Lifestyle

The amount of plastic used on this planet is staggering. Enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four times and we currently recover only five percent of the plastics we produce. (EcoWatch)

A lot of this plastic waste comes in the form of bottles. Americans throw away 35 billion plastic water bottles every year and many of them do not even know what the plastic bottles are made from. Plastic products use around eight percent of the world’s oil production. Yuck!

Take a look at this quick guide to see what the number at the bottom of the water bottle means!

Number 1

One should only drink out of a plastic water bottle with the number 1 once or never. This plastic is known as PET or PETE (polyethylene terephthalate). One study that looked at 63 brands of bottled water produced in Europe and Canada found concentrations of antimony that were more than 100 times the typical level found in clean groundwater (2 parts per trillion). Antimony interferes with hormones. (Dr. Mercola)

Number 2

Number 2 bottles contain HDPE or HDP (high-density polyethylene). It is commonly used in milk and juice bottles. In one study, 95 percent of all plastic products tested were positive for estrogenic activity, meaning they can potentially disrupt your hormones and even alter the structure of human cells, posing risks to infants and children. (Dr. Mercola)

Number 3

Bottles with the number 3 are called V or PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic and is used in shrink wrap, deli food wrap, and plastic toys. PVC contains toxic chemicals including DEHP, a type of phthalate used as a plastics softener. Phthalates are one of the groups of “gender-bending” chemicals causing males of many species to become more female. These chemicals have disrupted the endocrine systems of wildlife, causing testicular cancer, genital deformations, low sperm counts and infertility in a number of species, including polar bears, deer, whales and otters, just to name a few.(Dr. Mercola)

Number 4

A number 4 means LDPE (low density polyethylene) plastic is being used. This plastic is not commonly used in water bottles. It is instead used in plastic bags. It has very little chemical leakage but could play havoc with the environment.

Number 5

Number 5 plastics are made of PP or polypropylene. This type of plastic is commonly used in food storage. It has a high temperature resistance and is durable. It has very minimal chemical leakage.

Number 6

Polystyrene or PS is used in number 6 plastics. This is the plastic styrofoam that is typically used for take out or coffee. Polystyrene is known to leach styrene, which can damage your nervous system and is linked to cancer, into your food. Temperature has been found to play a role in how much styrene leaches from polystyrene containers, which means using them for hot foods and beverages (such as hot coffee in a polystyrene cup) may be worst of all. (Dr. Mercola)

Number 7

Number 7 plastics are the Frankenstein’s of the plastic world. The number is used to describe any other plastics not mentioned above or any mixture of them. It is hard to determine what chemicals they contain because it is different from product to product.

Even if a plastic is considered “safe” it is still terrible for the environment. Plastics never disappear, but they will start to break down over time. All the chemicals found in the plastic will make its way into the environment. This is a terrible problem.

Blog via David Wolfe

Helloooooo Bali!

 I have found myself in the mecca of foodies, yogi’s and surfers paradise and I am in heaven! I cannot believe it’s my first time in this wonderful place. There are organic cafe’s and coffee shops on every corner. As I ride my motorbike through rice paddies sprinkled along the coast, I see signs saying ‘Organic Cafe!’, ‘Real Organic Coffee!’, ‘Vegan Breakfast Smoothie Bowl!’! Yesterday I stumbled upon a small shop selling raw seeds and nuts, quinoa, lentils, beans and legumes, super foods, coconut everything and organic chocolate and coffee. Hello??! If I weren’t on a 6-month backpacking trip, aka a budget, I would have bought everything.

 Another glorious event. As my partner and I met travelling 6 and a half years ago backpacking in Thailand, our travel style has made a sweet transformation. We’ve come from destination hoping only after seeing a place for a few days, max a week, to finding apartments and bungalows to rent for at least a month. There are many benefits to this new way of living on the road, and I highlight one. Having a kitchen! This is key to our travel and we make sure almost all places have one so we can get in there and control what we eat and drink wine while we cook!

