Lost Penguin

I'm sorry to report that I will not be attempting a world record, I will not be doing my Ashtagha yoga practice on the Ross Ice Shelf, I will not be demonstrating ice-yoga and debunking hot-yoga, and I will not be discovering the true form of the penguin pose.

But let me explain my thesis: True practice is independent of circumstances.

1) PRACTICE: We have a choice in life...to take it easy and want to be taken care of and distract ourselves from all things unpleasant...or...to confront our fears and transcend painful events and strive to be the best we can be. This choice is talked about in many philosophies. Even Taoism which says "go with the flow" also says "those who overcome themselves are powerful." Practice is effort. Never give up completely.

2) INWARD: To be the best you can be, you have to take responsibility and thus take control of your self. It's difficult to accept where you are at, but you can do it, and must do it to move ahead.

3) FOCUS: Practice takes many forms; my favorites are zazen and asana (meditation and yoga). But the bottom line is learn to be present... to pay attention to whatever you are doing with greater clarity and focus. Only by doing that can you go beyond your sense of self.

4) TRUTH: So how can learning to pay closer attention depend on how hot the room is? Sometimes it will be hard to pay attention and sometimes it will be easy. Practice and improve under both circumstances! There is a real phase transition when you are so focused and present that all pain and worry disappear and you are filled with joy and a profoundly complete sense of knowing and being. Everyone can do it, but only with practice.

Doing yoga in Antarctica would have required me to monitor my body temperature and flexibility and adjust my asanas accordingly. With some control I would increase my metabolism to compensate as with the Tibetan practice of Tummo. This is absolutely no different than when I go to the mat here at home and do my practice, paying attention to my body very closely. Don't bend over backwards for no reason! Be true to your self!

Make Up Your Mind

Although it's not the moon, Antarctica has the world's harshest environment with temperatures down to negative 60C and winds up to 250mph in the austral wintertime. The term "wind chill factor" was invented there. It is a huge continent (1.7* larger than the contiguous United States) with no permanent residents and is protected by international treaty. Although about 35000 people "visit" each year, the majority see it by ship and do not sleep overnight. Many countries have government science stations there, and the US has three: Palmer south of Argentina, McMurdo south of New Zealand, and the South Pole station at 9000ft elevation. Each year at McMurdo there are about 500 support staff and 500 visiting scientists. It is the hub for US research programs across the continent.

The logistics of mounting an expedition to McMurdo (via US Air Force) and into the wilderness beyond are considerably dramatic and so even the brief interruption in operations during the government shutdown effectively ruined the entire year's efforts. Specifically, about 40% of all US Antarctic research was cancelled this year due to the government shutdown and the remaining 60% were severely impacted. For the full official word see the US Antarctic Program's website at http://www.usap.gov. My own research project, ARIANNA (http://arianna.ps.uci.edu), was dramatically reduced, and I've personally been cut from the revised skeleton expedition and laid off.

I commented this onto facebook:

Dear Congress, I am not a priori opposed to Republicans. I AM opposed to
1) deceitfulness
2) not being responsible for what you said and did yesterday, and most especially
3) following your team rather than making up your own mind.
Don't sacrifice your own integrity just to be on one side or the other.
PS: Please turn the gov't back on and be good to the people you represent.

Looking Ahead

badha hasta sirsasana A
2011, Ross Island, Antarctica

I had to point my head "North" while I was at the bottom of the Earth. Just a spontaneous inversion on a warm day with Mt. Erebus in the background.

So nice! I thought I'd hang for a while as we waited for the "bus" back to McMurdo from Happy Camp.

Check back here in November/December 2013 and watch me freeze my asana off.