Fruit and veg thoughts

Our hunter gatherer brain
  There is something about a market filled with colorful produce that puts a spring everyone's step,  it makes me feel like there is nothing to worry about, that there is plenty.

Similarly, the many fruit and nut trees on the canal bank.  One of our fellow travelers said that you get your eye in.  And sure enough, I could easily start spotting the cherries and the walnuts.  Even hazel trees though nowhere near ready could be spotted.

I love it.

Coincidentally, I have just read yet another article about the high consumption of  fruit protecting us, this time, against chronic disease.

Heading Home

On the homeward run

Many squats later, we have learnt many things,

Apartment living in looks and feels very interesting.

Getting to the last plane now,  from summer to winter.

See you very soon

Habit of the Week.

Squats

This is an important exercise,  it works the large muscle groups of the lower body, strengthens muscle and bone, this improves balance.  Squatting properly may also save the back from injury, because it allows the correct muscles , the strongest muscles to do the lifting.

I have been doing squats while I have been away, and it has been photographed.

Can't wait to show you.

Pics of bikes

Our posh boat at the Bailly Caves

Exercise Elsewhere

We had heard that tai chi happens at the lake about 5.30am  (yikes 5.30?), and that the women meet up down at the lake, then go into the markets to buy the days food, fresh every day of course.  So off we went.  Nice to stretch our legs and be able to walk more calmly without the traffic.

Not so much a trickle.......

When we rounded the corner we walked into a river of people all moving, walking, cycling, running around the wide walking paths and road that circles the lake.  When I saw all the groups doing exercise together on the foreshore, I was moved to tears seeing so many content people all together.  As well, because  there was no traffic, there were no honking horns,  the brain could relax, a little,  without the concern of some random scooter or truck coming from any crazy angle.

There were many different large groups of ladies doing "tai chi". It was more like calisthenics really.  There was a loud speaker with a scratchy sounds track, counting out the beat and one very very old lady out in front.  Another group had red fans and were preparing to start,
Yet another were a group of men, with a couple gym stations and some heavy dumbells, shoulder press, bench press, push ups off the park bench.  After a while the ladies commenced tai chi proper.  This time there was a younger man who lead them through their moves, incredibly slowly.  They all followed, but all at different speeds!  Who cares, it wasn't for show. And they were al great and some were very old.

What is lesson for us?

No one was here under sufferance. It was a joyful atmosphere.  These people all work pretty hard physically during a typical day and still find the energy to exercise in the morning.

It was the coolest part of the day.
Uncle Ho (Ho chi Minh) was in favour of tai chi and practiced daily.  So culturally, politically and personally, exercise is held in high esteem.  This is in part due to good leadership and good role models.

Why is so tricky for us in the west?

Why do we have such a love/hate relationship with exercise?  Is is because physical work was/is regarded as low status?  We know exercise is doing us good, we always feel better for having done it.  Have we evolved to look for the easy way out, i.e. to be economical with our movements.

We, in the west, definitely have something to learn here.

At the lake first thing in the morning, Hanoi

Habit of the week. - Sleep well

So many aspects of good health rely upon having a good night's sleep.

• Energy levels
• Cognitive function
• Mood
• Growth
• Kidneys, lungs

You get the picture.

What can you do to sleep better?

Let go of stress, physical and emotional. Start darkening your environment. Ensure you are well hydrated all day, so you don't need a big catch up drink at night.  Can you think of any more?

Let me know by email or click comment and start a discussion

It's Switzerland and it is really hot

I know this sounds crazy. It's Switzerland and it is really hot.

We took a train from Zurich to Chur, Heidi country.  And everywhere there were folk swimming and boating and tanning, in the lake,  behind the snow capped mountains.

34 degrees!!!!!!

Sun setting on the distant mountain Village of Chur 

Habit of the week

Habit of the week - Practise memorizing

Does ones brain turn to congee when one is 'en vacance'

This week's habit is to try and memorize something.  The reason is "use it or lose it".  Our memories don't get a great workout these days with our "favourite" phone numbers stored  in our phone and the navman for directions and the internet for looking up facts. 
Striving to remember a poem or a quote will give the brain some practice.

La Biciclette

A rugged ride to the shops one morning with two companions - an imperative, we had to go shopping. The traffic was busy, mild, but scary for me - not joyful.  Always more to learn.  Met my first "cross" driver and two members of our party had falls.  We brought the groceries back home to the boat in the baskets on the front of the bicycle.  So Frenchy, so chic.  Saddle sore butt, I'll be fine.

Contrast the afternoon excursion

Later that same Day,
We moored along a quiet road with a lovely shaded area and we scampered up the limestone cliffs -  sounds heroic doesn't it? Alas no, there were a couple of sets of stairs, some stony outcrops traversing scree paths.  We only went as far as the grottos in the cliff face proper. Wow what a view , a great panorama opened up with a postcard-perfect ville and it's steeple for compositional bliss. We took happy snaps of Chris sitting on the park bench, by the canal perfectly relaxed while Rosey cut his hair.
We returned to terra-firma, onto the bicycles and we retraced our steps of a few days earlier and rode back all the way to the prettiest lock and it's jardin.  Sooooo easy on the bike - a pure joy to be riding a bicycle on the walking path.

The Lesson

Two rides on the same day, same bicycles , one ride full of fear, panic, obligation, the other?
We rode three or four times further, but with a joyful heart.



 So it seemed easier.  Makes you think......

Help with cystitis

Here are a few thoughts to help deal with this truly menacing problem. I had an informative chat with a colleague .  Here are the main points.

1.  Prevention.
Try cranberry medicine from the chemist.  It acts like a natural antiseptic on the urinary tract.
Of course keep the hygiene habits going.
Drink lots of water.

2.  Treatment.
Before you start taking any antibiotics,  it is very important to have the urine specimen tested for the correct culture or "bug".  Otherwise days are wasted if it is incorrect.  You must wait three days for another test.

3.  Ageing. The surprising Increase in the incidence in cases of cystitis  in older women is due to the thinning and weakening  of the tissues lining the pelvic floor.  It may be necessary to take a specific hormone tablet that takes care of this area.  Good news is there is such a medicine.

I know you cannot do much about Ageing but we can take some steps towards prevent cystitis.