Celebrating life through food…really isn’t anything new. But in this blog something might surprise you about the benefits of gathering your local produce to build your local economy as a collective community member.

Setting foot in a supermarket is truly an incredible experience. Our ancestors could never have dreamed of such abundance: fruits and vegetables from all over the world and to boot available all year round. Thousands of high calorific products from fat, sweet, salty and crispy in abundance, enough to make the taste buds of any mammal mad with excitement!

How fortunate to have access to such abundance at the tip of our fingers?

Porc or Salmon for dinner?

Nature’s Path cereals and Chef Boyardee Ravioli are on special…Sweet!

For me, it’s as if something is missing … despite all this abundance and colorful choices, we fill our shopping carts in a mechanical, more so automatic way. No thought process about how it got to where it is now on the grocery shelf unit. As if we pretended that it was not the most overturned experience to have access to such abundance wealth in terms of food, we take it for granted, myself included.

Going back in time…

If we go back through our ancestral lines all of us have some type of linage that touches the land as a sustainable way of life and activities around food as an important part of life to feed our bellies also to feed our need to be part of a community in this regard. Life’s chores back then were filled with hunting, gathering or farming and most of all our social time with our neighbours.  Food has always been the gathering point of humans, which makes us come together which fulfills our needs for survival as the human race. Let me explain: We have no fangs or claws, which way back when we were on the weaker end of the stick of the food chain, so there was really NO CHOICE for us as ‘weak’ two legged to gather and finally be strong together as a tribe. If not we as humans would not have existed today.

So we came together, we poured our strengths, knowledge and wisdom to support ourselves as a tribe to meet our basic needs for survival, in which now we take for granted. Which is normal, we do not need to be protected as we did in the past.

Thanks to the relocation of production, globalization and the green revolution, we have come to no longer depend on each other for food, but the desire to meet and socialize remains inscribed in us. It’s called an atavism of the human mind. It still resided in our DNA to gather together and food is still the centerpiece of our social interactions and, surely you would agree, the best way to get people to gather is to share a good meal.

Normally…Naturally, not so long ago (100-120yrs ago) we would eat together the fruit of the crops that we harvested as a tribe or with our neighboring farmers. Now the new ‘normal’ to gather is by responding to this atavism with the last stage of the feeding process: we eat together the fruit of crops that we have not harvested (apart from going to the grocery store of course).

But what about the other steps that brought this food to our table? Production, harvesting, processing, conservation and socializing… were in the past so many favorable and necessary moments to have a good time together.

Kimichi Celebration

How easy it would be to buy our golden kimchi (type of spicy Korean sauerkraut) at the grocery store?

So why piss off gathering and grating cabbage with a bunch of neighboring strangers?

I give Kimchi as an example because here where I live we use this product: this living being rather to gather our local community in Mont Tremblant, QC to fabricate it’s creation.

Here’s how it all goes down:

The ‘fermenter’ (an individual who specializes in fermented foods) tells the farmer how many vegetables he will need for the yearly quota for the community consumption of KIMCHI, the farmer plants accordingly, dates are set in the fall (harvest time) to create the Kimchi, the community shows up to chop up veggies and gather for local harvested meals during the Kimchi prep, then stored in large barrels in the cold storage for a period of time, the fermenter then communicates with the community/tribe that it’s time to put the Kimchi into mason jars, yet another gathering is initiated through this fabrication of this one product and then people leave with loads of Kimchi for the year in exchange of their time and efforts. The rest of the Kimchi is then sold at a reasonable rate to others in the local community. All these live treads knit in a precise manner to finally create this ancestral fabric of coming back to a way of life that is sustainable and responds to our basic foundational needs to feed ourselves and nourish our need to be together.

To share a secret with you, the production of kimchi is just a pretext …an excuse for us to come together and celebrate the bacteria that delivers the product of divine digestion that is the foundation of this great creation that we call life. Which in turn creates resilience in the community collective, kimchi keeps our gut bacteria in check and getting us together feeds our basic survival needs to belong to a tribe. So we feel this sense of security (food and tribe wise), confidence and belonging that our nervous system grounds and we wake more rested and alert from a deep sleep: which is the perfect culture for optimal immune resilience.

