Web Zen Minimalism

Is it possible to fall in love reading a blog? If such a thing is possible, this blog has me smitten:

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/bikram+yoga

I don’t drink, but I’d take this girl to the Met Bar and buy her a couple of the green things that work like magic… and don’t ask. I’m not telling.

Omigod, this blogger girl is so irreverent. I know she’d dig my dashboard jesus and the hoopty deux. I must find out where she does bikram. Help me, I’m babbling.

She’s so funny and she put a picture of her dog at the bottom of her bio page. Even her dog does yoga. How cool is that?

http://lowbrowbrilliant.tumblr.com/

Dream Believe Do

1. Dream in color, larger than life.
2. Believe in the power of the mind
3. Do the work or make excuses.

Dreaming big dreams makes more realistic dreams seem totally obtainable. If I dream in detail about owning custom beachfront property a more modest place in the city, that’s quite a bit nicer than what I already have doesn’t seem so out of reach.

The principles of success center on deciding what you want, believing it’s possible and committing yourself to getting it. Doing so activates the power of the superconscious mind. Wallace Wattles in The Science of Getting Rich wrote, “a person can form things in his thought, and… cause the thing he thinks about to be created.”

Get busy. On a dead end, read the signs and turn around. Pick a destination, figure out how to get there then take one step at a time until you arrive. Don’t get lost on detours and give up. Along the way, you may decide you really don’t want to go to wherever it is you’re going. It’s okay. You can choose another destination. Or maybe you discover that you found a place along the way that suits you just fine.

Are you overwhelmed with too much to do? Paralyzed because you can’t get started? Start with one thing. Choose one thing and do it. Action creates momentum. While you’re working on one action, your mind is free to choose the next action.

Planning is an action, but planning without action is a waste of time. Action without planning is inefficient. So what, let’s do something.

As an example I need to produce content for my web sites. Completing the setup of the web sites was accomplished with a combination of plans and actions. At this stage of web site completion content can be written. If I wait until I’ve perfected a process for producing content I’ll never write anything. I setup a spreadsheet with sheets for keywords, topics, titles, notes, meta data and affiliates. There’s also a folder to save completed and in-progress items.

My one minimalist action for now is to post to the blogs on each of my sites. This is the third post. It may not be the best writing I’m capable of, or even that interesting, but it’s action and consistent action turns into a process, and a process can be improved and put to work like a habit.

“Instant karma’s gonna get you.” What is karma? Fate that can include sudden surprises or predictable outcomes. Like save money, acquire money. Eat intelligently and exercise, lose weight. Learn new skills, develop mastery. Eliminate obstructions, see clearly. Minimize the non-essential, make the essential obvious. Perform actions in accordance with natural laws, get inevitable results.

Is minimalism a shortcut to freedom? The price of possessions is time. Possessions are bought and maintained with time. Eliminate time spent acquiring and maintaining clutter and gain freedom to identify and pursue true interests. Clutter produces stagnation. Eliminate clutter, and what happens? Try it and see.

Unclutter the mind. Stop watching television. Unclutter the computer. Avoid chat, addictive games and time wasting. Unclutter the refrigerator. Toss the mayo. Unclutter the bookshelf. Sort books into categories, reduce to essentials, recycle the rest. Unclutter the car.

How to unclutter? Isolate, sort, eliminate, containerize and make accessible. Keep it simple.

As I ask, “What can I do to simplify my life,” focus comes to mind. Focus on what? What needs to be done. What I want to do.

I like things that are mechanical, automated. I like to just show up and have things fall into place. Like yoga. Step into the room, ninety minutes later it’s done. Like expressDeliveryVan dotCom moving jobs. Show up on time and the items that need to be moved are right in front of me, pickup item, place in van, take to point B, take off van, done. Simple.

And blogging. Becoming a blogger forces me to simplify. How can I make this automatic? Open up the editor and write. I made a list of topics. I setup a special bookshelf with references to draw on. Now choose a headline and add words below.

There’s a lot of room for improvement in my blogging style, but just do it. The process will materialize.

Today was a no-yoga day. I ran into problems with my Joomla Wordpress combined application site. The page was shifting when I clicked between the blog and main site. It took hours to figure out what was wrong.

Tomorrow Bikram gets done early. When something needs to be done, it’s hard to break away. The bug that caused my page to shift is so obscure it’s embarrassing to say what it was, so I won’t.

I am so ready to blog I can scream.

GTD is a popular personal management system based on a book by David Allen, Getting Things Done. My GTD is based on David Allen’s system and personalized. Mindmapping is an excellent method for focusing.

To mindmap an idea I write down a problem or question, date it, and start writing ideas. Twenty items, whatever comes to mind. After the list is complete I select an item and do it.

