Veronica and Me and our Bicycling Adventure

Today marks day 1 of 'Bike Week Halifax' which is super convenient because now I am 'le ready'.

Let two weeks go by and the difference a few 'safety' videos make! I am now officially a City Bicyclist Extraordinaire. From country mouse to city slicker, oh yeah! How did this happen, you ask? Well...

Veronica and me all ready for Yoga in the Park! Please disregard crooked helmet...

The biggest revelation was this ridiculously awesome bike safety videos (Part 1, Part 2) over at An Adventure Called Bicycling (a must site with awesome tips and photos). Best tip ever: I am a vehicle on the road. OHHHHh....! So don't hug the curb eh? I can do that.

Also, Veronica has officially been 'pimped' and is now sporting a beautiful bell and basket, which I heart very much.

 I love my new DringDring Bell, it is very loud and beautiful!

The bell is from 'dringdring', a Canadian (Montréalais) company that hand paints with non-toxic paint and glaze metal bells. This one is a limited edition Art Deco style that you can't order online (I assume, since I emailed the owner- in FRENCH I might add, but she just never emailed me back... lame), which I was ecstatic to find in a local bike store on Friday. I was so excited in fact, that I marched up to the cashier dude and announced: 'I found my bell!' (he didn't quite understand my level of Joy...).

The basket was a gift from awesome friends Heather and Kevin, who found the perfect metal basket from the Superstore for 7$. It is perfect.

 This Saturday Andrew, Kevin and I biked down to the park to practice yoga (and were joined by four others). I was able to bring my water, snacks AND a yoga block in my basket. Pedaling down the busy streets, I confidently used my three feet of road, going in the left or through lanes in intersections and even used the correct hand signals! 

Riding back from the park, however was a different story altogether. I have found out that the ride from our apartment to Point Pleasant Park is just slightly downhill, which is perfect. Unfortunately, after an hour of practicing in the hot sun, the ride back against crazy maritime wind and slightly uphill is NOT fun. 

By the time we reached about 10 blocks away I made Andrew get off his bike and we walked the remainder. My legs felt like jelly. Hah. Mental note: strong yoga-walking legs do not equal strong biking legs. Also, eco-sunscreen is a new must.

I am no longer afraid of biking in the city. Now if only I can swallow the whole '45 minutes to get anywhere on a bike' and 'paranoia that someone will steal my beautiful Veronica and her Bell' issues....

  Our 'Yoga in the Park' bikes and Kevin! We actually had one more join the crew afterwards! Four Bicycling Yogis

View of the sailboats from my mat

Andrew skipping rocks pre-yoga

How goes your bicycling adventure?
(ps- Happy Long Weekend my American Eco-Yogi-nis!)

Article and photographs copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com 

The Part we Played: La Marée Noire and our Yoga Path

I just read a tweet (on twitter hehe!) from Connie over at Dirty Footprints: "Everytime I read about the oil spill I feel like I'm going to throw up. My heart is shattered". Yep, I can pretty much agree 100%. Dear BP: You suck.

My first reaction for the past 36 days has been to put my fingers in my ears and sing "lalalalala" as loud as possible. Andrew didn't really appreciate this happening in the middle of his sentence.

It feels pretty darn hopeless, what can we really do while millions of gallons of oil are polluting and devastating our ocean? We spend our time blaming BP, blaming the American President's supposed "laissé faire" attitude and lack of leadership. Pointing fingers can be lots of fun... but perhaps similar to my 'finger-in-ear-lalalala' strategy; avoiding the fundamental message.

Oil containers and refinery in St John NB- thought they contained ice cream as a child... what? I was a gullible kid.

If we take a moment, breathe deeply and remove ourselves from the emotional reaction of fellow Fern Gully fan peeps, we can see the *Hope* in this catastrophe.


Why were BP drilling oil? Cuz it was fun and they really love doing oil-runs on crazy carpets? We, 'affluent' (comparatively) global community are each responsible. Perhaps we're dedicating our yoga practice to the healing of the ocean, while we use electricity to light our homes and studios, cook our food and oil in the form of the plastics we surround ourselves, the plastic of our mats, clothing and props, our cars we drive and our heat.

A fraction of what is locally called 'Gotham City' in the fog and smog... 

It's not like BP (and other oil companies) are simply going to stop drilling for the good of our planet- as long as we continue to buy oil (in one form or another) we're supporting practices like drilling for oil that have led to this disaster.


Of course, we all know that simply purging our lives of everything oil-petroleum is unrealistic at this time. At the same time, if we truly value the planet we live on, which supports us and gives us Life, recognizing this catastrophe as an opportunity to make significant changes will bring us closer to living in Harmony with Earth.


Take a breath, mindfully step back and accept a small token of responsibility for the oil that is destroying thousands of beings habitats and lives. Make that first step to change;

• Buy a bicycle and bike or walk as often as possible.
• Avoid plastic. Recycling isn't enough, we know that now.
• turn off the lights, tv, computer, air conditioner.
• turn down the heat by 5 degrees.
• Need a new mat-clothing? Buy local and sustainable (ie not made in China).
• Choice of two food options? Choose the locally(est) sustainably harvested.
• Buy used or second hand. It's called previously loved.
• Vote! Voting is so essential and the majority of voters are over 40 and male. The government's interests reflect theirs, not yours.
• Each person can make a difference- don't believe how our 'tiny' choices make a difference? Read on... how 30 million people each day doubt... and the consequence.

 Just a few ideas, there are so many more! We can all begin (or allow to grow) our path of connection to our community and the life force we call Home. If we allow a small acceptance of responsibility.


Blessings and Happy Flower Moon!


article and photograph copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Yoga Challenge: Update, Practice and First Mysore!

(Thank you everyone for your beautiful and supportive comments on my "Fern Gully" post last Thursday! Definitely fun to see how many of you also connected with that movie- Christa and Zack were the best movie couple ever! and how many of you feel the same as I do. So I guess that makes me less weird- and more a part of an awesome bark-huggin' club!)

My 31 day, every day Yoga Challenge to raise money for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind is almost up (thank goodness!). I'm sooo close to my fundraising goal (just 45$ more before the end of the week! click here to donate!) and there have been moments of frustration and pride, that's for sure!

