Denver – Good morning, everybody! I hope you had a good Friday night. I came across an interesting article about the DeafYoga Foundation and thought to share it with all ya’ll. As a long-time fitness freak, I have always wanted to learn yoga but seemed to have a basic problem: I am deaf and have trouble reading yoga instructors’ lips in classes, which made things awkward at times.

A few years ago, I signed-up for a yoga class at the gym I worked-out each day. The experience was interesting: I could understand and see how the principle exercises and stretches worked but I spent more time concentrating on understanding the instructor rather than my breathing. I stopped going after a couple classes and have since let my curiousness about yoga ebb and wane.

Word comes from New York that the deaf non-profit organization has partnered up with another non-profit entity, the International Sivananda Organization, to provide the first ever Yoga Teacher Training course for the deaf community. According to the press release, there is only one certified deaf yoga instructor in the United States, and in conjunction with raising awareness of yoga’s benefits within the deaf community, the partnership also aims to provide the community with an influx of deaf certified yoga instructors.

” .. deaf people haven’t really been able to freely explore the meaning of yoga prior to our organization. To date, we have served more than 1,000 deaf and signing people through our service projects, programs and the DeafYoga for Beginners DVD.” – Lila Lolling, DeafYoga Foundation

Lolling also stated that three deaf woman had applied for scholarships for the training but also added that sign language interpreter fees were a major funding issue, and requested donations to off-set interpreter expenses for the training. Click here to read more on this story

Okay .. so, we need more yoga instructors in the deaf community. And do you know what this means? This means that I need an iced chai!

HaHa!

Anyway, I have to go now – I need to mow the yards before the Squirrels that Run Up the Tree start slingshooting pine cones at me again. If you have time, check out the DeafYoga DVDs and let me know how they are, please?

Finally, and apparently, there is also a Wii game utilizing yoga, believe it or not. I guess that’s another reason to love the Wii?

Have a great Saturday!

Be good .. or be good at it.

Paotie

Hello .. Are you there, SuperStar?

Hi.

How was your week? Did you do what you wanted to do this past week? Did anybody win the lottery?! No?

Crud.

Did anybody get a haircut? Yah? Cool! A perm? Nice. Did anybody get a mohawk?! Yah? Excellent!

Hi!

Ooh!

Sorry. I forgot I already said it earlier: “leaping camels!”

Are you still here? If you are – awesome! Cool beans! You are a SuperStar!

Did anybody wish Hillary Clinton would give up her presidential campaign, already? Yah? Really? Wow! Cool! I know some of you do not want her to give up and I understand: the Nile is a river in Egypt.

Did anybody buy a new car this week? No? A truck? Yah? Really? What kind? Wow! Be safe. Did anyone buy an ocean-going cruise ship? No? Sure! Of course I’d like to go on a cruise one day – through downtown Albuquerque.

Did anybody watch Major League Baseball this past week? “Broncos suck!” Yah – I agree. Well, I don’t know what else to say about that because I don’t watch baseball.

Did anybody play with their wee Wii this week? Yah? No?! Geesh! No need to be defensive! Some of you might want to think about getting a “beverage chick” instead – much more practical. Use your imagination at your own risk.

Are you still here? You are? Wow! Fantastic! You are a SuperStar!

What are you doing this weekend? “Don’t know yet. ” Yah – me neither.

Is anybody going to play golf this weekend? Yah? Terrific! “Crotches? ” It was just a satire, sir. “Tennis?” Yes – wonderful sport. Fuzzy balls and whatnot, I get it. Nice book, by the way.

Is anybody coming back tomorrow? Yah? No? Maybe? I understand – I feel the same way. “Got things to see and people to do.” Yah? I understand. It’s cool.

Anyway, I have to go now – I need to get my haircut – but I hope you have a great and safe weekend. And maybe over the weekend, we’ll meet again here at the Green Couch.

Take care!

Hello?

Are you there, SuperStar?

Hello?

See you later, SuperStar.

Be good .. or be good at it.

Paotie

Denver – Good afternoon, everybody! I hope you had a great and safe Memorial weekend. I spent much of the weekend playing golf , eating BBQ and watched Hillary Clinton’s political campaign unfold into a “Denial of the Stubborn .” In fact, I played golf so well over the weekend that I pumped my fist sky-high into the air! And tipped my hat to adoring crowds! And then I challenged Tiger Woods’ to fisticuffs match – and he agreed!

I am not kidding you!

HaHa!

I’m just messin’ with all ya’ll. Can ya dig it? Ya’know what I’m sayin’?

Wii Golf rules!

If you do not have the Nintendo Wii game console yet, then you should think about getting one soon. We bought one recently and since then, I have been playing the Wii non-stop!

The Wii is outrageously addictive!

Well, that’s what the girls are telling me. I mean, they also say things like, “Why can’t we play the Wii? We bought the Wii! The Wii is not a wee game that we got for you to play: it’s a Wii!”

We have had the Wii for a little over a week now and I find the game great fun. I know the girls initially thought the boxing game was easy because they literally had to punch the air with both hands holding Wii handsets. After about a minute of non-stop punching of the air, the girls collapsed in exhaustion.

Ironically, the rationale the girls gave me for buying the Wii is that supposedly, having a Wii is a great way for people to exercise and play video games – simultaneously! When you play Wii baseball, for example, you will find yourself acting like a professional baseball player: you will repeatedly grab/adjust your crotch, spit tobacco juice onto the carpet of the living room, and berate a CPU for a called strike. In fact, I have discovered a term: “Wii arm .”

No, I am not talking about Deafhood Priestesses with handy occupational titles.

HaHa!

I digress.

So .. I don’t want to get into the details of Nintendo’s Wii game console and instead, will give you a few links to check out. In fact, I will post infrequently rare articles updating the Wii Experience for all ya’ll.

Aigh’t?

• Nintendo Wii – Official web site
• Wii Blogs Directory
• FT Tech Magazine – Article discusses upcoming WiiFit game release
• A Blogger’s Review – A woman with a large family’s view of the Wii. Well-written.

Also, I came across an interesting satire this morning about rising gas prices and .. vowels .

Finally, I have been tinkering around with videos to include for Paotie’s Green Couch, and found one that seemed to be pretty good – it even includes its own subtitles. It’s a musical song but that shouldn’t matter: it has subtitles!

Be good .. or be good at it.

Paotie