YOGAVERMONT - Issue #80

During this week’s watch party (  Nirvana Shatkam - 2 by Prof. Anatanand Rambachan ) Professor Rambachan took us through a process where we closed our eyes and he said a few words out loud - phone, cow, tree, and then he said awareness. He paused and asked us what we saw. For me, I saw expansive nothingness. His point was to say that sometimes we get confused about what we are. That maybe we think we are our body or our mind or our intellect or even the actions that we do or the titles we have, but the teachings from Nirvana Shatakam tell us we are the aware-er. We are the awareness. We are that which we can not picture - expansive awareness.

Themes of duality, self awareness, trusting one’s own knowledge, and playing with the concepts presented to us by many maps from many traditions are woven through Kathy’s talks. A couple weeks ago, during YTT, Kathy talked about the Hawaiian concept of Huna. In Huna there are three selves. The basic self, the middle self and the higher self. The three selves act as a family & the tradition emphasizes the importance of balance.

According to the book The Fundamentals of Hawaiian Mysticism, to get know the selves, you begin by observing your behavior.

And here I connect us to this beautiful interview (also linked below) with one of Kathy’s first Ashtanga yoga teachers Beryl Birch Bender,

Thursday 24th  9:00-10:30 Primary

5:00 Beginning Ashtanga

Friday 25th   9:00-10:30 Primary

Thursday 31st 9:00-10:30 Primary

5:00 Beginning Ashtanga

Friday Dec 1st  9:00-10:30 Vinyasa

Sunday Watch Party at 6:15! We will continue with our lectures on Nirvana Shatakam and we are open to watching other things. Join us with your hot chocolate and knitting on zoom.

Family, Friends, and Foes:

I was waiting until the second shot had settled to report back. This was MY response to the AztraSeneca COVID-19 vaccine trial study. My understanding is that other volunteer‘s symptoms were even milder. Each body is different.

The morning after the 1st vaccine shot: I had a headache, body aches, sore/raspy throat, and fatigue. I took 500 mg acetaminophen that morning, and a nap in the afternoon.

The following morning: mild headache, body aches, fatigue. But, it didn’t limit my daily activities. Ran errands. Also took a nap that afternoon.

That’s exactly what my body was supposed to do: build an immunological response to the foreign COVID-19 protein in my system. The vaccine has ONE the many proteins that make up the COVID-19 virus. That’s why I’m neither sick, nor contagious: I just got a small fraction of it. For most people, the symptoms last about 48 hrs. But… I’m special. As I still had symptoms, albeit mild, after 48 hrs, I had to be hyper monitored for a couple more days, and VERY much ruled out for COVID-19. So, the study team had me go in for an assessment . They ran FOUR different COVID-19 tests on me. The attached picture is the box I had to wear afterwards, until the test resulted negative (Hopefully!). My vitals were being sent and monitored by a nurse in Kansas City (I’m in VT!). The next morning my results came back: negative. Although, I have to say, I kind of liked the box.

After the 2nd vaccine shot (4 weeks later):

A nearby train horn woke me up in the middle of the night. That’s how I realized I had chills, rigors, sore/raspy throat, headache, body aches, fatigue. I monitored my temperature until it reached 100 degrees (I’m an RN!), THEN took 1,000 mg acetaminophen.

In the morning, I felt just like the morning after the 1st shot: headache, body aches, sore/raspy throat, fatigue. Stayed home all day. Took a nap in the afternoon. Didn’t need any more medication.

I went to work the following morning.

Makes me wonder whether I slept through the fevers after the first shot.

A week later I had similar symptoms so they had me go through the hyper-monitoring phase again. Tested negative again. We suspect that as my body was focused on building an immune response to the corona virus, another bug sneaked through the gate and got me sick. Feeling much better already.

Again, this was MY PERSONAL experience. Everyone’s body is different. But, the consensus out there seems to be that the side effects are relatively minor and short lived. Particularly when compared with ending up intubated in an ICU. Dr. Fauci said that 75-85% of the population of the USA has to take the vaccine for us to reach her immunity, by March 2021.

Please spread the word, if you feel comfortable doing so.

Kindly,

Milton Rosa-Ortiz

UVM Medical Center Staff Oncology Nurse

Burlington, Vermont

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