30 Day Vegan/Yoga Challenge

   This May, The Mindful Body is presenting a challenge to our community to go Vegan and practice yoga 4 times a week for 30 days.  Why?  Why would this matter?  What you do, has a global and local impact on this planet!  For some this is a serious challenge for others they are already mostly living this way.

  What does it take to make this change for 30 days?  DISCIPLINE!  Yep, scary word I know but it may be what some of you lack or fear and just what you need to shift the direction of your life and this planet.

   I have been a vegetarian for over half my life, that's 18 years and I don't miss meat at all.  In fact as a kid I used to spit it out and cringe when diner was served if there was meat on my plate.  Well actually, I hated the veggies too, I was super fussy. 

   I made an educated decision to stop eating animals after my boyfriend gave me a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) brochure.  I still remember the pictures of downed cows, bunny rabbits with crap being injected into their eye balls, chickens squished together in tiny cages. 

   My reasons may have started off for the rights of the animals and of course they still do but living my life in ways that uplift the entire planet happened when I started to do yoga and give a damn about other people and this planet that we share, not just myself.  This is just my own view and I would not judge or criticize someone else's view or try to change them.

   Being a vegetarian at 16 made for some interesting Christmas dinner conversations in my Italian family.  They made fun of me, challenged me, made me cry on several occasions about the choice I had made about what I would and would not eat and why.  But, at the time none of them would so much as look at any information or pictures showing the reality of how meat is raised, treated and killed.

   "Going veg is one of the best decisions you can make for your health and the planet. Period.  Your organs, blood, bones, teeth and private parts will thank you!"  This is a quote from Kris Carr, who was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer and then from there totally changed her life around.  I highly recommend you pick up her book My Crazy Sexy Diet, to use as a source of knowledge and inspiration for the challenge.

   A lot of people have been mislead that veggies don't eat enough protein and that's bull!  In fact the USDA recommends, depending on your body weight but around 47 grams per day.  There are many experts that believe that number is too high and we require only about 20 to 35 grams per day.  Most people are eating around 100 to 120 grams per day which is far too much.  There are exceptions to this like pregnant people and athletes. 

   In some circles this is common knowledge, EATING ANIMAL PRODUCTS MAKES YOU SICK, in case you had no clue I hope you are at least interested now.  If you don't believe me, totally cool but try it out for 30 days and see how you feel for yourself!   Add 4 yoga classes a week in there and we are talking major body renovations toward a more blissful and healthy state of mind and body.

 Here are some more juicy highlights from Kris.  You can get all the protein and calcium you need from a varied plant based diet.  This plant based diet is your best defense against cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.  Dairy causes mucus buildup and is linked to many diseases, like asthma, arthritis and Crohn's.  ANY processed meats are full of gross stuff like fat, body parts, salt and carcinogens.  When you buy meat know that there is a hidden cost to your health, the economy and the planet. 

   Yoga is a powerful tool for living a balanced and happy life so roll out a mat and do it!  Many of you already practice yoga but the challenge is to practice it in a deeper way then just a workout.  Yoga is first a spiritual practice, meaning that it connects you to your heart where you can see your divine nature shining as brightly as it did they day you were born. 

   A yoga practice takes...... ready.... wait for it........ DISCIPLINE!  There's that scary word again.  Why do you need discipline for yoga?  Well deep changes take time and consistency of practice.  Once a week is great but your body, mind and heart need and deserve so much  more than that.  Yoga will help your organs cleanse themselves, regulate hormones, improve blood, lymph flow and circulation, improve your sleep, digestion, increase muscle tone and flexibility, strengthen your bones, increase fluid to your joints, relieve that chronic back pain or other issues ( with good alignment of course, poor alignment can make it worse), help you feel connected to the world and your community.  This list just goes on and on and again try it and see what happens.

We welcome you to participate in this 30 day challenge.  We will meet on Sunday, May 1st for a brief orientation and sign up for a discounted yoga pass ($75 plus HST) for the 30 days.  Do the best that you can but remember you will  need some discipline to pass on BBQ's, fast food joints, and mainstream restaurants.  Go to vegan or veggie restaurants instead of steak houses, have friends come over to your place and blow them away with a delicious vegan meal.  Look for inspiration in your yoga community and new recipes to try.  This is the perfect time of the year to do this, don't wait, go with the flow and start feeling better. 

