"The primary reason can be found in one of the central tenets of modern neuroscience: 'The neurons that fire together, wire together.' What this basically means is that our mental activities actually cause changes in the structures of our brains--not only what we think, but how we think as well. Given such activity-directed change, it always makes sense to ask whenever large numbers of people start using their brains in new and different ways, what effects these new activities are likely to have on brain structure and function. Blogging, which only seems to be accelerating in popularity, is a prime candidate for such investigation. "

I knew all this futzing around on the Internet would do something for me. This analysis is highly speculative, but taps into the writers' own background as doctors working with children with learning difficulties. You learn so much about the "normal" human by examining the exceptional case -- the sick, the disadvantaged, the handicapped. You should look at the rest of the blog, because it's chock full of provocative insights.

While you're at it, you might also look at a couple of sites that go down a similar road: The Psychology of Combating Stress, Depression and Addiction, Mind Hacks and Innovation Weblog. I've lost many hours wandering around these hyperlinks.

Next month, Baron Baptiste will be holding one of his Personal Revolution Workshops in Washington, DC. It will be held at George Washington University on Saturday, January 21, 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM and cost $175. The event is sponsored by Downdog Yoga.

According to the promo material, the workshop is suitable for "beginners and all levels" but I would suspect that a novice would be overwhelmed by an all-day affair, plus the physical demands required by a Baptiste-inspired yoga practice.

Thrive Yoga is a big Baptiste shop, though not officially affilated. Susan Bowen is finishing up her training certification. I am not sure if I will be going because I don't have the discretionary funds.

I had a chance to go to yoga class six days in a row over the Thanksgiving week, starting on a Tuesday at Flow and ending with a Sunday class at Thrive. I got a chance to take two classes from Neva Ingalls who's a very demanding but funky and fun teacher. I turned the holiday into my own private retreat.

By the weekend, my muscles were really sore and it was hard to hold some positions because I simply did not have the stamina. I did not have enough time between my classes to recover. But the good side was that I worked on my yoga everyday and could build on some success. That's one of the reasons I was able to reach the milestones that I mentioned in my previous entry.

After operating in non-verbose mode for the past few weeks, I am now ready to get back into the swing of things. I survived a rather intense time with urgent work that did not leave me with much to say about my yoga practice. That does not mean that I did not keep up with my classes, 3-5 times a week, and practice at home mainly focused on breathing and meditation.

Surprisingly, I passed three yogic milestone that show that I have been getting better:

• Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow Pose, Backbend, or Wheel): previously I had done this pose with the assistance of an instructor by grabbing onto her ankles with my hands. Another thing holding me back was that I was fearful about straining my right shoulder more. Now I can do the pose on my own because I've loosened up my back, especially my upper back, and also focus on using the appropriate muscles to push myself up.
• Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand): the key here was the I was able to lift my legs up over my body without assistance and without swinging my legs up against a wall. It was done all with core strength.
• Bakasana (Crane or Crow Pose): Another pose that requires core strength and, for now, dry legs. In most vinyasa flows, this pose comes after we've worked up a sweat and my shins tend to slip off my triceps. Also, after making my thighs burns with some intensive Warrior and Chair poses, I just don't have the stamina to hold myself together in Crow consistently. But in a recent class, we did Crow early enough that I could pull it off, and now try to do it every time I can.

What's allowed me to get this far is working on core strength for the past three months. I've been doing yoga crunches, leg lifts, and reclined bicycles as if I was still in high school gym class. I'm a long way from being strong enough to handle these poses on a consistent basis, but I can seem progress.