Lessons from Yoga in Rwanda
June 30, 2011
Guest Post by Martha Judd, senior Yoga Teacher
On Sunday June 23rd, I was fortunate enough to attend the Yoga in Rwanda fundraiser at Elation Centre with Annie Berube, a dedicated and grounded yoga teacher, from Ottawa, currently teaching Yoga with Project Air in Rwanda.
She lead us through an inspirational Ashtanga Yoga class which she taught in many languages and as a Yoga teacher and student myself, I feel I was given a gift from the women of Rwanda through Annie. I was reminded of how a yoga asana practice can be many things. It can be in a quiet studio in Ottawa wearing comfortable clothes, accompanied by soft music, surrounded by incredibly inspirational students and teachers, and it can be on a small porch in Rwanda with the voices of many, laughter, sadness, strength, wearing whatever shirts are available that day and surrounded by incredibly inspirational students and teachers. I learned about Project Air from the inside out. Annie described her students, their difficult life situations, their trauma, their work, their laughter, their inspiration and their extreme dedication to the practice of yoga. Yoga is bringing physical and mental health benefits to the women of Rwanda and the women of Ottawa without a doubt. From my perspective of safety in life I choose to support the practice of Yoga for the women of Rwanda as a tool for life in an environment where safe moments of exploration both mentally and physically are not often available. Annie’s group of women come to Yoga classes 3-4 times a week and have been for 4 years. This type of dedication is rare in a healthy, safe, comfortable Yoga student in our culture. I suggest we acknowledge this dedication and commitment by supporting Project Air as a tool for life.
Thank you so much to our members and friends who attended this amazing class and gave donations to support Project Air and Annie’s efforts with these truly inspirational women
Namaste
Sylvie’s World Famous Salad
June 9, 2011
It’s very easy to make – incredibly tasty, satisfying, and very healthy.
What you will need:
- 1 block of tempeh, cut into small pieces - Currently I am using Henry’s Gourmet Tempeh (Tempeh is a cultured soyfood and an excellent source of protein.)
- 3 vine tomatoes, chopped
- ½ of a small portobello mushroom, chopped
- Spring mix - I buy it from Viki at the Parkdale Market. Her stall is the farthest from Richmond Rd. Her spring mix is divine!
- Sunflower sprouts - Can be found in most health food stores. They are worth the price and if you really fall in love with them you can start spouting them yourself. It’s very easy to do. They are an excellent source of enzymes and minerals. These sprouts are very tasty. Don’t skip out on them when you make the salad as they are an integral part of the overall experience. Alfalfa sprouts will not do.
- 2 small cucumbers – I buy them from Viki as well.
- 2 green onions
- A few kale chips, crunched up – Buy them at health food stores. Warning: they get stuck in your teeth, so make sure to floss after!
- Lundberg Rice Chips - Any flavour works. With the bag still closed, break up all the chips by pressing on the bag so that when you open it, you have very small chips.
- Almonds (optional)
- Cashews (optional)
- 1/2 tsp Red Start nutritional yeast - Has a cheesy flavor without the saturated fat of cheese and an excellent source of B vitamins.
- 1/2 tsp dulse flakes (optional)
- Few drops of umuboshi vinegar (optional)
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 Tbsp vegan mayonnaise
Cut the full block of tempeh into small pieces and combine it with the tomatoes and mushrooms. Saute them in a frying pan over medium heat for about 20 minutes. You may need to add some olive oil to avoid sticking. Once it’s done, stir the vegan mayonnaise into the mixture.
Start with the spring mix, cucumbers, and green onions. Add the crunched up chips (not much – just enough for
taste and crunch) and nuts (if using). Add the nutritional yeast, the dulse (if using), the umuboshi vinegar (if using), and the kale chips. Add the tempeh mixture. How much? It all depends on how hungry I am. Cut up the avocado and add a few pieces of it as well. Top up with sunflower sprouts and enjoy! No dressing is required.
I like to make the salad individually, as opposed to a big bowl of it. If am I making it for Brian and myself, I simply take out our individual bowls and start adding, obviously adding more of everything to his bowl.
