7113

Even though the world population has shifted from mainly rural to mainly urban in the last decade, there are still lots of folks like me who live in the sticks. Doing things like taking a yoga class becomes a different thing in our case from driving to the neighborhood gym. Since I live 40 miles from the nearest town large enough for yoga studios, when I decided to take a class, I was more interested in the schedule than I was the type of yoga. I couldn't afford to be picky if I preferred not to wait around for a couple hours after getting off work. So I looked in the phone book, and didn't pay attention to anything but the schedule. There it was: M-W-F at 4:00. Perfect. I don't know what rock I'd been living under, but the word "Bikram" writ large across the ad in the yellow pages didn't trigger the term 'hot yoga' in my mind, and that left me in for a big surprise.

I showed up with a comfy pair of sweatpants and a long- sleeved t-shirt. As the woman at the desk was giving me a little orientation information - explaining that the room was heated to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit - I realized that my concept of yoga clothes weren't going to work here. Apparently, I wasn't the first to make this error. Susie told me they had loaners. Now, it's been a while since the last time I wore hot-pants, so when she handed me the little scrap of shorts, I thought, "No way." She said, "Trust me, you'll fit right in."

Susie continued, giving a few more orientation tips, which started to seem like a set of warnings. "Our first-time students are encouraged to rest whenever you feel you should - kind of take it gradually. The instructors just ask that you do your best to stay in the room for the entire time." What? Were we still talking yoga here? I'd seen pictures. Sure, I might not be able to balance on one leg while holding the other one over my head at my first try, but come on. How hard could it be to stretch as far as I could go and stop there? Why would I get desperate to leave the room?

Her next suggestion: "OK, I see you brought a bottle of water. That's good, but you'll be tempted to drink a lot, and I recommend you just drink sips - not too much at a time." Hmm. What was I getting into here? It sounded like I was facing some kind of ordeal - not what I had in mind at all since I was thinking of yoga as a peaceful, low- impact way just to stretch and keep my aging body flexible and strong.

Once I was dressed in the little bit of shorts, I opened the door to the yoga studio and was met with a rush of hot, stultifying air. Oh goody. I walked to an open space, spread my mat, lay on my back, and understood exactly what she meant by asking me to at least stay in the room. I was already dripping sweat, and we hadn't even begun the class.

Ninety minutes and twice through the 26 poses later, I was indeed still in the room. In the non-competitive, supportive atmosphere I had been completely guided to go to my edge, but not so far that I would be turned off by struggle. In fact, I was exhilarated. I lay on my back at the end, eyes closed in the peaceful, very hot room, and knew I'd be back for more.

Carina Snowden is a contributing author to Apex Yoga News the leading resource for yoga information. Visit Carina's archive of articles at http://www.apexyoga.com/

The two types of motorized golf carts are: (a) the Push/Pull cart - the golf bag is fastened with a strap; and (b) small motor-car style - can be driven along the course.

The car-style motorized golf carts were first used during the 1940s by people who have disabilities. They used the carts to drive along the golf course. However, even if these golf carts were originally designed to help people who are physically challenged, the vehicle is now being enjoyed by most golfers.

Some motorized golf carts are powered by electricity. The others are powered by gasoline. The average speed of a golf cart plays along the lines of 15 and 20 MPH. You may find some carts having just 2 seats, but others have up to 6 seats to be able to transport an entire flight from one part of the course to another during matches.

You should be conscious of the safety measures and rules when using the gasoline and electric-powered motorized golf carts:

- Always abide by the rules set by your golf club every time you use them.
- Even if there are no rules regarding your use of golf carts, have the common sense to consider driving, parking, and loading SOPs. You should not just drive them wherever you please, park them wherever it suits you or overload them.
- You should always use the brakes properly
- Just as we observe in driving our cars or any other vehicle for that matter... DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE!

Push/Pull carts are also subject to certain rules at the golf club. An example of this would be being careful when dragging our cart at the turf. You do not want the wheels of the cart to leave marks on the grass since this may cause significant damage to the turf.

