I’ve been in California all week, driving and in meetings, and falling into bed at night. I have a travel yoga mat and CDs, too, but I just wasn’t getting to it. This morning I looked on the web and to my astonishment there was an Iyengar studio only blocks from my motel; even better, one of the directors is someone whose book on back care I bought a couple years ago. She wasn’t teaching today but I had a wonderful class with Ruth Owen (this was at the California [...]
I'm not crazy about people who give advice then tell you to check with your doctor, your therapist, and your gas station attendant before trying it. But I received an email yesterday asking about advice on "green sex" in my previous book, Eco Living, and I thought I'd try to answer it here. Given the topic, I do need to say that you should check with your doctor or medical professional before trying this, a new form of contraception. One of the nicest things that ever happened to me was [...]
I haven't noticed anyone wearing a mask this trip. Sometimes you see bicyclists in cities wearing white masks, which certainly makes sense given the air quality on London streets. I never did, myself, when I cycled here. There are many cyclists in London and especially in Oxford, which is great. The physical benefits of cycling and walking outweigh the effects of breathing car exhaust - and in fact people in cars breathe air that is just as polluted. But I talked to a taxi driver last night who said he [...]
I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to put in a plug for yoga here. I'm lucky: I can walk from the office to Berkshire Mountain Yoga, and then walk home under the just-past-full moon. Tonight I had to bring a pair of snowpants to put on after class because the temperature is fast sinking below zero F. again. Low-tech anywhere exercise is certainly part of eco living, but yoga's got so much going for it beyond firm upper arms. Yoga--and similar physical training practices--matters because it puts [...]
I haven’t exactly been rushing into the subject of fitness here, so you’d probably never guess that The Armchair Environmentalist is a sports enthusiast (and even the coeditor of the huge new Berkshire Encyclopedia of World Sport, out in April 2005). While I don’t have anywhere near enough time in an armchair, I haven’t been outdoors and exercising as much as I’d like because I’ve had an injury, something called plantar fasciitis since July. For a while I could barely walk, and actually – confession time! – had to have [...]