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SavasanaI practice Bikram Yoga which is done in 104 degree temperatures and between 40 and 60% humidity. 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises.  Roughly the first 45 minutes are warm up to what Bikram calls ‘The real yoga!’

During the second half of class we do postures and in between we have savasana, which literally means: corpse pose.  I’m told we have 20 second savasanas in order for our blood to circulate once throughout our bodies.  Seems plausible.

It’s like a tiny nap…..and naps are the real reason for this post.  I LOVE naps.  Naps are highly under rated in the United States.  When I moved to China, in 1990 [and first visited in 1987] daily between 11 and 2 the entire country took a rest time.  European nations know this ritual as well and it is based on sound logic.  Our bodies do better with   some rest.

And after going full on, usually from 4:45 am….by mid-day I am ready for a savasana.  I usually can pump out more productive activity after just 20 minutes of rest.  On the weekends I attempt to push that time out to 45 or 60 minutes of nap time.

Try it yourself and let me know how it works for you.  I’m willing to bet you’ll be more productive, rested and happier….and you’ll be more inspired.

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CompassJust when we thought we got the Project Charter figured out, the book Rework, by Jason Fried & David Heinemeir Hansson, debunks ‘Planning as Guessing’.  In fact, they go on to say, “Unless you’re a fortune-teller, long-term business planning is a fantasy.  There are just too many factors that are out of your hands: market conditions, competitors, customers, the economy, etc.  Writing a plan makes you feel in control of things you can’t actually control.”

They advocate, “…you have to be able to improvise.  You have to be able to pick up opportunities that come along.  Sometimes you need to say, ‘We’re going in a new direction because that’s what makes sense today’.”

Before you stress they do add this: “Now this isn’t to say you shouldn’t think about the future or contemplate how you might attack upcoming obstacles.  That’s a worthwhile exercise.  Just don’t feel you need to write id down or obsess about it.  If you write a bit plan, you’ll most likely never look at it anyway.  Plans more than a few pages long just wind up as fossils in your file cabinet.”

Seems to me, some planning-or having some sort of ‘general guide’ is a good thing….just as good as knowing when to make adjustments.

And Seth Godin doesn’t even want us to call ourselves Project Managers, he prefers the title: Project Runner.

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Learning Algebraic Relations and Functions

Over the last 3 months I have been working with The Hampshire Educational Collaborative [HEC] developing a new Online Algebra course geared towards high school students looking to recover credit for Algebra. This is a pilot program, we are currently working with Western Massachusetts School Districts to test this course.

This is not the Algebra I remember, in fact had I had this type of interactivity available when I was learning Algebra, I firmly believe I would now remember more of my Algebra.  It is amazing how the Algebra is presented….and all online.

I also worked on creating an eLearning Coaches online course, whereas learning coaches [some of whom are Algebra teachers, some specialist teachers-all of whom have enormous amounts of patience] were taught [and refreshed] in learning skills.  To assist the Algebra students in learning approaches to studying, problem-solving and sometimes basic time management skills.  All fabulous skills & habits for the 21st Century.

Additionally, I maintain a blog which is where I also lodge other pertinent research.