*** UPDATE: I have now achieved my goal thanks to a lovely supporter- Theresa!!! Thank you ALL so very much for helping me raise 500$ for The Canadian National Institute for the Blind. I could still raise even MORE, so if you'd still like to donate, my week isn't done yet! Yay!! (cue happy dance). Now off to Karma Yoga class!

 Hilly terrain in NB

For the most part, working full time and arriving home at supper time starving (after our 35 min walk) usually means that yoga happens between 8-9pm... resulting in lots of slower, yin type practice. Which is unusual for my vatta pitta self. I am still doing the full hour apartment 'friend' yoga once during the work week, yoga in the park (sometimes twice) on the weekends and a full yogaglo class once a week (solitary). So I guess it has been a lesson in balance.

What I did that was brand new was my first EVER Mysore class.... yep and I am definitely not an Ashtangi lol.

The wonderful Jack at Sunrise Studio advised that I take the Mysore class... however maybe I misrepresented my knowledge of the primary series. As in, the postures are all familiar, but knowing the sequence definitely is not.

In any case, I was so very nervous about attending this class. I read all (four!) of his blog posts about attending Mysore, I made Andrew come with me (he took a simultaneously offered Kripalu class and LOVED it) and studied the cheat sheets furiously while waiting to get started. Holy poop I was stressed. I really just wanted to run out of the studio... but since I was the only person there that wasn't really an option. hah.

Jack was wonderfully patient and I think soon realized that I was able to do the surya namaskars by myself (fingers together, I am a finger splayer!) and that was about it. I have never received so much 1:1 attention during a yoga practice in my life- I learned SO much! However, when other people started arriving, I felt a bit awkward... I was demanding a lot of the teacher's attention (at one point he just sat right in front of my mat!). 

I was also amazed at how FAST they were zipping through the postures... my sun sals and flows are very slow. I breathe slowly, lowering slowly to build strength and mindfulness of each posture, like flowing through water. I'm not so great at popping in and out of a pose without hurting myself.

This meant that there was no way I could complete the primary in 90 minutes (gasp!).

 pretty green swamp on our way home (lots of these marshes in NS)

In any case, I do believe that perhaps some more beginner, guided Ashtanga would be better for my next visit- but did I ever learn a LOT about my practice. :)

Also, I had my first real, oh crap how am I going to accomplish this, challenge with the yoga every day this weekend when Andrew and I went to visit the future "in-laws" in New Brunswick. They're pretty darn traditional (as you'll remember from our wedding issues) and although supportive of my yoga "thing", aren't exactly the yoga-types. 


My plan- go to the *one* yoga class offered that weekend (there are only three studios in the city) and practice in the bedroom each morning.


Well, the yoga studio owner was difficult to get in touch with (obviously not a fan of twitter... sigh perfect example of how it could be used for business!) and didn't provide the studio's actual address on the map. Just a red "A" flag with the general street name. Right. Didn't make it on time, came back seething mad (note to self, found my zen-killer; not finding yoga studios).


Wouldn't you know, it was a beautiful morning... so I practiced on their deck outside. Although a bit weird (since Andrew's mom I guess kept peaking out and asking "whatever is she doing??"), I managed to practice about 45min each day outside in the beautiful sunshine. Perfect!


What I have learned so far in this "yoga every day" journey:

• having to do something every day kinda takes the fun out of it...
• sun salutations get *real* boring after a few weeks
• 30 minutes of practice can go by pretty quickly when I'm not too tired
• Practicing with friends or at a class now feels like a freebie!
• Andrew is ridiculously supportive, and without his encouragement I might have punked out a few nights (but I didn't!!)
• I am NEVER going to be extremely bendy. Just a fact. Even with continuous practice. And that is O.K.
• However, daily practice has allowed me to improve ever so slightly my forward hand to foot flexibility (although I may have pulled something...)
• Practicing yoga for a good cause feels FANTASTIC. I highly advise it! (like Roseanne from itsallyogababy. She is participating in Yoga Mala Montreal on May 30th and raising money via 108 sun sals for Le Garde-Manger Pour Tous!). who provides hot meals for kids from underprivileged families in Montreal. You can help by donating!)

So now I can do this without (mostly) bending my knee!! For someone who couldn't touch her toes until two years of yoga, that's pretty darn good! Just took five years of practice to be able to do hand to big toe (kinda!). :)

 Yes! forward go!!

this face is "ahhh TAKE THE PICTURE BEFORE I FALL!" face 

My plan for this week (tentative) is to take a yoga class in a studio every.single.day (since I'll be practicing every day anyways!). My last yoga hoorah! 

Will I practice every day after this is over? Probably not... but 20-30 minute yin yoga has actually been quite beneficial.. so I think I'll keep that :)

Blessings and Happy Victoria Day!

article and photographs copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com 

"Can't You Feel Their Pain?"

I have moments where I come across the realization that perhaps I am a bit "different" than others... you know, beyond liking Star Trek, comic book movies and listening to Tool. I mean, I think Fern Gully was written and produced with ME in mind. If that makes sense.

Winter is always a bit more difficult, with the snow and gray covering most of the Life. It would appear that by the time the snow has melted I've forgotten just how "different" I seem to be. And then the tiny buds push up and out and I get all "can't you feel their PAIN?" on ya.

Throughout the spring months so far, on our walks home from work Andrew agreed with my constant distracted comments of "ouuu, look at THOSE flowers!" or "wow, that tree looks like fairy dust is about ready to bust out!" (I'm REAL poetic). I think I forgot that this slow and steady reawaking of obsession for all that is Nature isn't exactly typical.

It's easy to forget in the city, surrounded by cement and exhaust fumes, that our Earth (in this hemisphere) is stretching Her arms and getting ready for summer.

Today I had a massive, maybe I should keep my weirdness to myself, moment. Walking to work with Heather I had to point out, or blurt, that I was marveling at how beautiful the trees looked that morning. Right after she stated she was annoyed at the misty-rainy day it was. ("yeah but, the trees looks EXTRA beautiful with their dark wet bark today!"). ahem.

During lunch today, I thought it would make great professional lunch conversation to bring up this fact as well. I got some really off-put looks... and felt a bit silly. What, no one else notices the trees, leaves, bark, grass, flowers on their way to work? Wish I had some pictures to share how stupendous they looked today.

