Is that philosophy from a type of yoga, or from the personality of the instructor? Or are you just saying I should take that philosophy into whatever class I attend? (I suspect you mean the latter, but wanted to make sure!)

My gym offers classes in hatha yoga, iyengar yoga, and vinyasa yoga. The descriptions of the classes on the schedule are so brief as to basically be meaningless. Can anyone tell me if one of these types of yoga involves less/no "pulling"? What I mean by that is, for example, I like doing a trunk twist using the power of the muscles in my trunk. I do not like using my arms to pull myself deeper into the twist. I like doing a seated forward bend where I reach toward my toes. I do not want to pull myself deeper into the bend by grabbing onto my feet and pulling. I only want to move my joints through the range of motion that they are capable of, I don't want to force them further than they can naturally go by pulling on them. Does that make sense? Is there any type of yoga that would work for me? Or should I just do something like Classical Stretch videos at home?

You're comparing a business deciding what it will provide based on its costs, to a third party stepping in and telling that business what it can provide based on religious beliefs. You don't see the difference? And as to your last sentence, no they are not telling her "they" will not pay for it. They are telling her that SHE can't pay for it using the health insurance that she earned in compensation for the job that she performed for them. The healthcare plan is part of the currency that she earned in exchange for her time and work. The companies aren't just giving it away out of the goodness of their hearts, you know. The employees are earning it. It belongs to the employees. It is their property, just like the salary that they've earned. Just like the paid vacation time that they've earned. You would agree that the salary belongs to the employee, yes? How are the benefits that she earned any different? Honestly, I don't see how this is any different from a company saying its employees cannot spend their vacation time in Las Vegas because the company has a "sincerely held religious belief" against gambling. I've earned my vacation time. It is mine to do with as I please. Why should it still be under my employer's control?

I am a religious person myself, the dominant religion in this country: Christian. I do not feel that my religious freedom is in any danger in the US whatsoever. And in fact, I believe we take the concept of religious freedom too far, and we actually use it as an excuse to infringe upon the rights of others, meaning people who may not share our religion, and/or children who are too young to have made a choice about religion of their own free will. The first of three examples that come to my mind is already being discussed in this thread. I think it is absolutely appalling that part of the compensation that has been earned by an employee is still under the control of the employer in the name of "religious freedom". The issue is really about the rights of individuals versus the rights of corporations, but we call it "religious freedom" to make individuals feel like we won the fight when we actually lost. My husband earns our healthcare by providing his experience, expertise, and hard work to his employer in exchange for that healthcare and his salary. What we do with that salary and health insurance is none of their business, it is OURS. But this is actually the least egregious of the three examples. The second is "Let Them Marry" and the like, and the third is minor children being denied access to life-saving healthcare. Both of these have the same problem, they are infringing on the basic human rights of children in the name of the religious freedom of the adults. "Let Them Marry" and similar practices that marry off young teenage girls/women against their will or without their full and free consent in the name of "religious freedom" are dangerously close to being human trafficking or slavery (or maybe they are beyond "close"!). That organization needs to be shut down, like yesterday. And if an adult chooses to belong to a religion that requires them to die rather than receive certain types of health care, then that's their choice. But forcing that choice on children who are too young to give full and free consent is criminal. If 14 is too young to vote, too young to enter into a contract, too young to enlist, too young to buy alcohol, then it sure as hell is too young to make life and death choices, and we wouldn't even need to have this conversation if those choices were motivated by anything but religion. I was unaware of the issue in the OP's link, but that's a pretty obvious one to add to the list. "Religious freedom" doesn't mean that I get to tell other people they can't worship in a way that's not in accordance with my beliefs. I mean, how is this even a thing????

I forgot about taxes! I guess I wasn't counting it, since psychologically that money never feels like it was ours to begin with. It never appears in our bank account, we never deal with it or "touch" it in any way, we usually just have a very small refund or sometimes a very small payment due each year. So that's really the only part of it that I spend much time thinking about. And speaking of how psychology affects what we count as an expense, I was surprised to see people counting retirement investments as expenses. To me, it's the very opposite of an expense. Expenses are money going out. Investments are money staying in. But I guess if you think of it as a "payment" that you're making to your future self, then it definitely can feel like an expense in the moment.

