Summer Means Sunscreen

As summer rolls around, many people find themselves enjoying the outdoors. Whether outside intentionally to exercise, garden, enjoy a barbecue, or family gathering, warm temperatures and clear days mean constant sun exposure.

I'm lucky enough to live in one of the sun capitals of the world (Southern California) so having that big ball of fire in the sky is something we take for granted. Anytime the temperature drops below 70 degrees, out comes the wool caps, ski jackets, and snow boots. Trust me, sometimes 68 is cold and the wind chill makes it feel like 65. Besides, they always keep those Starbucks air conditioned! Perhaps just as silly (and definitely more dangerous) than being bundled up on a semi-cold day, are the folks who shed clothes at the first ray of sun and those who yearn for a deep tan but actually end up with a bad burn.

I am outdoors quite a bit and always apply sunblock before leaving the car or leaving my house. I got into this habit after hanging out with a buddy who always did the same. Now that it is second nature, I cannot believe how many people forget, or refuse to apply anything at all. Skin cancer prefers those with fair skin, but it does not discriminate.

Skin is the biggest organ in the body and the shear surface area gives the sun a big target to hit. Skin elasticity is also affected by UV exposure (the sun has UVA and UVB rays) so those who are looking for a nice complexion now, are setting themselves up for prematurely wrinkled skin. Skin damage can be painful, dangerous, and is easy to avoid. Sunblock should be applied frequently (especially after being exposed to water). The amount should be at least enough to fill a shot glass and it should be applied liberally. Do not forget to cover the face, lips, ears, and hands. Nothing can ruin a vacation or outing like getting sick from too much sun exposure. Even tanning beds pose a risk since they still emit UV rays, but I'll save that rant for another time.

Some statistics show that even one bad burn (ie one that blisters) in children can more than double their risk of getting cancer. We should encourage children to wear sunblock and better yet, we should lead by example when going outdoors. Australians remind us to "slip, slap, slop" when going out into the sun. They recommend we slip on protective clothing, we slap on a hat, and we slop on sunblock. Remember that the effects of the sun are also present when the days are cloudy. You should apply sunblock when in the water, in the snow, and in general when spending extended periods outdoors.

Black (and brown) Tuesday

Something very VERY bad happened in the third floor men’s room yesterday afternoon.

A co-worker came to me with tears in his eyes. Another emailed with the subject line “something died.” A third was so distraught, all he could do was shake his head and point.

Naturally, I had to investigate.

What I found made the Saw movies look like Mary Poppins. It was the bathroom version of torture porn. It made me yearn for the salad days of my E-level discovery.

Within the first two seconds, I realized that if I stayed in there longer than a minute, I was going to throw up.

How to describe the odor? Imagine a corpse, soaked in pickle juice. That corpse is then eaten by a dog who poops it out. That poop is eaten my another dog who then barfs it into a jar of rotten eggs. That jar is then sealed for a thousand years. At the end of that thousand years, the jar is heated up over a methane gas plume. The jar is then opened and the contents are spread on crackers made out of diseased goat pancreas.

It smelled a little like that...only turned up to 11.

Any sane person would have run screaming. But I had to look. I had to see for myself.

What I saw was so foul there is really no way to describe it in a family blog like this. Lets just say that the mystifying splatter pattern that has so thoroughly puzzled me in the past had migrated to the floor and wall. The bowl in the Peter Brady stall was overflowing with filth and, evidence suggested, the contents had made a run for it, hopped to the ground, run up the wall and into the penthouse stall where it proceeded to fill that bowl too.

If you are responsible for any aspect of what took place in third floor men’s room yesterday afternoon GET YOURSELF TO A HOSPITAL. I'm not trying to be funny and I'm not kidding. You are physically and emotionally broken. You need help.

Bikram Yoga: Hate the Sweat

After succumbing to my friend's urging, I joined her for a Bikram yoga class. This is the type of yoga that is held in a heated room and is by no means calm and relaxing. I don't remember being challenged is this fashion while sweating so much! In comparison to other forms of yoga, Bikram is relatively new and has gained a lot of popularity due to the 'promotion' of the art by many celebrities. The emphasis is on being physically demanding with the additional cleansing and challenging aspect of being in a heated (90-105 F degree) room. Throughout the 45-90 minute class, students are taken through 26 poses that the founder created.

Let's look at some other popular forms of yoga. Since the art has been around for thousands of years and has been influenced by every culture, it is hard to find exact facts without coming across some contradiction. Here are forms that are quite popular and interesting.

Hatha yoga is the name given to perhaps the most practiced kind of yoga. Critics argue that what is taught is a combination of many forms of yoga, but the idea behind hatha yoga is to enhance the relationship between mind, body, and spirit. Through various poses, the practitioner develops awareness of their body, concentrates on their breathing, builds strength, and increases their flexibility. Traditionally the practice of hatha yoga includes exercises for staying on a moral path of living, for breathing, for meditation, and for the body. It is this last component of postures, or asanas, that compromise most yoga classes. Depending on the asanas chosen, the class may be calm, relaxing, and leave the practitioner feeling stretched, or it may be more rapid, challenging, and leave the practitioner feeling like they have worked out.

Many health clubs and yoga studios offer power yoga classes in which the intent is to move quickly, and rest very little in between poses. The practitioner will usually feel the routines to be cardiovascularly challenging as well as taxing to their muscular system. A lot of athletes use power yoga in order to strengthen parts of their body that they do not normally target. Typically, power yoga has little concern for meditation, relaxing poses, or making a mind-body connection. Power yoga is without a doubt, vigorous and challenging.

Integral yoga is the name that has been given by some to a practice that tries to incorporate many aspects of yoga under one. As expected, asanas are included as is the practice of meditation and concentration. In an effort to further tune in to on-self, Integral yoga uses chanting or the repetition of mantras (ie saying "om"). The last three components of Integral yoga include building on one's karma by way of performing works without focusing on the return gestures, and Bahkti which uses a deity or leader as a role model in order to attain a higher spiritual status for oneself. Last, there is the practice of Jnana yoga which requires the person to use their intellect and insight (gained from all of the aforementioned) to be realized into freedom.