The wisdom of working out--the body and the senses

It has now been two days of snow falling steadily.  So unusual that this robin did not care about me, and was more worried about the snow and the cold.

you see the bird?

I have not stirred out of the neighborhood since I reached home almost forty-eight hours ago. Fearing such a house-arrest, I made sure I picked up the absolutely needed grocery items back on Wednesday.  You don't have to be an eager-beaver Boy Scout to be prepared!  Thanks to that, I can sit out another two days or more. Heck, I have enough coffee to last me a week. And then there is tea--genuine Darjeeling tea, thanks to Ramesh. So, the weather gods can keep sending snow this way, but I will outlast this modern day Vienna siege! ;)

But, I do miss walking around.

Walking for three miles. Or four. Or five.

And hiking.

If only I had the winter gear to venture out in the snow!

In the latest issue of National Geographic, Garrison Keillor remarks that "Winter is miserable only for people who don’t know what to wear."  Aha!  I will be prepared then before the next winter arrives.

I suppose the body is used to the endorphins that walking and hiking generate. It is an endorphin withdrawal that I am suffering from, to some extent. It is not that I am a fitness maniac either. I fully understand that physical health is merely one component of an existence in which the happiness endorphins come from different places.  Furthermore, there is this wisdom from the old country:

शरीर पोषणार्थि सन् यु आत्मानं दिदृक्षति ।
ग्राहं दारुधिया धृत्वा नदीं तुर्तुं स गच्छति ॥

-विवेकचूडामणि

Some people are interested in nurturing their body well assuming that it make their soul also happy.
Such people are kidding themselves; trying to cross a river on a crocodile taking that to be a log.

- Vivekachudamani

This atheist does not care about the soul, but does understand that there is immensely more to life than a fixation on the physical appearance and health.

Stuck at home, am eating more than I probably should.  If this is my behavior when seven inches of snow fall over two days, I should be thankful then that I don't live where it is feet of snow over the winter months!

Eat I did, like this one:

Melted cheese with chives, and salsa .. the halves combine to make me one with everything ;)

Of course, I don't live to eat, but eat to live. Eat healthily and colorfully to live ;)

I know enough not to fall victim to eating.  Again, from the old country:

शब्दादिभिः पंचभिरेव पंचपंचत्वमापुः स्वगुणेन बद्धाः ।
कुरंग मातंग पतंग मीन भृंगा नरः पंचभिरंचितः किम् ॥

- विवेकचूडामणि

The five senses are sound, touch, sight, taste and smell. Animals that are slaves of any one of them often pay the price by their life. A deer follows the sound (of its calf) and becomes a prey. An elephant is enslaved by its vulnerability of touch behind the head. A moth is driven to the flame by its sight. A fish is baited by its longing for taste. A bee loses its life when it gets trapped in the lotus which attracted it by smell. What can now be told of a man who is driven by all the five senses?

- Vivekachudamani

The sound of silence of the falling snow is a wonderful background to think about life, even through such everyday activities.

Thinking is one awesome workout.

The best.

My favorite!