Yes, more.
Divergent at Red Pen Reviews (contains spoilers) — “Where Divergent succeeds, it does so on the strength of Beatrice herself, who renames herself Tris at the start of her initiation. She’s been raised to Abnegation, but she doesn’t instinctively give of herself to help others the way that her brother seems to find so effortless. To her, leaving her faction would be dangerous, but it would also mean going against everything she’s been raised to believe.”
I read the first book quickly, eagerly, often staying up late to do it. I was enthralled with a lot of the book — though the criticisms in this review are valid — but found myself disappointed by the ending. Still, I read Insurgent, where I found myself disappointed with much of the book — but intrigued by the ending. I currently await the release of Allegiant and will purchase it in whatever format happens to be cheapest. The first two books of the trilogy did make me want to stick it out until the end.
Healthy Asana Practice: Don’t Stretch Your Joints! by Charlotte Bell at Journey Pages — ‘She explained that one of her female students became unusually flexible prior to ovulation, probably because of the presence of the hormone “relaxin,” a hormone that relaxes the ligaments that hold together the various joints in the pelvis—hip joints, sacroiliac joints and pubic symphisis. The teacher said that she encouraged the student to move farther into poses at that period in her cycle since she was already more flexible. “Should I continue doing this?” she asked.’
So I have a knee that hyperextends. So this is not fun in seated forward folds — especially with flexible hamstrings. It means that the best forward fold for me, in any leg-extended position, often includes propping underneath my knee with a small folded blanket and/or folding forward a lot less. My hamstrings are forgiving; my knee joint is not. In cases like these, less is more.
Why IS It So Difficult to Find Better Methods of Chronic Pain Management? by s.e. smith at This Ain’t Livin’ (note for discussion of chronic pain, dependence/addiction, and medical stigma) — “People of all ages can experience chronic pain, but strikingly, it tends to be a medical problem encountered more in women, which is an important fact to keep in mind. Chronic pain is also one of the most poorly-managed medical issues, with limited treatment options available to patients. And the options that are available both don’t really work, and come with hefty side effects.”
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve been dealing with chronic pain since sometime in 1995. Between then and now, I can think of exactly one significant advance in the treatment options for my condition… and that advance has the double advantage of being a highly effective long acting reversible contraceptive. One reason it’s so difficult to find better methods for pain management is that no one — wherein I mean researchers, not folks with chronic pain — is looking for them.
For the fun! by bronwenofhindscroft at Fierce, Freethinking Fatties (note for discussion of weight loss) — “There is this perception, in the US at least, that the only reason anybody would want to “eat healthy and exercise” is to lose weight.
This is a punishment model. Rather than eating healthy, nutrient-rich food that tastes great for the health benefits of it, we primarily eat it to lose weight in this culture. Instead of moving our bodies (i.e., exercise) for the simple joy of moving our bodies, we only “torture” ourselves to lose weight in this culture.”
I’m adding this on a day where I just got done teaching a yoga class. So I’m well aware of just how ingrained this idea of “exercise is punishment” is. Even when no one in the group was vocally on a diet, trying lose weight, or body shaming (though obviously, I don’t know what’s not vocalized), it can be quite difficult to convince students that the poses should not hurt. That modifying poses is value neutral. That the important thing is to create a practice that you want to come back to. These reassurances should not generate such a large amount of skepticism.