 Below is my latest breakfast obsession! With ingredients so fresh and available, the taste is overwhelmingly, insanely, beautifully delicious! Extreme? Nothing so simple can be too extreme. Enjoy!

Raw Tropical Breakfast Salad:

 Handful of fresh strawberies

1 sliced banana

Handful of crushed raw cashews

Sprinkle of sunflower seeds

Generous amount of cinnamon

Gentle squeeze of raw honey

Covered in local shredded coconut

Mix and indulge!

Written by Breathe in Life guide and holistic nutritionist, Meghan Trompetter

It is a month of “getting your ducks in a row”, finishing projects, handling details, finally getting to what you have procrastinated, and making choices about what stays and what goes.

Mercury has gone retrograde for several weeks giving us a good container for the discipline and attention we need to stay focused on what is important. What supports us during this process is the opportunity to open our hearts to what is truly ours and to embrace our “business” from a place of acceptance and commitment instead of resistance.

There are a couple of subthemes and important influences we will be working with this month that are a necessary part of “taking care of business”. One is PROCRASTINATION. You know who you are, those of you who make a habit of procrastinating. Whatever the reasons behind your procrastination, it is time to “DO IT NOW” or eliminate it from your life completely. We advise making a sign of “DO IT NOW” and posting it somewhere where you are sure to see it all the time.

Because taking care of business this month includes tasks that you are way behind on, procrastination will be an influence to deal with. Procrastination holds a lot of energy. Whenever you procrastinate you spend way more energy worrying about, planning for and feeling bad, than the thing itself would take to do. People procrastinate for several reasons.

1. Fear. Fear of failure, fear of judgment or rejection, fear of success, of showing up and being seen, of inadequacy and ignorance. Usually this fear can be cured by reaching out for help and support.

2. Resistance. They just simply don’t want to do it. Either it is not theirs to do or they are in defiance towards the person or entity that has given them the task.  The cure is to get off the fence and either take responsibility and do it, or eliminate it from the “to do” list.

Whatever the reason for your procrastination, this is a good month to eliminate it and to take care of the important things you have been putting off. (there is help here on our monthly audio)

Another theme we are working with this month is the theme of RESPONSIBILITY. What business is yours to take care of and what business really belongs to someone else?  We recently did a workshop called “getting your ducks in a row” which is very much the discovery about what the business is that you need to take care of. The discovery also includes what ducks are in your row that are not yours and eliminating the habit of taking care of other people’s ducks. It’s also important to acknowledge where you have been handing your ducks over to someone else and not taking responsibility for them such as your health and your personal happiness and well-being. So tell the truth, forgive yourself and others and get your own ducks in a row.

So what Business are we talking about that you may need to take care of?

It can be anything from dealing with your taxes to fixing a crack in the wall or getting some overdue acupuncture, or starting that meditation practice you have been talking about for months, or finally losing the extra 10 pounds you have been carrying around, or dealing with a communication you have been putting off, or making a change in your life that you know is necessary. It also includes getting rid of old clutter that holds energy, reconfiguring your personal environment to better support you, finishing what can be completed and handling all the details that come your way in a timely and focused fashion.

Remember that clutter holds energy in a way that can keep you from moving forward. You may never suspect that those boxes of old photographs, or unfinished projects from years ago, or papers and correspondence from the distant past can be interfering with your ability to create something new. Even if they are not physically in your immediate environment, they are still extensions of yourself and part of your “business”. Letting go of these attachments will free you up for something new.

The key is to tackle your “business” with an open heart, and with enthusiasm and inspiration rather than dread. Don’t go at it alone. The collaboration theme of last month continues with the opportunity to always ask for help, making “taking care of business” potentially fun and communal. This is a time where a shift in consciousness is being supported by planetary influences. Taking care of our business and getting our ducks in a row will insure that we move into this new consciousness without old baggage.

