What are your plans for the winter vacation?

I don’t have any special plans for the vacation as my wife is in hospital so I will be on my own. Actually, these days I don’t feel on my own because I can meet so many friendly and interesting students on Cafetalk!  I don’t really like technology, but it does have some merits!

I think the most important thing to do when things are not going so well is to keep to a routine.  So, my morning routine during the winter vacation will not vary one iota. 

I will get up at 4:30 in the morning and do my ‘Movement Activity’ which is 12 minutes of yoga. After that I will do my ‘Meditation Activity,’ which is to read and think about a passage from the Stoics (ancient Greek philosophers). Finally I will do my ‘Mastery Activity,’ which is to study Japanese.  This 3Ms routine is actually very famous and is said to be the best way to start the day by many doctors and counsellors.

Before I eat breakfast I have a cold shower. This is easy in summer but winter is another story.  It takes a certain amount of will-power to turn on the cold tap, and for a second one pants as though out of breath after a run. In a way it is quite painful. However, once you get out of the shower you actually feel extremely warm.  I find this effect very interesting!

See you soon,

Buri