Together, we create the favorable conditions for our beloved, lactic acid bacteria (which is found in fermented vegetables necessary for good gut bacteria). As we step back into our own realities after gathering we connect with others and share this exceptional story. The bacterial culture becomes addictive others now want to join in the fabrication…the fun, but in truth it’s one of our needs for survival, to be part of something greater than ourselves, to be part of a community that shares similar values that run deep in our veins that are essential to be exercised and shared in a collective energy.

To participate in the Kimchi Celebration is to participate in the fabrication of a living breathing phenomenon through community efforts, but also in the unbroken chain of life that arises resilience similar to our ancestors, but here with full consciousness of its fruits for future generations to come.

To participate in the Kimchi Celebration is to Dare Life in Us!

In closing I invite you to reach out, search out in your community who? Where? How? Are people gathering to be part of a larger community collective to feed its basic survival needs?

Want to establish in your community a living breathing economy that thrives based on a collective local economy check us out here: http://symbiosealt.com, for more details and how we keep it alive.

Peace, Love, Happiness and Gratitude for the Teachings

Mama Lynne

As I dive deeper into my own self-discovery to be more fully and completely accessible for my clients, through my personal habit evolution, I am learning that habits are an expression of the self, of what I desire to create in this life.

My core expression of myself is the following:

“May my health flourish on all 5 levels and live in
abundance, love and success and inspire
those around to do the same”

Getting to know myself

I know this intention, I have it mantled on my puja, on my dresser, on my computer and  I purposefully line up my habits to thrive in this way. As a mother, wife, friend, massage therapist, Yoga Health Coach and Yoga teacher I am called on to present myself in either of these roles.

How do I show up with this intention at the core of my foundation? This is my burning question to myself these days and as a wellness pro.

Did I really say that?

Have you ever said this in your head after you replied to a client ‘Did I really say that?’ or ‘Why do I have to always give out advice?’ and ‘Do I really listen? I thought I was a good listener?’

Have you ever wondered why you end up in that space?

In the past I would catch myself on the edge of my seat mustering up what I was going offer as advice. Finally, they stopped talking about their issue; I can now fire off my advice. Good listener? Ha! Feeling proud, knowledgeable and subtly I notice I was even waiting for a thank you for my advice.

Whoah!  What a rude awakening. Not necessarily the fact of wanting to give out advice but to notice how much this habit was ingrained into my being.

As my self-inquiry got deeper, I got a glimpse of my being feeling empty and shallow.  Some clients, whom I shall include family and friends here, came back for more, but were high maintenance or they didn’t come back at all, this was clear.

Reengineering my past self

Oh Divine Mother
May all my speech and my idle talk be mantra
may all my actions of my hands be mudra
all eating and drinking be the offering of oblations unto thee
all lying down prostrations be before thee
may all pleasures be as dedicating my entire self unto thee
may everything I do be taken as thy worship

This prayer has followed me from my days at Yasodhara Ashram, BC, Canada. I installed this prayer back into my daily life before each of my meals as another reminder of how I want to show up everyday.

Asteya-Non-Stealing

Asteya is one of the Yamas from the Yoga Sutras from Patanjali. It’s an ancient text that gathered and placed an order to many ancient teachings and text so it could be better thought and understood for the rest of the world. The Yamas are considered to be ways of behaving within the realms of society.

‘Non-stealing’ need I say more!

Whatever is not ours we do not take, this includes speech as well.  Have you ever been in a group of people and someone asks a question directly to another and you answer?  This would be considered stealing according Patanjali. I honestly believe that I was energetically stealing from my clients.

As I would jump the gun and shoot out advice, it would leave me feeling shallow…even superficial. I now realize that I was stealing a key moment of empowerment for my client.

Listen for the unspoken

Giving out advice simply takes away for the other to listen in to what their needs truly are, from inside. When we throw back advice as a question to our clients this is that key moment where they can grasp on to that answer within. 