My mom told me once, that she blames herself for my strange obsession with all things natural. As a toddler, she used to point out all and every little natural thing while claiming "Ouuu, look how pretty THAT is!". 

Maybe. Or perhaps I was just meant to love our world. Even though I don't really understand others who don't seem as enamoured with her vibrancy, I keep on truckin' with this feeling of connection.

Which is why I am continuously surprised by any who would willingly harm our one and only planet that gives us Life. When you are surrounded by such beauty, how *could* you drive your car when you could walk? It makes me take a moment and accept the part I played in the oil disaster that is damaging our oceans. My role in supporting, purchasing the oil. Our role, as a society that is dependent on oil and unable or unwilling to let it go.

at the expense of our delicately balanced ocean. At the expense of the Life that thrives there, essentially supporting all other life on Earth. We are equally to blame.


article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

pur alternatives; finally taking the guesswork out of ingredient list

Moving back to Halifax has proven to be a bit challenging with finding natural, synthetic-free products. Although I *knew* I was spoiled with a province where being "hippie" and "green" has been the rage for quite a few years now (ahem, BC) I wasn't quite prepared for the absolute lack of knowledge regarding ingredient and product lists. Quick example- lady at Planet Organic assured me that Dr. Hauchka was synthetic-free "because their product video told us so". Right.

Which is why I am very excited about "pur alternatives", a beautiful local store that has opened in Halifax. Although they have encountered some difficulties recently (like being told they couldn't put up their promo posters in the mall because it was offending other retailers (ahem, hair salons who SELL the crap), they are beautiful souls and Halifax needs them. They have extremely stringent rules regarding product ingredients and environmental footprint that they carry- which takes the guess work out! Anyhoo, they can tell it better than I:

1. As a relatively new Halifax Natural Product store, what prompted you (Stephanie) and Chris to open pur alternatives?

SK: It all started when we started researching products and what they contained just for our own use. I was trying to cut the chemicals out of every aspect of my life. I found that it was just too overwhelming to figure out what every ingredient was and if it was safe...that was when I had the 'light bulb' moment: What if somebody had done all this work for me and there was a store I could get all the safe products without having to worry about understanding everything on the ingredient label or greenwashing? This was the birth of pur alternatives.
 

CG: Another factor though - and probably the one that had us working together on pur alternatives - was that I, as a geologist had been spending a lot of time away from home; and as much as I enjoyed the work, it was making it hard to settle down. We'd been discussing raising a family but we weren't able to do that with me away so much. So I took the concept of opening pur alternatives as my opportunity to be home with Stephanie and move into that next phase of our lives (which of course also led to the birth of our baby, Ava)

 
2. Halifax (I have found) can be a bit tricky when it comes to availability of natural 'eco' products and openness to change. What sorts of things have you found difficult in the past year while getting your space up and running?

2) A big obstacle for us was sourcing the right products. We'd be searching the other 'natural' stores, and we were noticing that the 'safe' products were few and far between on the stores' shelves and almost always mixed amongst the products that still contained a few (or lots of) not-so-safe ingredients, and some kinds of products simply weren't available at all. So it ended up taking a lot of searching (including a lot on the internet) to find truly safe products that encompassed the essentials.

Of course once we found enough to start with, the next obstacle proved even more challenging; getting access to the resources to open pur alternatives. As it turns out, all those 'incentives' being offered to new businesses with green initiatives aren't as available as they let on. For example, there is no support for retail start-ups. And if you've still got student debt hanging over your head you can forget about it. Obviously we did end up getting what was needed to open pur alternatives, but it was a combination of a lot of luck, big credit cards, and being very annoying with a good banker. And we still operate on a skeleton budget.

And even once we got up and running it has been taking some time in convincing people why we would operate on such a strict commitment to ingredients. There are customers who don't understand why the items they find in the "organic" section of the grocery store aren't as natural as they think. There are always fellow businesses who feel we are cutting ourselves off at the knees by being so strict. These mindsets are by no means limited to Halifax, but preconceived notions can always go any number of ways, and as much as we've developed (and continue to do so) a loyal following who appreciate our policies, there are plenty others out there that just don't get it.

3. Your company states so pretty firm guidelines around product selection: What guidelines and 'rules' do you follow when choosing to offer a product or company?

It takes some understanding but by thoroughly reviewing the ingredient lists we can wean out the good companies from the ones who are only going halfway pretty quickly. Before carrying any product or product line we request full ingredient lists. If, for some reason, this is not provided, then we won't even consider the product for pur alternatives. We pick out all the synthetic ingredients (which are often contaminated) or the irritating ones and if they're present, those products aren't allowed on our shelves. Secondary to that is a company's overall policies on the ingredients they use.


Household cleaning products are not always required to give full ingredient lists; in these cases the exact formulation is generally classed a 'trade secret.' Some words used that you may have seen (that actually don't tell you what the ingredient is) are "plant-based surfactant" or "naturally derived" (to name just a few). And with some, it takes a bit of knowledge on how certain ingredients are derived, how they can get contaminated, and how stable they are ("urea", for example can be entirely natural, but when combined with water, it breaks down and releases formaldehyde). So it can be difficult; but it's also important to note that neither of us are chemists or toxicologists. The information is available - it just requires patience and dedication to making sense of it sometimes. In the end, product safety is always the top concern but in addition to that we look for sustainability and where possible, locally made.
 
4.I notice you don't carry some well known lines of natural products- why is that?

Many of the more well-known "natural" brands are only going halfway with their formulations (i.e., using some good ingredients and then using suspect or harmful emulsifiers, surfactants, and preservatives). Some of them are actually subsidiary's of larger corporations (for example, still not many people realize this, but since several years ago, Tom's of Maine has been a subsidiary of Colgate-Palmolive; similarly, Burt's Bees became a subsidiary of Clorox). So it goes without saying that we need to be careful who we align ourselves with.  

Ultimately though, it's about the ingredients; if those brands aren't going as pure and natural as we are, we won't sell their products. (Lisa-why I love this store!)

5. What do you see as the 'next steps' in pur alternative's future? What would be on your wishlist? 

We are currently trying to develop the education side of pur alternatives. We are hoping to make a few workshops and talks available in the near future, as well as expand the resources available in-store. Likewise accessibility of non-toxic products continues to be a concern, therefore one thing we'd like to be able to provide are additional locations. 

