First video from FEAT Cape Town is online

Two weeks ago the second edition of FEAT happened in Cape Town. We went into edit on Monday and last night I uploaded the first video - highlights and funnies from the evening. Actually, there are two videos now online, the second being a short clip of the parkour demo by Dane, Rus and Brandon. I'll add videos of the other talks every few days.

Here's the highlights and funnies clip - enjoy.

The path to enlightenment

Downward facing dog -
a posture within the
sun salutation sequence

Enlightenment is the ultimate end of the road for Buddhists. In Buddhism, schools use mantras, yoga, meditation to focus thoughts and channel them down a path towards this state of awakening and realisation.

According to Wiki, the sanscrit word bodhi (usually translated as enlightenment) refers to a unique experience which partially or wholly transforms an individual from his or her previous state within their current life. I say current life, 'cos Buddhism isn't into the whole life and death thing; you're on a roundabout - a continuous flow where you come back for more in a form that is decided by your actions on your previous life trip.

This transformation, or enlightenment, has to do with self realisation, awakening, awareness of other beings and the discarding of greed, hate and delusion.

Although I like meditation and yoga, I personally think that anyone pursuing the path to enlighenment should try some multiday adventure racing or a good hard and rugged mountain ultra run. It's a big wake up - shake up about yourself, other people, priorities and values in life...

Ja well.

At Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge last year I got a taste of acroyoga (acrobatics and yoga), which I loved. I found two workshops here in January, instructed by an American chap who was out here to teach at a Jo'burg studio. I'm totally hooked and I attend the acroyoga jams on alternate weekends.

I've dabbled in yoga over the years. About 10 years ago I got into some really intense classes, which I really enjoyed, but stopped when I moved. When I returned to Jo'burg I just went to the classes at gym, which were superb. I'd run first and then hit the yoga class. Mmm.. I guess I probably went twice a week for a few years.

Going to the acro sessions really got me thinking about yoga and how much I enjoy it and how my body benefits from the practise. In the past I've done Iyengar yoga, one of many yoga forms (I think of it like judo and karate and kung-fu). The forms all similar, but are put together and acted out differently - if that makes sense.

This yoga studio where I do the acroyoga is a traditional Ashtanga studio. From the moment I first walked in I liked the place and felt totally comfortable and at home. So, on Saturday, I went to a beginner session to learn how this form differs from what I've done before.

Without going into the 'eight limbs' and all the other mambo-jumbo, in practise Ashtanga is fast and pacey, which I really like. There are the sun salutations to start (lots of them, big time repetition - it's nice and warming and meditational), standing poses, seated poses, inversions, balances... same as I've done before. Ashtanga focuses on flow - moving from one posture to the next with fluidity. But it's really the pace that is so different and also what suits me. As Sarah, my teacher, says, "It's the right type of yoga for a person like you". She's right.

Ashtanga has a number of levels and they're all structured. Every practise sessions begins with sun salutations and then you so the next series and the next and you add as you go along and then you finish off your practise. The nice thing about this is that it is almost like memorising a routine and then flowing through it. Breathing is also a big part. You may do two breaths between each move (steps within postures) or you may do five. The pace at which you do the series makes up the duration of your practise, together with the number of postures you do. Ashtanga also encourages self practise. The more you practise, the better you get.

Tonight I went to the first of five beginner classes and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was drenched with sweat after our initial sun salutations. The standing poses we did tonight, I've done before - but not for ages. It felt really good. Even better was that I ran to the studio from home. Yes, from Bedford Gardens to Dunkeld. And it was fabulous! OK, so Linksfield Ridge is a bit of a hump to get over, but the rest of the route is friendlier. Took me 90 minutes... I could probably do it in 1h20; I had a few itsy-bitsy walks and I got trapped by a road closure and had to run a big loop to get out.

So, over the next few weeks I hope to get a good grounding in Ashtanga and it is certainly inevitable that I'll keep going - I really, really like it and it's a super compliment to the rest of my training. It's a pity that the studio isn't closer to home... My plan is to drive there on Monday mornings and to run on Thursdays. Nice balance.

Level 1: After tonight, I'm up to the 5th dude from the right on the third row. Next week, who knows ;)

This Twitter thing

OK, so after FEAT I was pursuaded to create a FEAT Twitter account (Twitter name is AdventureFEAT) and to get more into Twitter, which I've been trying to do.

I've had an AdventureLisa Twitter account (Twitter name is AdventureLisa) for some time. It generates tweets via status updates on the AR.co.za Facebook page - I don't usually post directly on Twitter.