How the month shows up:

YOU PERSONALLY

Much of the “business” to be taken care of this month falls into the personal category. The “business” can include changing old habits, eliminating doubt, working on your self-esteem, forgiving others, dropping old resentments and blame, telling hard truths, taking responsibility for what you have created, caring for your health, and becoming more responsible for your choices, decisions, well-being and happiness. Notice what and where you have been procrastinating self-care and do some work on rebalancing that part of your life.

There is a great opportunity and lots of support this month to declutter your resistance to doing what you know is best for you. It is an opportunity to embrace discipline as something fun and inspiring instead of something totally undesirable. You could even say that his month provides us all with a great opportunity to finally “grow up” and take responsibility for our lives.

In terms of physical health, this month supports finding good health through more responsibility and doing what it takes to achieve it. We are still plagued by ups and downs in energy levels, adrenal issues and balancing hormones and the glandular system. It is a good month to get acupuncture or work with someone that can support that balance.

RELATIONSHIPS

Things that need to be said, things that need to be changed, things that need to be forgiven or acknowledged or blessed, are all part of taking care of relationship business this month. Look to the details of what it takes to begin, develop, sustain, or end a relationship and become conscious of where in this flow certain relationships fall.

Communication is a big one and Mercury retrograde allows us to focus intently on how we communicate, what we say, what we mean, and from where the communication comes. Is it coming from the heart or the head? Are you communicating just what you think the person wants to hear or is it truth? Are you coming from a place of love and compassion or a place of judgment? How willing are you to tell the truth and to be with others who also tell the truth?

Part of uncluttering the psyche is to let go of resentments, expectations, judgments, shame, guilt, regret and anything else you may still be carrying around from old relationships including the relationship you have with yourself. These energies are baggage and they are cluttering up your ability to create new relationship patterns that would serve you better. So take care of the business of eliminating them once and for all. Cut the old loose and make way for the new.

ENVIRONMENT

A good month to focus on the personal environment and to take care of any deferred maintenance that may exist. Even just making a plan and calling in the right support for taking care of things will start moving the energy. You can be inspired by finally getting something done. Be careful that you do not become overly irritated by suddenly becoming painfully conscious of the clutter and disarray that surrounds you. Think of it more as a positive awareness that can be worked with, organized and planned for.  Your own personal vibration will go up as you manage the business of your environment and upgrade it by simplifying, fixing and improving.

The greater global and planetary environment continues to put us through our paces with natural events and challenges. Taking care of business becomes very much about taking care of community and collaborating on managing issues caused by or related to the environment. It also teaches us about being responsible and responsive, present and focused. You cannot procrastinate when there is a flood, storm, earthquake or any other phenomena that requires immediate attention to taking care of business.

Weather patterns are changing and we need to be responsive to them instead of complacent and in resistance.

BUSINESS/PARTNERSHIPS/PROJECTS

Always come from the heart when taking care of business in your business but at the same time stay focused on the details and on what has to be done. Procrastination is definitely throwing some lessons our way this month and it is best to work through timing issues with patience and determination.  Communication can be challenging and glitches will certainly occur. If you keep an open heart, it will go a long way to smooth out energies that can otherwise be problematic. It is hard to be overly critical when you have an open heart and it also makes it easier to see what is not congruent and what needs to change. You may not always have the intellectual understanding but you will know the truth about what is right for you.

This will affect taking care of business with projects and partnerships and not everyone will be on the same page. You can expect that some projects may have to go through a major restructuring that will chaotic in the short run but beneficial in the end. The first few weeks of this month are a real set up for what is to come. So get your ducks in a row with regard to what you want out of your life, business or otherwise, and then take care of the business required to set it up right. Once Mercury goes direct, it’s all systems go.

DATES AND TIME FRAMES

September 1: New Moon and partial solar eclipse is Thursday, September 1 at 3:03AM Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). A New Moon is always good time to reset and refine intentions and when it is accompanied by an eclipse is carries even more power. We are moving into a time of consolidating and collecting our energies for what’s to come and this New Moon time is a great time to review where you have been and where you wish to go. The most important thing is to know what you want. If you don’t know what you want, at least tell the truth about what you don’t want. Eliminate what does not work, what no longer fits, and open the possibilities for something new to become clear and begin to emerge.

