Meditation

I've been doing different types of meditation for over 3 years now. Some intense sessions lasting more than an hour to some very gentle 10 minute daily sessions.

I won't go into the spritual awakening aspects of meditation as that can turn people off very quickly. I'll just talk about the mental and phisycal benefits that just 10 minutes a day does for me.

Due to my current domestic situation, I don't get enough sleep. The sleep i do get is disjointed. I am awoken on average 2 times a night in about 3 hour increments. I get close to 8 hours, but its not a solid 8 hours. I am just getting by in the rest department. This means i am a bit more prickly than i'd like to be during the day because i'm just not getting enough sleep.

Meditation - even if its for 10 minutes first thing in the morning before i start my day i find very beneficial. With the proper breathing techniques (deep and slow) I find my body gets a quick boost of energy. Its contradictory because i get to a very deep level of conciouseness to the point where i am literrarly half a sleep - but still aware. The longer i can keep in this state the better i feel when i 'awake'.

If you are stuffed up - the deep breathing is a sure fire sinus breaker. With the intensity of the the deep breathing, i find that it relieves my sinus congestion.

These quick sessions i do are guided. Its just a guy telling you how to breath, and relax your body. Then there's just silence. At the end is 3 chimes that end the session. The chimes are soft but have the affect of a gong - jolting me 'awake'. Its not until the chimes ring that you notice how deep into your head you are. Its quite startling - like turning on the shower and getting blasted with cold water or jumping into a cold lake after a hot sauna.

The affect of this quick 10 minute session makes me extremely alert, concious and awake - but most importantly - gives me an energy boost that i can ride until lunch. If needed i'll do another session on a break or at lunch in my car.

Life seems to flow a lot easier when i've started my day this way.

Poorly Informed Public

Just two items i wish to voice my opinoin on, first coalition governments and proprotional representation.

First - I'm okay with coalition governements. I think Canada is one of the only countries left in the democratic world that doesn't have a coalition of some sort running governement. 35% of the votes to me does not say 'majority'. To me - that means the voter represtenation is pretty even and a majority of only 35% does not speak for everyone. So a coalition governement i think would better respresent the country if the vote is that close. Coalition would force the parties to work together and find even ground. I think Canada would benefit from a coalition governement this time around if the PCs don't get that much further ahead.

Second - Proportional Representation. Bascially our current electoral system is unfair. Two parties based on 'movements'. One is a spereatist movement and was is a green movement. The seperatist movement - because its focus in Quebec gets 20+ seats in the house. The green movement - because its spread across the entire country and not focused does not get any seats. The greens overall had more than 7% of the votes across the country while the Bloc came well under that number. It doesn't make sense and its not fair.

There was a referendum in a past election not to long ago to change this. Sadly - it was very poorly explained. Voters saw the question and either had no idea what this was about, or they had some vague idea of this. Most saw it as a change - but because they were not informed enough about it - voted against it out of fear.

Had this been better explained, i believe there'd be at least a seat or two in the house that was green. I'm not saying the green's would rule the country, but at least they'd have input on policy and in a tight vote - could be considered swing votes and could modify a bill with some 'green' inititiaves added in. Much like the orange did when they got the blues to add a little something extra to appease the orange and get the bill passed. Co-operation and compromise. I like it.

Hockey Talk

If 'your' team didn't make the playoffs, who do you cheer for? Do you cheer for a Canadian team out of patriotism? Do you cheer for a team with a player(s) you follow? Do you cheer for the teams you figure will win your hockey pool? Do cheer against teams you don't like?

Here's where's my head at:

-I don't buy the patriotism perspective - there's more Canadian players playin on US teams

-I tried cheering for my pool - but i forgot who i had winning some brackets

-I've settled for cheering against teams i don't like.

So here's where i sit in the first round:

Wings - because i'd like to see the Coyotes go back to Winnipeg, and i have the Wings in the finals
Tampa - i have them in the finals and i don't like Matt Cooke (Penguins) plus no Sidney Crosby
Habs - I'm a Leafs fan and this was the lesser of evils, and a co-worker is a bad Bruins fanatatic
Ducks - I'd seen Cory Perry play in the OHL and have kept an eye on him since. They're out and so are some good points in my pool
LA Kings - the young underdog with Capatain Canada (smythe). And i especially don't like Heatley
Hawks - i don't mind the Hawks and i don't like Torres - i have the Canucks advancing but i really don't care who wins this series
Flyers - Buffalo is too close a rival for Leafs, Flyers are without Pronger so its a draw except that i have the Flyers advancing. So Flyers.

So all in all, i'm all over the place with this year's playoff season. I state that this however is the most exciting playoffs I can recall. There has been many story lines written in the first round and i think its one of the closest contests on record. I am enjoying the fact that i can turn on the television anytime after 7PM and catch some hockey. I haven't seen an entire game yet, but the fact i can catch bits here and there makes me happy.

I'll update where i'm at in the second round when the channel surfing gets cut down and the weather warms up.

Writing Experiment

Since i've exhuasted people with my opions, i'll give it a go at writing. Stumbled upon this exerpt at Lifehacker.com:

VS Naipaul’s Rules for Beginners http://lifehacker.com/#!5795318/how-to-avoid-coming-off-as-pretentious-as-a-beginning-writer

1. Do not write long sentences. A sentence should not have more than ten or twelve words.

2. Each sentence should make a clear statement. It should add to the statement that went before. A good paragraph is a series of clear, linked statements.

3. Do not use big words. If your computer tells you that your average word is more than five letters long, there is something wrong. The use of small words compels you to think about what you are writing. Even difficult ideas can be broken down into small words.

4. Never use words whose meaning you are not sure of. If you break this rule you should look for other work.

5. The beginner should avoid using adjectives, except those of colour, size and number. Use as few adverbs as possible.

6. Avoid the abstract. Always go for the concrete.

7. Every day, for six months at least, practice writing in this way. Small words; short, clear, concrete sentences. It may be awkward, but it’s training you in the use of language. It may even be getting rid of the bad language habits you picked up at the university. You may go beyond these rules after you have thoroughly understood and mastered them.

So with that, my mission - a short excerpt to expand more on my daily twitter excercises.