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Our modern lives are permeated with advanced chemicals.  Compounds that would be unrecognizable just 100 years ago abound in everything from foods to fabrics to manufacturing processes.   Although each of these compounds has been tested for safety, I sometimes wonder about the cumulative exposure.  

In laboratory settings, research scientists expend due diligence to create a test environment where most things stay the same so they can study variability of the factors under study.  The real world isn’t like that.  The mercury in my dental fillings is probably safe on its own but what if my toxic exposure is increased by my personal care products, living next to a factory and drinking from the heavily industrialized great lakes?  

It makes sense to reduce your chemical exposure wherever possible.  Cleaning vinegar is a relatively recent discovery in our household but has quickly become popular as it eliminates so many other cleaning and household products…. all of which have complicated chemical backgrounds.

By contrast, vinegar is really just watered acetic acid which is produced by the fermentation of ethanol or sugars by acetic acid bacteria.  It has been around for millennia.  Cleaning vinegar is a stronger solution than that we use for cooking, usually 10% or more.  It costs about $4 for 2.5 litres at your local grocery or hardware store making it a very economical choice.

And what can you do with cleaning vinegar?  There are probably so many more uses but here are a couple occurring in our house regularly:

1. Clean the bathroom.  Use full strength on a micro-fibre cloth to clear soap scum, disinfect and polish.  Rinse with clear water.  To sanitize, leave on the surface for 10 – 30 minutes before rinsing.
2. Clean your floors.  Use ¼ cup vinegar to 1 gallon hot water and dissolve grease, stains and sticky gunk.  I don’t rinse but if you have a shiny finish, your floor might need one.
3. Polish mirrors and glass.  Prepare a spray bottle with ½ cleaning vinegar and ½ water.  Use like Windex.
4. Dissolve hard water calcification in the washing machine or coffee maker.  The vinegar is acidic and can be corrosive if used too frequently.  I just add about ¼ – ½ cup full strength to the machine (in the fresh water container of the coffee maker or the drum of the washer) and run the machine through a normal cycle.  Run two or more clear water cycles afterward to rinse thoroughly.
5. Add as a laundry rinse to brighten.  Dullness in clothing can be due to soap residue.  Adding ¼ vinegar through the fabric softener dispenser can dissolve that scum and brighten fabrics.  Test any precious pieces first in a discreet area because vinegar can fade.
6. Kill weeds!  Use full strength in a spray bottle directly on weeds.  It will kill all plant life so take care when using in the lawn.  Use a very directed spray, right into the base of the plant.  It’s not as long lasting as herbicides and deep rooted plants like dandelions can recover, but it’s much safer for pets and kids.

Unfortunately, it is has not proven effective on Coronovirus so other disinfectants (like 70% rubbing alcohol) can be sparingly used on high touch surfaces.

I’ve just returned from two weeks on Manitoulin Island, the largest fresh water island in the world and home of the only unceded First Nations land in North America. Humans have sensed the sacredness of this ground for thousands of years. And I would like to share with you a moving experience … walking the White Birch Path. As we follow the stones, close your eyes and let the simple words speak to your deepest places. Finding more peace, or happiness, is not complicated. But it does take your attention and commitment.

In the tiny village of Kagawong, on the North Channel of the frigid Lake Huron waters, there is a beautifully carved path through tall pines and stands of elegant birch. Small stations have been created with views of the sparkling water and scented with the rich earthiness of verdant growing things. Each station invites you to pause your otherwise frenetic pace to soak up the beauty of that spot and be inspired by the “stepping stones”.

Let the wisdom of the elders and the beautiful interconnectedness of the natural world lead you on your own healing path. Late summer is a time of abundance. She offers ample opportunity for you to participate in life.

Bite into a juicy peach still warm from the sun. Immerse in the silky waters of a fresh water lake. Witness the raw power of a lightening storm. Walk into your life now.

This is the magic of Manitoulin.

               

Time to get ready!  Step into the shower and look at the variety of products awaiting your ritual.  Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant soap, shaving lotion and many other products have become a supposed necessity to modern hygiene.  But are they?  Was it all those ads during the soap operas that convinced us that our natural body processes were horribly smelly and disgusting requiring immediate intervention with chemicals?

                Let’s step back and re-evaluate.   Why does shampoo have to lather?  Why do we need to deodorize our belly skin?  Why do we need a separate cleansing agent for our scalp?  Isn’t it skin too?

                Just as in cleaning our homes, cleaning our bodies has become a toxic soup of artificial, and probably unnecessary, chemicals that could be seriously harming our bodies and our environment.  The David Suzuki Foundation identifies the worst offenders (https://davidsuzuki.org/queen-of-green/dirty-dozen-cosmetic-chemicals-avoid/).  It might be interesting to go on a treasure hunt in your bathroom to see what you discover.