September 1-7: Still under the influence of the New Moon and eclipse, the first few days of September will be a great time to go within and to make some inner decisions and personal commitments that will put certain things into action for you in the future. It is a time to set things up in the right way, realign your goals to match your heart’s desires, get the support you need, and make a plan.

The plan will be influenced by what you discover about the “business” you need to attend to. Stay focused and “do it now”, especially around any details that come up that need to be dealt with. For example, if the maintenance on your car is way overdue, your car will let you know. If you have been putting off some piece of important self-care, your body will let you know in ways you can no longer ignore. The Mercury retrograde time frame (until the 21) is designed to support us in being able to pay attention and to focus on the details that need to be taken care of instead of being derailed by the larger picture inspirations. Those can wait.

September 8-15: A very busy time frame that may have you feeling overwhelmed with the business you are taking care of. Make it fun and focus on the blessings that your accomplishments are creating.

When you feel mired in confusion or unclear about someone else’s communication, or trapped in some drama that is not yours, take a deep breath and remember to act and speak from the heart. Accept any ambiguity as a part of this retrograde cycle, forgive yourself for being irritable, and keep focused on the important tasks at hand.

It will important during this time frame to take a break now and then to “stop and smell the roses”, to focus on beauty and all the good that is around you. It can be easy to become petty, blaming and victimized. There is no power in that lower vibration so be careful you don’t go there. Whenever you feel your wheels spinning and you don’t know what to do next, clean something out. Remember that we are still in the time frame between the 2 eclipses when anything is possible!

September 16: Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse is Friday, September 16 at 1:05 PM Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). This is the bookend of the eclipse time and serves as a platform for anchoring a new truth that may have come out of taking care of certain business. What is your new truth? How can you support it? What allies and help can you call upon? This is a powerful day and a powerful time to acknowledge your personal power and to tap into a new confidence that you can have the life you want.

If you still feel like you have a load of business to take care of, this full moon is a good time to look ahead by getting help and making a good practical plan.

September 17-22: (Mercury goes direct on the 21st) This is time of transition especially the transition of ideas and inspiration to direct and practical action. As we approach the Fall Equinox it would be really great if you felt you had at least most of your ducks in a row. Focus on the things that are coming together in a really clear way for you and put your attention and energy on them rather than what is still murky and unsettled. Watch the critical part that wants to scrutinize and discriminate and reject what isn’t perfect.

September 22: Autumn Equinox is Thursday, September 22 at 8:21 AM Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). This Equinox is a big one as it comes on the heels of the eclipse time and marks the completion of some very potent astrological aspects. It is good to prepare and acknowledge it in some way. Gather your community, collaborate on a project, honor the harvest. Their focus here should be on abundance as a natural state of being. One of the greatest lessons of these times is to shift our consciousness from one of lack to one of abundance. There is huge karmic completion taking place that is freeing us from the collective cycle of polarization and moving us closer to the experience of abundance for all. After all, the earth, the sky, and the realm of spirit are all unconditionally and eternally abundant.

Honor abundance in some way through ritual or ceremony. Acknowledge the gift of who you are and celebrate a new truth.

September 23-30: The body needs to catch up. Pace yourself during this time but don’t withdraw or space out. You can be focused and still be present at a slower pace. Give yourself some time to regroup especially when things seem to start moving faster than you can keep up with.

It is all systems go but adjustments are often necessary to keep everything running smoothly. Those adjustments can come in the form of clarity, new choices, and finally saying either no or yes to something you have been ambivalent about. The adjustments can also take the form of including something or someone into your life that you had not planned on. This is an exciting time and regardless of how you may feel (depleted or confused), make sure you embrace the excitement and positive anticipation of what the future can bring.

