the load of a regular U.P. faculty member (University of the Philippines) is 12 units], with courses ranging from Psychology of Sports — to Human Movement Sciences; is timely and relevant, with additional notes from him posted a few minutes ago.
His academic materials are found in joncagas.blogspot.com . Because of its depth and length, i cannot publish it in one post and will “installmentize” (serialize) it in several posts, so that: YOU WILL WATCH WHAT YOU EAT, SWEETIE, PLAN AND CARRY OUT SUPERVISED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, AND TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
* * *
Notes, Prof. Jon Cagas (2009), “Journey Towards an Adamantine Body” Part 1
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2009
Quote “Physical Activity, Exercise and Current Recommendations
Quote “The World Health Organization (2009a) defines physical activity as “any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure.” It includes both structured and unstructured activities that people perform on a day-to-day basis such as walking. Exercise is a structured physical activity involving repetitive movements with an aim of improving the health-related components of fitness, such as cardiorespiratory endurance and muscular strength (WHO, 2009b).
Quote “Initial results of the 7th National Nutrition Survey (2008) show that risk factors such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, being overweight and obesity among Filipino adults have significantly increased from 2003 to 2008. Poor dietary habits and physical inactivity may be considered as major reasons for the increase. According the 2001 Baseline Behavioral Risk Factor Survey results, 19.9% of Filipinos, ages 17-74 years, are physically inactive. (When I did a presentation on Physical Activity for the Department of Health last August, a former FNRI-DOST researcher informed me that there was data on physical inactivity among Filipinos in 2003 and the prevalence was more than 20%. I have yet to read the material so I won’t cite it here).
Quote “Physical inactivity is a global trend affecting both developed and developing countries (WHO, 2009c). Factors such as population over-crowding, increased poverty, increased crime rates, high-density traffic, low air quality, lack of parks, sidewalks and recreation facilities, contribute to the low levels of physical activities among city dwellers.
Quote “How do we increase our physical activity levels? Just remember these four domains: at home, at school/work, at play and on the way (Public Health Agency of Canada-Healthy Living Unit, 2003). The idea is to keep on moving.
Photo by Chona Sebastian rightclicked from yogaqc.multiply.com, cropped & lit
Quote “At home, we are very much used to sitting on the couch and watching tv the whole day. In the Philippines, we let our household helpers do most of the household chores that we actually forego of opportunities where we can keep ourselves active.
Quote “At school, take physical education classes and participate in sports or fitness activities. At work, use the stairs instead of elevators, or take walking break instead of yosi (cigarette) break.
Quote “At play, choose activities such as sportsclimbing, bowling, basketball or join a gym and join the many exciting fitness classes.
Quote “Lastly, on the way, try to use a more active way of commuting. In Manila, this might not be a very good idea because the major streets are not bike-friendly. If you live in Quezon City, however, the streets are much friendlier except the QC circle on weekdays. On Sundays, however, it becomes a biker’s haven.
Quote “For health, the minimum recommendation is to accumulate 10-minute bouts of physical activities totaling to 20-30 minutes per day. For improved fitness, more is needed. In 2007, the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association jointly released updated physical activity guidelines for adults under 65 years old. The basic guidelines are:
Quote “to do moderate intense aerobic activity for 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week
Quote “OR
Quote “to do vigorously intense aerobic activity for 20 minutes a day, 3 times a week
Quote “AND
Quote “to do 8-10 strength-training exercises, 8-12 repetitions of each exercise, 2 times a week
Quote “The 2007 ACSM/AHA is also currently being adapted by the WHO as the latter is still in the process of developing global physical activity guidelines for health (WHO, 2009d).