All of my support to you!
Mindy



  

  

Safety and the Root Chakra

Yesterday went for care free, happy go lucky, to yukky and scared within a few moments.  I left to teach yoga in the morning and I came home to find that my neighbours apartment had been broken into.  I froze on the spot and just stared at the broken glass right beside the lock.  I didn't know if someone is still inside so it was scary! 

After reporting it, I waited around for the police to arrive and several neighbours appeared as broken glass was being swept up, wondering what happened.  It's crazy how much this happens, so yes my bubble of love was burst.  Being from up north we barely lock the door, a habit I have brought with me to London and one that got a "slap in the face perspective change', thanks to this incident.

I found that every little noise made me jumpy yesterday.  I knock on the door from my neighbour wearing a big black jacket made me wonder if I should have a weapon.  WHAT?  I'm thinking how did I go from happy go lucky this morning to paranoid and on edge!

Enter YOGA!  You guessed it right if that is what you were thinking.  Yoga has answers to so many of life's questions.  The answer for why this happened, wait for it..... LILA!  Just because, no reason, no karmic debt from a past life, just because!  Lila is the Sanskrit word for divine play and it's place in the Tantric teachings, that is not just a world of causality but one of lila as well and in this world bad things happen for no other reason than just cuz.

When we don't feel safe, several things can happen.  On a physical level, it's hard to breathe, breath gets more shallow and rapid, adrenal glands blast the body with adrenaline to deal with the stress of the situation, difficult to relax and settle, aversion to eating or some people go directly to food for comfort, insomnia to name a few.  According to Dr. Anodea Judith, these types of events can "trigger our first chakra into working overtime."  She also mentions that when we are threatened what ever has been pre-programmed into the first chakra will take over and mind gets taken over by the needs of the body to survive.

As the initial threat disperses and I go back to my more normal state, my heartbeat speeds up when I walk past the door.  Even that will shift with time and with proof that I'm not in danger.  It is important to have a place that you call home, where you feel safe, protected from weather and intruders.  Home is where the heart as!  For me OM is where my heart is, which means that no matter where I find myself, I'm a breath away from coming back to my true nature, which is unaffected by the external complications of the world.

Does Your Yoga Mat Measure Up?

It has only been in the last few years that the yoga community has fully embraced the concept making eco-friendly mats more important. Many mats are made from toxic materials, the implications of this our quite large considering the rapid growth of new students into the practice. In face, it is estimated that about 15 million people are doing yoga that is a lot of yoga mats!



Yoga is not only about practices poses, in Tantra the teachings awaken us to how everything has a ripple effect, so yes choosing an eco-conscious mat is important. I still have my very first PVC yoga mat, that my sister gave me years ago and I do love it but I would not by a mat that wasn’t created with the highest intention to honour the planet and not to mention I prefer not to have plastic chemicals right under my nose while taking a breath in child’s pose.



One of the main materials used in many yoga mats, especially the really inexpensive ones, is polyvinyl chloride (or “PVC,” also known as “vinyl”), an environmental toxin. As if that isn’t gross enough add lead, cadmium, and a class of chemicals called of phthalates, which aggravate your endocrine system among many other health problems. These additives are added to make your mat soft and sticky but release gases over time and use.



The material used in yoga mats isn’t always listed so it makes it difficult for the consumer to make an informed purchase. Many companies have even added a print of a flower, an ocean or some image that makes us feel more connected to nature.



Several reputable companies have rises to the challenge of creating mats aren’t toxic and have been made with materials that will biodegrade and will not leach toxins into your body or the groundwater. prAna is a forward thinking eco-conscious company producing an alternative to the old PVC mats.



John Friend, founder of Anusara Yoga, worked closely with PrAna to develop a mat that would be safe, sticky and the greenest mat on the market. The mat is called the Revolution and it is unlike any other yoga mat. This mat takes up a lot of space; it is 78 inches long and 30 inches wide, noticeably wider and longer than most standard yoga mats. “This mat supports you as you stretch the boundaries of your practice on an ecologically sustainable surface. Three layers of biodegradable rubber, heat laminated without glue, offer your hands and feet a comfortable and sturdy platform. Instead of nylon or plastic, the interior scrim is a dual layer of cotton, which keeps the mat from stretching or bunching underneath you as you move.”



Having a mat that isn’t harming you or the environment is an important aspect reflecting your rising consciousness to make decisions that make our planet a better and healthier place to live. It is very difficult to find a use for old PVC mats and if you through them out they will not likely breakdown anytime soon.