6. Over the past year of being in business, what has brought you the most joy (perhaps unexpectedly?) 
  
CG: For me there are two: One is return customers, who come back every time telling us how much they love our products. And the other is brand recognition: meeting new people out there who have heard of pur alternatives, and already know what we stand for.

SK: In addition to what Chris has already mentioned, I distinctly remember seeing the store 100% put together just before we opened our doors, and seeing in reality the exact image I had had in my mind's eye: that was a joy!

 
From Thursday until Saturday (May 20th-22nd) pur alternatives is having a "toxic product" swap! Bring in an old icky, chemical filled product and they will swap it for a clean green one (40% off!). Ridiculously awesome and fantastic for our community.

Go check them out!

Blessings!

Pre-literacy and Kindles; 1-0 for Development vs Environment

My achilles heal for 'greenification'... books. Oh how I heart books, the smell of their pages, the print, how they look on my shelf. Growing up, we weren't rich, but books were always a justifiable expense.

As kindles, 'kobo's and various other e-readers have been flooding the media and marketplace, we'll slowly move to non-paper reading. Which I will never get completely accustomed to, but I can understand the ecological savings and value in using an e-reader. As an adult.

But when it comes to children books I am a firm 'hard copy' believer. 

 Me and my new book 'Crazy Hair' by Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean

 

The mantra 'read to your children' isn't repeated a zillion times just for fun. Children who grow up reading, being exposed to books in their homes, having books around them to touch and feel and being told that reading is fun, are extremely more likely to succeed academically. It's a sad fact that our public school systems are set up for children who have good literary skills. Every subject, even math, depends on good reading and writing skills.

 Awesome rhyming and adventure in this book, perfect for my 4-5yr old clients!

From my perspective, I see those children prior to school entry who are MOST at risk for difficulties with reading and writing. Having difficulties with language and sounds is directly linked to struggling with literacy. Although for most of us it's been years since we learned how to read, it involves a lot more than simply sounding out the letters on a screen.

Pre-literacy skills start with understanding how to hold a book- right side up, knowing that those weird squiggles are somehow words and that a story has a beginning, middle and end.

With good parental support, children learn that letters are powerful and have meaning and that we read from left to right (via using your finger to move along the page). They start to learn that letters have sounds and that words can be broken up into letters, sounds and 'beats' (syllables). All those nursery rhymes? They're phonological awareness (pre-literacy) games built into regular culture.

With e-readers children don't turn pages, there is no concrete, visual beginning and end, the screen can adapt to the position you hold it (so right side up doesn't make sense anymore) and it becomes more difficult to read like a traditional book.

 Seriously, octopus in his crazy hair... love it!

We could briefly talk about the current research on television-screen exposure and the link to developmental delays, language delays, obesity and attention difficulties... but that would require a whole other post. I'll just say that children do not learn language from a computer-television or other 'e-learning' device. Children learn language from play, conversation and peer-adult interaction. If you're interested, I could definitely write another post on this topic- just let me know :)

So- here is where the eco-line is drawn. More developmentally appropriate eco-options for your little one:

• Get a library card and visit frequently! This will instill the value of library-lending at a young age and up the chances they'll use it as teens and adults. Also, libraries often have free events like circle times, book readings etc that would give your child the opportunity to interact and play with children their age.
• Buy books from second hand book stores- they have been previously loved.
• Look for local book-exchange groups, or start your own! 
• Check out yard sales or hit up family members for books their children have outgrown.
• Buy from local bookstores so that you're supporting local!
• Last resort- buy good quality books that will last, choose selectively for level appropriate for your child's age or find some that are made from sustainable materials.  

 How about it? Have any non-ereader children book ideas?


Blessings!


article and photograph copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Sounding out the Bell for Bicycling

Recently A Green Spell posted about her struggles and adventures as a bicyclist. After a year of wishing and dreaming about how "green" I would be *ifIjusthadabike*, I finally have joined the bicyclist club. Am I biking? Nope.

First off, why do I feel that bicycling is an important step in my earth-friendly yogic lifestyle.

At this point in our society we can safely say that oil-gas reliance is going to be increasingly difficult. Peak Oil, the point where we slowly (or quickly) run out of oil-gas resources, if it already hasn't, is arriving. Decreasing our consumption of an energy source that is finite is a necessity- we won't have a choice at one point. Therefore, the more I'm used to using alternative means of transportation (like walking and bicycling) the easier it will be.

After the most recent oil spill disaster, our addiction to oil is damaging our planet and our health. Every time we use our cars, our oil power sources, plastic we are eroding the air we breathe and our most important water source: the ocean. 


Every time I step on my mat to practice yoga, I thank the Goddess for my health, my family and dedicate my practice to enhancing my connection with each link in our cycle. There is no way I could spend all this time recognizing and validating our interconnectedness and turn around in the next moment and damage this very circle.


So why am I not biking ALL the time?


One huge reason: the weather. It's been cold, rainy and chilly most every evening these past few weeks. Instead of hopping on our bikes to go to the coffee shop or get groceries, we're chickening out and taking the car.

Yoga in the Park last night at our new location and you guessed it- we drove

Another reason is the shear amount of time it actually takes to bike around Halifax. We avoid main routes due to traffic. Andrew and I are both unwilling to risk our lives just to get to a coffee shop- Halifax isn't the most bicycle friendly city, cars drive and park in the bike only lanes. So we take quieter roads, which results in a 45 minute bike ride just to get to the park. I'm sure with practice we'll find better routes... but riding our bikes requires time and planning.

Finally, I still don't have a basket for my bicycle. I have a basket rack, which is a step and it was quite flattering to see all the Bikes by Dave people drooling over my vintage beauty... However, I kinda need a basket to carry stuff (like groceries) and I really don't feel like spending a ton of money. Ideas?


Obviously these are excuses, we need an ACTION PLAN for bicycling. I'm also hoping that maybe our awesome bloggy-community can help support each other in our adventure at changing our habits and our lives.


