Tuesday 10th January 2017......well I cannot believe it!!!!!

I just wanted to write and tell you about my day which started with 2 hours of good tennis under blue, clear and warm skies....this was going to be the real test for my shoulder and I was very happy with my performance and the only difference this morning was that I held back a little on my normally powerful first serve.......no ill effects and it was wonderful to be back on the courts!!!

After a light lunch I went back for my first personal session with Joe at his small gym.....Joe is a lovely man I like him a lot and the way he is with me...his first words were to me" You look sad and thin'!!!

He knew about my injury and had devised a program for me on the Power Plate machine but using less weights than before.....the session went really well and we were both happy with what I was able to do.

Joe then took me to the weigh scales and I was in total shock I weighed 170 pounds...I have never ever weighed that before.....I have lost 14 pounds since Joe last weighed me......he told me that if I was eating correctly and I am that I should try and maintain this new weight!!

So this was all good news for me tennis and a workout and a new waistline!!!

Another thing I have been doing... I started on Sunday on this...

The Five Tibetan Rites

Nota bene: The text below is edited from an email I received, 29JUN2K5. The illustrations are from the web, they are linked to their source if known.

The Five Tibetan Rites is a yoga routine based on a ritual of exercises discovered in the early 1900's, by a British army colonel, Colonel Bradford, who was living in a Himalayan monastery. They are practiced around the world and are said to prevent aging. In 1939, Peter Kelder published "The Original Five Tibetan Rites of Rejuvenation," which helped spread the rites in the western world. Mr. Kelder has since updated the book "The Eye of Revelation - The Original Five Rites of Rejuvenation," Borderland Sciences Research Foundation, 1989, ISBN 0-945685-04-1.

The rites are comprised of five different movements (with a sixth added for good measure), with each movement performed up to 21 times (Tibetans believe 21 is a perfect, mystical number). It is best to start with 3 repetitions of each exercise and gradually increase the repetitions. The entire routine can be completed in less than 10 minutes.

For thousands of years, medical practitioners have maintained that the body has seven principal energy centers which correspond to the seven endocrine glands, also known as chakras. Chakras are essentially energies within spinning vortexes. As a vortex is increased, the life force becomes stronger and more directed.

Recent medical research has uncovered convincing evidence that the aging process is hormone-regulated. The five ancient Tibetan rites are said to normalize hormonal imbalances in the body, thereby holding the key to lasting youth, health, and vitality. The rites stimulate the energy system in the body, wake up the chakras, and get energy moving from your core outward to your extremities. The theory behind the rites is that your Kundalini (spiritual energy) is stored and lies at the base of your spine and that these rites access that energy in a very efficient, fast, and user-friendly way.

An important part of the Tibetan exercises is a conscious synchronization of breathing while performing physical activity. Before beginning the exercises, practice the basic 4 - stage breathing technique.

• Inhale.
• Hold filled lungs.
• Exhale.
• Hold empty lungs.

No exercise should be so intense that it makes you feel exhausted. For example, if you are "losing your breath", it indicates that your body is in an anaerobic (low oxygen) condition and that you should slow down. If you can not talk normally after performing an exercise, you should slow down. When performing the exercises, the main emphasis should be on breath synchronization and fluency, rather than on speed and number of repetitions.
Some call these rites isometric exercises. Although they are helpful in stretching muscles and joints and improving muscle tone, this is not their primary purpose. A slow vortex causes that part of the body to deteriorate, while a faster one causes nervousness, anxiety, and exhaustion. Abnormal vortexes produces abnormal health, deterioration, and old age. The rites normalize the speed of the spinning vortexes by keeping them spinning at the same rate and working in harmony.

I have started and do them every morning and I do 10 repetitions and will increase each week till I reach the 21 suggested...I do not know what it will do for me but I do know it won't do me any harm!!!

Other good news is that I have contacted most of my students and tomorrow we are meeting in the main Jardin at 6.00 pm and we will have our class there in the garden..it will be wonderful to see them again!!

Yashi Kochi!!!