Yoga happening started happening in Toronto, and is now happening in Vancouver, New York City and Portland, OR.

Yogahappening creates yoga events in public spaces: in the park, at a gallery, in the mountains, by the sea, the forest, the lake. Yogahappening asks you to pause in your yoga routine and consider the spontaneity of practice somewhere other than where you’re used to, without knowing what style, what teacher, what format your experience will be. Yogahappenings might include an aprés-yoga moment for connection like a picnic or a bikeride, or perhaps there will be a live musician to play for your practice or a storyteller to guide you into savasana dreams.

Yogahappenings are an invitation for experienced practitioners and beginners alike to come to their practice with fresh eyes and an open mind to whatever happens to be on the yogahappening menu that day. Participants find out 24 hours in advance of an event, where and when, but the teacher and style remain a mystery until the event. So a dedicated Ashtangi might discover the joy of Yin while someone else who thought yoga was easy and boring might find that Vinyasa is just the challenge they’ve been looking for.

Yogahappenings are the chance you’ve been waiting for to talk to the person on the mat next to you and encourage positive, loving and fun interactions that strengthen the yoga community as well as the larger community.

To find out more about yogahappening you can visit their site and blog, and sign up for updates and announcements via Facebook, Twitter or RSS from the Portland, Toronto, Vancouver and New York.

See you there!

Free Rice is an online game that helps you brush up on your vocabulary. For every word you guess correctly the World Food Programme donates 10 grains of rice to a country in need. It might not sound like a lot, but the game is quite addictive. An hour spent here instead of facebook and you’ve just donated a full bowl of rice.

Sunday was the first full day of spring. Spring is a time of birth and renewal. In order for things to be born or renewed, other things need to change, die or give way.

I’ve spent the last few days in Berkeley learning from a living master of movement and somatic studies, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. Interweaving through all the teachings here, and coincidentally most of my conversations and interactions with people in my life, are themes of change, discomfort and endings. Change, ending, and death are frightening things for most of us. These situations naturally make us uncomfortable. But without discomfort we would never grow, without death there can’t be life, without change there is only stagnancy.

Perhaps it seems out of place while flowers are blooming everywhere and nature is bursting with LIFE, but an interesting experiment to invite LIFE into your own life, might be to explore ideas of what can die. Not really in the literal sense, but in the energetic sense. What is stagnant? Where is dis-ease? What is bitter and hardened? Make room for the new growth by planning a funeral for things you don’t need anymore. Journal about them, make some pictures or collages, do your spring cleaning, talk with friends, and when you’re ready, with great respect, find a good burial place or cremation site and let all that baggage go. As the light is getting greater in the day, you can lighten your load as well.

Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe shares some wisdom and reflection on dying and grief, including a writing by the Dalai Lama.

The recently released Death: A magazine for Enthusiasts and Non-Enthusiasts Alike is an lovely resource with all kinds of literary, artistic and informative inspiration. Including this excellent video with Vito Acconci’s prose, “At least you can worry”.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You might also be considering what the best music to play at a funeral would be…

Or if you would like to customize a casket…

Anyway. Don’t take it too seriously. As the folks at Upaya are urging us to do, grieve when there is loss, let grief open your heart, and then enjoy the astounding colors of the world around you and live as if you’re actually living!

Pangea Organics founder Joshua Onysko is not only a groundbreaking entrepreneur who’s organic, sustainable body products line is changing the way many companies are thinking about the future of business, he’s also a chef who knows how to cook on a budget.

After starting a Facebook challenge to cook meals for one week that were organic, local, sustainable and cost less than $75 for groceries Joshua and friends have made these great how-to videos that are full of information about how to shop and cook on a budget while maintaining a healthy, sustainable and clean diet. Thanks Joshua!

Watch The Whole Foods $75 Challenge, part 1 and part 2.

“Slow Food was founded in 1989 to promote the pleasures of the table and regional food cultures and to protect them from the homogenization of industrial food production. With gastronomy bound inextricably to agriculture, the environment and the health of communities, Slow Food has naturally broadened its focus over the years to actively support producers who demonstrate a small-scale, sustainable and local food production model.