Lisa and Andrew's Bicycling Action Plan 2010:

• Find a basket. This is essential.
• Map out regular bicycling routes in advance, print them out and have them ready for perusal at any given date. This way, when we want to go biking, the route will be already planned out.
• Plan to bike at least once a weekend. This will decrease overwhelming feeling of needing to bike ALL the time, and allow for practice!
• Attend a Critical Mass in Halifax. Cuz it's cool.
• Get a really COOL bell:

• DringDring bells are made in Montreal, hand painted using non-toxic solvents and water based paints and are NOT plastic!! I want one. (image from dringdring site)

Any other ideas for our biking plan? Suggestions for this wimpy, wannabe biker?

**UPDATE: Thanks to Environmental Soul for pointing out this ridiculously awesome Bicycling resource: "An Adventure Called Bicycling". This woman is AWESOME and I ADORE her videos on bicycle safety (especially that she put Daft Punk in there!) Her tips on Commuter Biking are also great. Seriously, go check it out!


Blessings!


article and photograph (unless otherwise noted) copyright EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Lesson Learned- Do Yoga when Angry

Today I found myself driving to Sunrise Yoga Studio (or at least TRYING to) cursing and swallowing back tears. I had taken a bath, shaved my legs, chosen the perfect "yoga" outfit (i.e. most comfy and least flashy), read the etiquette and description... I was GOING to a Mysore class! Even though I was nervous as I dunno what. I was going (insert expletive).

Got across the bridge (which always intimidates the poo out of me, what I despised about Vancouver city was that any second you could be on a bridge- which resulted in a lot of me shouting "Holy CRAP we're on a BRIDGE!!!!" and Andrew saying- "Yes... nice job Captain Obvious." sigh). Ok, tangent aside, after all the talk about how MacDonald Bridge is better than the MacKay... guess it really DOES matter which bridge you take to Dartmouth.

Because all of a sudden I realized the exit I knew was via the "other" bridge. Insert f-word.

Turned around and found myself in Burnside industrial park (the only reason I knew this was because there were signs. Not street signs cuz Halifax-Dartmouth suck at signage, but "Welcome to!" signs. At this point I had no idea how to get out of the park and tried to veer towards perhaps making it back to the entrance of the "other" bridge. 

Instead I ended up right back to Woodland Avenue... a perfect circle of first wrong bridge entry. It was 7:50pm. Class started at 8pm. Any other time I may have just chalked it up to my silly "need a GPS taped to my forehead" disorder, but I had emailed Jack like THREE times saying I was going to his class. Stated it on facebook AND this blog (oh and twitter- but that's like a poof in the air really)... AND I had shaved my legs darnit!!

I marched back into our apartment and made a scary angry face for a while. I still had to practice Yoga and I *really* *really* didn't want to. I wanted to drink some beer and curl up.

Instead, I rolled out my mat and chose an Anusara class on Yogaglo. Even though I poked fun at the whole "move your organs back" (silly- organs can't really move, our muscles AROUND them move by conscious volition!), by the end of the class I was happy again.

I smiled at a crow who came crashing into a leafy section of the tree right outside our window. I marveled at how our apartment really looks like it's a treehouse apartment with all the leafy greens, like a little box suspended in a tree. I'm going to miss this tiny box. I sighed and let it go.

Although a lot of external reasons for my frustration remain (job, yoga community stuff, wedding stuff, blog stuff- not you guys though!) I'm no longer rip roaring ANGRY.

I let go my expectations to:
- be this great leader of Yoga in the Park.
- Ride my bike every single opportunity
- find ridiculously awesome eco-makeup and not spend a fortune
- solve this issues of the Halifax Yoga Community
- fix my parents' health. alright: be RESPONSIBLE for my parents' health

Lesson: every time I'm really angry-upset-p-od, DO YOGA.

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com 

Interview on Conscious Shopper!

Check my interview over at The Conscious Shopper! Erin asked some pretty interesting questions from my Overshares to why I'm trying to mesh Yoga-Environment-Feminism all in one :)

While you're there, check out her great space. Erin has a ton of info and practical, doable suggestions on going green without spending a zillion dollars!

Many Thanks Erin!

Celebrating Local Studios Part 2: Sunrise Yoga Studio

Welcome back for Partie DEUX of our conversation with Jack Godfrey, owner of Sunrise Yoga Studio. Although I really enjoyed the first part of the conversation, this second part is where I really consider the answers and content to get 'juicy' :).

A quick recap: Sunrise Yoga Studio is over in Dartmouth, Coffee and Yoga crew had recently bombarded a wonderful class with Helen Fong and we were all blown away by the warmth and sense of 'actual' honest community. Jack has been teaching Ashtanga yoga for 12 years and has studied with many big Ashtangi names. Last week he stated that the Beatles originally introduced him to Yoga.

And now, for the rest of the story:

6. What brings you the most Peace and Joy in your life?

At the yoga studio.  The most joy comes from seeing person that has come to the studio heal their body.  I have had several people come to the studio with injured backs and other injuries and they have been able to heal them by doing yoga.

One person had been in a car accident a couple years before starting yoga.  She had been going to physio and chiropractor treaments on a regular basis to help manage the pain.  She started coming to yoga and after 6 months of regular (2-3 classes a week) she no longer had any back pain.  She stopped physio and chiropractor treatments and used the yoga to complete the healing of her body.

Another person has environmental sensitivities and he has been able to improve the health of his body by doing yoga on a regular basis (5-8 classes a week).  His blood pressure has improved.  His weight has gone down.  His body is healthier.  He is able to manage the effects of his illness with yoga.  He recovers more quickly from exposures with Yoga.

A third person has been using yoga to lose weight.  He has lost 40 pound in the last eight months.  He comes to about 5 classes a week plus he does yoga at home.

And of course lots of people are more flexible and less stressed.  They use yoga to improve their well being.  They are healthier and calmer as a result of doing yoga on a regular basis.

These people make teaching yoga a joy.

 

7. There has been a lot of talk recently in the Yoga blog-o-munity regarding 'What is and isn't Yoga' with respect to the commercialization of yoga through organizations like Lululemon, Rainbeau Mars as well as whether Yoga is a religion. What are your thoughts on how Yoga is changed and portrayed in the general Western media-culture? Is this something to embrace as it brings more Yogis to yoga, or should we strive to retain what many call 'pure' or 'traditional' yoga?

I have heard this as well.  I am and elder in my church. I see no conflict between being Christian or whatever religion and having a yoga practice.  I feel that they are quite complimentary.  Having a calm mind and a healthy body means that I can be better at what I need to do in life and in my religion.