Quote “In the Philippines, the Department of Health through its MagHL Tayo Program or the National Healthy Lifetyle Campaign recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of movement everyday for health benefits. For added health benefits, DOH recommends exercising 30 minutes a day, 3-4 times a week. (DOH, n.d.). This campaign was repackaged and relaunched in February 2009 as the HL to the MAX
(blog admin’s note: translation of DOH material by JC from Filipino)
Quote “highlighting 7 major messages (DOH, February 17, 2009):
Quote “NO SMOKING (Huwag Manigarilyo)
Quote “DON’T DRINK ALCOHOL (Iwas Alak)
Quote “NO TO ILLEGAL DRUGS (Talo Ka sa Droga)
Quote “EAT LOW-FAT, LOW SALT, HIGH FIBER DIET (Wastong Pagkain)
Quote “PREVENT HYPERTENSION (Bantay Presyon)
Quote “DO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (Katawang Aktibo)
Quote “MANAGE STRESS (Bawas Stress)
X X X
Quote “Merry Christmas everyJUAN! (everyone)” closed-quote.
(to be continued)
XXXXXXXXXXXX
When a visitor mentioned “enhanced interrogation
techniques,” an American term that characterizes harsh treatment of detainees, Mr. Hajj interrupted the interpreter and said, in Arabic, “instead of torture?”
Photo by Al-Jazeera, in The New York Times, former Guantanamo detainee journalist Sami al-Hajj
“We are giving the wrong impression” with that term, he said. “We as journalists are violating human rights because we are changing the perception of reality.” -interview by the New York Times of former Guantanamo detainee journalist Sami al-Hajj
* * *
Quote “From Guantánamo to Desk at Al Jazeera
By BRIAN STELTER, The New York Times, Published: December 22, 2009
Quote “Of the 779 known detainees who have been held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba — terrorism suspects, sympathizers of Al Qaeda, people deemed enemy combatants by the United States military — only one was a journalist.
Quote “The journalist, Sami al-Hajj, was working for Al Jazeera as a cameraman when he was stopped by Pakistani forces on the border with Afghanistan in late 2001. The United States military accused Mr. Hajj of, among other things, falsifying documents and delivering money to Chechen rebels, although he was never charged with a crime during his years in custody.
Quote “Now, more than a year after his release, Mr. Hajj, a 40-year-old native of Sudan, is back at work at the Arabic satellite news network, leading a new desk devoted to human rights and public liberties. The captive has become the correspondent.
Quote “ “I wanted to talk for seven years, to make up for the seven years of silence,” Mr. Hajj said through an interpreter during an interview at the network’s headquarters in Doha, Qatar.
Quote “Among Al Jazeera’s viewers in the Arab world since the 9/11 attacks, perhaps nothing has damaged perceptions of America more than Guantánamo Bay. For that reason, Mr. Hajj, who did a six-part series on the prison after his release, is a potent weapon for the network, which does not always strive for journalistic objectivity on the subject of his treatment. In an interview, Ahmed Sheikh, the editor in chief of Al Jazeera, called Mr. Hajj “one of the victims of the human rights atrocities committed by the ex-U.S. administration.”
Quote “But Mr. Hajj has not restricted himself to Guantánamo and his own incarceration. He has expanded the network’s coverage of other rights issues, including press freedom in Iraq, Palestinians in Israeli prisons and the implications of the USA Patriot Act. On a Wednesday morning in mid-August, Mr. Hajj pushed Al Jazeera’s news desk to cover a hunger strike by political prisoners in Jordan, and he happily pointed to a nearby television when the Jordan news scrolled on the bottom of the screen.
Quote “Nor has his experience radicalized him: he said that, despite his upbringing in a violent and often repressive country and his experience in detention, he maintained a sustaining belief in democracy and the rule of law.
Quote “Terry Anderson, an Associated Press correspondent who was detained in Lebanon from 1985 to 1991 by Islamic fundamentalists, said he could understand Mr. Hajj’s chosen assignment.
Quote “ “In prison, what do you do? You think about your life. You think about what you were doing, and how it led you here,” Mr. Anderson said.
Quote “Mr. Hajj’s story is well known to Al Jazeera viewers, but not to most Americans. (As with the experiences of many detainees at Guantánamo Bay, his version is uncorroborated by American officials or any documents.) After working at a beverage company and then trying to start a business in Azerbaijan, he began working as a cameraman for Al Jazeera in 2000. He was captured on Dec. 15, 2001, trying to cross the border back into Afghanistan with his camera and a correspondent.
