Reia Organa

So last day, Pete (my boy friend) and I were invited for a barbeque at his uncle's place, at Lewisville. It was a small gathering, with just Pete's parents (Richard and Veronica), the hosts (Albert and Emma) and us - just the three couples :-)

The place was wonderful, I even had a brief stint on one of Albert's horses (Stewart). As the regular wining and dining progressed, somewhere, Albert (45, now) happily caressed his huge potbelly, and exclaimed it as the symbol of his prosperity. Everyone laughed, I laughed along; but after the dinner, when I got a few minutes with him, I slipped in this little dialouge, "Albert, you do know that pot-belly is not really a sign of prosperity, right?"
He was like "Eh?"
"No, I was refferring to the comment you made about the pot-belly" I pointed his belly, smiling.
"Ah...! Oh yeah! But why do u say its not? It is!!!"
"No, Albert. The pot-belly is a sign that you wouldn't be living long enough!"
"Huh??"
"Well, lemme explain..."

And I rambled on for ten minutes, he kept nodding and asking questions, and at the end, when Emma too came by, he remarked "Emma, we need to change some routines".

Another successfull evangelizetion by Reia!

You see, a loose abdomen is a clear notice you have stuck on to your body for everyone to read, that you eat a lot and exercise less. The abdomen muscles contribute much to the so called 'core' of your muscular structure, and plays a role not just in movement of your legs and trunk, but act as a protective container, a girdle and support for your vital internal organs. Your liver, your kidney, your stomach, lower part of your spine - everything relies on your abdominal muscles for their positioning and proper functioning.

Imagine two bags of light-bulbs - one in a tight compact rubber bag, and one in a loose sack. Move the sacks around, or hang them from your hands and go for a walk. Open the bags now, and see what has happened inside. Most of the light-bulbs inside the loose sack would be broken and the ones inside the rubber bag would be intact. Its almost the same that happens inside your tummies. The movement of internal organs inside a loose tummy are more than they are designed to handle, and although not as fragile as the light-bulbs, they too have limits of tolerance. Over period, intenal organs which were designed originally to be in a protective, compact perfect bag, would have gone for a rough-ride, reducing their charm, health and life-span, manifesting as digestive disorders, ill health and reduced life-span.

Move around, walk around, shed those excessive baggages, and have a great life :-)

Remember the old thumbrule? "Lesser the luggage, better the journey!"

A couple of months ago, during a casual talk, a friend of mine happened to mention his struggle with weight-loss. Well, it was not as if he was an obese chunk or something, he was around 240 lbs (~ 120 kgs), well, yeah - a bit, may be. :-)

He explained that he doesn't eat breakfast, to cut on calories; spends around 2 hours in the gym, 15 minutes spend on the treadmill, and the rest, weight-training. He kept explaining a lot more, and before long, I stopped him abruptly, with a blunt remark of "its no wonder you don't loose any weight - you are doing it all wrong!".
"What??!!" he was taken quite aback.

In the next 15 minutes, I explained him how the human body works, how it utilizes ATP, blood glucose, glycogen and at last, fat to produce energy. I explained him how a 15-minutes-on-treadmill has the least probability to reduce his huge deposits of body fat and described the gear-shift-like-mechanism which the body uses to switch from power sources (ATP, blood-glucose, fat etc). I told him how important is it to have a breakfast, and how skipping it works negative for him, making him put more weight. I described how his late supper assists him in putting on more weight, and his late-in-the-evening training affecting his sleep-cycle.

After my 15 minute lecture, he sat there wide-mouthed, and exclaimed, "I didn't know any of these... least of all, I didn't expect physical training to have any technicalities... I thought its as easy as just moving around, and losing weight".

With a smile, I replied "and, that's why you need a coach!"

I prescribed him a routine, of 30-45 minutes on the treadmill / cross-trainer at moderate intensity, workout methods for specific muscle groups which can enhance fat-burning. I explained how protein supplements and energy drinks would help his routine, and how an ideal day's food sessions have to be.

Two months later, now, he has reported that he has lost 30 lbs (~15 kgs), and still clocking. And, that my friends, is the importance of "doing it right"! Your body is an amazing piece of engineering - you need to know its precise clock work and technicalities, if you need to to make the maximum use of its potentials - don't assume that its your body, and you know everything about it - truth couldn't be any farther away! :-)

It was in the fall of 2004, that I met Tedy Kanjirathinkal. It was a Saturday afternoon at the library, and I was at the check-out counter issuing the books he had picked. The reason why I noticed him, was that he was clutching the left side of his neck, massaging it, and his face reflected a strong vibe of pain and exhaustion.

Having been with holistic living, yoga and massage therapy for long, and a strong passion to help people with what I have, I couldn't help but ask him "Is everything okay?"