There was a discussion on line a few months ago about Yoga Inc (the commercialization of yoga)  One person had a very insightful comment.  Year ago the student would join a yoga teacher as he sat under his tree.  He would listen to the teacher and absorb his teachings.  If he did not agree with the teachings, he would discuss the differences with the teacher.  He would learn from this discussion. 

At some point the student would become dissatisfied with the teacher and decide to move on.  This may be because he has learned as much as he can from this teacher or their view points no longer meshed.  The student would then get up and leave this teacher and wonder along until he found another yoga teacher under another tree and he would sit down and listen to see how well their views meshed and what he can learn.

Not all teachers and not all approaches to yoga will mesh with every teacher and every student.  There are many students and their are many teachers and studios. There is lot to choose from. 

Most people are drawn to the physical aspect of yoga and will go to a Yoga Inc place that focuses on the physical aspect.  As the they become more experienced with yoga they will develop a need for the mental aspects of yoga.  They may or may not be able to satisfy that need at their current studio.  If they can not fulfill the need at the current studio it is time for them to get up and wander on to the next tree and the next teacher.

The exposure of yoga in the media, makes more people aware of yoga and its benefits.  This is a good thing.  A lot of people will give it a try and then move on.  A few of these people will give it a try and make a connection.  And they will move on to the true purpose of yoga which I believe is to improve the health of the body and calm the mind and prepare it for meditation.  Without the media exposure the new people would not connect with yoga and the benefits.

A finishing 'extra':
Eight years ago there were no yoga studios in Dartmouth.  We all had to travel to Halifax to take classes.  There were several teachers offering classes in church halls, rec centres, and community centres.  There were no purpose built spaces to practice yoga in.

For several years I was traveling around the continent going to conferences for work.  Every where I went, I made a point of going to yoga studios.  Finding out what worked well, what I liked, what I did not like. 

Then I started looking for a place in Dartmouth to open a yoga studio.  It took six months of looking to find the current space.   I opened a yoga studio and implemented all of the positive features that I found in those other studios and tried to avoid the negative features.

Now six years later there are three studios in Dartmouth with another opening later this year.

It's been fun.

Thank you very much Jack for giving such insightful and thoughtful answers to my questions! 

Interestingly enough our topic at Coffee and Yoga last night was the 8 limbs of Ashtanga Yoga... and I'll be going to my FIRST Mysore class ever at Sunrise Yoga Studio tomorrow night!! I'm pretty nervous, but I'm sure it will be a great learning experience. :)

You can find Jack on Twitter, facebook, his blog and his studio webpage!

Many Blessings!

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com 

Roots; a Canadian Eco-Option

*update on the Great Canadian Yoga Stretch, Yoga every day challenge for CNIB. Thank you very much to those who have reached out and sponsored me! I'm so proud of the funds I've been able to raise so far for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind! Day 10 of Yoga every day and I've been trying new Yoga things- such as an intro to Anusara on Yogaglo and this week I'm going to my first Mysore practice!! If you'd like, please check out my donation page, I would love to raise more! :)

Although I don't *need* any more yoga clothing, I'm always on the lookout for viable alternatives to Lulu. I do enjoy 'Karma' and 'Tonic' as they are Canadian made and have some sustainable fabrics, currently in Halifax they are hard to come by and a bit pricey. (Bhavana Yoga Lifestyle carries them- in the city? you should totally check out the fab space!).

The other day, while at the mall (ack!) trying to add to Andrew's impoverished t-shirt collection (um, 5 is not enough), I caved and entered Roots. Like most other stereotypical 'Canadian eh' lines, I kinda shudder at what Roots has represented over the years. 

While at the Canadian Pavilian at Disney World, I was a bit taken aback that all merchandise was Roots (including weird raccoon tail hats... Davey Crocket style- wasn't he American?).  There may be some stereotypical 'Canadian' aspects to our culture (ahem, I got a lot of comments on my polite 'pardon?' while bartending, and our accent is definitely softer), but raccoon hats?? I got asked once by a Floridian if we had cable TV in Canada... in my igloo. No joke.

In any case, I had heard that they had fantastic eco-yoga gear. I was ready to 'poo-poo' the whole thing but.... well wouldn't ya know they actually rock!

Although not everything Roots is sustainable, and not everything is made in Canada (sadly, not very much is made in Canada anymore at Roots), they do offer some pretty darn great eco-options. Including these comfy, soft organic cotton shorts that are perfect for yoga!

Upon further perusal of their website we find some open and honest explanations regarding their outsourcing to the East along claims that their work ethics and environment are monitored by a magical 'third party' (ok, sorry for the cynicism... I'm being picky I know).

According to their site, most recently renovated Roots stores are 'greenified' using sustainable flooring, low VOC paints, energy efficient lighting, non-toxic water based glues and minimizing garbage waste.

They also partake in greener shipping, using zerofootprint to offset their shipping carbon emissions (decreasing use of carbon shipping vehicles would be better....but this is a fabulous start).

They also use vegetable leather tanning (if you're not a vegan!), which is pretty neat. However, leather purses like that kinda creep me out...

Recently Roots has announced that they have raised over 200,000$ for the Stop Global Warming Fund, from selling custom bracelets made from scrap leather. They also support a ridiculous long list of environmental and social causes and are very involved with community building (Roots and Shoots with Jane Goodall Institute).

The only downside, is that their shopping website really doesn't specify a lot of 'eco' or sustainable options, when I know for a fact that their actual stores (in Canada) have many shorts, shirts and even dresses in organic cotton and bamboo. For example- my shorts are made from Organic cotton, but couldn't that specification on their website. Weird.

So how do their shorts pan out after a yoga test? Fabulously. They look flattering (which says a lot for shorts and my insecurity about my legs), move well during my practice and are super comfy (please disregard the weird face and bent in knee lol). I don't need a new top... but I wish I had checked out Roots prior to shopping at Lulu a couple of years ago...

Blessings!

article and photos copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Homemade Pancake Mix- Yum!

As a child, I adored pancakes, especially with cinnamon. For myself, pancakes meants Aunt Jemima mix, water and Aunt Jemima syrup. I never actually thought you could make pancake mix from scratch and have it taste the same.

