Spiritual Endeavour: Learning to Trust the Flow of Ancient Rhythm
[Exploring Life] We are immersed in a culture that confuses education with learning. More precisely, we ritually submit ourselves to courses that have been prepared by someone else and trust that the instructional delivery these courses will inspire learning. In a bizarre twist, we sometimes incorrectly think of education as being synonymous with learning. Learning [...]
Optimal Breathing: Stress
[Exploring Life] What makes you hold your breath? describes the importance of optimizing our breathing pattern in order to promote healthy digestion as well as calming the nervous system. The authors recommend that the stressors that are the root cause of holding the breath be identified as they happen. This brings us to the threshold [...]
Optimal Breathing: Pilates Breathwork
[Exploring Life] Correct breathing is a primary goal and basic fundamental in the Pilates method. Practicing Pilates exercises while using abnormal breathing patterns can be very detrimental to both the body and mind. Unless a student is capable of breathing correctly under normal conditions, the probability of breathing correctly during exercises is poor. Breathwork is [...]
Optimal Breathing: Designing a Breathwork Practice
[Exploring Life] Breathwork is a general category that describes any technique, method, or exercise used to consciously alter breathing. It is a means to explore and interact with breathing through intention. Breathwork is a physical, mental and spiritual endeavour. The nature of physical and cultural environment that surrounds us has a direct impact on the [...]
Food: Canadian Organic Products Regulation
[Exploring Life] The Canadian Organic Products Regulations were first published in December of 2006. The regulations come into full force on June 20, 2009. The regulations establish a consistent and reliable set of standards that legally require organic products to meet a clear set of standards. For consumers the regulations clearly define what constitutes an [...]
Optimal Breathing: Conscious Breath
[Exploring Life] Conscious breathing refers to specific techniques designed to improve breathing through the conscious regulation of breath. In combination with breathing awareness, conscious breathing leads toward the goal of attaining the perfect breath. [1] The health and well being benefits of natural, normal, or perfect breathing span body, mind and spirit, and in this [...]
Optimal Breathing: The Perfect Breath
[Exploring Life] In Perfect Breathing the authors describe the perfect breath as being the marriage between breath awareness and conscious breathing. [1] Breath awareness is a form of body awareness focused on breathing patterns and the resulting influence these patterns have on our body, mind, and spirit. Conscious breathing refers to the ability to apply [...]