Putting pen to paper motivates me to get things done. For me, pen to paper is on a PDA. I prefer a PDA (personal digital assistant -Palm pocket computer) because mine sits mounted on the dash when I drive. In stalled out traffic I can review my lists.

Bikram Choudhury lectured in Boston in June (2009). These are my notes.

To concentrate, to meditate is the hardest thing to do. The mind functions with a conscious, subconscious and superconscious. Understanding how the mind operates is the key to phenomenal power. Yoga teaches one how to concentrate, ten seconds at a time.

Killing time is the greatest crime. Time is life, life is time. Think about that. Until yesterday, I thought time was money. Finding purpose in life makes no allowance for wasting time.

What you do doesn’t matter. How you  do it does.

Bikram didn’t say yoga was zen, but he did say yoga was everything. Communication is yoga. You can have everything but have nothing if the body, mind and spirit are not in sync.

Learn to love yourself. Learn how to take care of yourself. No one else will love you until you first love yourself. The mirror is the tool.

The most important thing in life is you. Who are you? What is life? Life is simple. If it works, do it. If it’s bad, don’t do it. Don’t let your mind give you bad info.

No food is the best food.

I almost fell out of my chair when Bikram stated his mantra, “Make People Happy.” That’s my mantra!

Self-realization’s greatest obstacle? Excuses. Decide. What do you want? How would you live if this were your last day?

Focus on Don’t Dos. By not doing things that are bad, you automatically do things that are good.

What is exercising? Exercising is stretching.

Control your emotion. When you express anger, you lose. Withdraw anger. That’s what it means to turn the other cheek. Anger can be creatively processed internally.

Ask, “what am I doing?” Am I chasing a fantasy? Is this an illusion? Escape attachment. Pursue higher consciousness. The things that are left behind are not remembered.

Yoga makes one bulletproof. No one can steal your happiness.

Bikram Yoga of Boston offers a ten day twenty dollar intro pass valid at three locations, Harvard Square, Back Bay and The Financial District. The yoga classes are in a room heated to about a hundred degrees for toxin removal and flexibility. The facilities are immaculate with showers and changing rooms.

I’ve been doing Bikram daily since early February. My weight has gone down, I feel great and sleep like a baby. Not that long ago, I was pushing 230 pounds at 5′8 wearing pants with a 40″ waist, and they were getting too tight! Yesterday, I wore pants with a 32″ waist.

Bikram is a secret that I’d love to share with the world. But the truth is people need to discover it for themselves. I was especially intrigued by reviews on yelp.com. People either love it or hate it. I know why people hate it, they’re making excuses. Bikram Yoga is not easy. And I know why those who do it love it. Bikram addresses immediate physical issues and gets results, but the results are not all physical. The results are physical, mental and spiritual.

In India Yoga is medicine. Based on mastery of Hatha yoga from intensive lifelong training, Bikram developed a series of 26 postures for group instruction that work the body from the inside out, top to bottom sequentially. Each class works every muscle, every organ, every gland, every part of the body for optimal health.

His book is at the BPL. Discover the Holy Grail of Fitness, go to Bikram Yoga.

Bikram Yoga: The Guru Behind Hot Yoga Shows the Way to Radiant Health and Personal Fulfillment

Yoga gear: Maya Men’s Yoga

Lulumon: in The Prudential Center has a premium selection of yoga gear.

Bates Hall in the Boston Public Library’s McKim Building has a huge domed ceiling, large tables and whisper quiet free wifi. Take the MBTA Green Line to Copley. Use the East entrance that faces the 50-story Hancock Tower in Copley Square, go up the grand staircase and enter the door to Bates Hall directly in front of you at the top of the stairs.

You need a library card to access free wifi. Massachusetts residency qualifies you for a library card. Check out the library’s who can get a card page. If you’re not carrying a laptop you can reserve time on a library computer. The catalog and online book reservation system are impressive. Books available from other branches and networks can be transferred to a branch that’s convenient to you.

Starbucks is nearby on Newbury Street, a block away from the main entrance to the library (map link). Newbury Street is eight blocks of high-end boutiques, shops and restaurants.

Copley Place Mall (directory) can be reached by exiting the McKim building to the right, crossing Huntington Ave at Dartmouth, entering the diamond shaped building shown below at 12:00 in the photo, taking the escalator up a flight and walking staight ahead to the next escalator which takes you into the Mall.
View Larger Map

Go west on Boylston Street two blocks from the library for The Shops at Prudential Center (directory). You can also follow the directions above to enter Copley Place Mall. Copley Place Mall has an interconnected skyway to The Shops at Prudential Center.