Yogathon 2012 - My update !!

I am ecstatic as I write this post updating about my big day – Yogathon 2012. This is officially my first attempt at anything that involves a long-drawn-out training.

The task was 108 surya namaskar or sun salutations in an event organized by Fitness First Middle East to raise funds for Dubai Autism Centre. My guess was that I could comfortably do 50 sun salutations, but I was determined to give it my all.

As it turns out I managed 95.5 of those successfully and 0.5% of the routine I skipped in tying up my hair. Just 5 months of irregular yoga training have helped me supersede my expectations and that too for a good cause! 

 Even more pleasing was how little my inflexible husband managed to do and that towards the end he resorted to something that he always does when I am winning – running away! I meant literally around the park.

I am signing out with some pictures from today’s event.

The venue - Burj Park behind Dubai mall fountains

The team leading the Yogathon

The organiser and founder of Yogathon - Peewee Sanchez and my instructor too!! 

The very-kind and my favourite - Marcellene!

And toughest my toughest instructor - Bhama 

Real easy solutions for habitual Resolution-Breakers

Few more hours to go before the New Year and many of us should be busy finalizing the resolution list. Except that there is a problem with my resolutions every year – I find it extremely difficult to keep them beyond 7^th of January.

Determined to get it right this time, I have been trawling the net for those secret ingredients to keep resolutions real and lasting (more like 7 months). I have also taken time to reflect on my slip-ups (my walking challenge) and occasional successes (this blog) with resolutions.

I was on a quest to find out if there is a secret formula to make the resolutions successful. Though what I found during my research, kind of surprised me.  Whilst there is no precise formula, it looks like there are a number of simple steps you could follow to improve your chances of winning. Most of them are common sense stuff, though there are few odd counter-intuitive tips as well.

1.      Start – Surely this is the easiest thing to do. Make sure you do it

2.      Keep it real – Overnight success are stuff of movies, be true to yourself

3.      Keep it a secret – Do not publicize your goals before you even start – apparently your brain  interprets it as an achievement of the goal and affects your motivation to actually achieving the goal

4.      Celebrate Success – Positive reinforcement works like magic, make sure you celebrate every milestone

5.      Buddy-Up – Look around you and identify a source of encouragement and feedback – for that occasional push and to pull you out of the drenches when required

6.      Start Again – Expect to go off-track every so often, but important thing is to re-start

7.      Mix-it-Up – Variety, they say is the spice of life and indeed is at the heart of keeping your resolution routine interesting.

My resolution for this year then – well, that’s a secret. 


Image courtesy: Corbis.com

30 Day Walking Challenge - Update

I have been making good progress on my challenge. Here is an update: 

Day	Date	Steps	Kms	Time
5	9th Sept, 2011	No activity
6	10th Sept, 2011	4826	3.6	40mins
7	11th Sept, 2011	5226	4.0	48 mins
8	12th Sept, 2011	3799	2.9	25 mins
9	13th Sept, 2011	4381	3.3	35 mins
10	14th Sept, 2011	5411	4.1	1 hr
11	15th Sept, 2011	3629	2.8	25 mins
12	16th Sept, 2011	Mall walking		2.5 hrs

Onam – the fable, feast and my daughter’s first

Onam is here and I am feeling nostalgic. It's Smera's first and has triggered many a childhood memories for me. Growing up, Onam was the biggest celebration of the year, much like Eid here or Christmas in the west. The foodie that I am, most of my childhood Onam memories are around the sumptuous ‘sadya’ (feast) on the Onam day.

Many of you know the story of Onam, but those who don't and for those who need a refresher, here is a summary.

My home state of Kerala used to be ruled by a demon named Mahabali. Yeah you read it right, demon - they are supposed to be bad people but Mahabali was an exception. Kerala was prosperous, peaceful and harmonious under his rule. His regime was so good that even Gods, felt threatened by the growing popularity of this ruler from the dark side. So much so, they devised a cunning plan to overthrow him.