September 30: The second New Moon of the month is Friday, September 30 at 6:12 PM Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). This is an anchor point, a reset, an acknowledgement of your intentions and actions, and will set up the energies to come. (we will write more about this moon in our update a few days before)

Have a great month!

Lena

Blog by thepowerpath.com

Photo by Scott + Shannon Peck

It has been written about before, over and over again, but cannot be emphasized enough. The world of quantum physics is an eerie one, one that sheds light on the truth about our world in ways that challenge the existing framework of accepted knowledge.

What we perceive as our physical material world, is really not physical or material at all, in fact, it is far from it. This has been proven time and time again by multiple Nobel Prize (among many other scientists around the world) winning physicists, one of them being Niels Bohr, a Danish Physicist who made significant contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum theory.

“If quantum mechanics hasn’t profoundly shocked you, you haven’t understood it yet. Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.” – Niels Bohr

At the turn of the nineteenth century, physicists started to explore the relationship between energy and the structure of matter. In doing so, the belief that a physical, Newtonian material universe that was at the very heart of scientific knowing was dropped, and the realization that matter is nothing but an illusion replaced it. Scientists began to recognize that everything in the Universe is made out of energy.

“Despite the unrivaled empirical success of quantum theory, the very suggestion that it may be literally true as a description of nature is still greeted with cynicism, incomprehension and even anger.” (T. Folger, “Quantum Shmantum”; Discover 22:37-43, 2001)

Quantum physicists discovered that physical atoms are made up of vortices of energy that are constantly spinning and vibrating, each one radiating its own unique energy signature. Therefore, if we really want to observe ourselves and find out what we are, we are really beings of energy and vibration, radiating our own unique energy signature -this is fact and is what quantum physics has shown us time and time again. We are much more than what we perceive ourselves to be, and it’s time we begin to see ourselves in that light. If you observed the composition of an atom with a microscope you would see a small, invisible tornado-like vortex, with a number of infinitely small energy vortices called quarks and photons. These are what make up the structure of the atom. As you focused in closer and closer on the structure of the atom, you would see nothing, you would observe a physical void. The atom has no physical structure, we have no physical structure, physical things really don’t have any physical structure! Atoms are made out of invisible energy, not tangible matter.

“Get over it, and accept the inarguable conclusion. The universe is immaterial-mental and spiritual” (1)  – Richard Conn Henry, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University (quote taken from “the mental universe)

It’s quite the conundrum, isn’t it? Our experience tells us that our reality is made up of physical material things, and that our world is an independently existing objective one. The revelation that the universe is not an assembly of physical parts, suggested by Newtonian physics, and instead comes from a holistic entanglement of immaterial energy waves stems from the work of Albert Einstein, Max Planck and Werner Heisenberg, among others. (0)

The Role of Consciousness in Quantum Mechanics

What does it mean that our physical material reality isn’t really physical at all? It could mean a number of things, and concepts such as this cannot be explored if scientists remain within the boundaries of the only perceived world existing, the world we see. As Nikola Tesla supposedly said:

“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.” 

Fortunately, many scientists have already taken the leap, and have already questioned the meaning and implications of what we’ve discovered with quantum physics. One of these potential revelations is that “the observer creates the reality.”

A fundamental conclusion of the new physics also acknowledges that the observer creates the reality. As observers, we are personally involved with the creation of our own reality. Physicists are being forced to admit that the universe is a “mental” construction. Pioneering physicist Sir James Jeans wrote: “The stream of knowledge is heading toward a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter, we ought rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter. (R. C. Henry, “The Mental Universe”; Nature 436:29, 2005)

One great example that illustrates the role of consciousness within the physical material world (which we know not to be so physical) is the double slit experiment. This experiment has been used multiple times to explore the role of consciousness in shaping the nature of physical reality. (2)

A double-slit optical system was used to test the possible role of consciousness in the collapse of the quantum wave-function. The ratio of the interference pattern’s double-slit spectral power to its single-slit spectral power was predicted to decrease when attention was focused toward the double-slit as compared to away from it. The study found that factors associated with consciousness, such as meditation, experience, electrocortical markers of focused attention and psychological factors such as openness and absorption, significantly correlated in predicted ways with perturbations in the double-slit interference pattern.(2)

This is just the beginning. I wrote another article earlier this year that has much more, sourced information with regards to the role of consciousness and our physical material world:

10 Scientific Studies That Prove Consciousness Can Alter Our Physical Material World.

What’s The Significance?

