When Chitra, a resident of K.K. Nagar, joined a gym a few years ago, she was determined to sweat it out to lose weight.

However, she lost interest after a week. The thought of having to go to the gym was dreadful. I kept putting it off every day and eventually didnt go at all. It was a waste of money.

However, when a womens exclusive exercise zone was established inside Sivan Park, she was back on the road to fitness. This time around, she went to the open gym every day for a month. The air-conditioned gym was claustrophobic. At Sivan Park, I got a chance to exercise for 20 minutes while my children enjoyed playing with their friends. I am planning to continue here, she adds.

To promote good health among men and women, the Ward 131 of Chennai Corporation, has created a separate space for exercising inside the park.

While the mens section was opened a few months ago, the exercise zone for womens was started just over two months ago. The exercise zones for men and women have been created in different sections of the park. Also, they are at the fag end. So women dont feel uncomfortable while exercising, says Amudhavalli, who makes the most of the facility while her son takes skating practice.

Even as we speak to the regular visitors, two young women come and check out the equipment.

We heard about this exercise zone and wanted to see what they have. Everything looks easy to do and needs no trainers. We would definitely prefer coming here to spending on a gym, says Pavithra, a college student.

Such has been the patronage at Sivan Park that M. Gunasekaran, ward councillor, is planning to install similar equipment in the other parks in his ward.

I got the idea when I visited an IAS Academy. There, an exercise zone had been created for the students. I replicated the concept at a few places in my Zone. But, Sivan Park has been a mega hit. Next, we are planning to create an open gym inside the parks in First, Second and Sixth Sector in K.K. Nagar, he says.

The equipment are such that they can be used by senior citizens as well and similar to those used for physiotherapy, he says.

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Park offers excercise zone

My conversation with Richard Rohr was one of the most popular in The Advent of Evolutionary Christianity series. In that December 2010 interview, Richard mentioned his forthcoming book, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, which is now available. Heres the publishers description

InFalling Upward, Fr. Richard Rohr seeks to help readers understand the tasks of the two halves of life and to show them that those who have fallen, failed, or gone down are the only ones who understand up. Most of us tend to think of the second half of life as largely about getting old, dealing with health issues, and letting go of life, but the whole thesis of this book is exactly the opposite. What looks like falling down can largely be experienced as falling upward. In fact, it is not a loss but somehow actually a gain, as we have all seen with elders whohave come to their fullness.

Explains why the second half of life can and should be full of spiritual richness

Offers a new view of how spiritual growth happens loss is gain

Richard. Rohr is a regular contributing writer for Sojourners and Tikkun magazines

This important book explores the counterintuitive message that we grow spiritually much more by doing wrong than by doing right.

The following is a Q&A with Richard on the subject of his new book

What do you mean by the two halves of life?

The phrase two halves of life was first popularized by Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist. He says that there are two major tasks. In the first half [of life] youve got to find your identity, your significance; you create your ego boundaries, your ego structure, what I call the creating of the container. But thats just to get you started. In the second half of life, once youve created your ego structure, you finally have the courage to ask: What is this all for? What am I supposed to do with this? Is it just to protect it, to promote it, to defend it, or is there some deeper purpose? The search for meaning is the task of the second half of life. (This is not always a chronological matter Ive met 11 year-old children in cancer wards who are in the second half of life, and I have met 68 year-old men like me who are still in the first half of life.)

Why is the further journey of the second half of life especially important for people of faith who are seeking a deeper relationship with God?

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Evolutionary Christianity || Richard Rohr: Falling ...