YOLO: Why loving life now is the most important action you can take

April 1, 2013 • Happiness, Learning • by
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2013-02-03 16.28.14I’m in Toronto this week, tucked back into my down coat playing in the spring mud with my sister’s kids and eating mom’s home cooking. I’m here to honour my dad who passed away a year ago from a quick battle with cancer. It’s a very emotional trip to say the least.

Time goes by so fast. One day I’m talking to my dad on the phone. The next he’s gone. And that’s it. I know you’ve been there. Saying good bye too soon, not ready for life without them. Lost and terrified, feeling like there wasn’t enough time.

Sometimes the death of a loved one awakens us to the YOLO effect: You Only Live Once. We feel called to action to get the life we want. Take better care, spend more time with our family, drink smoothies and get to the gym, take that trip and visit a good friend. Life’s too short to not spend it happy.

It’s often when we see how fleeting life is that we hustle.

And then life continues it’s spin. We fall back into step. Tired and drained we step into our tried and true routine.

Don’t wait. Don’t fall back. Take action now. So you can have more love in your life. More time and energy to share with those you love. More space to create all the things you want to do instead of wishing you had more time.

Sign up for that yoga class now. Learn to cook now. Play in the sun with your kids now. Take that vacation now. Quit that job that doesn’t fill you. Tell you spouse what you need. Thank your mom for all she does. Love yourself enough to be there for you. Though it all.

You only life once. Love every minute.

There’s more than one straw that breaks us

March 20, 2013 • Ideas • by
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I love adventure stories. Mountaineering 8,000m Himalayan peaks, alone in a raft lost at sea, sailing through storms around the big Capes, hanging by a thread in a crevasse… I’m   saturated in these epics of strength and survival, rereading them over and over until way past my bed time.

2013-01-31 16.36.21

One of the most famous of these stories is that of the 1996 Everest expeditions captured in Krakauer’s Into Thin Air and Anatoli Boukreev’s The Climb. Both books try to find out the why’s – all the little things that went wrong to cause tragedy. They look at everything, from the right tools, communication, energy levels, environment, resources, cost. All the straws. All the pieces that together culminate in the last straw.

One of the reasons I love these stories is the amount of time the books spend debriefing and retracing the actions that culminated in disaster.

In business and our own lives, many straws stack together to break us. A project fails because we didn’t talk to each other or check for clarity. A relationship falls apart because of assumptions and lack of consideration. An employee is injured on the job because they didn’t have the right tools and space to work in.

There is always a stack of straws before that last one. The most common in these stories is communication. How we listened and how we heard each other.

Like adventurers who take time to reflect, to process and learn from mistakes, we also benefit from making time to digest. To look back on our role – what we said and how, what we didn’t say and why, how we listened and responded. So that next time we do it right. Break the straws before then break us.

I wish you to be happy

October 31, 2012 • Happiness, Ideas • by
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I’m reading Chade-Meng Tam’s book “Search Inside Yourself: An Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace).”

It’s having a big impact on me. My life, my ideas, my actions. How I connect with my clients, how I meet my husband in a fight. My bike ride to work, and dinner with friends. The shape of my yoga practice and the sound of the future.

Little things. Big changes. A thread through this year of transition.

And it’s starts with a simple intention: I wish you to be happy.

This I share with you.

Wishing you much happiness. Here’s Meng’s 2011 Ted Talk on Compassion to set the mood.

[ted id=1113 width=560 height=315]

Become valuable through hard work – The passion will follow

October 9, 2012 • Learning • by
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When I was younger, I wanted to be a writer. A brooding, intelligent female Nathaniel Hawthorne (with a bit more happy). I spent most of my university life in coffee shops debating Hawthone and writing short stories. Naturally I specialized in English at the University of Toronto, then creative writing at McMaster. No idea where it would take me. Just a love for words and eyes to the skies.

I had a lot of passion. I worked my tail off. Writer as a career choice? Not so much.

Cal Newport is onto something big when he talks career passion. His latest read “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” and recent articles like this one from the New York Times speak to something I find easy to forget when feeling weighed down by your path: “Building valuable skills is hard and takes time.” Period. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither were you. Nor was your relationship, your job, Thanksgiving dinner, [insert anything that matters to you here].

I may not be a writer in the Pulitzer sense of the word, but that’s not the point. It’s less about the passion and more about the journey – the blood, sweat and tears – and the willingness to stick it out.  As Newport offers ”Passion is not something you follow. It’s something that will follow you.”

So suck it up buttercup and strap on your boots. I promise the view will be worth it.

Life’s a Journey

October 1, 2012 • Learning • by
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I’ve been a naughty absent blogger these last few weeks. With the best excuse. Oversees travel without a cell phone or wifi. It was like riding a bike. You never forget what it was like pre-plugged in.

Just as the leaves starting to shift colours, I boarded a plane for place of my birth, Poland, looking to find the thread of my family tree. A few months ago my father passed away. I am (still) full of questions about his life.   This trip was a pilgrimage of sorts.  I was searching.

Like most travel, things don’t usually end up as planned. A lesson in flexibility. Our map is in a different language. The weather is surprising. People are…different. I could go about about the food.

When I travel I feel most completely in transition. Somewhere between who I am and uncertainty. And it is here that I most readily follow my gut and go.

What’s the worst that can happen?

There’s this great line from a movie that’s always stuck with me. ”If I don’t get on that boat I know exactly what I’m going home to. If I do my future’s unwritten.”

