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Did a Matthew Sweeney inspired Thursday practice. From Ashtanga Yoga As It Is:

On one day per week you can practice Intermediate on its own, even if it is only the first four or five postures. Thursday is usually the best for this, sometimes called “research day.”

It is normal to try moving ahead and practice more difficult asana. At some point just give it a go, even if the practice is a little rough around the edges.

I had a blast. Standing through ardha baddha padmottanasana, then into pasasana. Through to kapotasana exercises. On through to eka pada bakasana.

Do not fool yourself, however, that you are doing it correctly or that you have mastered a posture or sequence when the reality might be quite different.

Um, yeah. Reality wasn’t looking so pretty.

***

During the hanging back exercise, I had a teaching tool idea. I have little marks on the wall so I can focus on something lower and lower as I hang back or drop back to the wall.

They’re a little line of Xs written in pen on athletic tape. (Amusingly, the dog occasionally spots one and tries to bite it. I think she thinks they’re flies.)

As I was hanging back, I thought about using a mark that has a distinct top and bottom orientation, and, specifically, putting it up upside down.

The little heart on the wall made a remarkable difference! It deeply affected my equilibrium, as if my brain, usually worried about trying to figure out what is happening and how to orient my body in space, was suddenly given a little treat to soothe its anxiety.

I’m going to experiment with slightly more complex images with distinct up and down orientations and see if that makes any difference. Fun experiment!

Anyhow, when I stood up, I could feel all kinds of energy and sensation in my spine and limbs. Usually that gets overridden by my brain disorientation, which blots out sensibilities and “blinds” me to my body.

***

We went to visit the puppies. Below, The Cop with our current two favorites.

I can’t help myself; I love props and tools. For yoga, or for any endeavor. My professional background is in learning technology, which is all about enabling learning through the use of tools and technology.

Lately, I find myself scraping for kapotasana adjustments. Sure, I can work my lumbar and thoracic in urdhva dhanurasana and any number of other backbends, but what about my stubborn shoulder/tricep inflexibility? How can I address it more directly? Trust me, I’ve used sandbags, wall rope configurations, the couch and bunches of blocks to try to get at the shoulders, to no avail.

Last night, in (my favorite!) hypnagogic state, I had a little brainstorm. It involves rope, but not my wall ropes. Nope. My old climbing rope.

I cut off a length of rope, wound it through the handle on the floor under my wall ropes, and tied some knots into it.

Then I stepped into the ropes, went over backwards, and grabbed the knots with my hands. Started pullin’ ‘em in.

Woohoo! It works. (Kinda. Look at my elbows. So sad.) Anyhow, no warm up, since it’s a Moon Day, but I’m psyched to really try it tomorrow after a proper practice. Begging for kapo adjustments? Perhaps a thing of the past…

Sure, I get sick of reading business cases and reports. Sure, I’m OVER PowerPoint presentations.

Yes, I look forward to getting in a few minutes of Infinite Jest before I keel over into unconsciousness each night. A little bit more literature in my day; is that too much to ask?

Apparently not. Click this link and then click on “NZ Book Council Guest.” Then doubleclick the folder of your choice on the left side of the screen…

All of my problems have been solved.

***

If you Google “spatial direction” you get some trippy quantum physics stuff and also an excerpt from Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: The Philosophy of the Grammarians (don’t ask me why I know this).

(without bends), and this action is one of going upward.

Does anyone else love fragments the way I do?

Oh word-based ready-made, I love you.

***

Direction differentiates material things (murta) in terms of nearness and remoteness, while time distinguishes them in terms of sequence of actions. Direction is the basis of the talk of contact and disjunction through the perception of occupied and unoccupied regions of the sky.

There is no fixed arrangement of spatial direction. The various compass directions, which seem to divide systematically, are mere names when they are divested of reference to things (for example, the sun at a particular time) with which they are associated.

Based on distinctions such as “this,” “that,” “eastern,” “western,” and the like, which are introduced by spatial direction, are the divisions seen in things from mountains to atoms. These divisions are characterized in terms of the accompanying entity (for example, presence or absence of light) or configuration, but the concept or capacity called “spatial direction” is their ultimate foundation. Things per se are beyond division, sequence, and fixation by region. Division with which the adjuncts invest them has no end and cannot be something inherent to them. Yet division cannot be avoided. Spatial direction is operational everywhere. Along with time, it is part of the very nature of living beings.

Okay, I’m back. Just ordered the book. How could I resist? Anything that instantly pops me into right-brain first thing in the morning wins my undying love.

This whole thing started because I was going to tell how The Cop’s parents sent us a GPS system for the car. They bought a new one and sent along their old one. I got home from work, and The Cop was looking at it with a bit of disdain. Easy for him to do, since he is not spatially challenged. My first thought? “Woohoo! I can program it with addresses I need to find when I’m in Minnesota!”

