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Mind Body Messenger
issue#22, March 2005
Keeping Up with Heather
Hello Friends…my apologies for the lateness of this letter, but settling back into Canada has taken me out of my regular writing routine. After a few weeks of down time, however, I am ready to get back to my regular practices, and get started again in serving your health and wellness needs. So, to keep you all updated on what’s happening with Heather and Yoga Trinity:
Yoga Classes
Beginning in March I will be teaching a variety of classes at Balance Yoga Studio, Queen Street, Tottenham. I am so glad to have been given the opportunity by the owner, Shira Harrison McIntyre, to take on a few fitness and yoga classes during the month of March. And, beginning in April, I will be teaching heaps more, as Shira takes some time off to have a baby. I’ll keep you posted on the schedule.
Personal Fitness and Yoga
In March I am also offering private, semi-private Yoga and Fitness sessions in New Tecumseth and King. I will also be travelling to Vaughan and Etobicoke weekly to offer corporate sessions. If you are interested in booking a session for yourself or a group, contact heather@yogatrinity.com.
Pilates and Workshops
In April I will be participating in the STOTT Pilates matwork certification program in Toronto, and look forward to adding this method to my group and private sessions. As well, April brings me to Toronto to begin a workshop series at Level V Fitness at College and Ossington. More details to come…
Outdoor Fitness
During the summer I look forward to continuing to teach Yoga and Pilates classes, offering personal fitness and yoga sessions, and exploring outdoor fitness with private clients and groups. Again, more details to come…
Yoga Teacher Training
For those of you reading in Australia, I will be returning to Brisbane in February of 2006 to offer Yoga Teacher Training from Feb 3 to March 5. If you are interested in participating, please drop me a line and I can forward you details, pre-requisites, and information on how to start preparing for the course.
So, as you can see I am planning for an active year in Canada offering many fitness and mind/body programs, as well as continuing to explore new methods of strengthening the body, focussing the mind, and opening the heart. In closing, I want to thank you all again so very much for continuing to subscribe, read, comment, encourage and support my endeavours.
It is amazing to me how far I’ve travelled (on all levels) in the past eight years of growing this business, and I am so happy that you are all on this journey with me. Namaste, Heather.
Going Veg?
In response to a few requests for good vegetarian and vegan resources, I’ve compiled a list of websites that can be of great help in getting educated about vegetarianism, finding recipes and meal plans that work for your tastes and lifestyle, and connecting with other veggie’s around the world.
Check out: Informative sites that offer articles, education, and other resources for vegetarians.
Cooking sites offer thousands of recipes, meal ideas, and resources for vegans and vegetarians. www.veganchef.com
Chew On This
I was sitting across from naturopath Heather Morrison the other
day, tucking into a bowl of veggie chilli, and our conversation
led me to ask her a question that I had been pondering for some
time; is it really that important to chew well? This question has
been milling around my mind for over a year now, when idirodolgist
Daphne Houltoun first mentioned the importance of chewing I was
a bit surprised. I figured, well, doesn’t your stomach just
take care of that? But, over the following months the subject surfaced
a few times to remind me that this is something worth investigating.
So, needless to say I was not surprised when Heather Morrison responded
with an emphatic ‘Yes, chewing is VERY important!’
She proceeded to list to me, (while of course I began pulverizing
each kidney bean very carefully before swallowing) the facts on
why chewing is essential for a healthy body, easeful digestion,
and regular elimination. After doing a bit of research myself, I’m
ready to share a few facts with you…in bite-sized pieces
for easier assimilation!
Did you know that chewing your food well and allowing food to spend
more time in your mouth will improve your overall health, promote
better digestion, enhance nutrient absorption, and regulate elimination?
Well, chew on these bite sized facts:
- Digestion begins in the mouth. Chewing well breaks food down into smaller particles, allowing it to be more easily swallowed, and speeding up the absorption of nutrients.
- Your body produces over a litre of saliva each day. As saliva is mixed with the foods you chew, it helps to break down foods for easier digestion.
- Chewing well gets the digestive process started early, so that the body uses less energy to process and metabolize your food, and limiting the stress on the elimination system.
- Saliva coats food particles with bacteria-fighting enzymes that are your body’s first defence against environmental toxins and food-borne bacterial infection.
- Keeping the food your mouth for a longer time allows the body to receive more taste sensations, stimulating the brain to release the correct digestive juices for that food. A great side effect is that your brain and your body feel more satisfied by smaller portions of food by chewing longer.
