Uplevel your consciousness
The other week I was in the grocery store with a client and we were looking at this bag of almonds – I think it was a medium sized bag – maybe 1 or 2 pounds at the most. I looked to see what the prices was – because it was no-name brand I assumed it would be cheap – but it was something astronomical like $30! I loudly said “THAT’S NUTS!” and then proceeded to laugh uncontrollably for 5 minutes at how funny my unexpected pun was.
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I love cereal.
When I was a kid I could eat 2-3 massive bowls of cereal and not be full… Probably because they were filled with a shit load of added sugar, preservatives, and weird chemical ingredients concocted in some laboratory somewhere rather than real ingredients. And while my awareness of the food industry has changed, my love for cereal has remained the same. The problem is even the health food cereals are full of sugar and wheat/grain products. All of which I am trying to stay away from as much as possible. I haven’t done any fancy schmancy food allergy test with the exception of a whole 30 a couple years back, but I have enough awareness now to know that when I eat them, my stomach hurts. I’m bloated, and gassy – hot right?
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I used to eat a lot of meat.
Like a lot. One time, I went to Natures Emporium and spent over $50 on just bacon because they had the best free-range, Mennonite-raised, sugar free, nitrate free, preservative-free bacon and it was 45 minutes from my house. My plates were filled with chicken, steak, pork, ground beef, ground turkey – I ate the occasional salad, topped with more ounces of meat than one person should eat in one sitting. I was #paleo. If you looked through my instagram you would see mostly pictures of meat – sometimes several types of meat with one meal. So trust me when I say that if you think you can never be vegan because you love meat – I feel you.
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People are always raving about overnight oats, and I get it – they are quick and convenient and you can make a bunch at a time if you want – but, they have to be kept in the fridge and typically you eat them cold.
I’m not about that.
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Photo by: Brooke Larke
My New Years was super relaxed this year.
My husband and I went to our favourite vegan restaurant which had 40% off (#winning), watched a livestream webcast of Sadhguru (one of our favourite Yogi’s), and meditated through Midnight. I will admit that living smack in the middle of Toronto made meditating through midnight a bit challenging. As midnight drew near, we could hear the roar of what seemed like a hundred drunk frat boys, and couldn’t help but chuckle as we heard everyone around us in our building count down to 2017. It was funny, and in the spirit of being in the moment, I smiled and it was completely perfect.
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Photo by: Charlene Miller
I used to have a pretty idealistic view of what it meant to have a “good” practice:
In my yoga practice, having a “good” practice meant I nailed all my asana’s, my breath and my movement danced in harmonious synchronicity, and I was able to complete my practice with complete ease in my body, and calm in my heart. In seated meditation a “good” practice meant I would leave with a feeling of total bliss – like I was wrapped up in a warm blanket of pure awareness.
I cannot tell you how infrequently either of those things have happened for me. So you can imagine my disappointment every time I stepped on my mat, or went to sit for a meditation.
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Who decided that going out to a bar, spending a hundred dollars on drinks, cabs and drunk food, going home late, and being hung-over for two days was a good time? First of all – it’s expensive, second of all, it’s bad for you, and third – you probably don’t remember half of it anyways.
I’m not perfect. Far from it. I did all those things, many times. I pretty much can’t remember my first year of university (kidding, but not really). I remember questioning this cultural norm several times in university.. I remember thinking “I feel terrible during and after these nights. I don’t like drinking that much and I’m paying a lot of money to actually deteriorate my health – Why am I doing this?”
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I was recently in the elevator with a guy who asked me if I played pokemon go. I thought it was funny, so we started talking. For the record – I do not play pokemon go! I was a little taken aback that he asked me actually, I wonder if I look like someone who would play Pokemon go? Either way, I was glad that he wanted to make conversation with me. I love meeting new people. He told me he was really into it. He was a bigger guy. He told me that he was an IT support person, went to school for business and technology, and that he was really into all types of video games. He told me that he had walked over 3km that day trying to find Pokemon and that he was really proud of himself. He said that usually he hates walking because it doesn’t provide him with enough “intellectual stimulus” but that this game gives him something to be interested in while he’s walking.
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What is Mindfulness?
The term “mindfulness” and “meditation” often leave people conjuring up notions of sitting in a circle holding hands and singing Kumbaya — but it’s not that. Not at all.
I sometimes find it helpful to talk about what Mindfulness is not, before actually delving into what it is. …
