Pollution and Inversions

The pollution was at record highs in Hong Kong these past few days. It's supposedly on par with the pollution in Beijing. That's just great. The government urged people to cut back on driving and on smoking. hmmmm...well I can see the cutting back on driving but can you really expect people to cut back on smoking for the environment?! I don't think so. People would go outside in sub-zero degree weather to have a puff, discounting their own comfort and shivering to the point of almost smacking themselves in the face while taking a drag. I doubt the smokers will say "hey, maybe i should skip this cigarette because I'm adding to the pollution." Let's first have them saying "hey, maybe I should skip smoking because there are people next to me who don't like second hand smoke." Or better yet, "Hey, maybe I should stop smoking because my lungs are caked with tar." Then we'll work on having them stop for the pollution.

In any case, the pollution was bad. I just had to throw in my few cents on smoking. Sorry smoker friends. Well, I must admit that I occasionally have one cig when I go out. However, I did NOT have any the past two days nor did I drive so I'm two for two.

So to counteract the harmful effects of pollution, I ended up doing several inversions in my yoga class. Well, I didn't go there because of the pollution. It just so happened that I went and the yoga instructor said to do it. But it worked. I felt great for the rest of the day. We did several headstands, tripod stands, mix-tripods, forearm stands, and shoulder stands throughout the class. It was challenging but rewarding. The students in the class were amazing. I think I was one of the "weaker" ones but I don't care. I've decided I will do some type of inversion every day....uh...every other day. The benefits are just great. It calms your nervous system, reverses the effects of aging, boosts your immune system, kicks starts your circulatory system, and is just fun! I would advise those with high blood pressure not to do it. Obviously I had to get to the point of even getting my legs up in the air. So start slowly if you decide you want to give this a go. Start with lying on your back with your legs up against the wall.