Motorized golf carts are battery-operated. They are created by different dealers and you can find them in many stores on the Internet. A shop where you can find anything about carts is Kaddy Karts located in California.

This shop houses different kinds of carts including the RoboKaddy whose tagline is "no other cart has the ability to go in reverse." If you find motorized golf carts very interesting, you can check facts and details about them on the Internet. I am sure it will give you many links to websites about the different kinds of golf carts and will allow you to pick the right one that matches you and your style.

You can also find more info on Best Golf Carts and Bag Boy Golf Carts. Golfclubscarts.com is a comprehensive resource to know about golf Carts.

The everyday work that we do, whether in an office, working around the house, or in any setting, is like a dance: both working and dancing have rhythm, movement and flow. Working in an office, like physical exercise, can tire us. However, we can use a few simple movement ideas from the art of dancing to stay fresh and energized.

Fatigue at a desk

Have you ever thought, Ive been sitting at a desk all day. I havent been exercising hard. Why am I so tired?

Part of the reason is that sitting at a desk or working on a computer often results in a posture that impedes proper breathing. People can unconsciously develop poor posture habits that contribute to fatigue. Sitting in a concentrated posture with the head craned forward, slumped shoulders, and rounded back results in less oxygen intake than healthy posture with the head and shoulders in alignment.

Another cause of fatigue is focusing our thoughts too long on one task. This is similar to the effect of repeating a physical exercise all day. Thoughts have speed, strength, direction and flow, just as exercise does. Although physical activity may be minimal, focusing too long on one mental task is tiring. Shifting positions and varying activities can help.

Balanced movements

Breaks and short naps are helpful, but resting alone doesnt always remedy fatigue during the workday. Pioneer movement analyst and researcher Rudolph Laban discovered that balance in body movements is important. He believed that if work required movements twisting to the right, then twisting to the left should be included to create balance. Dancers and athletes do this in their training routines, in order to develop muscle symmetry in the body; likewise, workers are also influencing the development of their muscles with their daily routines.

Rhythmic variety and dynamic contrast

Walking, typing, speaking and meetings all have rhythms and are part of a typical office workday. For example, some meetings run with the steady rhythm of a fixed agenda, and others flow like a meandering stream with a flexible agenda. Varying rhythms during the day enhances productivity at work and helps us stay energized.

Just as it is fatiguing to listen to words spoken in a monotone, work done in a monotone mannerfor example, at a fast tempo all day longis fatiguing. Variety, balance and contrast make work more interesting, and help us stay productive. Just as dancing involves rhythm and movement, along with a variety of fast, medium and slow tempos, job satisfaction is related to rhythm and work flow.

Repeating the same physical movements too many times creates mental and physical fatigue; this can happen at work or in an exercise class. A dance instructor who spent three hours rehearsing a single step created mental and physical exhaustion for the students in that class. An office worker who spent three hours at a desk working on one paragraph in a business letter felt similar mental and physical fatigue. Creating variety during work and exercise helps avoid this.

Individual rhythms

Every individual has a natural rhythm, which is expressed when walking, talking and working. For example, some people prefer to walk briskly, while others prefer to be leisurely. A person whose natural rhythm tends to be slow and thoughtful is likely to feel uncomfortable in a setting demanding fast and habitual movementsfor example, in a job working under demanding deadlines and rushing to meet tight schedules for a repetitive task. A person in a job which matches their natural rhythm is more likely to be satisfied with their work.

Group rhythms

Many retail businesses, doctors offices, and restaurants play music in the background as part of the setting for their work. While this is often intended to make the setting more comfortable and friendly for customers, it also creates a background rhythm for the employees. Fast paced music is used in some retail settings to encourage customers to be quick about their selections and purchases; the employees also respond to the music and to the customers rhythm. Other settings, such as dental offices, play slow, relaxing music to encourage customers to relax.

