I brush my teeth while standing on one foot.
It takes about two minute to brush your teeth. These two minutes are an opportunity to improve balance and ankle strength. Sometimes I switch feet halfway through, other times I’m feeling more ambitious and will balance on one foot in the morning and the other that night.
Better Living Through Getting Stomped
Four years ago I started going to a Thai massage parlor.
This is the practice where they walk on your back, drive their elbows and the heel of their palms into you, and sometimes tie your limbs into knots. My findings are that the older and smaller the Thai lady, the more brutally she stomps on you. I spend much of the session attempting to practice the Vipassana body sweep technique under duress and trying not to vocalize the pain. It’s great and I love it.
They would of course lessen the pressure if asked, but this is both incompatible with my male ego and would go against the teachings of the Bodhisattva in the incarnation known as Patrick Swayze.
If I were a rich man I would go monthly, but I am not, so I limit myself to three or four times per year. I consider this a component of my prana-bindu training.
Just Another Saturday
Two weeks ago I lost power from about 14:00 till about 21:00. This had negligible impact on my day. I took out my lamp and continued with the itinerary. My time was spent:
It was just another Saturday afternoon.
I threw Lee and Brian at judo today. Lee is 14, and Brian is 13 but taller and heavier.
I told Sibylla & she asked what my teacher had said. I said he had said it was very good.
Sibylla said that didn’t sound very character-building. I said most authorities on child psychology said a child should be given encouragement and reinforcement. Sib said Bandura and who else? I said everybody else. I didn’t say that the authorities also said a parent had to be able to set limits because I was afraid she might suddenly decide to make up for lost time and set a lot of limits.
Sibylla said: Well just remember Richie, becoming the great judo champion is not the end of the story.
I said I didn’t think I was the great judo champion just because I could beat Lee and Brian at Bermondsey Boys Junior Judo.
Sibylla said: It isn’t a question of beating X and Y. What if there’s no one you can’t beat? It’s a question of perfecting your skill and achieving satori. What on earth are they teaching you in this class?
I said we mainly concentrated on learning how to throw people to the ground. Sib said: Must I do everything myself? She was grinning from ear to ear.
Helen Dewitt, The Last Samurai
Notes
- ↵ Of course I had to boil water on my gas stove like a savage instead of using the electric kettle.