yoga

8 Years of Consecutive Daily Yoga Practice

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

This past Saturday was a cause for celebration. Not because of that Jewish carpenter who, if he ever really lived at all, died over 20 centuries ago. It’s something else, of far less momentous import, than those old stories, if they are to be believed. This thing I’m talking about I did — every day, for eight years. That’s 2,922 days including two leap years, if you’re counting, as I obviously have been. This thing lasted for 30 minutes or more. More math:  that’s 87,660 minutes. Or the equivalent of 60.875 days. But while the numbers and math have surely have strong significance, what’s as if not more important is something Yoga with Adriene says: “Keep showing up for yourself on the mat.”

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November 2021 Strava Stats; One Month to Go

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December is here in all its tawdry commercial tinsel and glitter, saying “Hey everybody, look at me, I’ve got Bodhi Day, Chanukah, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Eve!” To that I say, “Curb your enthusiasm, December.” But for this dude, it’s just that same time of month, i.e., the first, in which I sometimes recount what I did the previous month on bike, foot, and yoga mat. So let’s see how I did.

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Herculean Habits: Regular Routines or the Struggle of Streaks?

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This is one of those nights when a sensible blogger who is not feeling well skips writing; instead, she/he/they takes a bath, drinks some sleepy tea and reads, or gets under the covers early. Lucky for you, I never claimed to be sensible. (I also didn’t say whether that is good or bad luck. It’s your call if you’re feeling lucky, punk. Well, are you?) Anyway, I’ve been writing daily since January 1, 2018, either in this blog, a journal, or my memoir. It would be easy, but not at all simple, for me to just skip a night. But so far, no matter how badly I might feel, I write. So, here goes un poquito blogito.

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October 2021 Strava Stats

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

Somehow, summarizing September Strava statistics seems skipped since… Sorry! I just ran out of “s” words. But I bet you haven’t seen a whole sentence, fragmented as it was, starting with the same letter lately. So, points to me. I guess I get a little tired of reporting my fitness activity numbers, and more than one reader does, too. Yet, this is (predominantly) a blog about bicycling, so producing posts pertinent to that topic is important, I suppose. Some people claim that if it’s not on Strava, it didn’t happen. And since Strava’s colors are black and orange, just like Halloween, it seems like a good time to start doing this report again. So, posthaste and forthwith is all the data you’re dying to digest about how much I walked, yoga-ed, and bicycled last month. Shall seeing said stats satisfy some subconscious salaciousness ?

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Asanas and Other Elements of My Daily Yoga

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 2 Comments

When you’ve been doing something so long as I have (eight years as of Christmas Day 2021), it becomes a part of you. So, it’s easy to minimize it. But doing anything that consistently is a huge deal that takes a ton of discipline, intention, and dare I even say sacrifice. And while my main exercise activity is bicycling, yoga is a huge reason why I’ve been able to bike every day for two years in a row, and for over 30,000 miles total in almost six years. So today I thought I’d go into a little detail about what is involved with my daily yoga. Maybe it will help you to become more regular or even start a streak of your own.

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Q3 2021: Third Quarterly Report of My Bicycling and Other Habits

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

Now that we’re 90 days from the end of 2021, it’s time for my third quarterly report. July, August and September are the hottest months in Texas, and that heat and stupidity tend to slow most dudes and dudettes down. (I meant humidity, which with the heat tends to make one stupid.) But, I never claimed to be smart, so I have gone on a bicycle ride every single day of the pandemic (and for a while before that). Regular readers know I’m like only 50% of that Cake lyric: “He’s going for distance, he’s (not) going for speed.” On top of that, I take a walk, do yoga, and got myself into some other daily activities, practices aka habits. Sure, it was stupid hot (though not as bad as last year), and I do not bike fast. However, although I don’t get a cent from it, you could say I’m in the bicycle riding business. And business is good.

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My Strava Stats for July 2021

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 3 Comments

This post looks at my monthly stats from all my activities in July 2021 courtesy of Strava. As you can see from the images below, I was active all 31 days of the month, for 93 hours total exercise. Of that, 37% was biking, 31% walking, 30% yoga, and 2% swimming. I had hoped to do a lot more of the latter, but there is limited access to the only outdoor pool my gym has in town. Also, I don’t like sharing a lane, since I’m a lousy swimmer I need a whole one to myself. That and my ongoing energy deficit made it too difficult to get in. At least I got in the water twice. I’ve realized they have water aerobics, so I might consider that. But the struggle is real, and it continues.

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Building New Habits, 15 Minutes at a Time

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 4 Comments

If you’re new here, I’m a dude who has been working on some habits, with some pretty good results. If you’re old, well, me, too, and thanks for sticking around. If you read my previous post you’ll see I covered 3,002 miles in seven and a half months. I accomplished this by riding my bicycle every day this year. But I didn’t just start and get to that point this year; I’ve been doing it a while before that, and I built up to it. A major reason I was able to do this was that I was introduced by my brother to James Clear who writes about habits. His book Atomic Habits has sold 4 million copies. So he knows a few things.

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60 Days of New Years Resolutions: How YOU Doin’?

~ A Dude Abikes ~ 15 Comments

Happy First Day of International Women’s Month. (Is it bad that I can’t get Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It”) out of my head?) Here in the States we were hoping 2021 would suck a lot less than the dumpster fire fluster cuck that was 2020. But it’s been a year already: insurrection at the US Capitol; inauguration of the lawfully elected 46th President (who quickly began steering the ship of state away from the rocky shores with some pretty righteous executive actions); impeachment without conviction of the ousted one for inciting said riot; the vaccine rollout happening but mostly botched (largely due to the last guy); and the new guy before bombing some places in Iraq. (Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, at least when it comes to war and the military.) Then there was epic Winter Storm Uri (a Russkie?) which led to ultra cold temperatures, blackouts (the weather kind and I’m sure booze-related ones, too), near record snow, ice, and in Texas especially, the loss of electricity, heat, and then water for millions. Yeah, pretty sucky, 2021.

But hey, there ain’t much a dude can do about all that but to survive and Just Keep Livin’. And that means doin’ some stuff, makin’ moves, and what not. Thanks to the boss man over at Sorryless saying I inspired him to take 10,000 steps every day but starting Februrary 1st, now that March has arrived, I figure it’s time to review my vows to suck a little less. It’s a lot to hope for, but maybe some of my very modest but important marginal gains will rub off on y’all, and on the year at large. OK, suck it up, we got some stats to update. I’ll try to keep it short.

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