We are not them and we do not know everything that is going on in a 20 minute strategy session or an hour and half consultation. There are many levels to the human being.

Our state of being in always in flux with emotions and thought and our speech is an expression of what we are focused on. If we are letting ourselves be influenced by our own distraction we are not completing our role as a healer. 

As Claudia Welch, author of ‘The Four Qualities of Effective Physicians’, would say: ‘When we communicate with words alone, we may not be as helpful to our patients as when we take time to align our words with deeper levels of meaning.’

Listening and speaking are skills that we use to communicate with our clients. Both skills can and often do co-exist, which are necessary in our field of work as wellness professionals.  This fact gives profound insight for the need to establish or maintain a habit that helps to continually refine these skills.

Meditation

I had two young boys and stopped cold turkey. I started up again this January and as a reward after my cold water plunges in the morning.

I sit the water and meditate for 2 minutes. My son watches and the other day he joined me for a swim and asked me why I sit in the water to meditate. I relied simply: ‘Sitting helps me to listen to the silence inside. And this helps me make better decisions in life.” ‘Ok Mommy. You sit like the Buddha in my book’ he replies before he joined me for a cold swim.

So simple!

Wanting to kick this old habit I started to bring it into my meditation practice. Now being in the center of my awareness I could see it in a different light or from a different angle. And let arise what next steps I need to take to clear this energetically.

This meditation technique is very effective when we need new ways of doing but are not necessarily sure how to go about it. Sitting in silence is a grounding and energy clearing habit that can carry us to that inner space of silence and to expand out our creative desire derived from that space of silence into the outer world.

5 Steps To Fully Be Present With Your Clients

1. Take time between and before to receive your clients to gather yourself. Go for a walk, jumping jacks, hoola hoop, pranayama, meditation or don’t snack to keep the mind fully present. Pick your ‘go to’ to be fully present for your clients.
2. Give space to the client to talk without interruption. Give them the floor to say what they have to say.
3. When they are done speaking ask them if there’s anything else they wish to add. 
4. Take a full breath and then see what emerges for you before you reply back.
5. If they ask you a question can you respond with a question for them to answer themselves. So in this way they themselves feel empowered ‘cause the answer came from them and not you!

This impact of raising our awareness lets us refine our way of being in the world.  I find it to be non-negotiable for us to serve from valued and prepared head space for our clients.

As I step into this new identity my statements and daily mantra are my stakes, to bring me back to my center piece of the heart where my deepest and sincere intentions lie.

Caring for our well-being was not necessarily taught in our acupuncture or massage course either in yoga teacher trainings…etc.  My question to you is: What new habit will you integrate into your routine so you may show up more fully and completely in the name of your clients?

Share this in the comments below to help you stay accountable to your inner growth as a coach.

A little history about my detoxing career…

Since I can remember my mother has given me Castor Oil: a quick and effective laxative to clean out any kid. My mom would say ‘Open wide’ – I did not know at the time I could chase it with something to help with the taste. Instead, I grew up liking the taste of castor oil. If you have ever actually been curious and courageous enough to taste castor oil you would know what I mean about using a chaser!

I remember looking forward to taking castor oil as a kid…ah! The effects of a good purge! I felt lighter, brighter and had more energy. So this method of healing was already passed on from generation to generation. Not knowing or been thought was this truly meant or did to my being on all levels, I just knew I was in for my season clean up.

Since I have left the nest for the past 15 yrs I have been detoxing on my own with this in mind.

It wasn’t until last fall that I joined The Yogi Detox team with Cate Stillman that brought this ancestral method of healing to another level.

Or should I say at a deeper level?

My big AHA during the Spring Yogi Detox 2018

As I mentioned I was an assistant with Yogi Detox with Cate Stillman this spring 2018. I had already led and done my own detox by the time we started.

Going in Deep

When I got news about my father’s suicide I was about 3000 km away and in the woods tree planting. I remember feeling someone disconnect from my energetic body. The next day my mother sent me an email saying that I had to call her immediately. ‘It’s either my father or my sister, who was not well either at the time, who has gone over to the other side’ I thought. It was my Papa.

I honestly didn’t feel that sad.

