Are you happy? I mean really happy?

I love that we can change our brain. There have been countless undisputed studies with the development of functional MRI scans on the brains of meditators vs those who do not meditate, showing without a doubt that we can change our brain in a big way. Its contemplative neuroscience. There have literally been hundreds of studies now. The video above is interesting (however it sort of screws up at the end).

More and more reasons to meditate and practice yoga. We can literally strengthen and grow our brains in different areas.

And well... just be happy!!

We can't control what the world throws at us but there is undeniable proof that yoga is the full deal. It is so much easier sailing through life with the tools to deal with those stressors. And lets face it, we all have them. And we all know what stress does.

Well, quite frankly, it kills :(

Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex-brain waves in the stress-prone frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex. This mental shift decreases the negative effects of stress, mild depression and anxiety. There is also less activity in the amygdala, where the brain processes fear.

The bottom line is that moving our body in fitness modalities is wonderful but we need more. Yoga's got it all.

(and it is a wonderful compliment to any other activity out there no matter what turns you on).

If you have been thinking of trying yoga for the first time now is the time. Why wait?

My class or someone else's. Give it a whirl! It's yoga-land here in Vancouver so there are countless choices, levels and styles.

Why wait to feel better than you ever imagined?

So watch the thought and its way with care

And let it spring from love

Born out of concern for all beings.

~Buddha

Cats Playing Patty-cake...

hahahaa..

He's a comin'!

A Roundhouse special event...

Sun Dec 5, 10:00am-12:00pm, Exhibition Hall

Children: $6 , Adults: $7.20

Santa’s coming to the Roundhouse! Come join him and his helpers for a pancake breakfast and take part in many fun-filled activities.

Please pre-register as space is limited! Children must be supervised by an adult. Children under 1 year are free. Pre-registration required.

Cheap thrills

I am so not one for kitchen gadgets. Like most people out there I have had my share of useless kitchen gadgets and for me in all honesty most of them really are are useless. The fanciest thing in my kitchen is my crockpot (which has been pumpin' non stop for about a month now with this cold)!

One day out of the blue I picked up these two things from London Drugs (which was really unlike me). I am not a fan of shopping to begin with, and useless kitchen stuff is about the last thing I'll buy. But to my delight I have been using both of these items every single day! One is a milk frother (under $5). And the other is a rice cooker ($14). The rice cooker is something that I would have deemed completely useless (although I do have a girlfriend who swears by hers). And now I can see why!

I love it and it makes every single type of rice and whole grain perfectly (and it steams veg too). It shuts off automatically too. I just wanted to share because I am using both of these things every single day, and both of them together are under $20 bucks. Yup, cheap thrills :)

Zen Meditation-the basics

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?

“It was great, Dad.” “Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked. “Oh Yeah” said the son. “So what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father. The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”

With this the boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks, dad for showing me how poor we are."