I have made it for a few people and everyone LOVES it. I eat it almost everyday, sometimes even for breakfast. It may seem complicated at first, especially if you are not familiar with the ingredients. Once you have made it, you will see how easy it is to make and the divinity of it ( not exaggerating here). It is just too good to pass up….
Yahoo – Free Yoga Day!
June 7, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Come and experience Elation Centre Yoga
5:45AM-6:45AM: Powerful Woman Sunrise Yoga
12:00PM-1:00PM: Take a lunch break, Vinyasa Yoga with Donna
6:00PM-7:00PM: Total Core Solution with Deb
7:15PM-8:30PM - our every-popular Hips Yoga with Martha
We look forward to seeing you!
The Elation of Running!
June 2, 2011
Ottawa Race Weekend 2011- Elation Centre members, family and friends all put in weeks and months of training, stayed focused and were totally prepared for their race last weekend. Experiences ranged from personal best times, participation in a very first race weekend, and the accomplishment of something just a few months prior was simply an idea. Everyone asks about the elusive Runner’s High, yes it can happen during a run, for the most part however, it happens after the race, when you know have done your best and you experience the joy, the strength of body and mind and sheer elation of a job well done! Congratulations everyone
Also a huge thank you to all our friends and family members who were cheering along the route, Jeanette and Jean-Pierre organize our Saturday Run Club and were on Richmond Road to high-five all of us as we ran by and Jean-Pierre took some awesome photos. Below is Jean-Pierre’s account of the race from a spectators perspective.
“Richmond Road was eerily silent. The constant hum of traffic was gone, replaced by the footfalls of locals walking along the empty road. People are gathering on the side walks and at intersections. Some have opened lawn chairs and others have signs and placards saying “Run Bob Run!”, “You can do it!” and “Go Mom Go!”
At the corner at Kirkwood, a police officer is preventing people from turning onto Richmond, constantly explaining “the road’s closed for the Marathon”. Frustrated drivers do a quick u-turn and speed away. Across from the officer, a group of teenagers, dressed in cheerleader outfits, bop and dance to techno music.
As the minutes tick past, the anticipation mounts amongst the ever growing crowd. People are constantly looking at their watches, 9.20 one time, 9.23 the next. “They’ll be here soon” says a spectator. Everyone’s looking down the street, craning to see over the rise and around the bend.
From around that bend, the lights of a police motorcycle flash and the siren shrieks to clear the streets. Suddenly, you can see the leaders of the race cruising past the 8km mark at a tremendous pace. A few seconds later, a small peleton of runners were trying to chase down the leaders. Within minutes, the road was filled with runners and the ground reverberated and a thunder rolled out from under their feet.
Minutes later, we spotted our first Elation runner, Tonja, hopping through the crowd saying hello to us. Then followed Mary, with a wave and a smile from the middle of the pack. Still more runners streamed past and we strained to find our folks in the crowd. Suddenly, Kristen shouts for our attention and then so does Melinda. Caroline jumps in front of us and slaps our hands. Jenn and Liisa flash huge grins as they power past us, while Jodi and Consuelo wave their arms in the air. Suddenly, the crowd swallows them up and we continue our search. Finally we see Tiffany as she slaps our hands, Shirley pops out of the crowd striking a pose, and then Mike calls out a simple, “hey!” as he continues past the cheerleaders. Donna, Amy and Cathy are next as they pause for a few high fives. Lynn, Ashley and then Dominique aren’t far behind and we give them a great cheer and send them on their way.
There are so many people that we’ve missed! We continue to scan the faces of the runners hoping that we simply missed them in the crowd and not that they’ve fallen of the back of the pack. As we look and cheer on the runners, a light rain begins to fall and the pack stretches and thins out. The walkers are next and we keep our cheers loud for them. Just 50 minutes after the leader passed us, the last 2 runners go past the cheers of the soaked spectators. Happy and beaming pride, we head of to look up everyone’s finishing times.”