In 1999, Slow Food launched the Presidia project which has since involved thousands of small producers across the world, strengthening local economies and saving cheeses, breads, vegetable varieties and breeds from extinction. The worldwide Terra Madre network was launched in 2004 to give a voice and visibility to these farmers, breeders, fishers and artisan producers, and to bring them together with cooks, academics, youth and consumers to discuss how to improve the food system and strengthen local economies. Today the Terra Made network is made up of more than 2,000 food communities.

Slow Food has chosen to celebrate its first 20 years with Terra Madre Day in recognition of these communities’ remarkable achievements and their crucial role. Terra Madre Day will be celebrated by food communities and Slow Food’s network of more than 100,000 members across 150 countries, grouped in 1,300 convivia – local chapters – who are working to defend their local culinary culture. The convivia have always formed the backbone of Slow Food, spreading the philosophy far and wide by organizing events and activities.

Slow Food develops countless activities, projects and events all around the world, at the local, national and international levels. Most of these actions revolve around four key themes: food biodiversity, food and taste education, connecting producers and co-producers (shortening the food supply chain)and developing networks.”

What’s that you say? You live in a concrete jungle, your only green space is mold growing on last week’s left-overs..? Be not dissuaded my friends! Of course it’s great if you have an abundance of backyard and open space to grow your goods, but urban gardens are not only fun and creative, they can also contribute to a number of social, economic and environmental benefits. Socially, planting and growing your city garden will not only expand your social network to include local farmers and seed distributers, but once you start growing your edibles you’ll probably be so excited that meals shared with friends and neighbors (who will undoubtably be inspired to grow their own as well) will become the norm. If you have kids, you can count on their increased enthusiasm for eating food that they helped grow, and eating produce that is grown locally and organically, not to mention with great enthusiasm, is much healthier for your body and brain than eating imported or chemically sprayed products.

Urban landscapes offer many possibilities for garden construction, container gardens can be set up on rooftops, balconies, vacant lots and stairwells and there are lots of resources out there to get you started. Even if you live in a tiny apartment with no easy access to the outside, you can still have a window sill garden, get space in a community garden, or team up with a friend who has some outdoor space to share. In some ways restricted space might even be more fun because of the creative solutions that you will have to come up with.

Do you have ideas or resources to add for aspiring city gardeners? Post them in comments or email them to me. I’ll be keeping up with this train of thought and maybe even designing a challenge or two for you!

Are your grocery shopping experiences mundane, boring, and a chore to be finished as quickly as possible? My guess is, that unless you’re shopping at a fun-filled farmer’s market, your grocery list probably doesn’t elicit cries of “Whoopee, it’s time for food shopping!” Unless, that is, you’re part of Improv Everywhere…

I know I’ve posted about them before, but I had to share this Grocery Store Musical

Improv Everywhere is based out of NYC. If you don’t live there but you want to get your improv on, hook up with Urban Prankster for flash mob fun!

Wow, I’m slow on the uptake for this one. This site started in 2004 and I just now found it, just now! But wow am I glad that I did! Guerrilla Gardeners are the superheros I’ve been waiting for, and a total superhero kind of club that I can join (for once). The author of this site is in the UK, but the movement is spreading at the speed of light (that’s how quickly plants grow… did ya know?). The site offers all kinds of tips and ideas for inspired urban (or suburban) growing projects. For those who prefer fly-by-plantings you might consider crafting a seed bomb arsenal, and for those who harbor secret (or not so secret) 007 gadget-envy,  check out the GG secret gardener his and hers attaché cases featured now on the blog. They even have their own TV show! Sheesh, get your costume already. Let’s get planting!!!!!!

Get your preserve on the right way and check out the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning- Revised Ed. Preserve safely kiddos, Botulism is no fun!

**Also, a word to the wise… While homey pastimes like putting up might appeal to the spendthrift in all of us, good quality, organic produce and proper equipment can be expensive, especially for those that don’t end up really using everything. Reduce waste and save your pennies by looking for deals on almost-too-ripe produce, and going in on cases or large bulk quantities with friends… And if you don’t have the time to make your own, pass up the Smuckers and support your local jam-maker at a crafts fair or farmers market instead.**

Ok, I know this post isn’t food or yoga… But it’s Where The Wild Things Are!!! Which is now a movie!!! Opening in October! This is very exciting for me. Growing up as an only child who moved around a lot (and was too shy to make many new friends,) the story of mischief-making Max and all his heroics (conquering those fearsome monsters by staring into their yellow eyes without blinking once) was my favorite story growing up, so obviously I had to post about it. Usually I am not overly thrilled about movie remakes of my favorite books, but since Spike Jonze is directing and Dave Eggers did the screenplay, I’m pretty sure that it will be fairly spectacular. Yay! Can’t wait until October 15th!!