Yup, July 11-17 is Matthew Sweeney in Minnesota week. Turns out the hotel near the shala is bad, so I booked a room downtown. Which meant renting a car to get back and forth to the shala. Which also means driving from the airport to the hotel. All of these things are a huge challenge to me: as I mentioned, I have no sense of direction. And I don’t mean I have a poor sense of direction; I mean, I can get lost in my own neighborhood.

I do feel better now, though, knowing that “things per se are beyond division, sequence, and fixation by region.”

So there you go. An object lesson in what happens when I surf the web and try to tell a story at the same time.

We are implementing social networking at work. We are a membership organization, so obviously the members will have access to the network. But what about non-members?

There is an easy answer (pictured here) and then a new question:

What about the blogs and podcasts produced by in-house experts?

Here’s my thought (another picture).

I wonder, does anyone know of a company that keeps its blogs and podcasts inside a walled garden? It seems like that’d contradict the nature of business blogs and podcasts, but maybe I’m overlooking something?

***

I just got my copy of The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures.

I had to buy it, because I am a huge fan of pictures-as-explanations, and am curious about how the author will make his case and provide instruction about how to make and use pictures well…

The idea of giving a simple picture to the management team seems silly but you have to stop and think about it. They’re busy people. They deal with a lot of details over the course of a day. A lot of projects, a lot of people talking to them about a lot of different things. I know at the end of a busy day, when people are talking to me about something — even if they’re being cogent and describing things well — all I’m hearing is blah, blah, blah, blah. So, the answer is, if you wanna get through to someone you need a quick little soundbite like “cognitive surplus,” or an amusing story that will stay with them, or a little picture that explains really quickly what you’re trying to get across. Those are things that stick in people’s minds.

Found some great notebook/sticky note/note pad products from Behance Outfitter. Geeky and designy. What more could I ask for?

They have an “Action Method” — 1) identify and document action steps, 2) document backburner items, and 3) document reference materials.

Very simple, yet few people seem to do it automatically. Action steps: what comes next, specifically — ought to start with a verb (e.g., “schedule meeting,” “draft proposal,” “send out status report”).

Documenting backburner items is a good way to prioritize: list action steps for in-progress projects and document less-pressing ideas as backburners. That way, they won’t be forgotten, but they also won’t gum up the projects that need to be attended to right now.

And then note all reference items: supporting info/articles/etc.

Simple. Low tech.

Nice.

The Future of Attraction, Motivation, and Retention (aka, the Future Forum) at conference turned out quite well. I, needless to say, felt horribly uncomfortable getting up to present — but as the session wore on (i.e., when I finished my spiel and got to just participate as a panelist), it actually became rather fun.

Charlie and Jim (the actual futurists on the panel) have a pretty specific perspective on the future — one that includes the heavy use of telework. Recognizing that people will still want community, they imagine hubs in communities — buildings where people with different employers will share space to work. Basically, the culture of the office (where one’s employer is the common bond) will shift to a culture of the community — where one’s town might be the common thread.

I’m not a futurist, but as an indiscriminate reader, aficionado of new ideas, and compulsive web-user, I was willing to stump for a slightly different perspective: namely, that people will form their communities digitally — that the physical proximity piece (which 99% of the panel and audience assumed was essential) is not really that big of a deal.

Perhaps I feel this way because I am an introvert? I tested this theory a bit during an evening reception, when I grilled Charlie and Jim about their respective tendencies toward intro-/extro- version. Turns out Charlie is a huge extrovert. Jim, an introvert.

Charlie is the louder proponent of the community-in-physical-proximity model. Essentially, this simply means people stop going to the office for community and, instead, establish spaces in their towns for physically colocated community.

Jim is an introvert. We discussed this in the midst of a very loud, very crowded reception, which amused me no end. I can easily relate to anyone who, crushed among a huge crowd, drink in hand, says, “If I had my druthers, I’d stay in my hotel room this evening.”

Word.

So why is Jim advocating for physically colocated community spaces? I suspect it’s because he hasn’t really hooked into a virtual community yet.

During the conference session, the majority of the audience was interested in the idea of distributed work — but almost all of them worried about preserving the corporate culture, and especially about inculcating that culture in new workers.

My take is this: spend time exposing people to whatever your organizational culture is — if they like it, they’ll partake. Beyond that, though, just make sure people are clear about how their contributions align with the organization’s goals, ensure that managers and workers are very clear about specific deliverables, and then offer a variety of supporting environments: this may include an actual office space to work in, satellite spaces, virtual community, or some combination thereof.

