Old school love: Sending letters: Via courier? Via pigeon? Via travelers? Waiting for calls? Sending cute but short text messages? (With ‘don’t reply, mom, will read it) Seeing each other for the first time? (With those shy eyes) This is what we are searching for.

 People nowadays think relationships don’t last. And here I am talking about a long-lasting long distant relationship. GOD! But yes, it does work. Only if you want it to work.

You know long distance relationship still has a touch of old-school love somewhere. You know; where you wait all day long to talk to them; where you wait for months/years to see each other’s faces; where you still look at the moon at the same time to feel each other’s presence(cliche, but true); where you’re always there virtually to be a part of each other’s success and failure; where you find ways to do things together. (watching series/movies, having online dates, playing online games, having late night antakshri sessions) All of these sounds so perfect, doesn’t it? But as I say, not every day is rainbows and flowers. There are clashes in every relationship. A long-distance relationship has some pieces of stuff to spice the clashes.

For example DISTANCE. You live far away from your partner, there is a problem in matching your timings. You cannot frequently see each other, which isn’t a problem unless you need a hug/cuddle after a long tiring day.

COMMUNICATION GAP. You can only talk over phone calls, and solving fights over phone calls is something one shouldn’t try. Just kidding, conveying your point of view over a call, is tough. You will never know how the other one is perceiving it. Then misunderstanding takes place. There are times when you barely have a good conversation for over a month.

DISTRACTIONS. Maybe he/she won’t be able to be there for you and someone else is doing their part. Don’t just let that affect your relationship. All you need to remember is where your heart belongs. Where do you belong? Not everyone stays.

 “आखों मे बसी हो पर दूर हो कही, दिल के करीब हो ये मुझको है यकिन”

There are times when you just feel that this is not going to work. Everyone feels that. But don’t give up easily. Now by this, I don’t mean that continue being in a toxic relationship. Just don’t give up on something, you know will last long.

 Long-distance relationships do last, you just need the right partner to go along with. You just need to remember the love you have for them. And also I believe LOVE lasts. Long-distance or short. It lasts forever.

Gautama Buddha, popularly referred to as Buddha (also referred to as Siddhattha Gotama or Siddhārtha Gautama or Buddha Shakyamuni), was a Śramaṇa who lived in ancient India (c. 5th to 4th century BCE). He’s considered the founding father of the planet religion of Buddhism and revered by most Buddhist schools as a savior, the Enlightened One who rediscovered an ancient path to release clinging and craving and escape the cycle of birth and rebirth. He taught for around 45 years and built an outsized following, both monastic and lay. His teaching is predicated on his insight into the arising of duḥkha (the unsatisfactoriness of clinging to impermanent states and things) and therefore the ending of duhkha—the state called Nibbāna or Nirvana (extinguishing of the three fires).

The Buddha was born into an aristocratic family within the Shakya clan but eventually renounced lay life. consistent with Buddhist tradition, after several years of mendicancy, meditation, and asceticism, he awakened to know the mechanism which keeps people trapped within the cycle of rebirth. Buddha then traveled throughout the Ganges plain teaching and building a spiritual community. Buddha taught a middle way between sensual indulgence and therefore the severe asceticism found within the Indian śramaṇa movement. He taught training of the mind that included ethical training, self-restraint, and meditative practices like jhana and mindfulness. Buddha also critiqued the practices of Brahmin priests, like animal sacrifice and therefore the class structure.

A couple of centuries after his death he came to be known by the title Buddha, which suggests “Awakened One” or “Enlightened One”. Gautama’s teachings were compiled by the Buddhist community within the Vinaya, his codes for monastic practice, and therefore the Suttas, texts supported his discourses. These were passed down in Middle-Indo Aryan dialects through an oral tradition. Later generations composed additional texts, like systematic treatises referred to as Abhidharma, biographies of Buddha, collections of stories about the Buddha’s past lives referred to as Jataka tales, and extra discourses, i.e. the Mahayana sutras.

