Thursday, March 29, 2012
Yogi Nomad yoga teacher training
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Impressions from London
Having picked up and moved to London this week for an amazing job, i couldn't be happier, minus the groggy jet lag of course.
London is an amazing place with energy and personalities that make you feel challenged yet inquisitive. Culture here runs deep and thick, so many layers, and from all over the world. Lacking a smart phone, getting lost is part of the adventure, which means having good shoes because i have been walking a ton.
I am getting the lay of the land, having explored different transportation routes, and discovered my favorite is the overground lines which are new, and quieter, and upgraded for the Olympics i suspect.
London has an abundance of everything, but it has been hard to find a good coffee surprisingly, but thanks to my wonderful Vancouver friend Jen, she has a book on where to find the best coffee. We explored the Coffee Plant on Portobello Road during the market on the weekend. One of the massive, historic places in Nottinghill that offers a selection of foods, antiques, knick/knacks among many other things. Crowded and a smidge touristy, the sun peaking out of the grey sky made for a lovely afternoon stroll.
An unusually warm spring has brought the cherry blossoms out, which gets me excited for the warmer season, and longer days.
My transformation into a Londoner wouldn't be complete without some whinging:
1.Women wear way to much perfume in public spaces, i would like to start a campaign of awareness against how toxic it is in the first place and how many people are allergic to it. Click on the link to find out more information.
Cities are never perfect but this is a city that seems progressive (or maybe i am just new?), or maybe i just arrived at an interesting time. The class divide between the rich and the poor is very evident as people live closer together and you can walk from one snooty area and then be in a totally run out migrant neighborhood. I can see how this would cause problems like the more recent London riots. I am excited to be apart of this energy, and have such good friends here already. It really makes so much of a difference.
Today i move to East London so i can walk to work for now and avoid the tube altogether for now which i think will make me healthier mentally.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
What is with all the make up ladies?
Ok. I went to a yoga studios one year anniversary where they served booze, meat, and i saw more plastic surgery, peroxide, and make up then i would at a drag show. What would Patanjali say? 8 Limbs of Yoga out the door and in with what we have translated into our superficial money making machine. Who's lineage are we respecting now? Who is Patanjali anyways? Is he that new hair stylist?
Is Yoga lost in the west? Been twisted and churned out into heated rooms, glass mirrors, and good smelling soaps? I hope not, but it took me almost a decade to pull myself out of the vortex of western yoga (which i am still in i guess, and don't claim to know it all).
I don't want to judge, because i have been there so i can understand when we don't see things as they are.
For example, I used to dye my hair, until my body rejected it when my glands in my neck swelled up to the size of golf balls and didn't reduce in size for weeks and my scalp was so itchy that sores developed. That is because ultimately peroxide is bad for you. It is a toxin, and we let it sink into our skull and run through our blood stream, so it can stain our hair, and change the colour, so we can look like someone different, someone that isn't truly ourselves. I was scared to accept myself if i am not different in some way. I know this. I spent my teens exploring this concept with piercings as well. It took me a long time to have contentment with my natural image, but i realized my body was telling me that this was bad and that it was a blessing that i couldn't die my hair jet black (red, blue, blond) anymore, and my tongue piercing swelled up one day and i let it go. Funnily people ask me to this day if i my hair is its natural colour, and i have to laugh, and say yes, and thank god for that lesson. Would i have learned it if my body hadn't showed me? I am not sure, but i hope so. Lessons come to us all the time, and we have to listen when our body says something.
We try so hard to look like what media wants us to look like and it made me sad at this party. So many possibly gorgeous women all hiding behind masks of costume like make up and afraid to make eye contact or smile back. We have become a product of a immense successful multi billion dollar marketing machine, and have failed in the areas of basic love and acceptance, and grace of who we really are?
I have faith that we will pull ourselves back into what is real, and where are roots and reality lie and know that we are beautiful just the way we are. We are all so unique, why would we ever want to mess with that?
The fundamentals of yoga and eight limbs tell us to practice yoga we need to accept these basic rules before we can proceed, yet in the west we through them out the window, or most of us don't even know they exist.
Can we practice non violence on ourselves in society (ahimsa)? Contentment of our real selves (Santosha)? Truth and honesty of who we are trying to be (Satya)? and still have studios and call ourselves yogis? Non stealing? Non possessiveness?
It is a challenge. I personally would love to see you without your Cover Girl, Lancome, Mac etc mask on though, because i think there is something beautiful underneath it.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Ireland - 5 days is not enough
What can i say about Ireland that has not already been said? A country full of strife, immense history, and natural beauty. You can get lost in any variation of its background or foreground. I just came to observe and i have liked what i have seen. Ireland is still catching up in some senses and have been screwed over by the current banks, the churches (will i go to hell for saying that?), and the good ole british, oh and the vikings! But the Irish still have a great sense of humor if you can understand their beautiful accent, that may come hand in hand with a drinking problem. Pub culture and life is everywhere and has been passed down for some time now. I am happy to report that the food i have eaten here has been delicious. I have only once seen ham, and the rest has been delicious vegetarian and vegan options.
I don't think Ireland is place you want to rush around and visit, it seems like a place where you want to take the time to get to know the place.. maybe because there is so much to learn!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
From Germany with love
regensburg, originally uploaded by veggy. In 1135–1146 a bridge across the Danube, the Steinerne Brücke, was built. This stone bridge opened major international trade routes between Northern Europe and Venice, and this started Regensburg's golden age as a city of wealthy trading families. Regensburg became the cultural centre of southern Germany and was celebrated for its gold work and fabric.
There is no shortage of bavarian beer houses and snitzel. The bread and cake here is to die for, and very much evident on the waistlines of the locals.
Efficiency at its best, bike lanes, paths, trails, and highways create little traffic jams.
Half my family history resides here in this picturesque university town, a place that has more history then all of Canada!