Enter Andrew. Although I have been the 'eco-warrior' in our little familial unit, he is the food-adventurer. He likes science, he likes food and one day we watched Alton Brown's Good Eats show on pancakes (he has every season...). Most episodes result in Andrew proclaiming: 'I can make that from scratch!'

His first attempts at making pancake mix were pretty interesting. As we didn't have a pastry cutter, he used four butter knives between his knuckles (Edward Scissor hands style) and furiously cut the shortening into the flour, cursing the entire time. Although I would have just stirred, he *insisted* that when it says 'cut the flour with the shortening' you have to do just that.

Needless to say, there was flour everywhere. But the pancakes tasted awesome.

After months of searching (ok, not really seriously, but we did look nonetheless) we finally found a cheap pastry cutter, and Andrew was in pancake making heaven.

Now our pancake mix is all ready and stored in our glass containers. Our tradition- every Saturday morning we eat homemade pancakes with local maple syrup (yum!). The mix lasts about two weeks and functions just like that out of a box (add milk and eggs), sans weird chemical preservatives and using less packaging!

Andrew's Pancake Mix (or Bisquick Substitute)
Prep Time: 30min
Lasts: 2 weeks(ish) in a container, a couple months in the freezer

4 1/2 cups flour*
1/8 cups sugar (fair trade &/or organic)
1 1/4 cups powdered milk
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup baking powder
1 cup shortening


1. In a large pan (large and flat, like glass casserole dishes), stir dry stuff- milk, baking powder, sugar, salt into the flour.
2. CUT shortening into dry ingredients until it's the consistency of corn meal**
3. Place in a covered, cool dark place and... you're done!


Andrew's fantastical pancake recipe
1 cup of awesome mix
1/2 cup of milk (whatever fat percentage)
1 egg
some cinnamon and some vanilla (gasp, he didn't measure!!)

Tips on getting a perfect pancake:

• DO NOT overmix. Only stir until it comes together. There will be lumps, that is OKAY. If you overmix, they'll be more glooey and flat. ick.
• 1/4 cup of batter in the pan- that way they're the same size (ok, Andrew is a bit rigid... but it does fit three in our pan).
• When the bubbles around the edge don't fill back in, you can flip them!

*for whole wheat flour, please remember that changing the gluten content of the mix will affect how the flour interacts with fats (i.e. shortening-lard-butter). Whole wheat will be heavier, so the pancakes may not be as fluffy- you might want to add more baking powder... Andrew is cautious and hates messing with recipes. His advice- replace 60% and see how that goes.


**for those of us who have no idea what "cornmeal" is, the consistency is not too fine, with little lumps. Or could do what Andrew just did and google image cornmeal. lol.

Now if we could just perfect our yogurt skills.... 

Blessings!


article and photos copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

Sunrise Yoga Studio, Part 1: Celebrating Local Studios!

After our fantastic experience over at Sunrise Yoga, I thought I'd approach the owner of the studio- Jack Godfrey- about a feature here on 'the blog' so that other Haligonian (and those visiting!) could learn about his studio. I also talk a lot about eco-aspects I'D like to see in studios, but thought it was high time I celebrate what is being done locally already. :)

Jack Godfrey has practiced Ashtanga yoga since 1998 and yoga in general since 1968. He's trained with local Ashtangis (Jody Manley) and 'biggie' Ashtangis such as David Swenson, Darby and Patabhis Jois (to name a few!). His approach to teaching Ashtanga contains humour and his goal is to help students explore yoga poses safely and with insight. (I can attest to the humour part, as we were practicing Yin with the wonderful Helen Fong, I could hear his class laughing during what I knew was an intense primary series practice).

To my surprise, Jack answered each question with such thoughtfulness and without any sense of hurry. Even though I know it must have taken him time to formulate and write. As a result, the post is a bit lengthy- so I thought I could post them in two parts. Also, check out his blog, with posts on Mysore, class etiquette and yoga.


Without further ado, part 1 of my e-interview with Jack!

1. You're biography is impressive and filled with wonderful experiences such as several big name Ashtangi workshops and long time yoga practice. What first drew you to Yoga initially, and why did you eventual choose Ashtanga?

What first drew me to yoga was the Beatles.  In the mid 60's they went off to India to do some yoga.  At the same time, my mom took an interest in yoga.  I tried a few poses from the books and really liked the challenge in attempting to do the poses. 

Over the years I kept poking away at yoga but never really made a solid connection until the mid 90s.  At that time the fitness facility at work was adding yoga classes.  I decided to get involved and did a search on the internet and discovered the book Power Yoga by Beryl Bender Birch.  When I read the book, I had an epiphany.  The Ashtanga system provided the missing piece that I was looking for over all those years.  I thought that there had to be a proper sequence to the postures.  If you did them in this order you would get more benefit than if you did them in a random order.

The Ashtanga sequence of the postures filled this missing need for an order to the postures.  The other aspect of the Ashtanga system added to this.  The breath, the gaze, the jump backs.  The heat.  The challenge of doing a pose well.  The thrill of doing a posture slightly better than last time.  The humbleness when you do the posture not as well this time as previously.  Becoming more aware of your body and improving the health of your body.

The Ashtanga systems teaches you humbleness, patience, and determination.

I have improved the health of my body and reduced my weight by over 20 pounds over the last 15 years.  I am more aware of my body and its health as a result of yoga.  

2. Visiting your studio imbued a sense of community and warmth in our Coffee and Yoga group. How do you mesh the necessary business-commodity aspect of teaching Yoga for a living and running a studio with the Living Yoga aspect?

Right from the very beginning, I decided that the studio would be as friendly and accommodating as possible.  All of the teachers make sure that all of the people in the class know each others name.  If we have new people in class, we introduce them to the other members.  We encourage conversation before and after class.  We are deliberately trying to build a friendly place that people want to come to for more than yoga. (Lisa's note- VERY true!)  This has several benefits for the member and the studio:

• The member will come more often
• They will bring their friends
• They will rave about the studio to their friends and neighbors
• They will recommend us.
• The more they come the better their body will become.  They will become healthier.  More in tune with their body.  They will become hooked on yoga.  The more you do it the better you feel.  When you stop doing yoga you will feel less well.
• We have a quarterly pot luck at our house to which the members bring their family,friends and food to share with everyone else.
• We offer credit.  If you are buying a pass card and forgot your wallet, no problem, we will make your card up.  Pay the next time you come.  We do not keep records of the IOU.  We tell the member that we expect them to keep track and pay up when they can.  We have never had this hurt us.
• We do not have classes that you enroll in.  This means that you do not lose money when you miss a class.