To get yourself in the mood, read Dave Egger’s Max At Sea from this week’s New Yorker.

Let the wild rumpus begin!

Thanks to Alex M. who keeps me updated with rad music videos on a regular basis!

Sugarcubes Eat The Menu features an overwhelming abundance of food choices, the accompanying anxiety and some uh-mazing 80′s hats and shoes. Wicked!!

Need another diversion from your desk job? Or maybe you’re practicing your knowledge of yoga asana names and benefits? Check out Gaiam’s new online yoga flashcard game. You won’t win because the flash site is actually just way too slow to turn all the cards over, but you might learn something new. Besides, yoga isn’t about competition anyway ; )

Enjoy!

Lyrics from Omnikrom and TTC “Danse La Poutine”

Excerpt:

1. trempe les frites dans l’huile
2. fais-les cuire c’Est facile
3. ajoute la sauce et le fromage squich squich
4. dans ton estomac des sensations magnifiques

Translation:

1. Soak fries in oil
2. Cook them, it’s easy
3. Add the sauce and the cheesh squish squish
4. In your stomach the magnificent feelings

Editors Note: FTY does not endorse massive consumption of poutine, in fact, we highly recommend against it as this dish typically contains enough sodium, cholesterol and saturated fat to induce a mild heart attack in even the healthiest of yogis. However, hypothetically… if one should find themselves upon rare occasion at La Banquise (994 Rachel E, Montreal), one would be well-advised to possibly, just maybe, overlook the potential health detriments of said dish, and perhaps just enjoy one, with a beer. Hypothetically speaking. Of course.

A Brief Primer on Poutine

Poutine (‘poo-tin’) is typically a dish consisting of French fries topped with fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy and sometimes additional ingredients.

The dish originated in rural Quebec, Canada, in the late 1950s. One often-cited tale is that of Fernand Lachance, from Warwick, Quebec, which claims that poutine was invented in 1957, when a customer ordered fries while waiting for his cheese curds from the Kingsey cheese factory in Kingsey Falls (now in Warwick and owned by Saputo Incorporated). Lachance is said to have exclaimed ça va faire une maudite poutine (“it will make a damn mess”), hence the name. The sauce was allegedly added later, to keep the fries warm longer.

Classic Poutine is made with French fries of medium thickness, and fried so that the insides are still soft, with an outer crust. The gravy is a light chicken, veal or turkey gravy, mildly spiced with a hint of pepper. Heavy beef or pork-based brown gravies are typically not used. Fresh cheese curd (not more than a day old) is used. To prepare, first place the hot fries into a bowl or large plate, then spread the cheese curd on top. The cheese curd should be at room temperature. Then pour piping hot gravy over the cheese curds and fries.

Watch the video

Thanks to Wikipedia, for the full wiki on Poutine go here.

Thanks to Binky Holleran for the heads up on this one ; )

Watch Here

A short film by Christine Rabette. Pass it on.

Merci!

Sometimes when I see pictures of Michelle Obama I want to cry. I have never, ever had even the slightest glimmering of pride when thinking about this nation’s leaders… Until now. She dug up the white house lawn to plant an organic garden!!!! Yeah!!! This is the kind of leadership we need. This is true teaching by example. People, stop depending on foreign resources (Industrialized Agriculture being one of the most demanding and demeaning on the planet and all it’s people), plant your own food, be healthy eating it and build community!

Check out the first lady rocking the (white)house with her recent speech about the garden, health and nutrition.

Ok. This post isn’t about food or yoga… per se. But it could be! In case you don’t already know about the flash mob phenomenon, there are all sorts of “happenings” that are springing up everywhere. Mostly they are funny/ arty/ surreal, sometimes they are political, and sometimes they are for marketing. But here’s what most of them have in common, they are fun! And not only are they fun, they are free, and also fairly easy to organize. And… (this is where FTY comes in) they could also be about food and yoga.

