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global warming is a term that refers to the increase of temperature near the earth's surface caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases. It is interesting to note that this phenomenon was first observed in the mid 18th and 19th century during the industrial revolution in developed countries. This rapid industrialization, which used heavy machinery utilizing fossil fuels all added to the huge build-up of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.

In science we learn that, in an ideal setting, short wave light from the sun enters through the thermal blanket (i.e. the greenhouse gases) which is made up of water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone. The short wave light is reflected by the earth as infrared radiation back to the atmosphere. Only a fraction is retained by the thermal blanket and is returned to the surface to sustain an environment where plants grow and where human and animals live.

Unfortunately, due to mans neglect, the accumulation of greenhouse gases eventually reached massive and irreversible proportions. This leads to the damage of the earth's ozone layer. The ozone layer is our planet's shield against harmful UV rays emanating from the sun.

When industries started booming, the indiscriminate use of fossil fuels, chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC for air-conditioners, aerosol propellants, etc.), forest fires during the dry seasons, oil-field fires during the Iraqi war in the 1990s, rapid deforestations in south America and Asia or even methane produced by cattle are all instrumental to the increase of greenhouse gases. This scenario will raise global temperature from 1.44 degrees to a worrying 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100, as reported by the Worlds Inter-government Panel on Climate Change. This may not seem like much of a difference in temperature changes but unless concerted global effort is initiated immediately to avert the ill effects of global warming, the earth will experience a disaster of immense proportions.

Continued rise in temperature which will in turn cause the polar ice caps to melt. sea water will rise considerably and inundate the low-lying areas all over the world, erasing habitable lands. Entire islands could be wiped of the map. This could lead to the extinction of species due to the loss of natural habitats and further erratic climatic behavior. The sad thing is that the polar ice caps has already begun melting, 30 years ahead of the projections made by experts in the field.

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When you learned to write, you trained the muscles in your arm and hand to create letters. It took time and concentration to do this, but with repetition it became automatic. Your hand developed muscle memory; when you write your name, your muscles remember how to move without focusing on the process.

Dancing, yoga, gymnastics and weight training are examples of other activities that require enhanced muscle memory. We can make the learning process easier and help establish muscle memory by using a few simple techniques:

* Visual images
* Repetition
* Slow motion
* Micromovement

Imagery

Using a visual image is an effective way to train your body to perform a new dance step or exercise. The best visual images are those which are familiar and detailed.

In dance, visualizing a movement helps you perform the step. For example, if a dancer wants to make an S-curving motion with her body, she can visualize a fish swimming, a camel walking, or a snake crawling. Since the best visual images are familiar and detailed, visualizing the color, texture, shape and markings of the image make it more vivid and effective. Likewise, visualizing yourself correctly repeating a new dance step or exercise makes the learning process easier.

Many people find geometric shapes helpful. For example, you can imagine drawing a big circle to make learning a belly dance hip circle or circle step easier. A square is a useful image for learning a box step or hip square.

Repetition & slow motion

Repetition helps fix a new exercise or dance movement in your mind, so that the next time you perform it, you remember it more easily and perform it with less effort. Slow repetitions of a new exercise or dance step enable you to feel every nuance of the movement.

Rushing through a movement before youve completely mastered it skips over the important process of sensing every nuance of the movement; beginning dance students and exercisers often need to be reminded to slow down. Going slowly helps your muscles recognize precisely what the movement should feel like when performed correctly.

Micromovement

Micromovement means performing a movement in a very tiny way, using the least range of motion possible. For example, if you were writing the letter O ten inches high and then writing o in a script so tiny it could barely be seen, your O would require a much larger hand movement than tiny letter o, the micromovement. Using a tiny range of motion helps you sense subtle muscle movements which are occurring, but micromovements must be performed with awareness to get the full benefit. Going slowly helps.

Have fun with learning!

Select the movement or exercise you are working on, then answer the following:

Imagery: what animal, shape or object does it remind you of?
Repetition: what kind of music would help you when practicing this movement?
Slow motion: how many counts does it take you to complete one repetition?
Micromovement:what is the smallest range of motion you can use for the movement?

Ramona is the author of Dynamic Belly Dance, the Joyful journey of Dancemaking and Performing. See free belly dance videos, read book excerpts and order an autographed copy at http://www.DynamicBellyDance.com

Copyright 2007 - All rights reserved worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article, give author name credit and follow the EzineArticles terms of service for publishers. Thank you!

I visited a good friend, Keiko, in Fukuoka recently. It was my first long vacation since I started working.

Tenjin Station Upon arriving at Fukuoka City, we placed my luggage in a locker at Tenjin train station, and headed to a traditional garden called Yusentei. There, we had the view of the Japanese garden to ourselves while enjoying matcha (green tea). The path in the garden led you right up to the edge of the water, and was ornamented with a small waterfall. The name of the vila is indeed apt: friendship-fountain-restplace.

Yusentei Japanese Villa

After Yusentei, we walked to the city's popular public park with a big lake. There was another park that Keiko wanted to show me, but we could not find the place. So we decided to have lunch and stumbled into a street with a character that reminded me of my place in Barcelona's Sierra district: safe, upper class and good food.

Lunch at El Bacharro

As if in reminiscence of my memory, we settled for a restaurant that serves food from Valencia called El Bacharro. I had vegetable with cheese and anchovies 'fondue', a popular dish of the house. The place was small but everything was carefully placed. We were particularly intrigued by the carefully camouflaged toilet entrance, which was no more than a flat wooden plank that ran across the concrete wall.

Western food in Japan

According to Keiko, western cuisine is expensive in Japan, as Japanese food would be in most other cities. So during my stay, I was "treated" to western delicacies a la Japanese style a few times, e.g. the cheesecake that Keiko's parents bought from their weekend trip to an onsen (hot spring), and citrus muffins at a flower garden.

Court house

After lunch, we visited the courthouse, where Keiko frequented when she was still an working as a legal assistant. She tried hard to find a hearing that I would attend, but there was none that was not already in session or has ended. Still, it was interesting to see how open the courthouse is to the public. Anyone could walk in and sit into a hearing and the place resembled more of a hospital than a courthouse.

Cultural District

From the courthouse, we headed to a cultural district lined with museums, shops and temples. It was interesting to see the traditional sweets that Keiko gave me as a gift when she visited my home last summer.

We played with the traditional toys. There was one called Pabo, or something that mimicked the sound it made. It was a magical wooden book that clapped continuously once you set it in motion. The toy still rings vividly as I think about it now. Perhaps I should have bought one like Keiko said. But then we agreed that she would buy it for my first-born.

The porcelain artiste was in the musuem today. He was affable and chatty. We asked him to recommend a place to visit. He checked the time and replied that there was a Buddhist temple nearby that was still open for another hour. There, we could go through a test to see if we would go to heaven.

Buddhist Temple

The test was a journey into a dark passage way behind the alter of a big Buddha carved out of cypress. If you groped along the walls and touched a metal ring, then you are going to heaven. Silly as it may sound, I felt a real sense of cleansing after the test. For in the pitch blackness, ironically, it was as if someone shone a bright light into my soul. There was no way I could hide from my deepest conscience. (Of course, if you are wondering, Keiko and I are going to heaven.)

Canal City

We headed next to the glittering material world of Canal City, a popular mall with canals not unlike the Venice wannabes in las vegas. Watching the sunset unfold on the panoramic window of the cafe, "Sweet Museum", we knew it was time to go home.

The author is an avid traveller and amateur photographer. To view the above article with accompanying photographs and to see more photo-journals, please visit http://viewmesomefreejournals.blogspot.com