FORMATION OF THE BHIKKHUNI ORDER

The formation of a parallel order of female monastics (bhikkhunī) was another important part of the expansion of the Buddha’s community. As noted by Anālayo’s comparative study of this subject, there are various versions of this event depicted within the different early Buddhist texts.

According to all the main versions surveyed by Anālayo, Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī, Buddha’s step-mother, is initially turned down by Buddha after requesting ordination for her and a few other women. Mahāprajāpatī and her followers then shave their hair, don robes, and start following Buddha on his travels. Buddha is eventually convinced by Ānanda to grant ordination to Mahāprajāpatī on her acceptance of eight conditions called gurudharmas which specialize in the connection between the new order of nuns and therefore the monks.

According to Anālayo, the sole argument common to all or any of the versions that Ananda uses to convince Buddha is that ladies have an equivalent ability to succeed in all stages of awakening. Anālayo also notes that some modern scholars have questioned the authenticity of the eight gurudharmas in their present form because of various inconsistencies. He holds that the historicity of the present lists of eight is doubtful, but that they’ll are supported earlier injunctions by Buddha. Anālayo also notes that various passages indicate that the rationale for the Buddha’s hesitation to ordain women was the danger that the lifetime of a wandering sramana posed for ladies that weren’t under the protection of their male relations (such as dangers of sexual abuse and abduction). because of this, the gurudharma injunctions may are how to put “the newly founded order of nuns during a relationship to its male counterparts that resembles the maximum amount as possible the protection a laywoman could expect from her male relatives.”

When American billioniore Jeff Bezos blast off into space later this month. He’ll bring 82 year old Wally Funk with him.

Funk is one of the 13 women who completed a NASA astronaut training program in 1960s, and will be oldest person ever to travel into to space. Funk was 21 year old when she passed the training. In 1960 she was a part of program to determine whether women were fit for space or not.

They told me I’ve done better and completed the work faster than any of the guys, Ms Funk said in a video posted on Mr. Bezos account. But women were denied the chance to become astronaut because of their gender.

In a video posted to social media on Thursday, Bezos space firm blue origin announced that Funk would be among the passengers. Also she will join Jeff Bezos’s brother Mark and the other traveler who paid 28 million, winner of an auction on 20 July. Bezos is currently the richest man on the planet. He is been flying with fellow billionaires Elon Musk and Richard Branson to become the first, to travel into space on a privately developed rocket.

England secure their place in the last four of Euro 2020 with a 4-0 hammering of Ukraine at the Stadio Olimpico. Harry Kane fired the Three Lions ahead in the fourth minute. Harry Maguire then doubled their advantage almost immediately after the restart before Kane added a third with a close-range header. Jordan Henderson put the game beyond doubt with his first England goal, allowing Gareth Southgate and his team to canter into the semi-finals for the second major tournament in a row.

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England take on Denmark in their semi-final clash at Wembley on Wednesday. Ukraine are next in action in their World Cup qualifying campaign against Kazakhstan in September.

[By Bhoomika Saini]

1. Use elevation to your advantage.

Heading up hills naturally increases the intensity of your walk even if you’re moving at the same pace or slower. “A walking incline can be even harder than running,” Barrett says. Declines also serve their purpose, activating your core and strengthening your mind-muscle connection as you focus on each step.

Those lucky enough to live near undulating trails or roads can simply plan their route accordingly. If you’re largely on flat land, find any suitable slope—even a sledding hill or a parking-lot ramp—and do four to five hill repeats, walking up purposefully and down intentionally.

2. Do an out-and-back where you can do some stair climbs at the halfway point.

One simple way to add extra intensity into your workout is to incorporate some stairs into your routine. A common way to do this is to map your route to include regular walking as a warm-up, then hitting a flight of stairs for some higher-intensity work, and then walking back home as a cooldown.

For instance, Lewis lives in Philadelphia—home to the art museum with the steps featured famously in the movie Rocky. Someone who lives a mile or so away could plot a route to their base, then climb up and down a couple of times before briskly walking home again, she suggests. (You can also try this stair workout for some inspiration.)

