The World We Have (a book review)

I just finished reading The World We Have - A Buddhist Approach to Peace and Ecology, by Thich Nhat Nanh. I absolutely loved it. I think this book is a must-read for anyone who cares about the well-being of our Earth, Buddhist or not. The first half of the book speaks abut collective awakening, with the second half focusing on "our message is our action". It really made me think about how in tune (or not!) I am with our Earth, and how I can be more mindful of the effects of my actions.

Following the chapters are a number of practices for mindful living. I think the one that struck me the most was the gatha (short verses that bring mindfulness to daily activities) for taking out the garbage.

In the garbage, I see a rose.
In the rose, I see the garbage.
Everything is in transformation.
Even permanence is impermanent.

He speaks about how without one, the other cannot be. The rotting garbage will be compost to grow the rose. The rose will eventually rot, and become garbage.

Amazing how speaking about garbage can be so beautiful!

During our training, a few of us did a photoshoot entitled 

"if you can't see it, is it not there?"

At the very end of the book is an "Earth Peace Treaty" commitment sheet. I think this is great as a way to see how much we are already doing, and get new ideas to help us on our journey. Some new ones for me will be walking/biking to work (once I learn how to ride a bike that is - gasp!)  and of course, as I am now, encouraging friends to make commitments on the list :)

Which new commitment(s) will you make?

Namaste,
Callah
article and personal photos copyright of Callah at callahyoga.blogspot.com

awesomeness in the GTA

Just thought I would share a few awesome events being put on in the Greater Toronto Area next month.

The New Leaf Foundation (bringing yoga to youth at risk in Canada) is holding an Urban Retreat Fundraiser with Michael Stone on Sep 12. Click here for details and to buy your tickets. I'll see you there!

The dinner plate project is being held in Pickering on Sep 19! This is a cool one - a hang-glider will fly a photographer over a group of people in the formation of a dinner plate, fork and knife to circulate an image worldwide bringing awareness to local eating! Really wish I could make it out to this one.

These events follow up the fantastic weekend I had at the Yoga Festival Toronto Aug 20-22. It's All yoga, Baby! wrote up a great review. I volunteered at the fest, so I was able to attend 5 classes, lectures and workshops with some amazing and local teachers, including Susan Richardson and Pat Linfoot. I'll definitely take part again next year!

I also picked up a little treat for myself when I was there... Michael Stone's newest book! 

Can't wait to explore it. It's actually many different authors contributing chapters on the connections between yoga and Buddhism, including Frank Jude Boccio, author of one of my favourite yoga philosophy books. Many other authors that I haven't explored yet as well, I'm excited to read this for my "book report" as one of my post-training projects!

Namaste,
Callah
article and personal photos copyright of Callah at callahyoga.blogspot.com

the importance of hydration

These notes are from a functional anatomy lecture with Pierre Desjardins, one of our amazingly informative (and HILARIOUS) teachers. I was so lucky to "win" an osteopathic treatment from him for my chronic knee injury. Just brilliant.

Anyways, these probably won't be flowing sentences but this is the gist of it! Hopefully you can look past the school-notes style and see the importance of drinking enough water!!

- to perform at it's peak, the body (made up of 70% water) needs a constant supply of hydration
-> a normal adult at resting needs 4L of water... 2L of which comes from food, the other 2L which must come from outside sources
* Juices, coffee, tea are FLUIDS... not WATER! You need 8 glasses of pure water at REST.
- You should have about 1L of water for every hour of physical activity.
- without sufficient water your connective tissue (CT) starts to shrink and WRINKLE! Yes, you'll look older!
- if you're chronically dehydrated, it can take up to THREE months to rehydrate your tissues!
- aspartame (crystal light, diet drinks etc) turn into formaldehyde in your liver... ew!
- all chronic ailments have a basis of dehydration! (Water can have an antacid effect for acid reflux in as little as 8 minutes!)
- water consumption should be spread out throughout the day to ensure constant hydration, and drink it slowly!
- add a pinch of unrefined pure sea salt to one glass of water a day to balance electrolytes and avoid overtaxing the kidneys (so yup, all those drink mixes aren't even necessary after all!)
- caffiene and alcohol are DEhydrating (which I think we all know!) ... they actually slow blood flow because you lack plasma when dehydrated (not helped by the increased urinating it causes!)
* You should drink an extra glass of water for every cup of coffee, tea or alcohol etc. consumed
- You can actually turn off your thirst signals by repeatedly ignoring them... they will come back after a few weeks of properly hydrating! As well the constant peeing will eventually regulate.

image

That aspartame bit really hit home. I always knew it "wasn't good" but when you hear exactly HOW... it's pretty disgusting! No more artificial sweeteners for me, and I've been working at weaning my mom off them too. Luckily, she was receptive after I gave her a chapter to read from Skinny Bitch. I just read it, and it blew my mind. I think I'm slowly going to work on going Vegan, or at least half-vegan! I definitely recommend that book for anyone who thinks they can't kick the meat-eating habit. I was you only 10 months ago!

 
So sorry for the lack of posting. I've been so crazy busy I can't even believe it. This post is cutting into my running time (don't worry, it was a conscious decision!) which is actually usually WORK time, but I got the morning off and I'm actually celebrating!

Share this info with all your friends... so many people are dehydrated and don't even know it!

P.S. How's the new layout? Jamie, you inspired me for a makeover! 

