As a child, I never considered myself an athlete at all as I was very uncoordinated(不协调的). However, I did love to run because I felt as if I was flying but this all changed two years ago when I suffered a knee injury. I was bedridden for two weeks and I had a difficult time moving even short distances. I literally cried myself on my way to the car for a few days.

When therapy wasn’t working well for me, I signed up for a hot yoga class for girls, Bikram Yoga to be exact. Starting a yoga practice was truly a godsend because it helped me gain strength in my knees but, most importantly, yoga helped me attain a more peaceful state of mind, body and spirit.

Since each class was heated to 105°F, every time I stepped foot in the yoga studio, I’d feel a surge(涌起) of negative thoughts come upon me like a big ocean wave. Some of these thoughts were, in the beginning of my practice, so strong that I walked out of the class several times. However, as the months passed by, I noticed that when I didn’t get swayed away by my negative thoughts, I could stay in the hot room for longer.

After 3 – 4 months of practicing hot yoga, my arms and legs were beginning to get definition. I also woke up with so much more energy than I had before starting my yoga practice and I gradually started shedding the pounds from my body. Yoga literally made me feel as if I’d taken a shot of energy drink and just gave me that burst that helped my knees heal and made my overall health better.

As I saw some of my classmates do poses that looked appealing to me, I started to think maybe I could do them too. Therefore, yoga helped show me that I have no real limitations physically unless I set those limitations myself through eating junk and thinking in negative limiting terms.

Also, practicing yoga in front of a mirror helped me connect with myself and practicing with a group of people really helped me to feel a greater sense of connection with humanity whereas before I didn’t. Overall, this yoga practice has helped me to see I’m part of a bigger picture in life!

Nanjing Yunjin brocade is traditional Chinese silk art with a history of about 1,600 years. Its complex weaving (编织)techniques, various colors and patterns, and its particular choices of materials make it valuable and ancient people said, “An inch of brocade, an inch of gold.” Today, the traditional characteristics and unique skills of yunjin remain to be an award-winning art treasure. Its techniques are passed down from generation to generation by artisans.

Zhou Shuangxi, a national-level inheritor (继承人) of yunjin weaving techniques, is one of them. Back in 1973, he graduated from a mining school and was selected to become a student at the NanjingYunjin Research Institute along with five other students, just because he was “in good shape”. There were only several masters in their 70s and not even a loom (织布机) to use. “The old masters finally remembered a loom was stored somewhere. When I opened the door, I saw what seemed like a pile of wood,” Zhou recalled.

“Weaving was difficult, but different from mining. Mining requires heavy physical labor, but working with the soft and thin silk requires studying and practicing in front of a loom for decades until you master the technique. My hands became quite awkward due to mining, so I used to put my hands in warm water whenever I could. In this way, they could become softer and weave the silk more easily,” he said.

Out of the six or so students, Zhou is the only one who has insisted on the trade to this day. Having devoted the past five decades to yunjin production despite all the sweat and struggles, he has developed his techniques to the point where he can weave the antique dragon robes in all their small details. He also made various artworks that not only show China's intangible cultural heritage but also serve as Zhou Shuangxi's artistic creations.

“I am lucky to be in such a good era and I have the honor of being a representative inheritor,” Zhou said.

The rapid increase of the oil price has brought the world to its senses. Scientists are seeking suitable alternative (替换) but so far in vain. They are considering how they can make better use of the two other major fuels, coal and natural gas, but they have found that neither can replace oil in their economics. In recent years, there has been a growing concern for the environment and coal is not a popular fuel with environmentalists. Natural gas, the purest of the three fuels, is also the most limited in supply.

The answer would seem to lie in nuclear power stations. They need very little fuel to produce enormous amounts of power and they do not pollute the atmosphere. Their dangers, however, are so great and the costs of building them are also high. Not only could one accident in a nuclear power station spread as much radioactivity (放射物) as a thousand Hiroshima atom bombs, but the radioactive waste from these stations is extremely dangerous.

Scientists have recently turned their attention to natural sources of energy: the sun, the sea, the wind and hot spring, of which the sun seems the most promising source for the future. Houses have already been built which are heated entirely by solar energy. However, solar energy can only be collected during daylight hours, and in countries where the weather is unreliable, an alternative heating system has to be included.

However, many scientists are optimistic that new ways of generating large amounts of energy will be successfully developed, but at the same time they fear the consequences. If the world population goes on increasing at its present rate, we may, in fifty years’ time, be burning up so much energy that we would damage the earth’s atmosphere. By raising the temperature of the atmosphere,we could melt the Arctic and Antarctic ice-caps and change the pattern of vegetable and animal life throughout the world——a frightening possibility.