Mayan Calendar - Ending & Beginning

Today is the end of the Mayan calendar! What all of it means, I don't know, but I do know that I want intention and awareness to be invested in the day.

What is it that brings us to a place of seeing and experiencing from the Heart? The Native American speaker on the film "Shift of the Ages" stated that "The longest journey we will take in life is from the head to the heart." Why is it that way? If the heart enriches our life experience and the totality of our experiences, why is it a challenge to get there?

I know from my own life that it is the journey in the challenge that can give the greatest serendipities. It is really, within each challenge, that we have an opportunity to journey to the heart, to journey with the heart.

Within human nature are qualities that avoid new journeys. These qualities will come up, that is part of our programming, and the 'living in the head' to which we have been programmed. To walk differently is... is... risky. It is new and uncharted territory. Fear grabs us, and we justify to ourselves why we need to recoil and stay where we are.

This new walk is risky, I won't diminish it. But I won't accept it. Fear of fear itself keep us in the head, and bumbling along, asleep a the wheel of life, while the autopilot steers our ship. The value of shifting to a fuller and richer experience of life can never be fully described, because no two experiences are alike.

"Who am I?" Let that phrase reverberate throughout your day. As you encounter your day, keep that subtle question moving within your thought process, agitating you to move beyond the mind.

Journey well, journey together. We are in the Age of Community!

Peace & Joy
Love & Light
Shanthi (Peace)

Holiday Calm from mothering Mother - Newsletter Dec 2012

mothering Mother in Daily Life

Green Living Bites ~ Replace wrapping paper with wrapping cotton, and cotton reusable bags! Even better, give gifts in the mothering Mother drawstring and velcro closing bags!  ~Give with meaning this holiday. Create something from your own hands.!Yes it takes more time. And yes, it has more meaning!  ~Give the best gift of all - Your Peace. If doing more means that you are falling apart, then the negative energy cancels out the good deed. The greatest gift in the greatest shortage is the gift of time - give a "lunch together card ", with a date in the New Year. Time with a friend or family member can mean more than a material item. mothering Mother Blog For even more wholesome food for thought, presenting the  mothering Mother®  blog! Check it out!  Join Our List