I have done all of this in an attempt to make our members as happy and as comfortable as possible.

I see no conflict between the business side and the yoga side.  The happier we can make the members the more they will come and the better they will feel.  And they will tell their friends and they will come and so on and so on.  We get 50% of our new members because of referrals from our existing members.

3. I've heard that your studio does many things to lessen it's environmental footprint. What sorts of things are you currently doing to make your studio 'green'?

One of the things that we do is the mat cleaning.  We supply clothes and spray bottles for our members to use.  The clothes are called bar mops when you buy them at the dollar store.  We have a dilute solution of vinegar and water in the spray bottles.  Shirley (my wife) takes the clothes home and washes them.  We have our hot water supplied by solar panels.  Shirley times the washing to match the supply of hot water from the solar panels. That way we do not use any energy to heat the water. We have free hot water and no carbon footprint for this.  We do not have a dryer.  Shirley hangs the cloths in the laundry room / furnace room to dry overnight or they go out on the clothes line if the weather permits.

We sell three types of yoga mats.  The ones that I selected are as durable as possible.  The high end mat has a life time guarantee.  I have been using one of these mats for over 12 years.  The mats themselves are not as eco friendly as they could be, but if you only need one of them for a lifetime of practice then the carbon foot print over the years is very low.

I have moved the registration system to online for the Intro classes and will be moving the other registrations online in the future.  This will reduce the amount of paper we are consuming.

4. Are there areas you find more challenging to 'eco-fy', or are on your wishlist to green up?

I will be moving the class sign in process to a computer based system and eliminate some more paper consumption in the future.  I will be using one of the little netbook computers for this.  This will get rid of the sign in sheets and the pass cards.  Again trying to minimize the impact on the environment.  Get rid of the paper and minimize the impact on the environment with the smaller computer.

5. How do you view the Yoga community's role with environmentalism and the green movement?

I view these as a person's individual commitment.  A yoga practice will make a person more aware of their impact on the environment and will lead them down the path to reduce their impact.  Becoming more in tune with their mind and body, I think leads to becoming more in tune with the environment and their impact on it.

Thank you Jack very much for the thoughtful and indepth answers to my questions! I hope, lovely readers, that you will take the time to check out his beautiful, warm studio in Dartmouth. Well worth the trip over the bridge! Part 2 of this interview will occur next week, same time, same place :)

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com, photos used with permission from Jack Godfrey.  

Karma Yoga; My Practice for CNIB

First, thank you all very much for the wonderful discussion going on at my DivaCup Overshare! Keep it up, it's fab! 
 
As a few of you have noticed, I have decided to undertake something *new* in my yoga practice this month of May... A form of Karma Yoga.

Some of you commented a while back on my experience of 'binge' yoga, about how yoga 4 times a week really didn't seem excessive. For myself, I work full time and would like other to do other social things instead of 'sorry, I have yoga tonight'. Or I'd like to play my guitar again... We sadly only have room for one thing an evening in our schedule, since my 'yoga' consisted of taking up from 5:30-7:30 each night (prep, chat, yoga, chat, change).

Weirdly enough, I recently discovered something called 'The Great Canadian Stretch'. Yep, not really my favourite name, but the name isn't what got me. This organization is a challenge for Yogi-nis across Canada to set a goal for their practice and support the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), one of Canada's oldest charities.

CNIB supports families with information, funds research and serves as a connection between professionals, organizations and individuals with a visual impairment. Interestingly enough, as a paediatric Speech-Language Pathologist, I have witnessed the unexpected effects that vision loss or impairment can have. Impaired vision can also greatly affect communication skills, social skills and ability to connect with family members. So much of our communication is non-verbal, facial expressions and visual.

For example, if your child was born with severe vision loss that was undiagnosed, how would they learn social cues such as eye contact, pointing and looking and responding to gestures? How would they learn symbolic and pretend play? Misdiagnosis of other social communicative disorders can (and has) happened due to undiagnosed vision loss.

So. I decided that my Yoga practice could definitely serve something more than my Self. I set my personal Yoga Adventure:

• I will practice Yoga every day for the month of May while listening to my body and finding a balance. This means not an hour of intense flow every day for a month, but trying more restorative and calming sequences at night. Meditating quietly for longer than 3 breaths. More pranayama during my practice.
• Although I'm finding a balance, I don't want to just stand up in Tadasana and claim 'ta dah!sana' I'm done! Each practice should be at least 20 minutes.
• During this month I will also invest a bit more into the Community Yoga Group, Coffee and Yoga and Yoga in the Park.

All this, and I set my goal originally at 100$... but have moved it up to 500$ with some prompting from Andrew. I was quite shy about posting this publicly... I really don't like to ask others for money, or to sponsor me, afraid I'm being all annoying and stuff. I'm really a bad fundraiser... hah.

Andrew being so wonderful, he posted the link on his facebook page and encouraged me (strongly) to blog about it. So here I am. As you can see from my little rant, I feel strongly that our Yoga Practice should be taken Off the Mat (as Seane Corn does) and make a difference. I would love it if you could help in any way, or just send positive vibes on my Journey. My sponsor page is here. :)


So, how's it going so far?
As you may have noticed, I blogged on HYC about our Beltane Yoga and Loving-Kindness Adventure with the Park Security Dude (my tree pose on the shore of the harbour). I tried to talk myself out of practicing on Sunday (already?? lol) but Andrew, again, pulled through and informed me that 20 minutes was 'no big deal, do it'.

Last night, for the first time ever in my solitary practice, I chose really slow and calming postures, neck rolls, child's poses, forward bends. Instead of being bored, I was calm, peaceful and the stress melted away! Who knew that late night, before bed yoga could be so beautiful?? (hah, I bet a lot of you knew!).

Tonight I wanted to move, I've felt lethargic all day. Yogaglo was perfect, 30 minutes of sweating and I'm happy and ready for the rest of the week!

Many Blessings!

article copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com