by Valerie Love September and October have always been my favourite months of the year. Growing up in the northeastern United States, these months marked the arrival of autumn and bright red, orange and yellow leaves on trees, fresh crisp apples and cider, and sweet pumpkin pie -some of my all time favourite things. Here in New Zealand, September and October are just as beautiful, but instead mark the start of spring. In Wellington, instead of the brilliant red and orange maple trees … [Read more...]
Off the mat and into the kitchen
by Valerie Love One of the most rewarding things about practicing yoga is not the physical benefits of the postures on the body, but the way in which the practice of yoga helps to build awareness of oneself and how we interact in the world. The practice of karma yoga, the yoga of service, is just as important as a physical asana practice. As Alan Finger writes in his book, Chakra Yoga: "The success of your yoga practice is not measured by how well you can do the poses or how long you … [Read more...]
Mindful eating: a powerful practice in transforming your relationship to food
by regular columnist Valerie Love, Yoga on a Plate Six years ago, I went to visit a friend from college who was teaching English in Kyoto, Japan. A day or so after I arrived, she took me to an outdoor market in the city. Wandering together through stalls of artwork, antiques, handicrafts and food, I was drawn to a table where a woman was selling daifuku, sweet rice cakes filled with red bean paste. As my friend spoke Japanese and I did not, she kindly did the work of ordering one for … [Read more...]