The mothering Mother® newsletter seeks to address how integral  food and its connection with the Earth is to our everyday lives. Eating healthy foods is easy if you buy healthy and natural ingredients. Get familiar with your produce and bulk bags. Eating Earth healthy foods benefits everyone. Buy fresh produce, fresh seeds and nuts, and follow the recipe below to good and natural eating. Can we eat our way out of the environmental challenges? One thoughtful meal at a time. See the continued "Eating Our Way Out" article at the bottom of this newsletter. Share your joy for the world by using cotton mothering Mother® bags and sharing your home cooked foods with others.   Namaste Sydney Holiday Calmers Any time that the the mind starts to run faster than the body, begin to bring union to yourself with some of these ideas. Ultimately you are in charge of how you move through this season, so take back yourself from the illusion that has been created at this time of year.  The Breathe - this is the immediate connector for the body and mind. Breathe in for 5 slow counts and breath out for 6 slow counts. Inhale through the nose, and exhale out the nose. Inhale smoothly and evenly for all 5 counts, and exhale slowly and consistently for all 6 counts. Let the increased prana (energy) in the body work its magic! Go to the original messages of the holiday season! The weeks leading up to Christmas are about the candles of Advent. Each candle celebrates and invites us to live with deeper meaning and connection. Hope, Peace, Joy and Love - let these qualities permeate your Being. Hanukkah is a commemoration of "rededication" and a celebration of faith and courage from this dedication.  For the mystics out there, this particular year is a very auspicious time! It is a time to "write down your wishes, desires, plans for the New Year and the New Era - one that begins on Dec. 21 when the ancient Mayan calendar ends.  This also marks the shift from the Piscean Age to the Aquarian Age...we are now moving into a time of community, of brotherhood and sisterhood.  An understanding of our interconnectedness, with one another and with all on the planet." (see  www.goodenergyyoga.com and Melissa Elstein) Create away! It is your meaning, your wishes, and your intentions that can make every day a celebration!   KISS - Keep It Simple Silly Bring out the slow cooker! Before heading to work, or heading out to run errands, put on a pot of soup and come home to a meal! Red lentils cook easily, and have a high nutrient density. This is a favorite in our home. I will not take credit for this entire recipe. It comes from the Moosewood Restaurants Cooks at Home book. Using water, not vegetable stock, and simple ingredients that are often in your kitchen, make adaptions to suit your taste and your ease. Red Lentil Soup 1 1/2 cups red lentils   7 cups water 3 bay leaves 1 clove garlic, chopped finely (optional) 2 slices of fresh ginger 2 carrots, grated to make 1 cup 1 cup diced tomatoes (fresh or tinned) 1/2 cup diced pepper 1 1/2 cups chopped onion 2 T ghee butter or olive oil 1 1/2 t ground cumin 1 1/2 t ground coriander 1/8 t cayenne (or to taste) 3 cups leafy greens, chopped 2 T fresh lemon juice Salt, pepper to taste Rinse the lentils in a stainer under running water. Add the lentils, bay leaves, garlic, and ginger to the pot or slow cooker. Turn on the heat. While the lentils begin to cook, chop and cook the onions with the ghee butter or oil. When the onions are translucent, add the spices. Add all of this, with the carrots, tomatoes and pepper to the slow cooker. If you are doing this on the stove top, then cook the lentils with the carrots, tomatoes and pepper for 30 minutes, then add the cooked onion combination. If using a slow cooker, cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours. The leafy greens can be added with the lemon juice, just before serving. Adjust the seasoning, remove the ginger pieces and bay leaves. This soup is an excellent leftover. The flavors of the spices mellow into the lentils. Makes 4-6 servings. Yummy! Eating Our Way Out (Part 18)  Sydney MacInnis Founder mothering Mother Holistic Nutritionist and Yoga Instructor At this time of year overconsumption is the way of the day. Approaching holiday eating with your own boundaries will help you to feel merry now, and on Jan 1, 2013! Overeating is not a symbol that you are having a good time. Quite to the contrary, we usually feel more down with ourselves when we overeat!   While enjoying the conversation and connectedness of gatherings, choose foods that are lighter. Keep servings of flesh foods and dairy to a minimum. These foods tend to be high in fats and stay with us for longer. Keep servings of vegetables high. These foods tend to give us micronutrients, fibre, and a feeling of atiation. Feeling a little Grinchy, I will say that meat 'is the first thing to go!' Whatever the reason for motivation - the environment (meat carries a high carbon footprint, creates toxic waste, encourages antibiotic resistance, compromises water quality), or health benefits, or the humane interest of the animals themselves - find something that resonates with you to make this a part of your regular dietary habits. If you are eating meat, make it the side bar of your meal. You will feel better, and everyone will benefit! Consume, on every level, with intention! May health be your birthright! Namaste

Ow, I was Bitten by the Temptation

The price of food does play an influence on decision making. Yesterday I was bitten by the temptation to buy Breyers ice cream for a dinner that we are hosting with children. On every level the ice cream is not a good decision - health-wise it is loaded with refined sugars, high fat and stabilizers; environmentally it has plastic packaging on the lid; and, Breyers tends to be a higher priced ice cream.

But the price, oh, not a $5-$7 gouge, this was a mere $3.25! In a flash I found the flavor desired and I purchased away. At home, I now opened the freezer door to take out some legumes for dinner, and there it was, staring me in the face! How did I come to have this in the freezer?! Oh yes, you justified it through the price. Now I will face dealing with the packaging when we are finished; reflecting on the message and conditioning that I am giving to these children; and, I will face dealing with our son, who will ask for ice cream daily, once he knows it is there. Then I will have to employ more decision-making strategies!

So do I leave the ice cream where it is and let the children have some tonight, or do I return it to the store, and purchase, or make, a dessert that does not challenge so many levels of my personal value system? Cheap food elicits cheap decision making values. It would have been easier to walk by that freezer case if the price was higher.

Where and how do each of us draw the line around our food choices in a society where the poorest are also the heaviest?

Shanthi

Convenience - ing!

A new verb has just been created! "But it's not convenient."This is the most common Western objection to living a green lifestyle. It is all about convenience. We have been programmed to think about convenience first.

And when we have convenienced our way through the day - are we happy? We have more conveniences now than ever in the history of mankind, and yet we are less happy, more stressed, more depressed.

Go to a "convenience store" and ask yourself if this experience is uplifting, enlivening.

At some stage we will tire of convenience, and its inability to speak to our hearts, and we will embrace a way of life that uses different words to define meaning in a day, and meaning in a lifetime.

Make that stage and time in your life today! Become aware of convenience for Mother Nature, and make that your convenience focus.


