Doing Yoga the right way

It is said that the breathing technique that Lance Naik Hanumanthappa learned in Yoga, helped him in staying alive (for 5 days) even after being buried under 35 feet of snow at an altitude of 20500 feet.

Last week was International Yoga Day and the Yoga class which I attend, decided to have the class in the open. For a change I did not take part, but decided to click some pictures. 

It was good to see the young and the not so young doing it together. 

I have attended a few yoga classes earlier conducted by different people, but there is a refreshing change in the way this class is conducted. The instructors are sincere and always makes an effort to see that the students do it the right way. 

They also know that each one has a different capacity and the aasanas are done as per the limitations of each individual. 

Emphasis is given in stretching each part of the body, something that we rarely do on a day to day basis. 

The routine keeps changing on a daily basis and as we do the aasanas we know that “today we are working on the lower limb” or “looks like today we are strengthening the lower back”

While I was shooting, I found this little guy busy on my tripod camera, trying to quickly spin a web. I did not disturb him, but at the end of the session I did not see any web, and our friend was missing. He must have moved on to the nearby tree to get his breakfast. 

I made two videos by compiling all that I captured. The first one is a one minute trailer and the second one runs for about 11 minutes.

LGBT in the news

The LGBT group is in the news for some time for different reasons and the worst is for the horror that took place at Orlando.

 There are people who are for and against the LGBT but nothing justifies one human being killing another.

What still baffles me is why are weapons of mass destruction sold freely over the counter. If one guy can single handedly kill 49 people and maim an equal number, then definitely an assault rifle is a weapon of mass destruction.  

Had witnessed two Gay Pride Parades, one in Amsterdam and another at San Francisco. The later was just after the Supreme court declared same sex marriage legal in all 50 states. 

The parades I witnessed were very colourful and it was a photo opportunity for many. 

I liked the formation in this picture with the flags showing the country, the state, the city and the event (in that order)

 The Recology department of San Francisco was there in formation with their bins.

Posting some pictures at random, clicked on the day.

Some renowned people also took part in the parade. 

It was good to see families coming out in support. 

There was some good Band display too including the Irish Pipers Band.

You can see more pictures and video clips in this 15 min video

Whale watching

Had written about Orcas Island earlier and one of the activities we had over there was Whale watching.

Even though we had booked on line, we were lucky to get the right type of boat, a small one, pretty fast and not very crowded. 

En route, we did see a Puffin floating but it was not easy to photograph the little bird from far.  
The guides were good enough to tell us some facts about the whales, like the oldest among them (known as the Granny) is 104 years old.

There was a particular area where the whales frolic around and the crew knew the exact spot where we could find them. 

It takes some time to train the camera on them to get some shots.

There were many other boats in the vicinity, all waiting for a chance to get a glimpse of our frolicking friends 

And a few colourful sail boats too. 

It was good to see that all the boats kept a respectable distance from the whales. 
You can see more pictures in the 6 min video that I made. 

When the boat was at a slower speed, I went on the upper deck and got to see the man at the helm (always good to know who the driver is)

One of the lighthouses on the way back (I presume it is a light house)

Some other scenes on the way back

The crew of our boat, answering questions.

Everyone was generous in tipping them for their good service. May be they read what was written in the boat, “you never want to tip the boat, but feel free to tip the guides”