The significance of this information is for us to wake up, and realize that we are all energy, radiating our own unique energy signature. Feelings, thoughts and emotions play a vital role, quantum physics helps us see the significance of how we all feel. If all of us are in a peaceful loving state inside, it will no doubt impact the external world around us, and influence how others feel as well.

“If you want to know the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” – Nikola Tesla.

Studies have shown that positive emotions and operating from a place of peace within oneself can lead to a very different experience for the person emitting those emotions and for those around them. At our subatomic level, does the vibrational frequency change the manifestation of physical reality? If so, in what way? We know that when an atom changes its state, it absorbs or emits electromagnetic frequencies, which are responsible for changing its state.  Do different states of emotion, perception and feelings result in different electromagnetic frequencies? Yes! This has been proven. (3)

HERE is a great video that touches on what I am trying to get across here. We are all connected.

“Space is just a construct that gives the illusion that there are separate objects”  Dr. Quantum (source)

Blog by Arjun Walia

Sources:

(1) http://henry.pha.jhu.edu/The.mental.Universe.pdf

(2) http://media.noetic.org/uploads/files/PhysicsEssays-Radin-DoubleSlit-2012.pdf

(3)http://www.heartmath.org/research/research-publications/energetic-heart-bioelectromagnetic-communication-within-and-between-people.html

I am about to embark on a 6-month trip throughout South East Asia in search of sand, surf and salty hair. This trip is different this time round though – as my knowledge in holistic health has grown exponentially and I am taking extra measures in nourishing my body. It’s funny, with all my past travels I have really come to know how to pack a backpack. My brother looked at the floor the other day where I had everything laid out before me and he said ‘Wow, I thought you would have more clothes than that!’. I laughed, he was right. I looked around and I had different bags full of supplements, tinctures, supplies and accessories fit for a travel junkie. It all has come with experience but this time with a few new twists. My latest home remedy for travel: homemade sunscreen!

Most sunscreens contain toxic ingredients and endocrine disrupting chemicals that in many cases actually promote skin cancer growth and free radical production in the body. It’s quite scary the amount of journals, documents and reports out there that state: since commercial sunscreen became available, most sunscreen actually raise skin cancer risk! What the f*#$!

Considering many people these days are actually Vitamin D deficient, I feel as though a lack of sun exposure to be a bigger problem than too much! Vitamin D promotes healthy bones; reduces risk of flu, reduces risk of diabetes, cancer prevention, promotes healthy pregnancy and has been proven to boost your mood.

If you live in a climate like myself, Vancouver, obtaining enough Vitamin D exposure from the sun can be quite tricky. Here is a list of foods you can eat that have a larger supply of the sun vitamin than most:

-Fatty fish like salmon, trout, tuna and mackerel

-Cod liver oil (best taken throughout winter in supplement form, my favorite brand: Green Pasture’s BLUE ICE Fermented cod liver oil)

-Portobello mushrooms

-Caviar

-Ricotta cheese

-Eggs

So when the chance is there – chose natural sun exposure to obtain this crucial vitamin and be sure to get the adequate amount without burning. Play safe by wearing a t-shirt for periods of times, or a hat to prevent sunstroke.

In the event of living on the beach for days, weeks or months at a time – we still need to take the extra step in taking care of our skin. After some fine-tuning research, I have found the top natural oils in nature who supply a natural SPF that can be used to create homemade sunscreen.