Dancing through a workday

Dance is a beautiful example of how rhythmic variety, dynamic contrast, and balanced movements help us recuperate. Dance and exercise classes involve balanced movements: exercises for the right leg must be repeated for the left leg; steps done traveling across the floor to the right must be repeated traveling left. Using variety also keeps movements interesting and energizing.

Dance and exercise classes add variety to our movement repertoire and challenge us with physically demanding movements. While this is arduous at first, stamina increases with regular sessions. A dance or exercise class also helps with developing balance, rhythm and variety, which help us stay fresh and energized.

Ideas for creating variety and minimizing fatigue during the workday:

* Be aware of your posture at work; sit upright, not slumped. If you need help developing good posture, consider attending an Alexander Technique class or yoga class.

* Hand massage and hand exercises help maintain flexibility, and are especially important for people who use a computer keyboard for long periods of time.

* Shutting and relaxing the eyes periodically helps prevent eyestrain.

* Tempo and movement changes create rhythmic variety, balance and contrast.

* Taking the stairs, instead of an elevator, burns more calories and is a form of exercise for some office workers.

* If your employer offers exercise facilities, take advantage of these to get physical variety into your workday.

Ramona is the author of Dynamic Belly Dance, the Joyful Journey of Dancemaking and Performing. See free belly dance videos, read book excerpts and order an autographed copy at http://www.DynamicBellyDance.com

Copyright 2007 - All rights reserved worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article, give author name credit and follow the EzineArticles terms of service for publishers. Thank you!

As an owner of any kind of hardware knows, breakdowns arent uncommon and they always seem to happen right when you are in the middle of something. In the PC, we have the notorious blue screen of death. On the xbox 360 this phenomenon is known as the classic "3 Red Rings of Death".

So what do you do when this happens to your XBox? First of all, don't panic. In nearly all cases, your XBox can be fixed and the 3 red lights error will go away. Before doing anything, try these simple solutions first:

1. Is your xbox very hot? put your hand on the box. Does it seem unnaturally hot? If so, it may have overheated. Simply unplug your xbox from the power supply and give it some time to cool down. In future, make sure that your xbox has plenty of ventilation around it -- so dont throw your clothes on top of it or locate it with the vents next to a wall. Make sure air can circulate in and around it.
2. After youve unplugged your Xbox and while it is cooling down, grab a can of compressed air and use it to blow into all the vents. Dust trapped within your equipment can cause it to overheat -- both on your xbox and your PC. If you don't have compressed air handy, you can try using a hair dryer if it has a cold setting. just don't blow more hot air into the thing.

After youve let it cooled, plug it back in and see if the 3 red lights error has disappeared. If it hasnt now you need to consider what to do next. If your xbox is still under warranty, it is easy enough to return it for a repair or replacement -- however you need to keep in mind that if you send it in to the warranty center, you probably won't have it back for at least two months.

The other alternative is to fix it yourself. There are a couple of different repair guides available for the xbox designed to get rid of the 3 red rings and following the instructions is pretty simple and this is the best way to go if your xbox is either out of warranty or you do not have the patience to wait two months.

I fixed my xbox myself while it was still under warranty because I didn't have the patience to wait and since then haven't had any problems, but it's up to you whether you want to do that. If it's under warranty, you void the warranty when you open the machine up. However -- the red lights repair is very easy and since this is usually the main thing that goes wrong with the xbox, it's usually worth doing. Also, some of the available solutions dont even involve opening up your xbox, so if one of those works for you, you're all set with your warranty protection.

While the xbox 360 is a great console system there have been many complaints since its release in 2005 to do with hardware errors. The 3 red lights xbox 360 problem is what most people receive when something goes wrong with their console; this means there is a hardware problem which could be a number of different problems. This repair guide will show you the most common problems and a few possible fixes.

overheating

The xbox 360 overheating problem is one of the most common issues; it can be fixed most of the time by simply putting the console in a more open environment. Many people put the console in an enclosed area to save space but unfortunately the overheating issue means it needs more ventilation. There is a so called "towel fix" for the xbox but this has been reported to be a short term fix and dangerous in the long run!

