The thing about Heathrow Terminal 3 is that – like any airport – all people want to do is be somewhere else.

Cafe Nero is one of the better options for passing some time. It has six tills split between two halves, which gives you a split second to choose the queue of shortest wait. I choose right, but am soon disconcerted by the lack of clarity. Is it just one queue for three tills or is it three separate queues? There is a corridor of uncertainty, with a long queue on the right, but a tempting shorter queue on the left.

The only choice is to join the longest queue. But that creates a subtle fear that someone could come from behind and join the half-formed queues in front. If I deny myself a shortcut, I need to deny others too!

So I perform an act of self-interest and civic duty all at once. I queue at a diagonal to move the queue away from the right flank – right into the middle where it should be by the natural law of things. Then I nervously wait, using my psychic energy to secretly discourage people from sneaking through on the flanks.

The tension is palpable, heightened by the fact all the queues in front seem to grind to a halt. As Murphy’s Law would have it, the queue on the other side of the cafe is speeding through. For a split second, I contemplate jumping ship and moving to the other side. I would probably get served quicker, but I’m too invested in my own queue  – which, if not moving very quickly, is at least bringing a little order into the chaos of Heathrow.  Even the people in front seem to be shifting a little to the centre, as if there is an unconscious recognition for the proper, invisible line of our queue. The centre ground is holding. A very small victory in life’s battleground.

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The benefits of joining the back of the queueRead More »

Recently the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run came to Oxford. I helped as a local co-ordinator to arrange a few meetings. I also cycled with the runners around Oxford.

One of the great things about the Peace Run is that you have to expect the unexpected. Even the best-laid plans need to be flexible. When you are on the run, you soon realise you are very much living in the moment. …

Peace Run in Oxford 2018Read More »

Since my cycling has come to a virtual standstill, I have been looking for alternative physical challenges.

As a means to an end (recover from injury) I have been trying different exercises – Egoscue, Pilates, Tibetan Rites, physiotherapy e.t.c.

They haven’t succeeded in doing anything for the injury, but they have become useful in their own right. The ‘means’ has become the ‘end’. Some movement/exercise is much better than none.

I was speaking to a friend from the Sri Chinmoy Centre and he mentioned that, recently while on the Peace Run, they met the “Ice Man” – Vim Hof, who recommends cold showers, breathing exercises and meditation as a way to improve your health and gain immunisation against the cold.

I was intrigued because at 190cm – 61kg I’m a good heat diffuser. I get so cold it has become partly a mental expectation that I will be cold. I’m not trying to run a marathon in the Arctic in shorts and t-shirt like Vim Hof – just staying a little warmer meditating outside at Aspiration-Ground in New York would be fine.

Anyway, cold showers remind me a little of hill climb intervals – you never look forward to them, they hurt during the event, but after you get a great euphoria and sense of satisfaction. I thought I would be unable to tolerate cold showers at all, but after a week, my tolerance has already improved quite a bit. It’s quite an interesting experience.

I wrote more on my cycling blog – “What to do when you can’t cycle“