Top Nine Xbox 360 Games of 2007

With an advantage of a year on the Wii and PS3, the Xbox 360 ended up having a much better selection of games available. It was a wild year for the Xbox 360 with many great big name titles and exclusive titles. Just like any year, disappointments were scattered throughout. Besides the guarantee of guitar Hero and Rock Band, this list should catch you with a few surprises.

9. The Orange Box

There really is no other package quite like it for the Xbox 360. Five hit games for $60 and not just any five games. There is one of the best shooters of all time, accompanied by it's two expansion packs, an eccentric multiplayer game, and a fresh thinking puzzle game. I personally named it "Shooters' Delight".

8. Eternal Sonata

A story that is wildly innovative and one of the best combat systems ever put into an RPG. RPGS live or dive by their stories and Eternal Sonata has one that is deliciously imaginative. A real time combat system helps to keep things new, rather then your standard turn based combat like most RPGs on the Xbox 360. Quite the bizarre dream, Eternal Sonata will continue to enjoy your from start to finish.

7. guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock

Whenever a new developer enters an already establish franchise, there is always worries. Neversoft does well and seems to continue the tried and true formula previously established by Harmonix. A fantastic soundtrack helps elevate this game a little bit over it's previous installments. Rock on wannabe guitar players, rock on.

6. Forza Motorsport 2

A hardcore racer that gets it right and is all about the cars.. Bedazzling graphics, spot on sounds, and great customization options. You won't find a better simulator for on the Xbox 360, Gran Turismo could not even have gotten it so right. A wonderful lasting appeal, if your a car lover that wants a true to life racer, game this is for you.

5. Halo 3

The epic saga is continued by Halo 3, the third chapter with huge expectations in greatly successful series. Even more pressure was put on Halo this year to utilize the Xbox 360. Halo 3 builds on everything that has made the past games such great successes., with new technical and gameplay advancements as well as cranking up the online play a notch. One of the most complete games out, Halo 3 is highly recommended, just make sure to buy your Xbox live subscription.

4. Mass Effect

When fabled developers Bioware (makers of Star Wars: Knights of the Old republic) announce they are coming out with a new RPG, you mark it on your calendar. Bioware once again proved themselves and made another classic RPG. Mass Effect is a fantastic RPG with cinema like story telling and an innovative 3^rd person shooter combat system. You feel as if you true are playing the role and your decisions make a difference in the overall story. Plainly put, Mass Effect is a game that must be played.

3. Assassin's Creed

The same developers that brought the legends Prince of Persia and Tom Clancy's Splint Cell, bring you a new franchise with even more complex action. One of the most highly anticipated games on the top nine Xbox 360 games of 2007 list. Assassin's Creed is a pseudo stealth action title that's sure not to disappoint. The storyline will get dull on you, but it's action will not.

2. Rock Band

Take Guitar Hero, add in a microphone and drum set, and then add the chance to be rock stars with 2 to 3 of your buddies. Playing all day doesn't seem so anti-social when you are rocking out with your friends. Rock Band takes music games to a whole new level and is the ultimate party game for the Xbox 360, a sure hit for anyone.

1. BioShock

BioShock is the highest rated game on this year's top nine Xbox 360 games of 2007 list. A first person shooter that makes you think. Arguably one of the best graphical made games to date and a storyline so good it's unheard of for a first person shooter. Irrational pulled off near perfection in every department for this game.

Used Yoga Dvd

Warm Sesame-Oil Massage: A Yummy Yoga Treat! (And Great Way of Calming Vata)

The art & science of Ayurveda (a close cousin to Yoga) perceives, maps & speaks of the human body in terms of the three Doshas ~ Vata, Pitta and Kapha ~ each of which governs a different aspect of our lived experience. Though all three Doshas operate within every (living) person, each of us manifests a unique (and ever-changing) combination of their attributes. The predominant pattern of this combination within us gives rise to what is known as our Tri-Dosha type, or constitution.