Imagine this: You are taking a nice stroll through the park one day, there are lots of people out and it’s the middle of summer. You look around and notice how many people are carrying grocery bags. “That’s odd”, you think to yourself, “there must be lots of picnics.” Suddenly all the people around you (there are many) all open up their grocery bags and pull out all different kinds of food and then start giving it away, all the while singing “Rub-a-dub-dub! Thanks for the grub! YAYYYYY GOD!!” “How weird.” You think to yourself, “These people are nuts.” Just then a man walks by and gives you a packet of peanuts.

The next day you wake up early to get a bagel before work. As you are getting on your bicycle and heading to the café something in the corner of your eye catches your attention. Look just over there on the street corner there’s a few people doing sun salutations. You scratch your head, “This has been a strange week.” As you continue towards the café you notice that on every corner there are two or three people, all facing east, saluting the sun. Now your reaction of ‘weirdness’, turn to one of happiness. “How lovely it is to see all these people moving together. What a peaceful start to my day”

Oh… I know. My ideas are cheesy and hippy-ish. So make your own!! Let me know what you’re up to and I’ll post on FTY. People can participate all over the world, make a facebook event, start an email invite campaign for world hopscotch day. Whatever. Make it fun, make it free, and make some smiles ; ) Here’s some inspiration:

Improv Everywhere: MP3 Experiment

Improv Everywhere: Frozen Grand Central

Spontaneous Dance Combustion on Facebook is in Montreal. SDC also occurs elsewhere, though I am not sure how linked the ideas are… Whatever! Make you own spontaneous dance party- share the joy!

The beauty of all these projects is how accessible they are. You can organize them anytime, anywhere, for fun, activism etc. Now get out there!

There is a rather well known book called the Bhagavad Gita that is a rather well known story about a warrior prince named Arjuna who was also trying to sort out this particular moral quandary… 

But I digress. Rather than inaction or careless action or action that is taken when one has resigned to the fact that harm will be done… One can choose to create positive action. Not that this is new news, folks have been following the path of positivity forever; Jesus, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, M.L.K., Nelson Mandela, and many more big names you probably know… But also the unknowns, the girl that smiles at you on the bus, the old man that offers his wisdom, your friend who chooses to listen… We all have the choice every day and in every instant to create happiness in ourselves and those around us and in some way to “offer” our actions to a greater good. Whether you call that greater good “God”, “Love”, “Krishna”, or “Peace”, it’s our choice to make actions that serve something greater and to support our own happiness with those choices. After all, a big part of non-harm doing is the counter side, which is actively creating peace and well being.

It’s amazing how many people are now initiating such positive action and using the internet to disseminate these “happiness projects”. There are some great ideas out there and it can be good fun to take one idea per day and make it your goal to spread a smile ; )

Check them out:

http://www.helpothers.org/ideas.php

http://www.actsofkindness.org/

Thanks to Brenda Feuerstein, co-author and creator of Green Yoga, who keeps me updated on facebook about all these cool projects!

Um.. Yes… You read that right. I’m so all over this one. Even if I don’t pay to enter- I am taking it as a personal challenge ; ) I invite all of you to submit your favorite Jell-o-Mold pics to FTY as well. Stay tuned for the update tomorrow- because I’m going to combine this challenge with THE INGREDIENT OF THE MONTH!!

Jello mold competition link here

Oh Gosh. This may be my new favorite internet distraction. Thanks to Catherine for posting this gem so I could find out about it! Food Party is everything I ever wanted from my Fine Arts degree (ahem) and…  ”a mind-bending, non-reality cooking show with Thu Tran as your hostess, a cast of unruly puppets as culinary aides, and a cavalcade of fictitious celebrities as surprise dinner guests. Shot on location in a technicolor cardboard kitchen as well as other foreign and exotic cardboard locations, each episode will or will not instruct you on how to prepare wild gourmet multi-course meals with ingredients you probably have on hand in your kitchen already, such as pretzel rods, eggs, narwhal lungs, bizarre plot twists, secret ingredients, and pizza. After all, you never know who might show up for dinner.”

food party teaser