A Week in the Blue Belt Life
This week I answer the most common question about my current life: what exactly is it, I do here? Well, in all its glory, here’s the blue belt life play-by-play from last week:
7:00 wake up
7:30 yoga at home
9:15 feed Billbob
9:30 singing practice while cleaning, prepping brown rice and cooking oatmeal with chapati (blue belt breakfast)
10:15 eat
11:00 work on “radiohead park” song
13:30 prep lunch of fried egg over brown rice with guacamole and pico de gallo
14:00 eat lunch with Billbob at nearby “Billbob koen (park)”, begin writing “Duss Weekly 2.0” on my phone and research WordPress plugins
15:30 return home, upload food photos and start writing the Weekly
17:00 eat a steamed satsumaimo for a snack, continue writing the Weekly
18:45 cook ginger soy bean soup (pictured, from “Pressure Cooking”, contact for recipe) with spinach, start prepping the week’s salad
20:00 eat soup over brown rice – it’s good
21:00 make salad dressings and finish chopping veggies for this week’s salad, prepare lunch for the next day, soak brown rice and oatmeal for the next day
22:15 shoot video for “Stir to Sleep”, a music video demonstrating my pre-bed meditation (pranayama)
22:45 brush teeth, shower
23:15 call parents
23:45 sleep
5:00 wake up, take out garbage, ride bike to Mysore Tokyo in Shibuya
6:15 yoga practice
8:15 ride back home, feed Billbob
9:00 eat stewed apples and kiwi breakfast
9:30 add music musings, current reading, and market thoughts to the Weekly
11:00 singing practice while cleaning, prepping brown rice, and cooking oatmeal with fitness bread toast brunch
11:45 put in laundry, eat, lie down and start writing this recap
12:45 some more blog cleanup
13:30 “radiohead park” continued
15:15 hang laundry, eat soy bean soup lunch
16:00 hang with joe, discuss blog and tonight’s dinner (Joe’s marinara)
17:00 finishing touches on blog entry
18:00 hang with my one and only, practice making paper footballs and origami ninja stars for school, eat sauce with whole wheat spaghetti and rest of soybean soup
20:00 prep for school tomorrow – write October curriculum
21:00 post blog article on FB, film pranayama
21:30 finish curriculum, brush teeth and floss, answer some emails, check premiums for selling puts on yen and silver (cheaper than I though!)
22:30 go to bed
23:45 sleep
5:15 wake up, prep lunch
6:15 yoga (shortened practice)
7:30 eat fruit, prep for school, cut “Hard Knock Life” instrumental track to fit school performance, feed Billbob, eat oatmeal, bike to school
10:00 K2 (4yr old) class, sing “Tomorrow” from “Annie”, play alphabet games
10:45 sports day practice with whole school
11:45 lunch with teachers
13:00 free time with K3 (5yr old) class, made origami hearts for a friend
14:00 K3 class, “Tomorrow” practice and “Catch” game
15:00 K1 (3yr old) group music class
16:00 K2 group music class
17:00 clean up, write day recap, go home
18:30 teach yoga to a friend
20:00 friend lost a bet on whose electric bill would be lower in August (his was 70% higher), so he bought Priya (pictured), the best Palak Paneer in the world, hung out with girlfriends
22:30 went home, replied to some blog stuff, filmed pranayama, got ready for bed
00:30 sleep
5:20 wake, prep lunch, put out recyclables
6:30 yoga (shortened)
8:00 eat fruit (Asian pear and banana today), feed Billbob, shower, eat oatmeal
9:30 ride to school, school sports day full program practice at local elementary school
12:00 lunch
13:00 chill out, prep for afternoon classes, semi-nap
14:00 K2 class “Tomorrow”, alphabet, catch game
15:00 chill, prep for classes
16:00 private lessons
18:30 finish, write recap, clean up, go home, make basic dinner
20:30 read Hussman, film pranayama, read Ayurveda book
22:30 sleep
5:15 wake, shower, ride to yoga
6:15 yoga
8:00 ride home, eat fruit, Billbob’s trying to hibernate so no need to feed, chill out, shower
10:00 eat oatmeal breakfast
11:00 work on “radiohead park”
13:00 make lunch and eat
14:00 delicious nap
15:00 take Billbob (pictured) to vet for annual checkup
17:00 return home, make paneer cheese, whey, and ghee, then make chapati dough with the whey and soak oatmeal also in the remaining whey
19:00 discuss video ideas for original song “My Little Flipper Girl” with Joe Smith, eat yakiyasai dinner, hang out
21:00 video pranayama, get ready for bed
22:00 sleep
5:30 wake up, ride to yoga
6:15 yoga
8:00 ride back, eat fruit, feed Billbob, voice exercises, cook sweet potatoes, eat blue belt breakfast
11:00 lay down basic track for “My Little Flipper Girl”
13:30 eat makeshift lunch of brown rice, chapati and salad with Joe
15:00 go out and take video all around Tokyo for Flipper Girl (pictured in the article header)
19:00 return home, chill, eat dinner made by my one and only (pictured, recipe)
20:30 write this play-by-play from Tuesday to now
21:30 video pranayama
22:30 sleep
6:30 wake up, take out trash, some minor cleanup
7:30 track guitar for Flipper Girl
9:00 eat fruit, feed Billbob, continue tracking guitar
11:30 voice exercises, make blue belt breakfast for lunch, eat, more guitar
14:00 go to Seisen school bazaar, eat too much pancit, chickpea curry, and falafel pitas
18:00 return home, track guitar, import Friday’s videos
20:00 eat remaining saffron rice
21:00 begin trying to remove chestnuts (not the one pictured, these) from their casings – after boiling, then parboiling, then parboiling again, manage to get about 10 out of 50
24:00 video pranayama
24:30 sleeep
So are you teaching 2x a week now? Also, have you tried alternate nostril breathing meditation? I’ve just started doing that…
Hi Koji – thanks for the comment – yes I’m teaching kids 2 days a week and also two yoga sessions, though the yoga classes are pretty informal and one is paid for in fruit (which is, I think, the way forward actually). The pranayama I do before bed I learned from Shiva Rhea’s Yoga Shakti and uses alternate nostril Ujjayi breathing. By the way I highly recommend that video to anyone looking for an intermediate (blue belt) level home practice that is not quite as strict as Ashtanga. As I haven’t found a particularly good demonstration of the meditation on youtube I’m creating a musical instructional to fill the void – hope to have it out in time for Movember!
The thing that surprises me here most is how little time you allot yourself for sleep. You were a championship level sleeper when given the opportunity in days of yore. As I’ve grown older I’ve done my best to emulate you in this capacity. I saw your reply, btw. Fire your photographer. Just duct tape a camera to Bilbo Bobbins or whatever his name is. I appreciate the update too because I was a bit worried about your welfare with the typhoon and whatnot. The food looks amazing and I’m planning a visit in the not too distal future. I’m envious of the amount of yoga in your life; i must say. Too much work for me presently and not enough time.
Indeed last week was a bit abnormal on that front and ideally I would get 7 hours minimum on average. I am reaping the reward for last week’s overactivity with a case of strep throat and inflated throat lymph nodes that make me look like fat bastard. A year in and I am still searching for balance in my schedule. Hope your trip here is not too distal, Billbobbins looks forward to all the contraptions you plan to affix to him.