                This issue came into my awareness during a conversation with a friend years ago regarding menopause.  The poor thing was in the thick of hot flashes and other indignities when her doctor offered relief in the form of a skin cream.  It worked!  And she was having a tough time.  So I got to thinking… if a skin cream could affect her hormones enough to fix those serious issues, what am I putting on my skin that is affecting my hormones indiscriminately?  Hormone disruption with environmental toxins is a serious concern for me as it has been linked such diverse problems as breast cancer and obesity (*1).

Shampoo Alternatives

1. Mix one part baking soda and one part apple cider vinegar.  Shake well and apply about 1 or 2 teaspoons to hair once wet.  Work into scalp.  Rinse well.

2. Use a shampoo bar 

 instead of a bottle.  It’s great for travelling as there are no liquids to pack in your carry on.  It can also be used on the body.  There are several options online.  Check the ingredients to be sure you understand each one and it is a natural substance.  The ingredient list should be under ten items. 

3. A special nod to dandruff shampoo users.  The harsher chemicals in traditional shampoos strips oils excessively from the skin (scalp) causing dry patches and opportunities for irritation.  Switching to softer cleansers creates healthier skin less likely to break out.  As a prescription for break out times, try rubbing in coconut oil to scalp and leaving it for about 10 or 15 minutes.  Wash as usual.  The coconut oil is nourishing, anti-fungal and cooling.

Conditioner Alternatives

Unless you have very long, fine hair that tangles a lot, chances are you can skip purchased conditioner.  Conditioner was never intended to work at the root but nearer to the ends of hair.  Try applying a little argan or coconut oil to the ends (be extremely sparing) and then rinsing out excess under warm water in shower.  The myriad of products we apply to smooth, straighten, plump or control hair is dizzying.  I bet your family and friends would still love you if you let your hair go a little more natural.

Deodorizing Soap Alternatives

1. You’re honestly not that smelly everywhere.  There are a couple key areas where things can get a little funky.  You know where they are.  All other exposed skin is fine for water only unless you have ground in dirt or axle grease to clean.  Consider using the hair cleanser on the smellier bits (they usually have some association with hair follicles as well so that makes sense, doesn’t it?).
2. For the dirtier places, like after changing your oil or planting the garden, try a castile based soap (like Bronner’s).  It is oil based and the oil helps dissolve the grease on your body that might be holding the dirt. 

Moisturizer Alternatives

1. Raid the kitchen for olive oil.  Slather on oil before shower then let the warm water rinse the excess.  Pat dry gently with a towel after and your skin should be silky smooth.
2. Make your own body butter.

In a glass 2 cup measure, add ¼ cup coconut oil, ¼ cup olive oil, ¼ cup cocoa or shea butter and a few drops of essential oil for fragrance.  Melt slowly in the microwave, stirring frequently until well blended.  Pour into a clean storage container.  The liquid will harden to the texture of butter fresh from the fridge.  To apply, warm a little in your hand until liquid again.   

                Your pocketbook will thank you and the fish will thank you.  And you will still be beautiful as a more natural you.

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(*1) https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine/index.cfm

It’s bathing suit season and too many of us are hiding away from the fun.  The image of a perfect body has become so skewed in this “instagram-able” world.  This column is a cry for humanity!

For millennia, women have been revered for our curves.  Luscious contours were a sign of fertility and status.  How did our culture decide that women should have hollow bellies and bones sticking out?

It’s time to declare that this obsession with photo perfect bodies is silly!  The idolization of a flat belly has led most of us to disdain our beautiful forms and feel embarrassed about revealing skin.

Let’s look at why rounded bellies are beautiful and healthy. 

So you can breathe!

Think of centuries past, when females were cruelly laced into unforgiving corsets so tightly that the slightest movement necessitating a deeper breath caused fainting or worse.  In order to take in that vital oxygen and energy, one must allow space for the diaphragm to expand into the abdomen.  If it is too tightly held, with spanx or otherwise, breathing is restricted.  Vitality is diminished.  A full, vibrant breath pattern translates into more energy, happiness and strength.

• A little subcutaneous fat in the abdomen is healthy.  Especially as women age, the fat cells can play an important role in endocrine function.  Fat cells can actually supplement estrogen production as the ovaries slow down.  This can moderate the effects of menopause.

• The obsession with a flat belly leads to dramatic dietary shifts like going gluten free or cutting out all carbs.  Some health conditions require these changes, but cutting out normally healthy food groups to specifically lose weight can be downright dangerous.  Boot camp challenges and extreme fitness goals are also a form of self aggression and ultimately unhealthy from a holistic perspective.

• In yoga philosophy, the area of the belly is considered a source of psychological and spiritual power.  Artificially restricting the belly, or sending it disgust or revulsion, inhibits the free expression of your personal power.