-Carrot Seed oil: spf 35-40

-Raspberry Seed oil: spf 28-50

-Wheat germ oil: spf 20

-Avocado oil: spf 4-15

-Coconut oil: spf 8-10

-Olive oil: spf 2-8

-Shea Butter: spf 3-6

-Jojoba oil: spf 4

When using the above oils, it is important not to use the top 3 listed directly on the skin. These are too strong for the skin and need to be mixed with a ‘carrier oil’ such as coconut, olive, avocado or shea butter. If I were making sunscreen from my home I would add other ingredients such as shea butter, vitamin E, lavender essential oil and beeswax. But, because I am travelling I need to make it easy and light as every ounce counts! Here is my simple, travel sunscreen that can be made before hand or topped up along the trip:

-1 small jar of cold pressed, organic, virgin Coconut oil

-30-40 drops of carrot seed oil

Mix the 2 and that’s it! The benefit of making this sunscreen in a hot climate is the coconut oil will be a liquid due to the heat. Adding the drops of carrot seed oil, closing the jar and giving it a gentle shake will mix the two and create a sunscreen with a natural SPF of 25-35. Additionally, as I will be living in the land of coconuts, seeking out coconut oil will be easy peasy. So I’ve opted to travel with 3 tiny tinctures of carrot seed oil and make the sunscreen throughout the trip ? Enjoy!

Wellness Wednesday Wisdom from Breathe in Life guide and nutritionist Meghan Trompetter

From Melbourne, Australia, Mei Lai became interested in the Eastern spiritual traditions as a teenager, and took her first life-changing 10-day meditation retreat in Thailand at the age of eighteen. She spent the next four years immersed in Buddhist teachings, before falling in love with the practice of yoga and its embodied wisdom. She has spent the last thirteen years studying Ashtanga, Iyengar, Vinyasa/Hatha, Anusara and now Embodied Flow™ yoga, which she weaves into a dynamic heart-centred practice with an emphasis both on alignment and the practice of living wisdom, joy and creativity.

A passionate lover of life and seva, Mei Lai is also an accomplished musician, community development worker, doula, social entrepreneur and traveller. With degrees in International Development and Social Work, Mei Lai has spent many years working in remote Aboriginal communities running community development and music programs, touring as a performing artist, and exploring the globe. She now facilitates group work and yoga programs with asylum seekers, and is the founding director of Birth For HumanKIND, a volunteer doula program that provides free birth support for underprivileged women, in addition to a rewarding yoga teaching schedule.

Learn more in this interview with Mei Lai:

What to you is the most essential quality in a teacher?

I rate integrity, authenticity, love, and compassion. For me, yoga is a practice of life and wisdom, and it should lead you to developing these qualities. If it doesn’t, it’s not yoga. But firstly, you develop these qualities as a human being, and then you share these as a teacher – so that you help to develop these qualities in others and for each other. This is the way towards happiness, peace and evolution.

As a teacher, what is the core of your message?

At the moment, I’m most interested in helping people discover freedom. Freedom of movement, freedom of mind, freedom to be yourself in all your unique beauty. To me, yoga is not about telling people what to do and how to move their bodies. It’s about a deep and intimate relationship with your own body and your own self. It is a practice of listening, honouring and discovering. Through this comes a deep power, a reverence for life, and a joyful freedom to explore and express.

What is your favorite style to teach?

I am having an absolute love affair with teaching Embodied Flow – a new ‘style’ developed by Tara Judelle and Scott Lyons. Although it is not so different from how I have always taught, Embodied Flow integrates vinyasa/hatha style yoga, somatic practices drawn from Body-Mind Centering and tantric philosophy. It is rich, honouring of the body and its connection with the mind, and deeply explorative. It takes yoga out of the realm of mechanical physical ‘exercise’ and turns the body and the physical practice into a playground for awakening.

 If you could teach anywhere in the world where would it be?

Anywhere and everywhere. I’m a total adventure junkie and a people-lover. And yoga is the most powerful tool for change that I know…

*To find out more about Mei Lai, visit her website www.meilaiswan.com, or join her and Julian Goyma on a retreat in the Philippines in June 2016!