What was obvious for me at the time was I wanted to celebrate my father’s life here on earth. Society is not set up to celebrate or ritualize deaths. I felt alone and still asking the universe how I could celebrate and honor my father. During the funeral we, my sisters and I, asked family members to speak of him at the podium during the funeral. We wanted stories, good or bad. This was our way to honor and celebrate our father.

Family members mentioned that they never felt so good and light after a funeral! It was a memorable moment: ‘I was celebrating my father’s’ life here on earth’. I felt lighter, brighter and energized. Remind you of anything! The castor oil? CRAZY stuff huh!

Immerging in the deep end of my mind and emotional body

With the support of weekly live calls for the Yogi Detox the community also share a Facebook forum to reach out for support, to brag, ask for insight and guidance.  Reading through one day a specific post about ancestral healing that tears began in regards to my father’s death.

Through journaling and chatting with friends about my father’s death I noticed that I was NOT ashamed of my father’s suicide. I felt shame that he and his family are a nerve wracking family. Stressed to the core, constant emotional outbreaks and couldn’t stand still if their life depended on it. This was me in a nutshell. And I was trying hard to hide this layer of myself that I did not appreciate much.

In all parts of the self there are 5 energetic layers. The emotional and mental layer is called Manomaya Kosha.  Kosha meaning: sheet or layer, mano-mind and maya-illusion. If this energetic layer has been shaken to the core and passed on from generation to generation there is some work to be done.

Habits to strengthen the core

‘The universe will not give you something you are not capable of handling’-

Swami Radha, Yashodhara Ashram, BC, Canada.

I truly believe we have the capacities to build on to be strong enough to handle anything in life.
The 10 habits, I learnt as a Yoga Health Coach, at its essence of its optimal blue print when in rhythm with nature, offers in return optimal vibrant health on all levels for the long run.

If you wish to know more about 10 habits and how they can enlighten your path to optimal vibrant health read this blog from Cate Stillman: Instill The Habits Of Enlightenment.

Here are 3 of those 10 habits that can help lessen the ripple effect when a huge emotional or mental bomb goes off to calm, soothe and ground the Manomaya Kosha.

3 Habits to Nourish Soul, Mind and Body During Detoxing

Meditation to Nourish the Mind

Meditation is simple right? Ok sit and watch our thoughts, you say I can do that!’. Some would say: ‘Easier said than done!’ The benefits of meditation help to manage better stressful situations, calm the nervous system, decreased inflammation and allow for better reflection during a stressful situation.

Tongue Scraping- Organ Bodily Care

Scraping your tongue first thing in the morning scrapes away a white film (toxins/ama) and allows you to analyse what’s going on in your body. This is an easy habit to integrate into your daily morning routine.

As you detox you come out transformed…a different person. Your tongue is not exempt from this detoxing effect.

Reflecting and processing my father’s death during this spring detox from a new angle, I noticed huge discrepancies on my tongue. My tongue always was filled with cracks in the middle and front part of my tongue. Suddenly some of these cracks disappeared and the deeper ones filling in. Tangible proof that my healing process is headed in the right direction.

Next time you scrape your tongue take a look and draw out what you see. You can use Tongue Diagnosis Chart to print for you to document any changes and progress. Especially during detox season. 

Self Massage – Soul Soothing!

I have to admit when I started doing self-massage I did it as fast as I could to get it over with. Since this last detox I now reserve twice a week a deep 20 min massage. Leaving the oil on for 20 min before hopping into a warm bath with essential oils grounds your spirit.

This soul soothing habit has brought me such peace of mind that I cannot go without it!  The benefits of how great is makes me feel has made it easy to automate.

Two Last Pieces to the Puzzle

The building of our core capacities to sustain and hold space for a higher and subtle vibration can bring light to our awareness.

• When we detox we need to keep track of what changes we want to stay with us when we come out the other end of the detox.  
• Make time to look back at what your ancestors path and what you carry here now from that past.  What do you need to digest and keep for your own future self?