He released his hand and waved off with his right, "oh... yeah... its... um... its just this migraine problem I have..."
I continued, swiping the books, "Had it for long?"
"Yeah... for a few years", he went back to doing his clutch thing with the neck.
"Why do you clutch that part of the neck?"
He seemed a bit bewildered from the questions that came from the librarian, but chose to answer, "Well... it kinda seems to start from around here".
He dug his fingers into somewhere behind his neck towards the side. "Then the pain spreads into the head and eyes"
"Hmm... that's how, huh? Want me to take a look..? I might be able to help" I passed his pile of books to the pick-up counter.
He seemed to be even more bewildered "uh?"
"Well, I'm qualified... and if you would like some help, you could wait in there - I'll come over in a minute" I pointed towards the leisure room.
He hesitated for a moment, then said a bewildered "sure, thanks", picked his books and walked towards the leisure room.
I called in for a colleague to cover me for a few minutes, and stepped out of the counter.

I started off explaining to him that I was a professional, so that he trusts me with what I was about to do; learned from him a bit of his background, on what he does for a living, his daily routines, pressure at work etc. He was a software professional, worked for a multinational company, and was at Irving executing an out-sourced project for a US telecom giant. His day started at around 7 am with conference calls attended from bed, then a hurry with morning chores and a rush to office to begin a busy day. Meetings & conference calls were his prime activities, fixing high-priority issues with the software his team developed was his responsibility... he rambled on for a while, and I could just sense all the pressure, strain and tension in his narration. His day ended at around 1 am, when he mostly dozes off tired, with his laptop still running.

He practically had only two parts for a day - a sleep session for around 4-6 hours, and a work session for around 18-20 hours. He had no exercise, no entertainment, and he ate fast food.

I put an end to the short discussion, and went around him to examine his neck. I didn't have to search much, to find a small lump at the place he used to clutch - in technical terms, a hardness of the pericranial trapezius muscle, a muscle of the neck, just below the skull. Now, the scene was all clear - his migraine was nothing but a tension-type headache, caused by the hardness of pericranial muscles. I gave him a short massage, to relax the specific muscle, and exclaimed a minute later that he felt a lot better.

I explained him that his migraine was nothing but a result of lifestyle - over work and unbalanced life. I advised him to take it easy with his job for a while, may be take a vacation immediately to help the condition, start exercising, and eat healthy. He seemed quite awed by what I said, and replied positively to all my suggestions. With a session of thanks exchanged, and a promise to catch each other later, we parted for the day.

I work in shifts, and have got weekly offs, so there is no real guarantee that you'll always find me at the library. I didn't see Tedy for a couple of weeks since then; but I met him again on the third week, on a Wednesday.

"Hi, Reia", he waved at me with a smile while at the queue for checkout.
"So, how are you?" I asked him eagerly when he was at the counter with his books.
"Couldn't be better!!!" he exclaimed
"Yeah?" My face shone too
"Absolutely! The headache disappeared around a week ago... and I did nothing other than jogging for an hour daily, proper meals, an hour at starbucks reading Harry Potter every evening, and getting around 8 hours of sleep everyday"
"Well, your body is a wonderful machine, you know..?" I smiled happily "Treat it well, and it will treat you well"
"Yup", he nodded rather enthusiastically.
"So, stay healthy, where ever you go, however you go, okay?"
"Of course", he kept smiling and nodding
"Alright, then... there your books are... Have a wonderful evening... and catch you later!"
"Alrighty, thanks a bunch, Reia... You too have a wonderful evening... catch you later"

I watched him walk off happily, and got back to my work with the gratification of having touched one more life!

Ever seen a blond, slender Caucasian lady with less or (mostly) no makeup at all? Add to her a pair of blue eyes, a black-framed pair of glasses, an always-fresh look, a constant smile, and a bit of grace.... That's me - Reia Maria Organa.

I'm a librarian at the Irving public library, a part-time instructor of yoga at North Lake College, a student of psychology, a certified masseuse, and a clay-modeling/pottery enthusiast contributing my talent for charitable fund raising activities in and around the Dallas - Fort worth area in north-central Texas.

A practitioner of holistic living, spiritual awakening, health and yoga for long, I love music, movies and traveling. Exploring the world's various music forms has been my hobby for long (thanks to the vast collection of CDs from the public libraries in Chicago where I used to live earlier, and now to the Irving public libraries). Though I've recently developed a deep interest in Indian & Chinese classical music, my favorite still remains the American Jazz/R&B/Soul, and my iPod lists Ray Charles' Genius & Friends as the most-listened-to album :-)

Last but not the least, I’m an alter ego of Laknihtarijank Ydet.