Oscar-award winning film maker Shekar Kapur asks Sadhguru about stress, who looks at the shift we need to engineer within ourselves in order to get rid of stress.

 Shekhar Kapur: Since I’m having the chance to interview you, I know people will say, “Well, why didn’t you ask about how to get rid of stress?” Is there a definition that we can assign to the idea of stress?

Sadhguru: When I first went to the United States a few years ago, wherever I went, everybody was talking about “stress management.” I really didn’t get this because in my understanding, we manage things which are precious to us – our business, our family, our money, our wealth, our children. Why would anyone manage stress? It took me a while to understand that people have concluded that stress is a part of their lives.

Manage yourself, not your stress

Stress is not a part of your life. Stress is just your inability to manage your own system. Stress happens not because of the nature of your work. The Prime Minister is complaining of stress, the peon is also complaining of stress. In between, every other person is saying his job is stressful. And those who are unemployed also find their situation stressful. So you are suffering your job – if I get you fired, will you be joyful?

Shekhar Kapur: No.

Sadhguru: No. So stress is obviously not about your job, isn’t it? It is just that you do not know how to manage your body, your mind, your emotions, your energy, your chemistry – you do not know how to manage anything. You are functioning by accident, so everything is stressful. If you get into a car where if you turn the steering wheel one way, the car goes in the opposite direction, you’ll be stressed, isn’t it?

Shekhar Kapur: Yeah.

Sadhguru: Right now, that’s the kind of mechanism you are driving. Without understanding anything about it, just by chance, you are blundering through life – so you will be stressful. Stress is not because of the nature of the activity that you are performing or because of life situations. Stress is simply because you do not know how to manage your own system. What is stressful for one person, someone else breezes through – isn’t it so?

Shekhar Kapur: Correct.

Changing the context of your life

Sadhguru: So stress is just an inability to manage the inner situation, not the outer situation. Essentially, the quality of our lives changes and transforms not because we change the content of our lives, but only because we change the context of our lives. If someone is living a beautiful life, it does not mean he is doing something different. When he wakes up in the morning, he also goes to the toilet. He also brushes his teeth. He also does the same things. But somehow, his life is magical and beautiful because of the context.

The first and foremost thing we need to work at is to make a human being peaceful and joyful. This will invariably happen if you do the right type of yoga.

This could have happened to people when they fall in love with someone. When they fell in love, and everything becomes different because the context of their life has changed. But then, once they fall out of love, again, the context of their life changes and they become miserable. Changing the content of your life as you wish may not be possible because you need permission from the situations in which you exist, but changing the context is something that you can do willfully. You don’t need anyone’s permission. It is not at all situational.

On a certain day, three men were working in one place. Another man came by and asked the first man, “What are you doing here?” The man looked up and said, “Are you blind? Can’t you see I’m cutting stone?” This person moved on to the next man and asked, “What are you doing here?” That man looked up and said, “Something to fill my belly. So I come here and do whatever they ask me to do. I just have to fill my belly, that’s all.” He went to the third man and asked, “What are you doing here?” That man stood up in great joy and said, “I’m building a beautiful temple here!” All of them were doing the same thing, but their experience of what they were doing was worlds apart.

Every human being, every moment of his life could be doing whatever he is doing in any one of these three contexts – and that will determine the quality of his life, not what he is actually doing. How simple or complex an activity is doesn’t change the quality of your life. With what context you do it changes the quality of your life.

If you look at your ability to handle various situations in your life, is it better when you are feeling very happy or unhappy? When you are joyful, you are willing to take up any number of things and do it. When you are stressed, you don’t want to do even the simplest things – it sets up a different kind of momentum within you.

So the first and foremost thing we need to work at is to make a human being peaceful and joyful. This will invariably happen if you do the right type of yoga. If it is done properly – because yoga is a subjective science – if it is delivered properly, it will work like a miracle and make this happen.

Blog by isha.sadhguru.org