Quote “He later came to believe that the Americans were seeking another Al Jazeera cameraman, one with a similar name who had recorded an interview with Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Quote “After being detained by local authorities in Pakistan, Mr. Hajj was transferred into American custody and, he says, tortured and beaten at a prison at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan. He was moved to Kandahar and then transported to Guantánamo Bay in mid-2002. Looking back, he says he thinks that he was sent there in part because he was a journalist.
Quote “ “I had seen a lot of things that I shouldn’t have seen,” he said, citing the treatment of prisoners at Bagram in particular. Mr. Hajj claims that in lengthy interrogations he was asked for details of the network’s staff, policies and processes and that some guards started calling him “Al Jazeera” as a nickname.
Quote “He said an interrogator once asked him, “How much does bin Laden pay Al Jazeera for all the propaganda that Al Jazeera supplies?”
Quote “ “You’re asking the wrong question,” he replied, emphasizing that bin Laden was not a propaganda partner of Al Jazeera, “he’s a newsmaker.”
Quote “In American custody, he tried to keep practicing journalism, he said, writing eyewitness accounts for his lawyers and family members, interpreting fellow detainees’ stories of abuse and even making drawings of forced feedings during a hunger strike.
Quote “ “I felt that I needed to document this for history,” he said, “so that the next generation knows the depth of the crime that was committed.” He audibly emphasized the Arabic word for depth as he spoke.
Quote “During the interview, Mr. Hajj displayed a deep wound on his left leg, which he said he suffered when he was pinned against cell bars during a beating at Guantánamo. He reiterated that the emotional trauma was more extensive than the physical; he says he continues to see psychotherapists.
Quote “Asked about questioning about Al Jazeera, a Pentagon spokesman said members of the media “are not targeted by U.S. forces, but there is no special category that gives members of media organizations immunity if captured engaging in suspicious, terror-related activity.” The spokesman added that all detainees were treated humanely while in custody.
Quote “According to Zachary Katznelson, the legal director for Reprieve, a human rights group that represented Mr. Hajj, the allegations changed over the years: “First, he was alleged to have filmed an interview of Osama bin Laden. It was another cameraman. So, that allegation disappeared. Then the U.S. said Sami ran a jihadist Web site. Turns out, there was no such site. So that allegation disappeared. Then, the U.S. said Sami was in Afghanistan to arrange missile sales to Chechen rebels. There was no evidence to back that up at all. So that allegation disappeared.”
Quote “Mr. Hajj’s release, back to Sudan on a stretcher, came in May 2008 after lobbying by human rights groups and the government of Sudan. The Pentagon spokesman said Mr. Hajj’s release to Sudan “indicated our belief that the government of Sudan could effectively mitigate the threat posed” by him.
Quote “Since his release, he has put on weight and honed his rhetoric. He splits his time between Al Jazeera and the Guantánamo Justice Center, a group he co-founded for former detainees. Through the center he is helping to prepare legal action against former President George W. Bush and officials of his administration.
Quote “Even during a translated interview, he remained keenly sensitive to language, calling the detainees at Guantánamo “captives,” to call attention to what he says is a “place outside of law.”
Quote “When a visitor mentioned “enhanced interrogation techniques,” an American term that characterizes harsh treatment of detainees, Mr. Hajj interrupted the interpreter and said, in Arabic, “instead of torture?”
Quote “ “We are giving the wrong impression” with that term, he said. “We as journalists are violating human rights because we are changing the perception of reality.”
Quote “Oddly, while in a prison sanctioned by American authorities, Mr. Hajj put his faith in the American political system. He gathered bits of news from the guards and, leading up to the 2004 election, was sure that American voters would reject Mr. Bush, which would lead to his freedom. When the guards informed him that the president had been re-elected, he was stunned.
Quote “ “I was sure I would outlive Bush,” he said.” Closed-quote, New York Times.
Shot Dec. 18, 2009, balmy afternoon, a float, U.P. Lantern Parade
