Category Archives: Health

June 20, 2019 · 5:29 am

International Day of Yoga 2019 – Free offerings from Isha Foundation and Sadhguru

International Day of Yoga - Isha Free Offerings

June 21 is the day that spring transitions to summer. If spring is about the rebirth brought on by increased light then summer is about the blossoming of all life. We go from green blades of grass effortlessly cutting through the earth to birds singing for the ecstasy of being alive. Everything is oriented to rebirth and growth, to potential and possibility.

How fitting then, that June 21 is also the International Day of Yoga (IDY) because this day is also about the potential for rebirth and blossoming. Only with yoga, the seed of potential is not carried along on the softness of a fragrant breeze, it lies within all human beings. The fruit of its birth and blossoming can be the realization of our universal oneness.

This post is about the guidance a guru can offer on one’s spiritual path, what that transformation looks like in my own life and Isha Foundation’s offerings to help bring humans to their ultimate potential on IDY 2019.

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November 8, 2018 · 5:09 pm

Isha Yoga Workshop November 17 – 18, 2018 in Calgary

Yoga poster for Isha Yogasanas workshop in Calgary November 17-18, 2018

I have taken this course and now I do this practice at home. When I do it regularly, I feel my body realign. Kinks from sitting, standing and sleeping in the awkward ways we do, dissolve. My mind is clear. I focus and contribute to the world.

I’ve written about Sadhguru and Isha yoga before. You can check out those pieces to learn more. As Sadhguru always says, “The only way out, is in.” and these yoga practices will give you the strength you need to sit for meditation and enjoy physical health.

This is a non-sponsored post. I am a willing volunteer for Isha because of how Sadhguru and the organization have enriched my life – on a whole other level that money could never buy.

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October 17, 2018 · 3:29 am

World Food Day – taking a global idea and making it local

a poster about a winter vegetable box available through YYC growers and distributors

World Food Day is a U.N. sanctioned “day” to bring awareness of their goal of #ZeroHunger in the world by 2030. We have a long way to go. One in nine people in the world are still going to bed chronically hungry each day.

The Facts

A report by Brookings Institute states that, “As of 2017, over 150 million children remain stunted, roughly 820 million people are undernourished (a number that has increased for each of the last three years), and over 2.5 billion people responded that they lacked the resources needed to buy food at some point in the last 12 months, again a sharp increase.” They believe governments need to “focus on policies to raise yields and build efficient and inclusive markets, and on public and private investments needed to achieve these outcomes.” That seems like overwhelming stuff. I’m glad that there are experts in global health working on this. But, instead of feeling powerless, I feel empowered to ask what I can do on a personal and local basis?

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September 13, 2018 · 8:56 pm

Stock up – there’s no time like the present to make soup

Zucchini Corn Chowder - photo credit - Karen Anderson - Savour It All blog

The crisp, cool days of fall have arrived in Alberta. Yesterday, instead of making salad, I got out my stock pot and made a big pot of soup for our dinner guests and we were all the warmer and cozier for it. The good people at Apple magazine anticipate the shifts in cook’s seasons so, back in June, they asked me for a “how-to” make soup stock column for the fall issue.

This assignment was easy and a pleasure because soup stock is one thing I always have on hand. I add it to my favourite linguini with clam sauce recipe, use it to add flavour to mashed potatoes and of course, I make a variety of great soups with it. Soup means a lot to me. I’m a volunteer for Soup Sisters and have even contributed to three of their best-selling cookbooks. Click the link below to read my column, stock up and have a happy fall making soup to your heart’s content.

 

Fall is the time to make soup. Check out my latest column for Alberta Health’s Apple Magazine and >
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Stock up

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August 10, 2018 · 6:10 pm

Shades of Green Salad with Alberta Vinaigrette

shades of green salad

Looking for an easy breezy summer salad? Here’s one that celebrates two great Alberta ingredients, honey and canola, while maximizing the enjoyment of summer’s bounty of green on your plate. It’s from my latest column for Alberta Health Services Apple magazine and you can read the article and get the full recipe here.

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March 6, 2018 · 5:00 pm

Maple apple-stuffed cinnamon buckwheat crepes – because winter just won’t go away

Alberta Health Services Apple Magazine, Karen Anderson, Food Sight column,

Maple apple-stuffed cinnamon buckwheat crepes – photo by Karen Anderson

I actually love winter. And, this one has been fantastic for me as I’ve been able to walk to the end of my driveway, step into my cross-country skis and break my own trail through a blanket of light and fluffy snow more than any other year I can remember.

March came in like a lion (with another foot of snow here in Calgary) so it should go out like a lamb but, in between, I’m going to tuck into more of these Maple apple-stuffed cinnamon buckwheat crepes. It’s a recipe that I developed for Alberta Health Services’ Apple magazine. Click on the link below to find my recipe and the lovely food styling by Sylvia Kong and Shallon Cunningham of Savory Palate and Salt Food Photography respectively. I hope you’ll enjoy this gluten-free apple-filled delight.

We’ll take a bite of these apples and spring will take a bite out of winter. Just relax and savour it all.

check out my article >
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The enjoyable fruit

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January 4, 2018 · 11:31 pm

Yoga – what is it really? And an Isha Yoga Asanas workshop in Calgary, January 20 and 21, 2018

Isha yoga asanas workshop in Calgary

Yoga Asanas (poses) – photo courtesy of Isha Foundation – used with permission

Yoga means union. Yogis, people who practice yoga, believe our individuality is an illusion and yoga’s purpose is to help us go beyond our limited perception of existence to realize our oneness.

Yoga is not a workout or a fad. Yoga is not a religion. It is a path to self-transformation.  Through meditation the mind is harnessed and taught to focus or be silent. Yogasanas are yoga postures that help a yogi prepare to sit for longer periods of meditation; for longer periods of silence in the mind and of no movement in the body.

This post gives a bit of background about a special Isha Hatha Yoga Yogasanas workshop coming to Calgary on January 20 and 21, 2018. Continue reading →

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