Maa Durga vs Cyclone Phailin

Maa Durga has her task cut out for her on this Ashtami 2013. As the devotees gear up for the much anticipated Durga Ashtami Puja - there is apprehension, fear, belief, resignation in the air.

The demon is around the corner. In the shape of a whirling, swirling juggernaut of a tornado that looks ready to uproot everything in its way. This omnipresent Goddess,  the embodiment of power, peace and motherhood - the killer of Mahisashura and all the evils that the demon personified - will she be able to vanquish this massive demon?

I can feel the people still hoping that the Goddess will somehow sway the demon. Together with our belief in Lord Jagannath we believe in this Mother Durga towards whose worship we plan and look forward to throughout the year.

Cyclone Phailin is a tangible monster with wind speed currently at 160 mph and around 400 kms away from landfall. It is showing all indications of a Supercyclone. But I still hear questions like - is it truly coming? Why is there no wind or much rain yet? Phailin is a tangible swirling mass of wind and condensation with no possible (or visible) reasons not to strike as predicted. We havent got the wind yet because we have been warned a lot in advance. The wind is coming and fast.

Two Supercyclones in the space of 14 years? Just when the trees have started to grow back and thrive after the massive devastation of 1999? Just when memories of the devastation and the chaos that followed have begun to heal? Not possible. The Maa will somehow thwart it. Hopefully not at the cost of swerving and sending it to other states.

Belief is a strong and strange thing.

Prayer for you Maa

Ya Devi sarva bhuteshu Matri rupena samsthita
Ya Devi sarva bhuteshu Shakti rupena samsthita
Ya Devi sarva bhutesu Shanti rupena samsthita
Namestasyai Namestasyai Namestasyai Namoh Namah

How to do Suryanamaskar (With Illustration) - Health, Fitness, Meditation and Prayer

How 12 Rounds of Surya Namaskar is all your Body Needs

Surya Namaskar or the salutation to the Sun God has long been accepted by Indian culture to provide a deep aligning of the mind, body and spirit. these asanas passed down from ascetics and refined by yoga Gurus has been practised for centuries early in the morning as a form of salutation to the Sun God Surya.

The modern day or current popularity of Surya Namaskar can be directly attributed to Sr sri Ravi Shankar and his Art of Living good living cell - as the popularity and following of Pranayama by millions can be attributed directly to Baba Ramdev.

How to Do Surya Namaskar


The Surya Namaskar yoga consists of 12 asanas in an inviolable sequence

# 1. Stand with your palms together (Namaskar pose) and your feet together in Pranamasan

# 2 Ardha Chandrasan-  Lift the arms up and back in a slow fluid movement so as to stretch the entire body. Keep the arms close to the head and push the pelvis slightly forward to stretch better.

# 3 Bend forward from your waist to touch the mat

# 4 With both palms on the mat, move your right leg backward with knee on the floor. Left foot should be between the palms and head tilted looking up

# 5 Take the left leg back, keep the arms straight, feet on the ground in an inclined plank

# 6 Parvatasana - Raise the hips up while looking down. Palms and feet are on the ground. The position as the name suggests is like a mountain or an inverted "V"

# 7 Lower the knees, chest, chin to the floor. Raise the hips slightly.


# 8 Bhujangasana - Raise your chest and look up like a cobra. Back should be in an arc.

# 9 Repeat Parvatasana - Raise the hips up while looking down. Palms and feet are on the ground.

# 10 Go to position # 4 with the alternate set of feet - right foot at the front and the left leg stretched back.

# 11 Position # 3, ie bending forward from the waist while touching the ground

# 12 Same as position # 2 - Ardha Chandrasan - arms raised up and the body stretched outward.

End with the Namaskar which is the start of the second leg of one cycle in which you move the right leg forward first in Step # 4

Check out the illustration of Surya Namaskar .

600 Calories on Treadmill - Tum dee dum

I worked out 600 calories on treadmill today. This is by far my BEST EVER effort on a treadmill. I had done 600 calories one roughly 10 months back when I was preparing for the marathon. However then since my concentration was on jogging - I couldnt log much calories even though I worked out longer.

Today's workout log

Calories Burnt - 600 cal
Workout - walking on incline on treadmill
Distance covered - 5 kms
Time - 50 mins

Maximum incline - 13
Maximum intensity - jogging for 1 min at 7 km per hour speed on 13 incline.

Followed this workout with some crunches, leg press and 6 minutes on the Vibration Plate

Feeling - good!

This workout came about after losing around 1.5 kgs this week because of an upset stomach which compelled me to a minimal diet. I feel positively lightweight and timble toed ;-)