They send the master of disguise, Vishnu dressed up as a sage. Being the generous person Mahabali was, he played straight into their hands. The story goes, Mahabali agreed to a request of 3 feet of land for the ‘sage’ to meditate.  Soon sage turned to a mega-monster and covered sea and land in 2 steps and had nowhere to take the third step.

Mahabali wasn’t one to go back on his word. He asked the sage to take the next step on his head and in no time he was pushed underground, forever. Gods though, showed some mercy on him and granted permission to return to his homeland once every year to check on his people. And that day is Onam when the whole place gets decked up to welcome him.

And this Onam, I will be putting my culinary skills to test. We have invited a bunch of our friends for lunch and to celebrate Onam with us. I have been busy preparing for the task and will let you know how it goes. Here is the planned menu

Paripu

Sambar

Pacha moru

Avial

Toran

Pachadi

Stew

Errisary

Injipuli

Kalan

Payasam,

Rice

Pickle

Papad

Banana Chips

Sharkaravarty

Fried molagu

PS: My 30 Day walking challenge had been progressing well; here are the stats for the last 3 days

Day	Date	Steps	Kms	Time
2	6th Sept, 2011	7616	5.8	1.5 hrs
3	7th Sept, 2011	4826	3.6	30 mins
4	8th Sept, 2011	5226	4.0	40 mins

Picture courtesy: www.commons.wikimedia.org 

Dream run or sleep walking ?

Day 1 of 30 (walking challenge)

My legs are tired; I am dripping in sweat after an hour of brisk walk. Even after such a strenuous workout, I was sporting a big smile. I have every reason to smile, I told myself – I always knew I could do this.

“Sangy !”, I heard a familiar voice calling my name and tapping my shoulder. I woke up with a jolt and a headache. I am clearly not feeling good, but the bigger disappointment was to realize that all my tiring work-out was just a dream…    

I tried my best to convince my husband how terrible I was feeling. It was too much of a coincidence for him to take – how else would you explain a splitting headache, twisting pain in the stomach and feeling awful, all the same morning I decided to start on my 30 day walking challenge.

I can hear you going “Yeah Right!”. But before you write me off as a drama queen, allow me to complete my story.  I felt reasonably good by afternoon. I was ready to start by challenge by evening. I am happy to report my stats for day one

• 4776 steps
• 3.18km
• 30 minutes

My legs are tired; I am dripping in sweat after half hour of brisk walk. Even after such a strenuous workout, I was sporting a big smile.

Here is the proof! 

One small step for any human being, one giant leap for me

I feel well rested after the holidays. The feeling is not just mental, it is physical as well. And that's the trouble, you feel great when that's just the mental state but pretty rusted when the same thing is applied to your physical state.

I think it is time for another 30 day challenge. This time I intend to start my morning walks. I had my excuses until now - weather was depressing, Smera is sleeping and the like. Now however, with the weather starting to turn and Smera out for walks with her dad every morning, I am running out of excuses.

To be honest, I've been feeling lethargic for sometime. I think it is because of my near-sedentary lifestyle, even though my daughter tries her best to keep me on my toes. Anyway, I am hoping to get a bit of rhythm of routine back into my life and I think I will be walking my way into it.   

So here is my cunning plan 

1.        Sleep early (not later than 1030pm) 
2.        Get Smera a smaller pram that is easy to manoeuvre 
3.        Dust off my pedometer so that i can track my progress 
4.        Blog about it daily (at least publish the number of steps clocked) 
5.        Make friends with fellow walkers (get me peer-pressured to keep on it)

As they say, one small step for any human being, one giant leap for Sangeeta ….

Photo courtesy: NASA

1 the challenge !!!

30 days

29 blogs (I can’t count this as one. Can I?)

