The lighter side of massage.  You can find most of these images at offthemark.com and cartoonstock.com.  Clicking on the image will bring you to their websites.

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Here is a great little stress buster. This little gem is everyone’s favourite secret addiction. I’ll admit it too. Half the reason why I buy stuff is for the bubble wrap. Bubble wrap has greatly accelerated consumerism and now it can help you to relieve some stress. Enjoy! Start popping.

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3. Yoga Philosophy: Non-attachment, or ‘vairagya’.

I’m still working on my new direction (not a new year’s resolution) of taking better care of myself so that I can take care of my clients.  This has introduced me to the elliptical machine again, got me a membership a the community pool for some regular swimming and got my behind back into the gym.  All the standard stuff that people do when they try to get into shape.  It can be a bit of a grind or a chore at times, but the benefits are priceless.

Today I had planned on hitting the gym or swimming or both but when I looked out the window I found an absolute winter wonderland.  This is Toronto’s first real snowfall of the season and the city is transformed.  Maybe I’m wired a bit differently, but when I see a scene like this, the only thing I can think of is “tobogganing”.  I bought a Crazy Carpet a couple of years ago with the intent of attacking the hill on Riverdale Park.  It is situated on Broadview just south of the Danforth and it is a real beauty.  The hill starts at Broadview and gives a wonderful panoramic view of the city, the CN Tower and the rivers of cars on the Don Valley Parkway.  I have wanted to toboggan it since I first moved into the area years ago.

Today, after my morning client, I finally decided to go for it.  K Way pants, Kodiak Boots and Crazy Carpet…. I was ready for battle.  I figure that with  a 4  km round trip walk to the park, plus all the sprinting up the hill, this little adventure will count as my exercise for the day.  Lots of cardio, a light workout on the lower limbs, some core strengthening from keeping my legs up in the air (the only way to pick up speed on the Crazy Carpet), and most importantly… FUN!!!

It was a great time.  There were a couple of other adults on the hill who all had amnesia when it came to remembering their ages.  The snow was virgin white and for a good hour I was engaged in one of the most natural activities around.  And yes, I had a good workout.

Exercise can take any form you want it to.  The most important thing to remember is to choose a form of exercise that you like.  You will have a much better chance of sticking with it if you do.  Look deep inside and figure out what you love to do.  Martial arts, dog walking, swimming, dancing, tobogganing, sprinting, dodgeball, etc.  The choice is all yours

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This guest post was written by Valerie Holland, a yoga teacher in Toronto.

This column is to familiarize people with yoga philosophy translated into everyday language that can be applied to daily life.

Today’s topic: Non-attachment, or ‘vairagya’.

These days, in terms of the home, we hear a lot about de-cluttering, organizing, and minimizing. How does yogic thought look at this issue?
Yoga advises that we should be satisfied with less material objects: to practice non-attachment or ‘vairagya’. This doesn’t mean that you don’t need to have some possessions. It means that you should be detached from them, that they mean less to you. It is the constant craving for possessions that feeds the ego, which can never be satisfied.

To illustrate, if you have 20 t-shirts, you should narrow it down to 10, or even 15 to start. Why? Why do you need 20 t-shirts? Do you wear all of them? If you had less, you wouldn’t need to wash, dry, fold and organize them. Think of the time and space you could save. Now, the question arises: how do you dispose of them in a sattvic (pure, respectful) way? My suggestion is to lay all your t-shirts out and pick your favorite one. Keep it! Choose your next 5 favorites, and put them away. Now you have 6 t-shirts that you love, that fit you and that you feel good in and 14 t-shirts left on the bed. Some you like, some you know are not that great. Why are you keeping them? You are not responsible for those objects. You don’t need to take care of them anymore. Liberate yourself from them. Give some of them away to Goodwill or one of the many other charities, such as a group home for teenagers, or abused women’s shelter.

What have you accomplished? Besides giving yourself more space (so chi can circulate) you have lessened your dependence on material objects that only serve to boost your ego. Happiness is never achieved through consumerism; it lies within. You have given generously to others who need it more and have begun to open the heart (Anahata) chakra.

Think of the heart chakra as a many petalled lotus. When you give generously to others, without thought of reward, the petals begin to open and eventually all the petals open and the lotus turns upward. To have an open heart is key to happiness. While we are on this topic, how is your heart chakra? Close your eyes and focus on your heart. You know where it is. Take a deep breath. Think of a time when you were happy and carefree. (Notice that you will not visualize yourself surrounded by material goods such as cars, jewelry or furniture you will most likely be outside, on a beach, or in a garden.) Exhale. Charity is the perfect way to open your heart.

It’s okay to enjoy material objects, but remain detached from them. Do not place too much importance on them. Do not depend on them for your happiness or self-worth. Happiness is inside of you. Think of other ways to spend money instead of shopping. Like paying off debt or even saving. Anybody maxed-out? Does the thought of owning your own home one day even seem possible? Do not despair. Take control. Exercise non-attachment. Stop buying and start letting go of your dependence on material objects. If you find you need some more t-shirts, there are some great ones at Goodwill!

Guest Author Bio:

Yogi Kamala has been teaching yoga at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre at 77 Harbord St. in Toronto for ten years. She also does private lessons and teaches in schools and chiropractic centres. She is a yoga Acharya, which means Master of Yoga. Her studies include Vedanta, Raja yoga, meditation and chanting. She also dances and performs in community theatre.