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I am so sick of this desert heat, that sounds like heaven! Would you mind telling me where they live (feel free to PM me if you don't want to say publicly)?

I can certainly understand your frustration! But if you do love Texas, you might like Oklahoma. They're very similar -- well, my only experience living in Texas was Dallas, so I don't know how that compares to the rest of the state. But to me Oklahoma seems a lot like Texas, but without so much state pride. Few states have as much state pride as Texas! :lol: The only part of Alaska I've been to is the inside passage, and I LOVED it! My understanding is that the climate there is pretty mild year round because of the proximity to the ocean. And it's stunningly gorgeous. Sadly, I didn't stay long enough to get a real feel for the culture. But the natural beauty there is . . . wow.

I'm sure that we'll have no choice but to settle for 2/3 of the things we want! :-) So I'm all ears if you have some other suggestions!

Ah, thanks for this explanation.

Not familiar, so I'll look into them. Thanks for the suggestion!

Yes, it's a whole cascade effect.

Whispering: you've heard wrong. :leaving: :001_smile: I grew up in OK, and I have no desire to move back. But that's just me. I was always a misfit. I knew by the time I was 10 that I didn't want to stay.

Yes, I love the atmosphere of university towns! Part of it is romanticizing a happy time in my life, but part of it is just that they do bring a certain energy or vibe to a place that I really enjoy.

Probably! We've considered Fort Collins too. Housing costs are increasing pretty rapidly there right now. I'm afraid that by the time we're able to move, we won't be able to afford to! But, yes, we love that general area.

Beautifully said!

For my hubby, some place in/near mountains with a very outdoorsy culture. For my daughter, a place with a thriving art community. For me, adequate sunshine and a city that is largely walkable and/or has good public transportation. For all of us, a reasonable cost of living, a low crime rate, and a left-leaning political atmosphere. Now if someone could just tell me if such a place exists, I'd be most grateful!!! :D

House, but in a couple of years college tuition will be surpassing that. I'm scared.

No, public school all the way through. And I'm actually grateful for that. While I believe (hope!) that homeschooling was the right choice for my daughter's education, it absolutely would not have been for me or my family situation when I was growing up. That's why I'm not an "everyone should homeschool!" evangelist. :001_smile: Homeschooling is great when it's the right fit.

When I read the thread title, I thought you were talking about people who are into quality microbreweries and brewing their own beers at home, that sort of thing. That's the "beer culture" that I've experienced where I live. It does not usually involve any drunkenness. It's more about an appreciation for a finely crafted product. Not overindulging. I can absolutely understand this "beer culture". But the beer culture that you're talking about - I haven't experienced that. I don't think that you have to drink every day for it to be an addiction, but I'm no expert on the definition. It does sound like a problem, though, either way. Is that quite common in your community? Or is it just a certain subset of people?

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Love it!

Let's see, my week was: Sunday - stairmaster Monday - run Tuesday - weights Wednesday - nothing (migraine, again) Thursday - run Friday - circuit training And tomorrow morning is weights with hubby. Some sort of cardio planned for Sunday. I found out today that the instructor who teaches the circuit training class (whom I adore!) also teaches an aqua aerobics class on Thursdays. I've never done aqua aerobics before, but as brutally hot as it is here right now, the pool sounds pretty good! So I might give that a try next week.

Yay! That is great! I didn't realize there was enough difference between a chin-up and a pull-up that a person might be able to do one but not the other. I know the grips are different, I guess I just didn't realize what a big difference that makes in which muscles are doing most of the work. I read once that it puts less torque on your shoulders if you use a parallel grip -- I wonder how hard that one is. I can't do any of them! Yet. I can't do any of them yet.

SLEEP! :001_smile: You release the most growth hormone (which is responsible for rebuilding and repairing tissues) in the deep stages of sleep. So make sure you are practicing good "sleep hygiene".