28 years it took me to write my first blog

278 paragraphs

26th August – when I hit my first writer’s block

25 minutes, average time it takes me to complete a post

24/7 thinking of things to write for the next blog

2, 3 days – I got busy(lazy) in between and skipped writing

22 days after which I had to take an unexpected break

21.44 – time now (signing off my blog # 30)

20 pages of what’s in my mind

198 pageviews for the most popular post - http://sangrywords.blogspot.com/2011/07/life-and-times-of-mr-m.html

18 X 2 = 36 tags

17– Number of countries I have audiences from

16th July – day I started on my challenge

15 comments on the site – many more on facebook

14% of audience read the blog from a mobile or a tablet

137 results for ‘sangrywords’ on google

12 followers who have signed up on the site

11 minutes – time spent on thinking what I will write here

10 pm – usual time I sit down to write

9-month old as my youngest fan (I read it aloud to her everyday)

810 lines

7,500 words

6 blogs that were list of things I like, dislike, love, hate etc…

53 likes on facebook

4 readers from Reunion – I didn’t know where this was on the map

3 people who have featured the most in my blogs – S/S/S

2 sites - http://sangrywords.blogspot.com/  and http://sangrywords.wordpress.com/

1 the challenge!

Back after a break ..

I had to take a few days break from my 30-Day challenge as I was travelling with Smera.

I am back now and is committed to complete my challenge !

The funny thing about the last few days have been the withdrawal symptoms.

When I started on the challenge, I found it difficult to think of what to blog about...

But now after 22 days of writing, I find it difficult to keep a lid on things i would like to talk about....

Now that we are back, unpacked and settled back in our daily routine, I am looking forward to completing my challenge and continue writing

I now have a new address and have optimised the site for iPhone/iPad viewing - so if you have those funky toys do check out my new look..   http://sangrywords.wordpress.com/

Cheers
Sangrywords

Have you heard of TED?

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It is a Not-For-Profit that organises a series of talks every year on a whole range of topics. Attending one of the conferences will set you back by quite a bit, financially. But every talk is available online through  www.ted.com for you to watch any time for free.

I should share here that the inspiration for me to start writing blogs came from the Ted Talk below.   



In an age of sensationalised 24/7 newscast, TED is a breath of fresh air. It lets you listen to some of the brightest minds in the world today. TED lives up to its aim of championing the ideas worth spreading. Depending on the mood you are in you could choose to watch videos that are Courageous, Funny, Persuasive, Ingenious, Jaw-Dropping, Beautiful, Fascinating, Informative, or Inspiring.

You could then choose talks by topics such as Technology, Entertainment, Design, Business, Science, Culture, Arts or Global issues. If any of you or your friends would like to listen to TED in your mother tongue, selected talks are available in a number of vernacular languages including Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Bengali and Tamil.

As a start I am listing my top 10 TED favourites based on what I have watched to-date. Hope you'll like it

1. http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html
2. http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
3. http://www.ted.com/talks/louie_schwartzberg_the_hidden_beauty_of_pollination.html
4. http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html
5. http://www.ted.com/talks/ric_elias.html
6. http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement.html
7. http://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement.html
8. http://www.ted.com/talks/terry_moore_how_to_tie_your_shoes.html
9. http://www.ted.com/talks/rory_sutherland_life_lessons_from_an_ad_man.html
10. http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_unplugged.html

The Beginning

Hello – I am Sangeeta Reghu Nair and I have finally decided to write. I have been pondering over this for the last three years. But laziness had got better of me all this while.

My blog will be about Motherhood, Humor, Life, Confessions, Toddlers, Dubai, Inspiration, Passion, Food, Books, 30 Day Challenges, Disaster/ Issues and People that I am passionate about. I also hope to l feature guest write-ups to make it more interactive. The idea is to interact with as many people as possible from diverse backgrounds to exchange ideas and life stories.

                                  

Before I sign-off a bit myself - I am a stay-at-home full-time mom. I live in Dubai with my husband Saju and my gorgeous baby girl Smera. You will read about them on my blog regularly.

Happy blogging !!!!!!!!!!!!!