A while back, maybe a couple months ago, my partner Casey decided to do 100 Burpees and invited me to join him. I thought it would be a fun challenge, seeing as I teach the Kamloops Yoga Fitness Boot Camp, and a great workout.
Burpees are one of my favorite exercises because they work so much of the body. It’s a combination of a jump squat and push-up. You get core, legs, shoulders, back, chest and arms all in one go.
It definitely gets your heart rate up and blood pumping!
We got the whole thing on video, and I just got around to editing it, so I thought I’d post it here for your amusement and (hopefully) motivation. Read more…
These words came to me late last night, inviting me – almost insisting – that they be written and shared. It felt like a call to Truth; a feeling deep with meaning and potency…
Set Your Intention
Stand deliberately upon this Earth
For you are a bridge between Earth and Sky.
Open to the current of your breath,
Expand your awareness beyond the boundaries of your skin.
You are a child of the infinite.
Limitless possibilities await your choice. Read more…
It’s high Summer in Kamloops. You can tell when you go to the park, watch people crowd on the beach, or realize that half of your friends are camping or otherwise out of town each weekend.
Even though Summer doesn’t technically turn into fall ‘till September 21st, it always seems like the end of August marks the finale of Summer. For this reason, it often feels like August is a bit of a free-for-all.
With all the camping, parties, traveling, and hot summer nights, yoga classes are often pretty empty. It makes me smile, really.
But September is coming.
And with it there is a fresh sweeping feeling that marks the beginning of another school year, and the start of many things.
September invites you to re-assess your priorities and re-commit to the things that are important to you. These might include eating healthy, getting in shape, and doing yoga.
The great thing about September is it brings an excitement that lingers from the anticipation of the start of school, even long after we’ve graduated. You actually WANT to get organized and take care of things. It’s just in the air.
Here are some ideas to help you get your health, yoga, and fitness back on track: Read more…
Desirée Rumbaugh, a humble yet wildly wonderful Anusara® yoga instructor, is coming back to Vancouver September 10-12.
She is internationally celebrated as one of the most skilled and authentic instructors; a woman who can not only enter some of the most advanced postures herself, but who can safely guide others to do the same.
The last time she was in town was very special for me, partially because Des helped me to expand my own practice, and also because I was honoured to assist her for one of the sessions.
If you’re in BC, I highly recommend attending her workshop. Really I can’t say enough good things about her teaching.
This post is from my dear friend, Dee Holden. She is a plant intuitive and a great person to learn from when it comes to all things green and good.
Connecting with Plants
Eating flowers is one of my favorite things to do in the Summertime. They share their healing vibrations with us when we eat them. The flowers of these plants are edible: alliums, bee balm, borage, calendula, cornflower, dandelion, johnny jump ups, lavender, lilac, nastursium, pansy, rosemary, wild roses, violets, squash blossoms and sooo sooo many more.
Remember to identify the flower exactly and eat only edible flowers and edible parts of those flowers. Never harvest flowers growing by roadsides or flowers sprayed with pesticides or other chemicals.
Flower salads and calendula pancakes are yummy, healing and certainly beautiful, yet there are also ways to experience the healing effects of the whole plant: heart, body, soul and spirit. Read more…
This is a story of finding bliss in an ordinary place. May it inspire you to follow your own bliss, and connect with the truth and oneness within.
This weekend I turned my front porch into a temple.
I brought out most of my crystals and many luxurious fabrics; I created a sanctuary and proceeded to spend the better part of two days there.
I played my guitar, drummed and sang with my djembe. I painted sacred words on stones (more on that later).
I spent a lot of time in meditation and mantra. Sometimes I’d pick up a crystal and just sit, tuning into its vibrations and listening to the message of the moment. Sometimes I would work with energy and intention.
Sometimes I just sat and watched my breath.
One of my companions was the ever present book of poetry by Rumi which lives on the table on my porch. I love to pick it up and open to a random page to see what gift awaits me there. Read more…
It’s always so delightful to find a new recipe for enjoying salad, especially one that includes the medicinal benefits of shiitake mushrooms!
Shiitake mushrooms are considered one of the most important mushrooms in the East, and are used to boost the immune system and support healing for many conditions.
I get mine from Michael’s Mushrooms at the Kamloops Farmer’s Market, and they are so fresh and delicious!
For many people, the idea of a bunch of lettuce isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but there are ways to make salad absolutely scrumptious!
In fact, many (possibly most) of my meals at home are different variations of salad. Salad wrap, veggie sandwich, rice or quinoa salad, etc. It’s easy, it’s quick, and SO nutritious.
So here’s my latest creation:
Farmer’s Market Salad with Shiitake Mushrooms
Feeds 2-4 people. Approximately 15 minutes to prepare. Read more…
“Sometimes advanced yoga is doing Legs up the Wall pose when everyone else is doing arm balances.”
This was the sage advice given to me by one of my Anusara yoga instructors during a time where I felt like I was falling apart, but just kept pushing instead of allowing the process to unfold and then pass.
Yet once I’d been given permission, or more accurately, once I’d given myself permission to lay on my back and swing my legs up the wall while the rest of the class was playing on their hands, I realized that is where I needed to be.
And I begun to listen to myself. And the intensity passed, for I was no longer fighting it.
This is an example of something I think so many of us do. We keep pushing and forcing ourselves to do more, not rest – to try to keep up with the break-neck pace of ambition or need in life.
But it doesn’t work. It isn’t sustainable if it’s not sourced from the limitless energy that breathes us and dances in our blood; that energy that dances in everything that is.
When we push ourselves too hard and have unrealistic expectations, often it leads to anxiety, to living in a state of feeling like it’s all too much, or that we’re not good enough. And then all sorts of things can come from that, if left unchecked, including adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome, and all manner of stress related physical manifestations.
So what’s the out? How do you shift that feeling of “There is never enough time”? Read more…
This is another one of my late night inspirations, where the words come without thought and ask to be written…
This post is from my dear friend, Dee Holden. She is a plant intuitive and a great person to learn from when it comes to all things green and good.