3. Mix in some bodyweight moves.

Even if there aren’t stairs in your vicinity, you can still break up a walk with a burst of calisthenics. If you have access to a track or a park with a looped path, try walking the curves and doing dynamic or bodyweight moves on the straightaways, Curry says—for instance, walking lunges, walking planks, or single-leg hopping. No track? Try it by time—for instance, two minutes of walking, then one minute of strength moves.

If you’re near an open playground and don’t mind toting along hand sanitizer, you can do pull-ups or monkey bars. Prefer not to touch? Try toe taps on a curb, step-ups on park benches, or a split squat with one foot elevated on a ledge.

4. Walk to music with a quicker tempo

There’s a reason group fitness classes blast power pop—music not only boosts your mood, research shows it can actually make hard efforts feel easier. What’s more, it can also work as a kind of metronome guiding your pace.

Spotify has playlists for songs of various beats per minute that Lewis loves for keeping the tempo up. Choose one that’s comfortably challenging—say, 130 to 140 BPM—and will last for the duration of time that you want to walk, and aim to keep up with it. (You can also try our SELF playlist of the best workout songs for some motivation, too.)

Or use music as a cue for more intense segments. Walk easy for verses and fast during the chorus, suggests Erin Schirack, a Chicago-based personal trainer and cofounder of MV Fitness. Theodore recommends this bodyweight circuit at the start of every other tune: 10 squats, 10 split squats on each leg, 10 lateral lunges per leg, and 10 push-ups, either on the ground or with your hands on a bench to make it easier.

5. Or even twirl, prance, or twerk.

Professional dancer Bobby O’Brien is the other mind behind MV Fitness in Chicago, which offers dance workouts inspired by music video choreography. Sprinkling a few moves into your walk elevates your heart rate and gives you an opportunity to move in different directions—critical for those of us hunched at desks and over our devices all day, he says. Some of his favorite moves are air punches, grapevines, lateral shuffles, and strutting on the balls of your feet, which works your calves and quads.

Don’t let self-consciousness or a lack of dance training hold you back. After this whole COVID thing and the movement that’s been happening with our country—we’ve all gone through this together. “Let go of everything that’s in your head and don’t worry about what people think.”

6. Use technology to your advantage (or leave it behind).

This is another time when it’s important to consider the purpose of your walk. If it’s a mind-clearing, meditative stroll, it might be best to leave your GPS watch at home and your phone in do-not-disturb mode, Lewis says. But if you’re aiming for fitness benefits, you can use digital tools as motivators.

If you have a watch or fitness tracker with a step count, try to take a few more steps during each 30- or 60-minute walk. Or you can race others using the app Strava, whether it’s against friends or strangers.

If you go this route, just be careful not to let your competitive nature get the best of you. Stress and anxiety can affect what’s known as your rate of perceived exertion, or how hard it feels like you’re working to power through each step.

“You need to listen to your body,” she says, even if the message is to slow down or back off. “If you’re used to hitting a certain number or certain metric, don’t be disappointed by what your Garmin says. You should be more excited and proud that you did something as opposed to nothing.”

7. Close it out with a stretch session.

Taking a few minutes to further loosen warm, limber muscles after a walk can ease some of the strain and fatigue you’ve built up and also give your session a sense of closure.

Your body may guide you to what’s tight and achy. If your form is correct, your shins, calves, and hamstrings may feel sore, Mosier points out. Loosen your calves by standing with the ball of your left foot on a curb or step and your right foot flat on the ground. Lean but don’t bounce until you feel a stretch in your left calf, and hold for 30 to 60 seconds before repeating on the opposite side.

For your hamstrings, step your left foot forward, straighten your left knee, bend the right slightly, then hinge forward at your hips with your back flat. Stretch your arms overhead, reach forward, then slowly stand back up. Repeat five times on each side.

That small act of self-care can go a long way in cementing your walk as an important accomplishment, another way you’re navigating the challenges everyone’s facing right now. It’s this buffer between the workout and the rest of the world, a finishing touch. “It just makes the rest of the day better. And then the next day, you’re prepared to go for a walk again.”