Cabling problems

Sometimes it is simply that the cable in the back of console is not properly connected; make sure it is firmly plugged in. However it can also mean that the console is just not getting enough power which is much harder to spot and fix.

hardware failure

This is the scary one, when your console has Xbox 360 hardware problems you can unplug and restart the console and try again and sometimes this fixes the issue but often you will experience the same error immediately or after playing for a time then it will happen again. This can lead to a trip to the xbox repair centre which is expensive and time consuming.

It is unfortunate that the 3 red lights give so little detail into your xbox problems and microsoft have admitted there are some serious flaws in their product but hopefully this repair guide is enough of a tutorial to solve any easy issues quickly.

There has been much talk about PSP emulators and the like. Such emulators allow you to play and test PSP games and software on the PC. Of course, they are a closely guarded secret and available only to designated, licensed developers approved by Sony.

Of course, it cannot be expected that Sony will release this official emulator to the general public. For one, it is likely to contain protected code that hackers might be able to reverse engineer and result in a higher probability of games and protected hardware being "cracked".

Luckily, the PSPe has been released. This is the first known emulator of the PSP available for the PC. It only plays homebrew games and no commercial titles can be played on it. This is a very early release as denoted by its version number, 0.7. When a version number is less than one, this usually denotes that it is far from the finished product but has been brought to the public early so that they can at least test what functionality there is -- the product need not be perfect before release. Due to this the performance of this PSP emulator is quite poor -- the speed of the games is not optimum.

Games can be played on the PSPe by simply dragging and dropping into a subfolder and then this will appear in the emulator itself. Currently, there is no gamepad support and games can only be played with the keyboard.

Homebrew games are those which have been coded or created by home enthusiasts. Lacking the resources of commercial giants like Sony and their developers, these are usually much more simple and short than their commercially available counterparts. Nevertheless, they can still be a lot of fun, whether played on the PSP itself or on a PSP emulator.

There is also another PSP emulator available although this instead plays snes or Super NES games on the PSP. Snes9x has been a leading SNES emulator for the PC for many years and recently they have created a version for use on the PSP. Again, this has been released early and has a version number of 0.02. Again, due to this, the performance of this PSP emulator is a little slow compared to what you might be used to.

Sometimes, people will resort to a PSP emulator such as Snes9x because they lack enough good games on their PSP. Instead of buying commercial titles from the store at a high per game cost, one alternative is to enlist the services of a dedicated PSP download site. These sites offer the latest games as well as music, movies and wallpapers -- all encoded especially for the PSP. These sites are also guaranteed to be free from spyware and viruses and technical support is available, should you need any assistance.

One method for releasing negative energy, from within, is to practice Yoga in classes. The person, who is negative, must want to change, and must stay in yoga classes for this to work. Heres how participating in regular yoga classes helps purge negative energy from the body, and mind, of anyone willing to go the distance.

The atmosphere of a yoga studio, Yoga center, Ashram, or wellness center, is positive. Anyone who enters a yoga class finds themselves immersed in optimism. complete immersion in positive energy, and optimism, is hard to resist.

Some yoga students often have histories of comebacks. These yoga students have survived physical and mental hardships, when many people gave up on them. Without trying, the survivors in life become role models for all of us. Their will to survive is founded on a positive attitude.

On the other hand, a person who is a natural born pessimist may say, That will never work. A negative person must see reality and have a sincere desire to better him or herself. It is true that none of us will change, unless we want to.

The motivation to change ourselves for the best must occur from within. Some people receive gifts of books, audio books, DVDs, and Yoga classes. The person, who sends these gifts, hopes the recipient will gain the benefits of all this positive energy.

It is easy to develop a thick crust and refuse help. To go off into a corner and refuse to change is quite natural for some of us. What can you do if a person has refused help? You can explain that negativity is the source of is his or her isolation, but an outright refusal is an indication that you have done all you can, for the moment.

Copyright 2007 Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA.
http://www.riyoga.com

He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. To receive a Free yoga e-book: "yoga in practice," and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit:
http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html