Mmm... athough I've resisted Twitter, it is very much a part of this whole multimedia sheebang and getting into it, for me, is more about keeping up with the Joneses than any desire to put out even more communications that I already do.

So, I got myself the Tweetdeck programme on my computer to keep track of all these damn tweets. I've got people who I am following and there is some useful stuff, about 15% of the time.

AdventureLisa tweets are about AR.co.za stuff, mostly.
AdventureFEAT posts are related to FEAT and adventures.


The downfall of Twitter is that some people just tweet too damn much. The volume of their tweets drowns out the other people - it's a bit like shouting over them. One or two tweets a day is ok; more gets to be just too much. It also means that the meaningfulness of what you post is diluted and often ignored. A bit like cry wolf; when you have something good to say I'll probably miss it because I'm getting so accustomed to hitting the DELETE button.

I've been on Twitter for a week now. I don't know if I'm convinced about it. But, I'll keep at it and see whether I change my mind in a month or two.

Livin' local

About a year or so ago I read Barbara Kingsolver's book, 'Animal, Vegetable, Miracle'. I really like the whole locavore concept, which is about eating food that is grown locally produced and in season. Local farmers' markets and home grown veggies are winners here; none of this eating grapes in winter, flown in from abroad (just think of all those non-green noxious airplane fumes expelled just to bring the food in).

There's a big hoo-haa in Jo'burg about the new road tolling system on the major highway around the greater city and also between Jo'burg and Pretoria. These highways are crucial to... everything.

The reasoning behind tolling these critical highways is to reduce congestion by discouraging people (financiallu) from using the roads and encouraging them to use [impractical and insufficient] public transport. Sure, if you live and work close to a Gautrain station, it makes sense to zip to work on the Gautrain. But if you don't? And what about reps and other people who are mobile all day. And what about the trucks transporting food and goods...

The toll fees are hefty - from 49 cents to 66 cents per kilometre for regular vehicles; much higher for trucks (like over R2/km).

I live close to a major intersection that allows me to conveniently zip North, South, East or West without blinking. But, within two or three kilometres of hitting the highway I pass under the tolling gantries that automatically bill for a set number of kilometres, as measured between gantries.

I usually take the highway to my dance class. It's probably about five kilometres on the highway; and another five on a major suburban road. But, I would be tolled for a full section of highway - say 11 or 12 kilometres. That means that my return trip to class could cost about R12. No train or bus heading that way. Sure, I can take back roads - and I've done so many times. But it is inconvenient and slow because of all the stop streets and traffic lights - and traffic at peak periods. Same goes for my local dam for paddling - 15 mins on the highway; 20-45 mins on back roads.

Visiting friends in the northern suburbs... that's anything from 25 to 50-odd kilometres of highway. Social visits start to cost. And zipping to an orienteering event on the other side of Jo'burg... Could be R50 in tolls plus the R40 entry fee...

I'm fortunate not to have a daily commute - it could set people back anything from a few hundred to over R2000 per month. That's a helluva lot of money on top of your existing fuel and maintenance costs. I was commuting almost daily for the last six months, passing two gantries. I'm guessing at about R20 to R25 per return trip. That's up to R500 extra per month; and there's no easy or quick or short back roads out there (nor buses, nor trains) from home.

Although it makes sense to live close to where you work - less time on the road means more time at home with family or more time for training - but it isn't always practical. Property prices near work may be out of your range; your current home may be a good location for your partner; and your children may be in school close to home.

These tolls, which are meant to come online mid-year, will certainly make me think twice before zooting off to a meeting, attending events, visiting people or just going somewhere to check something out. Maybe a solution is to designate one meeting day a week where I pack everything into one trip - but I try to do this anyway because time spent sitting in a car is time I'd rather spend doing other things.

I'm already giving even more attention to living local, which I've been doing for some time anyway. I've got local (local, like within a five kilometre distance) service providers like printers and plumbers. Most of my activities are based close to home. But, I still find that I drive big distances over weekends for events and visiting. Jo'burg is a big place.

Mmm... To a degree they're achieving their objective of encouraging people to use the highways less. I'm certainly going to try, as far as possible, to stay away from these road systems because I'm resentful about paying, paying, paying. I'm also uncertain how much of a dent this system will really make on our traffic because so many people have to commute by highway; and the suburban roads are going to get incredibly congested; and the price of absolutely everything will go up. Afterall, even if goods are transported by train, within the city they're transported by trucks; there is no other way.