These key pieces to the puzzle need to be laid out intentionally in everyday routine as a foundation for optimal and longevity health results. As a whole for humanity we are better equipped to make healthier decisions for ourselves and future generations to come.

Namaste
Wrap up the ancestral part with the detox

But what if we would dress this idea by reversing them? What a concept! 

This is my mission as a Yoga Health Coach:

And I was put on the spot in the last month.

When Your World Falls Apart

6 weeks ago I picked up the phone and got the news that my man’s brother died of heart problems. My heart started pumping. I could feel the blood flow fast through my veins and my feet leaving the ground. I gripped hard into this conscious awakening of feeling this news settling in, including both my hands on the kitchen counter. Right then I made myself two promises and focused all my energy on two foundational habits that I would stick to no matter what; eating earlier and lighter and exercising every morning.

Why?  Because I knew my man would need all the support he could get. A sick run down partner, mother for him and our children, was not going to be of any help. Being a Yoga Health Coach I knew by experience and coaching my clients through hard times these two habits would be of core help during this difficult grieving time.  

The Earlier Lighter Dinner

An earlier lighter dinner created a domino effect for me to feel into my fatigued body and mind.  This offered me permission to be in bed earlier for a deep and resourceful sleep. The more shut eye we get we build a strong immune system for the long term and short term of our well being.

A study by Janet Mulligan on sleep loss and inflammation proves the relationship between deep sleep and our immune system. Reading this article helps to understand why eating earlier and lighter optimizes sleep. With this simple practice, I knew my body would be armed and rested to defend against any immune challenges that would arise in my surrounding and changing environment.  Explaining my need for sleep to my family was now easier than ever.

Get Moving in the Morning

Have you ever noticed that when you exercise you get more energized? This is an increase in endorphin levels in the body. In effect we kind of get high.  Our cardiovascular system gets boosted which allows you to have greater endurance throughout the day.

Exercising in the morning became documented ritual for me. To help me track this daily habit beside my light switch in my room I posted Mastery Habit Tracking sheet. Every day I would check off a box when I completed this one habit. 

Each movement became so precious and became my lifeline to this divine source of energy that energized my whole being on all levels.  Movement sharpened and focused my mind to digest my own emotions and able to hold space for my family during this sad time in our lives.  During this crisis setting up my day with exercise was crucial.

Living in Crisis

NEXT: to break the news to my man. Off he went to be with his family to begin the grieving process. The full responsibility of our two children fell naturally onto me. 

I scaled down my agenda to the necessary;  teaching my yoga classes, my YHC exam, keeping up with my free talks. Canceled everything else.

One of my strengths as a mother is asking for help. It’s a community that raises a child. Right?  As one of my main family values, it’s important that I be a role model for other families to reach out in the time of need and not get burnt out. And in turn, I reached out to my community to help with babysitting and to fill my freezer with healthy foods which freed up more time for me to be where I was most needed. 

Two funerals and three weeks of traveling, my entire family fell ill with a nasty virus and was bedridden for 7 days each, one after the other, Mom to the rescue for another 2 weeks. Ouff!

Effortless and Automated

As time passed I noticed the two fundamental habits I chose were effortless and automated. Allowing me to be fully present to respond to my family’s needs and I noticed that they held the fort for the rest of my habits to fall into place.

And guess what? I haven’t been sick. Investing my time and energy towards my well-being held true, in my eyes, to my family’s actual need: to fully be present to meet their needs for their well-being.  

Have you ever caught yourself in a habit that didn’t align with your desired intention and influenced the rest of your daily routine?  

• sleep earlier but eat a big meal that keeps you awake all night
• exercise in the morning but go to bed too late the night before so you sleep in
• ___________(add your own) but don’t do it

These essential habits are also known as keystone habits. Which is in reference to stone masonry when constructing an arch way, it’s the last stone place in the middle of the arch way to hold every other stone in place.

Our habits are our daily building stones of our daily routine and are actioned out one after the other, but which one holds the fort?

I stuck with two of them and proved to me that they were strategically placed for a strong integral foundation as a mother. Which habit(s) are your Keystone habits? And WHY? Comment below I’d love to hear what keeps you strong when you need it.