Greetings!
As the year 2017 ended, I put out my New Year 2018’s resolutions –
My New Year’s Resolutions for 2018?
For sure, at least these two magnificent treks – a long trek from Hemis to Tso Moriri in Ladakh, India and the 3 Passes Trek (Kongma La, – 5540 mt asl, Cho La – 5420 mt asl and Renjo La – 5345 mt) in Nepal’s Everest region.
Get fitter and stronger!
Learn to be more tolerant!
Blog regularly!
Lets take NYR18 # 2 first.
Have I got fitter and stronger in the current year?
Six months into the not-so new year, I did a dispassionate assessment of myself. My assessments were supervised by several pairs of hawk eyes.
Given the fact that I travel (on work, mostly), I could not “find the time” to train in gyms. A terribly lame excuse – my work takes me to gyms and training facilities. But to be fair to myself, a gym which is a training venue – where I am on work, not as a paying member – is uncomfortable for me to train myself. I have taught in may top class gyms across India – from Ahmedabad to Trivandrum – but when a student comes up for guidance, I cannot simply tell him I am out of bounds because I am “training myself”.
So I came with a very effective solution: train myself in the hotel – climb the stairs to and from my room, make the extra effort of waking up an hour earlier so I could hit the hotel gym – or, where there hotel had no gym, just go out and walk for an hour with a backpack to add to the resistance!
Guess what? I loved the walks. Here are the reasons –
I got to see a whole lot more of the local city – the people, their culture, conventions and cuisine, the vocational patterns, kinds of schools the kids go to, the local eateries et al
I began to get a great cardio workout – and not only that but I found my gait and posture improving. No more was I walking the way I would take short, choppy steps on a cross trainer or a treadmill!
Outdoor exercise left me greatly revitalized, reduced tension and stress, and, importantly, gave me time and space for clear headed, strategic thinking.
The result?
Yes, my aerobic and local muscular endurance have increased dramatically, given that I am aged 65.
I am happy with the results but, of course, there is much, much more scope for improvement across the fitness rainbow.
NYR18 # 3
I have struggled to be more tolerant. I do not at all refer to religious or communal tolerance. It was all about tolerating pig headed, stubborn men and women who tend to jump to premature conclusions. I have tried to understand the other side’s perspective – empathize a bit more than in 2017!
I started counting sheep – from 1 to 10 .. then to 100 .. and then to … it has worked wonders!
Well, on a serious note, I have got into meditation. I meditate, period. No technical mantra or shloka. I just try to listen to and see my breath, and then paint it in subdued shades of my favorite colors. Just 15 minutes leads me to Divine Bliss.
Even better, I listen to – or, at least visualize – the spinning wheel run by the gushing waters of a Himalaya stream I was mesmerized by.
NYR18 # 1
“For sure, at least these two magnificent treks – a long trek from Hemis to Tso Moriri in Ladakh, India and the 3 Passes Trek (Kongma La, – 5540 mt asl, Cho La – 5420 mt asl and Renjo La – 5345 mt) in Nepal’s Everest region.”
I trek to Stok Kangri September 19 to 29. It will be nice to be on top of the 20,000+ feet asl peak! Hemis to Tso Moriri trek is put away for the time being. Stok is in Ladakh.
NYR18 # 4
Well .. that’s what I am doing right now, right? 😉 Seriously, though: I really hope to take up blogging more frequently. I have decided to widen the array of subjects – that will make it easier for me to write more frequently!
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