Namaste.

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I just received this from a friend. A few of them really hit home.

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don’t over do. Keep your limits..
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24 . You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
35. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
36. The best is yet to come.
37. Your Inner most is always happy. so, be happy.

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3. Yoga Philosophy: Non-attachment, or ‘vairagya’.

Every now and then I wish I had something more profound to say to a client in order to help them through  a tough time.   For that reason, I collected these quotes.  They can be really useful at the right time.  I also framed a few of them to decorate my clinic.  Here are a few of them.  I hope you find them useful too.

Love Life

As I grow to understand life less and less, I learn to love it more and more. – Jules Renard

A loving heart is the truest wisdom. – Charles Dickens

Motivation

Every ceiling, when reached, becomes a floor, upon which one walks as a matter of course and prescriptive right. – Aldous Huxley

If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else. – Yogi Berra

It is the want of diligence, rather than the want of means, that causes most failures. – Alfred Mercier

Every artist was first an amateur.

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled.  For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts, and start searching for different ways or truer answers.”

Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is. – Vince Lombardi

Failure

Failure teaches success. – Japanese Saying

Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again. – Henry Ford

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one. – Elbert Hubbard

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortunes; but great minds rise above them. – Washington Irving

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. – Theodore Roosevelt

Wherever we look upon this earth, the opportunities take shape within the problems. – Nelson A. Rockefeller

A man’s life is interesting primarily when he has failed–I well know. For it’s a sign that he tried to surpass himself. – Georges Clemenceau

We learn wisdom from failure much more than success. We often discover what we will do, by finding out what we will not do. – Samuel Smiles

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall. – Confucius

Be Yourself

Insist on yourself. Never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure–which is:  “Try to please everybody.”

No man is happy who does not think himself so. – Publilius Syrus

There is only one person who could ever make you happy, and that person is you.

Our ideas, like orange-plants, spread out in proportion to the size of the box which imprisons the roots. – Edward Bulwer Lytton

Carpe Diem

It is never too late to become the person you could’ve been.

Try to be happy in this present moment and not put it off until another time…. As if that future time could be of another make from this which has already come and is ours right now – Thomas Fuller

“Always do what you are afraid to do.”

If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes. – St. Clement of Alexandra

If you have an hour, will you not improve that hour, instead of idling it away? – Lord Chesterfield

There is only one success–to be able to spend your life in your own way. – Christopher Morley

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. – Helen Keller

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit. – Aristotle

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking. – William B. Sprague

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. – Eleanor Roosevelt

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up. – Paul Valery

Half of the failures in life come from pulling one’s horse when he is leaping. – Thomas Hood

Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don’t think of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that you retire. – Samuel Johnson

I hope that when I die, my body will be completely used up.

The happiest life is that which constantly exercises and educates what is best in us. – Hamerton

What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail? Robert Schuller

You’ve got to sing like you don’t need the money, love like you’ll never get hurt. You’ve got to dance like no one is watching. It’s gotta come from the heart, if you want it to work. – Susannah Clark

Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin. – Hansen, Grace

Stress

Ask yourself this question: “Will this matter a year from now?” – Richard Carlson

I never think of the future – it comes soon enough. – Albert Einstein

It is not work that kills men, it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hardly put more on a man than he can bear. But worry is rust upon the blade. It is not movement that destroys the machinery, but friction.  – Henry Ward Beecher

There is more to life than increasing its speed. – Mahatma Ghandi

There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying things which are beyond the power of our will.

In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet. – Albert Schweitzer

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What a great way to say good morning!!!   Imagine starting your day with 45 minutes of laughter in the glorious outdoors.  I just did, and I gotta say….. I feel fantastic.  The class was led by Lynn who has been teaching laughter yoga for years on the Danforth.  I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive at first.  Enjoying a good laugh is one thing, but laughing for 45 minutes straight?  Sounds like too much of a good thing.  Also, we were smack dab in the middle of the park…. out in the open… for all to see.  A bit intimidating.  Luckily for me Lynn really knew what she was doing.  She led me through a few different exercises, role plays, and games that would bring about a whole new batch of laughter.  I was amazed when the class had ended because it felt like we were just beginning.  Each new round of laughter had me feeling lighter, invigorated, less stressed and freer.  It felt as if those mean tight muscles were letting go one by one.  At the end I noticed I felt perfectly comfortable sitting cross legged on the floor, which for me is really good.  Normally that position takes a lot of effort and concentration to maintain. 

The laughter yoga class took place in Withrow Park at Danforth and Carlaw.  There are only 2 more classes left for the summer: Tuesday August 25 at 5:30pm and Friday August 28 at 8:30am.  This is your last chance of the year to get in on it.  The cost is free but donations are accepted.  If you miss your chance for the open air classes, you might want to check out her indoor classes which start in September.  For more information visit Lynn’s website at http://www.lynn.sites.toronto.com/.

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We all need a little stress in our lives.  Some stress is necessary to give us the energy we need to deal with immediate problems, meet imminent deadlines, and face dangerous situations.  This “Good stress”, in the right quantities, can be essential for living.  But like everything else, it can be possible to have too much of a good thing.

Too much stress can be detrimental to our health.  Here are some of the warning signs of having too much stress in our lives:

It is important to recognize the symptoms of stress and learn what to do about them.  If you have quite a few of the symptoms listed above, then it is definitely time to do something about it. Stress can be managed and kept at safe levels.

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