The Vata Dosha, which will be the focus of this article, corresponds to the elements space and air. As such, it governs all movement in our human physiology, from the subtle, fleeting movement of thoughts across the screen of our mind, to the coursing of blood through our arteries and veins, to the movements of our limbs and pranic body in a yoga asana practice. The Vata Dosha can be, within this system, divided further into five sub-doshas, each of which represents the functioning of Vata in a specific part of the body. These sub-categories (which correspond to Yogic divisions of Prana) are: prana, udana, vyana, samana & apana.

When Vata is in balance, we are alert and spontaneous in our mental, emotional & physical movements. Our intelligence is active in a relaxed and fluid way. We are spacious without being spaced out.

When Vata is out of balance, we manifest symptoms such as: worry, stress, anxiety, fatigue, an over-active mind, restlessness, agitation, difficulty sleeping and mood swings. There are also physical symptoms of out-of-balance Vata, such as dry skin or constipation though my focus here is more on the emotional/mental aspects. [Just an aside: these are symptoms which are often given, within western medicine, the diagnosis of ADD or adhd hmmm ]

So how do we bring an out-of-balance Vata back into balance? Ayurvedic suggestions for doing this include:

(1)Maintaining a regular daily routine with respect to meal-times, exercise & relaxation, and sleeping times. Early to bed & early to rise tends to be best for Vata and if youre having trouble sleeping, try drinking a cup of warm milk with a pinch of ground nutmeg, right before bed.
(2)Eating warm cooked meals (as opposed to cold or raw foods) which include oils (e.g. ghee or sesame or sunflower oil) and/or oily foods (e.g. nuts, seeds, olives, avocados).
(3)Living in a warm moist climate with lots of fresh air and sunshine (e.g. Hawaii or at the least, buy a humidifier!).
(4)Wearing clothing that is either warm (e.g. red, orange, yellow) or calming (e.g. green) in color.
(5)Choosing for leisure calming activities such as walks in nature or parks (see my previous post on Walking Meditation!)
(6)Treating yourself to a warm oil massage the really yummy thing which will now be described in a bit more detail

A delightful way of calming an out-of-balance Vata is to give yourself a warm-oil massage. The oil that is best to use for Vata imbalance is sesame oil (organic un-roasted cold-pressed is the very best). So buy yourself some oil; warm up about 1/3rd cup or so (in a small pan on your stove, medium heat); turn up the heat in your house; spread a large towel or a sheet on the floor; and then ~ from head to foot (including your hair and scalp!) ~ work the warm oil into your skin, using circular massage-strokes. When youve finished, cover up so that you stay really warm, and let the oil soak into your skin for a half-hour at least. After youve relaxed like this for a half-hour or hour, then take a warm shower, washing off any excess oil (which hasnt by this time been absorbed into your skin). Apply a light moisturizing lotion after the shower (to seal the oil thats already there) and notice how you feel!

If you do this weekly or even daily, when youre experiencing Vata-imbalance symptoms, youll very likely notice a shift notice the balanced-Vata qualities of relaxed alertness and joyful spontaneity emerging once again.

Enjoy!

And to end (this article, and begin the rest of your day), what feels to me to be a very Vata poem (you can decide if its balanced or imbalanced!) by the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore (from his Gitanjali):

I am like a remnant of a cloud of autumn uselessly roaming in the sky, O my sun ever-glorious! Thy touch has not yet melted my vapour, making me one with thy light, and thus I count months and years separated from thee.

If this be thy wish and if this be thy play, than take this fleeting emptiness of mine, paint it with colours, gild it with gold, float it on the wanton wind and spread it in varied wonders.

And again when it shall be thy wish to end this play at night, I shall melt and vanish away in the dark, or it may be in a smile of the white morning, in a coolness of purity transparent.

Elizabeth Reninger holds a Masters degree in Chinese Medicine, is a published poet, and has been exploring Yoga ~ in its Taoist, Buddhist & Hindu varieties ~ for more than twenty years. She is a student of Richard Freeman and Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. For more essays on yoga-related topics, please visit her website: http://www.writingup.com/blog/elizabeth_reninger

Jivamuti And Yoga And New York