Shanthi

After "Math"

After an interesting evening listening to Bill McKibben and the 350.org group speak in NYC, there are several reflections that I have. McKibben wrote an article for Rolling Stone Magazine and it summarizes the issues and plans for action.

350.org is an organization that is addressing the numbers, the "math" around global warming. The storm that hit the East Coast recently, Sandy, is sadly a demonstration of exactly what the experts predict to be an outcome of global warming. McKibben is telling us that we are to target the oil companies that are making lots of money, and creating environmental degradation for which they do have to pay. They are recommending divestment and rallies. Read the article for a further understanding of their position.

We all have an opportunity, many times each day, to look at our own contribution to the global situation. We all have contributed to greenhouse gases through our activities and our purchases. At mothering Mother we are focused around what you and I can do today to help reduce our carbon footprint. Our actions, our purchases, our eating, are all political decisions that we engage in everyday. Choosing to walk or take public transit rather than drive, choosing to have less "stuff" or to buy something used, choosing to eat lower on the food chain, all are choices that we make each day.

We are all part of the problem, and we can all be part of the solution. While the work of 350.org bubbles and moves along, embrace little steps of simplicity in your own life. We are all going to need to learn to live with a little less. There can be so much joy and satisfaction within us when we engage our own "Pioneer Spirit".

Shanthi

With my good friend and fellow yoga teacher Melissa.

"Do the Math" Talk

Tonight I am going to a talk in NYC given by Bill McKibben of 350.org. I know very little about Bill and his work. The bit that I do know is that it will be a numbers presentation focusing around the environment and the changes happening with global warming.

I have not attended many of these types of talks in recent years. I have heard them before, over 20 years ago, information about the atrocities that were happening then to the earth, to Mother Nature. I did not know what to do with all of the information. And the sadness. And the anger. Fast forward 20 years and I am asking myself what large scale changes have taken place.

We need the environmental solutions to come from all generations, from persons of all shapes and sizes, of all income levels and of all genders. No waiting for the government, or your family or your neighbor. Start to make the changes in your own life. Your eating, your spending, your habits, your language, your awareness - all of these can make massive changes in the world today!

Be an agent of change. Mother Nature needs you; you need Mother Nature! Take this reciprocal relationship into your heart and move with Love throughout your day.