The younger people in the audience (a distinct minority) seemed to just shrug in a “sure, that’ll work” way when the mention of virtual community came up. The older participants were inclined to dismiss it as unacceptable. I suspect, though, that rather than “unacceptable” (which would imply they’ve really examined the option), what they were really indicating is that they find the notion unfathomable.

I encouraged people to get out on the web and see what’s going on. Once you experience community online, you can get a little imaginative and see how it can be used to support organizational culture. The only barrier, really, is that the people who get to make these decisions (“Our corporate culture is going online!”) are busy and perhaps not technically savvy. Oh, and they don’t like feeling dumb.

In the end, this might be the biggest barrier to organizational change: people at the top of the totem pole value their sense of mastery of the corporate environment. Once someone has put years of effort into feeling established and sure of herself, the last thing she’s going to want is to go back to “beginner’s mind.” But in the end, that’s the only way it can possibly work. Otherwise, organizational culture turns into a petrified forest.

End of the day here in Philadelphia, an uneventful flight. Reception with some of the advisory boards as soon as we got in, but still an early night all in all. It’s 10:37, and tomorrow morning is the big session. Once that’s over with, I’ll be able to relax and enjoy the conference. I don’t feel that bad about the session right now, and I know for sure that when I look out at 250 people, there’s gonna be at least a few minutes of pretty extraordinary terror and pain as I get through the opening section of the literature review. But again, once its over, all will be well, and I’m hoping to get over to the new Shalla(?) on Wednesday.

Powered by Jott

just phoned in an entry via Jott. too tired to wait for it to come through. may be incomprehensible. if so, read into it whatever you might like.

Using the iPhone to blog from the airport. It’s slow going, for sure. One fingered typing and a keypad that blocks a good deal of the screen. As is the case with anything, some practice will make it all seem normal. By the end of the week, this ought to feel pretty comfortable. Or maybe by the end of this post.

Green tea soy latte. Mmmm. My Gift told me they were good, and I am trying my first one. A little syrupy sweet, truth be told, but gosh, I love anything with matcha tea powder in it.

Practice this morning was abbreviated so I could get to the airport on time. As is the case when one doesn’t get much sleep (I woke to a nightmare of being stalked by my Indian father, who intended to kill me due to my somehow besmirching the family honor), practice was very light and flexy.

I did suryas, standing (including the balance poses at the end), then moved to pasasana and the intermediate poses. I expected it to be harrowing, what with skipping all of primary and starting practice an hour earlier than usual. But. As it turned out, everything felt easy and light. Nice.

Urdhva dhanurasana, sore ribs and all, is something I look forward to more and more. Slowly cracking open.

Okay, enough practice report.

Over the next couple of days, I want to try using Jott to literally phone my blog entries in. Tempted to try it for this entry, but there is too much background noise. Plus I’d feel like an ass, dictating my thoughts in public.

Right now, a woman is singing the happy birthday song into her phone. Perhaps my self-consciousness is misplaced.

I know, I know, it’s 4:56 AM and I’m back to the “where does marketing and product management fit into the social networking puzzle” question.

Here’s an interesting post that is a little helpful for thinking about this issue.

The pressure on PR firms and marketers alike to adapt and take advantage of this new paradigm is strong. Many will not survive the transition. The two most important ideas that must be relearned are that a) your communication channels are radically expanded by social media and user generated content…you must have a solid understanding of your potential online media outlets and the right message for each and b) it no longer stops there, you must learn to modify the medium to your advantage. More concretely, don’t just go to the NY Times and pitch your case study, consider what your presence should be on social networks, blogs, etc that are relevant to your customers…ask yourself: Where do my prospects congregate on line? Can I create my own community around my brand? Then, create your own content and adapt the message to both the audience and the medium: don’t just make a viral video, because they are hot…you might be as well served simply by posting insightful comments to the right blogs. And finally, focus on the medium itself to accelerate distribution and build a trail that leads back to your own website. Link, link, link. Syndicate, syndicate, syndicate. Everywhere, all the time. A news story in the print version of the NY Times lasts a day and then goes into library archives. A blog post or a gadget can be redistributed across the Web, and a link from your story back to your website on a page rank 9 site has a much longer lifetime in cyberspace than the print equivalent in physical space.

The post is specifically about the expansion of user-generated content into the “news” space. But it can apply to the expansion of social networking into the “product” space — in other words, in its positioning on the web.

Geez. Placement on the web. Good luck to anyone with that job.

And yes, I’m amused at the suggestion that all PR and marketing people brush up their understanding of linguistics and postmodernism. But mixed in with that amusement, I must admit, is a good dose of despair. Because as Freud might say, “Sometimes ‘the medium is the message’ is not just ‘the medium is the message.’”