Namaste,
Callah
article and personal photos copyright of Callah at callahyoga.blogspot.com

Winners and recommendations!

So, the winners of the Ultima Giveaway are... (drumroll please!)
Emma and Lindsay Fields! I've contacted you so be sure to email me your mailing info!

Just thought I'd share a link to an article I was excited to see in the Toronto paper I read, "Hidden Beauty".  Great info to give to the masses, too bad it's buried in the back and people likely ignore what they don't like to hear.
A friend recently lent me an AMAZING book, The Green Beauty Guide. I can't wait to start trying out some recipes for myself! I'm also thinking about making the leap to Henna hair colour... has anyone had any experiences with it? I'd love to know if your hair turned green!

 

Namaste, Callah  
article and personal photos copyright of Callah at callahyoga.blogspot.com

yoga.. not just for humans.

I was browsing the yoga selection on Kobo (I've downloaded the iPhone version, I'm just not sure I can bring myself to buy a book to read on the tiny screen!) and found this gem.

Does Fluffy seem stiff and tense? Help him become the lithe and limber feline he was meant to be with Cat Yoga , a hands-on guide to the ancient practice of yoga . . . for cats.

Well, my cat DOES like to stretch out on my mat!
It's too bad they don't have yoga philosophy texts on the eReader, then I would be all over it! Talk about convenience.

Only 41 days til my training commences! My goal for June (after my 10k run next Saturday which I am completely unprepared for!) is 10 classes/ home practices a week. Doubles, here I come!

Have you jumped on the eReader bandwagon?

Namaste, Callah

Gita Talk

Bhagavad Gita: A New TranslationSo, I mentioned the Gita Talk discussion a few posts back. I'd like to mention once again how awesome this discussion has been! I have no previous "Gita experience", but even my comments and questions as a newbie has sparked some good discussion and debate! Check out the highlights here, and please join in!

Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation

In other news, I've been asked to be a bridesmaid for one of my best friends next year, so I'm quite happy about that. So long as her wedding is not the same week as my sisters!
Also, I just found out the local farmers market opens TOMORROW! AND, I got my Diva Cup (it's weird, I've never WANTED my cycle to start before!) and a few days later, an email offer for 15% off, gurr! Well if anyone needs to buy, Lunapads has a sale all May!
Namaste, Callah

Living Your Yoga- a book review

First of all, happy mothers day to all the yogini mamas out there! After spending only a few short hours teaching kids this morning, I've just awoken from my ritual Sunday afternoon nap after a lovely lunch with my mom. They take a lot of out me, so i have utmost respect to moms!

Ok, now for the review. Living Your Yoga by Judith Lasater was the first book from my reading list I decided to tackle. It wasn't too long, had short, manageable chapters and lots of spaces between the words. Haha, I seriously love reading, but sometimes when it is "required", it can be intimidating. That's why I mention the above factors- it makes the book a lot more approachable, and a lot less "scary".

Living Your Yoga: Finding the Spiritual in Everyday Life

Well, I actually loved this book! It had a simple, easy to read layout, and really was the perfect book to read first and ease me into the field of yogic philosophy. The book was divided into three parts:
1. Awakening Awareness: Yoga Within Yourself
2. Widening the Circle: Yoga and Relationships
3. Embracing All Life: Yoga in the World.

Each secton was furthur divided into seven chapters, offering outlooks on different topics, suggestions of practices for each topic, and finally, some mantras to use throughout your day. One of my favourites was from the chapter "Connection". It is "just happening". For example, if someone cuts you off in traffic- they aren't specifically doing it to you, it is just happening. This is the one I've had the most opportunity to use- as there are a lot of bad drivers around here! It reminds me to stay calm, and not waste my energy getting worked up.

I'd say the best thing about this book overall is how well Lasater can relate to the readers. I would definitely recommend this. While perfect for yoga newbies, it could also be a great way for seasoned practitioners to take their yoga off the mat.

In other book news, if you haven't already I highly recommend joining the Gita Talk group on Facebook, and also over on Elephant Journal. It's great for a newcomer to yogic philosophy, such as myself. Lots of interesting opinions, and I can put my numerous questions out there to get some insight. It's the perfect time to read the Gita if you haven't, and are interested- we'll be reading about 1-2 chapters a week which is a perfectly reasonable pace :)

How did you celebrate your mom today? Read any good books lately?
Many more reviews to come!

Namaste, Callah

my yoga library just got a whole lot bigger!

Part of the Kids training & the Moksha training involves reading (usually translating to buying, since libraries don't seem to carry them!) a lot of yoga and yogic-philosophy books. In the past week, I've started my yoga library with 5 new (and used, where possible!) books. There are still a few more to be purchased yet!

These are the new additions! (Although, 4/5 are in the mail!)

 Ancient Secrets of Success: For Today's World
This one was recommended by the teacher of the Kids Yoga course, Aruna Humphrys.


Bhagavad Gita - Stephen Mitchell


The Inner Tradition of Yoga - Michael Stone


Living Your Yoga- Judith Lasater


The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali - Chip Hartranft

(images from chapters and amazon)

I'm currently on "Living Your Yoga" by Judith Lasater. So far, I really like it- it's written realistically, in a way you can relate to. I'll try and post reviews as I check them off the list!

What are your favourite yoga and/or philosophy books?

Namaste,
Callah