Shanthi

October 2012 Newsletter

mothering Mother in Daily Life  Green Living Bites ~ Make your own replacement for paper towels. Reusable cleaning cloths can be made from old sheets, old towels, old tshirts, old pj's... anything that is cotton and old! Use, wash, then reuse. ~Another way to reduce the use of paper towels is to line the crisper drawer with a cotton kitchen towel instead of paper towel. The kitchen towel can be washed and reused, and it will keep your vegetables from exposure to the chemicals in the paper towels! ~Love 'Em & Leave 'Em! A new catchy phrase for your fall leaves! Mulch the leaves with your mower. Leave the mulch on your lawn, use in your flower beds or in your home compost. Mulching at the source saves on hauling and dumping, and leaf blowing! mothering Mother Blog For even more wholesome food for thought, presenting the  mothering Mother®  blog! Check it out!  Join Our List The mothering Mother® newsletter seeks to address how integral  food and its connection with the Earth is to our everyday lives. Eating healthy foods is easy if you buy healthy and natural ingredients. Get familiar with your produce and bulk bags. Eating Earth healthy foods benefits everyone. Buy fresh produce, fresh seeds and nuts, and follow the recipe below to good and natural eating. Can we eat our way out of the environmental challenges? One thoughtful meal at a time. See the continued "Eating Our Way Out" article at the bottom of this newsletter. Share your joy for the world by using cotton mothering Mother® bags and sharing your home cooked foods with others.   Namaste Sydney India & Back Jordan McConnell & Meggie Guest Students North Toronto High School Upon our arrival in Udaipur, the advice and all the words of wisdom people had given to us left our minds, and all we could focus on was what was in the moment. Suddenly, the visions we had and the predictions we made about India disappeared. What was facing us was a big dose of reality; one that was totally foreign from anything that we had experienced back home. This would be our reality for the next 3 weeks. No matter how much advice we were given, we couldn't have imagined the adventure we were about to embark on. While we were in India we participated in many eye-opening experiences, including the 'Water Walk'. Our group of twenty students got up bright and early and went over to a nearby village and assisted a mother with her daily chores. We were all shocked at how physically demanding it was! We did everything from gathering copious amounts of water, to plastering her house with cow dung. Living in Canada, we have been blessed with access to clean water at all times. In contrast, the government in India provides the village with water for only half an hour a day. From these experiences we have learned that just because you have certain resources does not mean you should abuse them. One habit that we continue at home is to stagger our showers, meaning we turn off the water while rubbing the shampoo or conditioner in our hair. Another habit we continued upon returning is taking on a more vegetarian diet. For the majority of the time in India, we ate a mainly vegetarian diet. This was partially because of the fact that the Indian population is largely Hindu, and they do not eat cow, and also because of the culture. We have found this dietary change to be extremely rewarding. When following the vegetarian diet, we have found ourselves producing less waste. This includes packaging, wrappers, and garbage in general. Similarly, no one in India wasted a thing. If it was reusable, it would be reused. If it didn't have to be used, it wouldn't be. It's crazy to compare the amount of garbage produced in Canada to India. When we left the village we worked in, we gave the children clothing to make our travel bags lighter. Their sincere appreciation touched us in a way that is indescribable. We have certainly cut back on our consumption.  Although we had given so much of ourselves emotionally and physically while we were in India, we came home with so much more than when we left Toronto 3 weeks earlier. Fun Fall Millet This is a wonderful blend of the fall offerings - squash, cranberries, herbs and the pumpkin spice! Enjoy the grounding qualities of the grain, squash and oil, and the sweet fruity flavor from the cranberries and maple syrup.  In the photo below the millet is paired with cooked kale. Share your tasty meal with a friend! Thank you Lindsay and Prasanthi Studio for introducing me to this combination!   Fun Fall Millet ¾ cup millet, rinsed ½ t pumpkin spice 1 t dried thyme or 1 T fresh thyme (or sage) 2 cups vegetable stock or water 2 cups diced butternut or other winter squash (medium sized pieces) 1 cup cranberries, picked over and rinsed 2 T maple syrup 1/2 t salt 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds Olive oil Dry roast the rinsed millet in a saucepan over a medium heat. Once the water is gone, add the pumpkin spice, the thyme, stock or water, squash, cranberries, maple syrup and salt. Bring to the boil. Stir, cover with a lid and lower the heat to the lowest possible setting. Let the millet cook for 35 minutes. Gently dry roast the pumpkin seeds in a frying pan over a medium low heat. Toss regularly and do not overcook. The idea here is to lightly crispen the seeds. Once cooked, let the millet sit with the lid on for 5 minutes. Then remove the lid and let is sit for another 5 minutes. If the food is too hot it is difficult to taste the flavors. Check the seasoning, then serve into bowls. Pour over a teaspoon of olive oil and top with pumpkin seeds. Cooking on the stovetop allows you to have a dinner without the longer and less energy efficient oven. If needed the millet can cook in the oven. Once the millet boils, cover with a lid and put into a 350°oven for 50 - 60 minutes. Then follow the instructions for letting the millet sit, and for serving. 4-6 servings Eating Our Way Out (Part 17)  Sydney MacInnis Founder mothering Mother Holistic Nutritionist and Yoga Instructor A few times this month I have said the words "The body is the mind solidified" and that repetition has prompted me to write about this. What does this crazy line mean? I learned it in yoga teacher training, when we would discuss the connection between the body and the mind. Each thought that we have sends a message to the body through the nervous system and the endocrine system (hormones). Our thoughts have the possibility of either strengthening us or weakening us. Each emotion and thought pattern is reflected in a particular part of the body. For example anger is reflected in the functioning and well being of the liver. Natural healers use different parts of the body as a diagnostic tool, or a road map, into the health and quality of thoughts as well as the health of the body itself. The body begins by gently speaking to us when it is out of balance and in need of repair. This comes in the form of a discomfort, an aching, usually something mild. At this stage we have the first opportunity to look at this as a window into our body and mind. We have the choice of discounting what is going on with the body by ignoring it or numbing the symptom with medication, or we can look at it as a message.  If we miss this first opportunity the body will turn up the volume in an effort to get our attention. The pain and discomfort may increase, the frequency of the symptom may increase, or the area of discomfort may grow larger. Once again we have another opportunity. Behind each symptom that the body gives is a source, or imbalance. The longer that we leave the situation the greater the intensity and possibly the greater the intervention that is required. Our body is speaking to us. Are we listening? Our minds are constantly creating thoughts. What is the quality of those thoughts? We cannot rid ourselves of the mind, but we can attend to the thoughts that form by training the mind! We can relax the body, and thus allow the mind to relax. Each day, take moments for quietude, for gratitude, for connecting the dots of your well-being. Namaste