- Chewing well helps the body to fully digest raw vegetables and assimilate their nutrients.
- As nutritional drinks like smoothies, juices and tonics are becoming more and more popular, it is essential to remember that food doesn’t just need to be chewed to break down particles, but also must spend time in the mouth to be ensalivated. Swish liquids around in your mouth a few times before you swallow to aid those super-foods and juices to be better metabolized.
- Chewing well promotes PH (acid/alkaline) balance, as saliva alkalizes acidic foods. Promoting a slightly alkaline blood is helpful for fighting bacteria, oxygenating blood, and restoring balance to an overworked, overtired and stressed system.
So, if you have been gobbling down your lunch while you read this
column, slow down…take your time…your brain will be
more satisfied, your stomach won’t have to overwork, your
body will receive more nutrients, and you will have a healthy and
happy colon. And, let’s face it, who doesn’t want
their colon to be happy?
Thoughts On…
We occasionally find words of wisdom in the most unlikely places.
We are sometimes lucky enough to pick up a book, or sit down to
a film, or have a chat to the neighbor or the garbage collector,
and to our surprise we find inspiration, illumination, and answers
to some of our deepest questions. It doesn’t happen all that
often, but isn’t it magic when we discover a sage when we
expected a waitress or janitor? The following quotes are from some
less than likely sources:
What we do does not define who we are. What defines us is how well we rise after falling.
The butler in the film Maid in Manhattan
Sometimes we are forced in directions we should have chosen for ourselves.
Again, the wise butler from Maid in Manhattan
Everything that I’ve done to this point has created a
foundation for who I am and what I am doing now. To be in people’s
lives, and impact now they feel about their lives is a great honour.
Oprah Winfrey on turning 50.
The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.
Bruce Lee
If you don’t know where you are going, it doesn’t matter which way you go.
Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland
C.S. Lewis
(What we are here to do not just to grow, but to be transformed)…I’m
not talking about growth. Little tadpoles don’t just grow
into big tadpoles and call themselves frogs, the way little children
grow into big children and call themselves adults. Tadpoles are
transformed into something entirely other.
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas-Tom Robbins
Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.
Tupac Shakur
Got a quote or inspirational story you want to share? Send it to
heather@yogatrinity.com.
Yoga For Mind and Body
The thirteenth in a series of columns offering yoga postures for
men, women, and children to practice at home, school, on the road
or in the office. With special thanks to Ross Pottinger of Wink
Photo Design in Brisbane, Australia for the photos and the support
in this project. And many thanks to Louisa Dick for taking part
in the project. Do check with your health care practitioner before
beginning a yoga practice. Many postures are not suitable for pregnant
women, people with joint replacements, those with hypertension or
other medical conditions. If you have a posture that you would like
to see in this column, I welcome your suggestions. Namaste, H!
 To
Begin: Stand with feet hip width apart, turn the
right foot out 90 degrees, turn the left foot in 30-45 degrees.
Square your hips and shoulders to the long edge of your mat, or
the wall in front of you. Keep the thighs strong; imagine you are
stretching your feet into the ground. Throughout the pose, keep
the abdominal muscles engaged to support the pelvis.
The Pose: Inhale and extend
the arms out parallel to the ground. Exhale and stretch to your
right with the arms and torso, lengthening both sides of the rib
cage. Once you reach your maximal stretch, bring your right hand
to the shin, ankle, or the ground, and extend the left arm overhead
to create a straight line from fingertip to fingertip. Focus on
creating a straight line from tailbone to crown, by engaging the
side abdominal muscles and reaching out through the body to find
the spine parallel with the ground.
To Intensify: Bind the right
big toe with the first two fingers and thumb of the right hand,
begin to slightly spiral the upper body towards the ceiling.
Breathing: Hold the pose for
five deep thoracic breaths.
To Modify: Use a brick or support
block under the bottom hand. If you feel pressure in the back of
the forward knee, slightly bend the knee and firm the thigh to support.
Focus: The triangle is a posture
of angles, not curves. So, try to use the musculature of the legs
and core to create straight lines through the legs, spine, shoulders
and arms.
Cautions: The body has a tendency
to want to lean forward in this pose, be sure that your body is
aligned over the front thigh.
Benefits: Strengthens the entire body, builds physical stamina, improves digestion, opens up the sides of the body, stimulating the nervous system and balancing left and right (yin & yang)
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