Havana , Cuba ( CNN ) -- Fidel Castro has never been accused of wanting for opinions , but the former Cuban leader 's Tuesday commentary stumped many of his fellow citizens . The subject was not the bloodshed in Syria or the economic crisis in Europe , but yoga . Yoga ? `` Yoga does things with the human body that defy the imagination , '' Castro wrote in a front-page editorial in the island 's state-run Granma newspaper . The 35-word ode to the Eastern art of meditation and stretching was the latest `` Reflection from Comrade Fidel , '' a newspaper column dedicated to Castro 's musings that has appeared regularly since he stepped down from power in 2006 due to a mystery illness . Castro 's praising of yoga , which according to Granma , occurred at 2:40 p.m. on Monday , did not include whether Castro himself was a practitioner . The column was atypically short for the famously verbose former head of state . Opinion : Is Castro Cuban-American 's Hitler ? Since his illness , Castro 's `` Reflection '' opinion pieces often have filled whole pages in the newspaper -- not a difficult task for a world leader who in his heyday spoke for hours without notes on a variety of subjects . But in recent weeks , Castro 's published opinions resemble microburst streams of consciousness more akin to a Twitter message than a formal treatise . `` He thought of himself as a wise man and , doubtless , he was . But he made a small mistake , '' Castro wrote Friday about an apparent long-ago rift with former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping . `` Cuba has to be punished , '' Castro wrote that Deng said . `` Our country never even pronounced his name . '' Deng died in 1997 and it is not clear what punishment Castro referred to . Another `` Reflection '' praised former East German leader Erich Honecker , who Castro wrote was the `` most revolutionary German I have known . '' `` I had the privilege of observing his conduct , '' Castro continued in the brief column . `` When he was paying bitterly for the debt contracted by the man who sold his soul to the devil for a few shots of vodka . '' `` The man '' selling his soul for vodka was not identified , sparking a debate among Cubans , some thinking Castro meant former Russian President Boris Yeltsin , a reputed lover of the beverage . Others argued he meant former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev , whose reforms helped lead to the end of the Soviet empire and to vital economic aid from the USSR to Cuba . Raul Castro 's daughter endorses Obama . For his Monday `` Reflection , '' Castro switched topics from politics to farming , authoring a one-sentence endorsement of the moringa olefeira and mulberry plants for their nutritional benefits . The brief and sometimes cryptic `` Reflections '' have also stirred debate in Miami , where Castro 's health is an oft-discussed topic among the city 's large Cuban-American community . Castro has not been seen publicly since March , when video was shown of him meeting with Pope Benedict XVI during the pontiff 's visit to Cuba . In the video , Castro appeared frail and had to be assisted while he walked . `` It may be that he is not coherent enough to write longer 'Reflections , ' '' said professor Jaime Suchlicki of the University of Miami . `` But it 's clear even if Fidel Castro is no longer in the limelight , he is not ready to stop talking just yet . ''
Since his illness , Castro has written regular `` Reflection '' newspaper commentaries . His topics have ranged from former leaders to plants . Tuesday 's topic : Yoga . ` I'm not a yoga expert