• And this is strictly unscientific and anecdotal.  I think guys like girls to feel, well, like girls.  The timeless magic in the uniting of the sexes means the female might be a little softer, more cuddly.  There’s nothing wrong in revelling in this femininity and owning our attractiveness as women.  And if you, my girlfriend, have no interest in how men perceive us, then you still need to own your feminine powerjust as it is!

Whatever shape your beautiful body, feel it, love it, move it and revere it.  As you progress on the path to self acceptance and gratitude for this physical vehicle, your overall health will improve.  And that will bring a healthy weight organically.  If you’ll excuse me now, I need to change into my bikini and get outside for summer fun!

It’s spring here in beautiful Niagara, and the dandelions are everywhere. What is often vilified as a weed is actually nature’s seasonal gift. The flowers could be used to make wine, the roots roasted and ground for a hot beverage, but today I’m harvesting the leaves for salads, smoothies and cooking greens.

And let’s not stop there. Wild onions are often found in damp areas around rivers or creeks. They make a wonderful addition to omelettes, pastas, soups and as a fresh garnish for noodle dishes, etc.

For more inspiration around food, try building a greenhouse from garbage or creating a meal from mostly leftovers.

During the quarantine, we need to find new ways to feel complete. I really wanted breakfast sausage! But our normal Sunday morning “out for breakfast” is no longer an option. Years ago, at Kripalu, I had some really yummy tofu based ones but couldn’t find a recipe online at this time. So it was time to get creative!

For more recipes like this, try peanut citrus stir fry or this satisfying vegan casserole with a quinoa crust.

The reality for many of us is that we are staying home and working from home. A lot. I’ve never fussed much about my office. It’s the spare bedroom and my yoga practice space. I don’t even have a proper chair! This one in the photo is an antique from my grama’s kitchen (circa the last great depression!). But these days, there is no studio or outside gigs to take me away. Natalie loves it.

So how are you doing in isolation? And if you are an essential worker, who is still travelling to your work, has it changed a lot? My quick forays into the commercial world are much more stressful now and I admit that generalized fear takes my breath away.

Here are some resources that may help you cope:

Join our free live yoga classes via Zoom. More information here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jsn0GQDW6A&feature=youtu.be

In a video a few years ago, “The Importance of Rest“, I tried to explain how essential it is for the human animal to build in daily therapeutic rest. One of the analogies was imagine a world that was at war, heaven forbid. A world that needed all resources for weapons or manpower would have little left to invest in food production, education, bridge building, etc.

And here we are… in a world in crisis. Education is shut down, roads are deserted, grocery shelves are empty. Most of us in North America never imagined to experience this. It’s been over 200 years since we saw this scale of turmoil on our soil.

Isn’t it interesting that the outside world is in chaos. All resources shunted to disaster management. And yet the human animal is being offered an unprecedented opportunity to rest?

It’s like nature, or universal intelligence, or God, finally lost patience with us gifted humans for not treasuring our abilities and exploiting anywhere we could. We’re being shown in the macro sense what our bodies have been trying to communicate for decades.

As I explain in the aforementioned video, our systems are hard wired to be in active or rest mode. The system is set up along a continuum and is very fluid but ideally, one has equal hours each daily cycle. Most modern humans push very hard into the active side of things, chronically depriving our restorative functions of the energy they require to keep us healthy.

Now nature has hammered us so universally, she is mandating the rest we all so desperately need. Especially rest for her! Every time I get a cold, I recognize I need better balance in my life but a few weeks later, there I am pushing the envelope again. This time it’s one heck of a cold.

I would invite you to take this enforced social isolation time to take back your life. I know we can’t do all the fabulous, exciting things that we planned. But maybe that’s the point. The outside distractions … travel, shopping, concerts, meetings, parties … these kept us very busy. But were we really living?

It’s been interesting as I enter week two of quarantine to observe how content I actually am. The world is the scariest place right now … beyond any imagining for me … and yet, I feel ok. I’m working harder to stay in touch with my family. We’re being more flamboyant to show our support and caring for each other. I am nestled in quarantine with my honey and he jokingly refers to this as our second honeymoon (apologize in advance to the young readers who find it impossible to imagine grandparents being romantic). I’m trying new things career-wise that I wanted to do but was too busy being busy to focus on. So the enforced rest is feeling therapeutic. Just like the research said it would.

But what about the chaos out there?

Here’s where yoga comes in. The three final limbs of the 8 limbed yoga “tree” discuss the powers of concentration and meditation. This discernment as to what you focus on is a daily practice. Now the fruits of your labour become apparent. Learn what you need to know about the crisis and follow public health guidelines. Then refocus. Shift attention – just as we shift attention on purpose from right to left or posture to posture on the mat – to your life. Take this time to soulfully reflect on how you are spending this precious gift of life in your hands. Were you just busy? How might you better serve going forward?

As the crocus blooming in the rain said, this too shall pass and it will be time for you to bloom too.