Lessons from this journey:

Listen fully.

Stop and look around.

Just try it.

No one’s looking.

You’re never really lost.

There is always someone who wants to help.

Ask more questions.

Sit in a park.

Look up.

Open the door.

When it’s funny, laugh out loud. Someone will join you.

It’s ok not knowing.

Transfer the learning through yoga

August 23, 2012 • Uncategorized • by
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I’m taking an online anatomy course  for yoga teachers and learning lots of juicy stuff about the spine. It’s the little things we do in the day – how we stand, work, type, walk – that have big impacts on our wellbeing.

Most of us want healthy bodies. Let’s face it – whether your choice is running, cycling, climbing – any activity  - most of us spend a fraction of our day doing it. The rest is, sadly, usually in front of a computer. How do we transfer the things we love to do that keep us well into the rest of our lives?

Ok, I’m biased. I’m a yoga teacher. Of course I’m gunna tell you why yoga can change your life.

Yoga is the perfect connector between where you are and where you want to be. It teaches to breath and move with thoughtfulness, gives space away from phones and computers, and time for you, just you. What you learn in a yoga class can translate into wellbeing in other areas of your life.

Here’s some yoga 101 for improving your desklife. Little things can have a big impact. Transfer the learning. Change your life.

CERVICAL SPINE: 
The cervical spine is the first of four sections of the spine. It’s your first 7 vertebrae (C1-C7) starting from the base of the skull. Reach behind your head and feel the bony part that sticks – that’s C7, the last cervical vertebrae.

PROBLEM:
If you crank your neck forward when you work, you may be straining the muscles that support the cervical spine, putting yourself out of alignment, causing stress and maybe even head, jaw and shoulder aches. Sound like you? Keep reading.

SOLUTION:
Throughout your day, check in and make sure that your pallet (back of throat) is stacked over the rest of your spine. If you look down you should be able to see your thighs but not your belly button). Make sure your chin is neutral or slightly down.

Try this:

  • A few times a day, place a hand on the back of your head. Gently press your head back into your hands. Keep your chin neutral or slightly down. Hold for 15-30 secs. Soften your jaw.

In Vancouver? Sign up for a Spruce Yoga series – change your life one yoga class at a time.

Learning to Feed with the Seasons

June 27, 2012 • Learning, Recipes • by
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If you’ve followed my earlier blogs, you can see I’m a big foodie. As with many of us, it’s my mom’s cooking that fills my childhood memories. Leaving Poland with my family at a young age, so much of my identity is wrapped in the smells of cabbage rolls, blueberry stuffed perogies and the famous kolbasa roasted on a hot fire.

It wasn’t until I go older that I learned to cook. And it wasn’t until I was living near Toronto’s vibrant Kensington Market that I discovered: food has seasons. When my mum was a kid her family had a garden with everything from chickens for eggs, to berries that were sold at a local farmer’s market. Now, so many of us are removed from where our food comes from – what it looks like when it grows and what the seasons mean for its production.

Learning to cook is one step toward helping your body eat well. For me, learning that food is a living organism, with seasons, conditions and people who nurture it so that it can get to my table, brings food closer to the heart. It’s learning that opens our eyes, hearts and appetites to ask, discover and challenge. Food, after all, it’s what we feed our bodies with. Everyday. The least we can do it feed our bodies with the best – the freshest, local and loved food – we can.

This recipe is in honour of the warming seasons, where in BC the garlic is near picking and the walnuts fall from tree limbs. Enjoy what summer brings.

Garlic Scape and Walnut Pesto

Ingredients:(ORGANIC RECOMMENDED)

1 C Garlic scapes, finely chopped

1 Lemon’s worth of juice

1 Lemon’s worth of zest

2/3 C Walnuts, chopped

2/3 C Olive oil

1/2 C  Kabritt Goat Cheese (or parmigiana reggiano), grated

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Process the scapes, lemon juice and zest, and walnuts in a food processor until well combined. Keeping the food procession running, add the olive oil, then the cheese until you’ve got a great looking pesto.

Season with salt and pepper. Serve with pasta, on toasts, or coat on a fresh salmon for the BBQ (also in season).

The Risky Business of Learning

May 31, 2012 • Learning, Recipes • by
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We all have TV shows that are our guilty pleasures. For me it’s Top Chef Canada. Rooting for my favourite (go Carl!) I catch myself considering how to transform Spam into haute cuisine or breathing courage to slow cook ophal. Last week TO chef David went home. I watched his exit interview. And then a few more. They all share a common theme – they learned a lot, fast. Each challenge pushed the chefs to think on their feet, stretch their imagination and take risks. Learn by doing. Trial by fire.

When we put ourselves out there we risk failing. We also risk reward. It’s no secret. When we fail we always walk away with so much learning. New ways of thinking and doing, a fresh perspective, an awakening of a hidden talent, a new stream of creativity. And like our dads used to say, it’s not whether you win or lose, but what counts is all you learned along the way.

In honour of experiential learning, and the season that brings change and heirloom tomatoes.

Springtime Tomato Sauce

Ingredients (Organic Recommended):

4 cloves Garlic, fine chop

2 Shallots, fine chop

2 lbs Heirloom tomatoes (fresh or frozen)

1 Carrot, grated

Big bunch thyme or basil, rough chop

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Saute garlic and shallots in olive oil until slightly brown in a sauce pan. Add the heirloom tomatoes, carrot and thyme or basil. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Smash into a sauce with a hand blender or potato masher. Season with salt and pepper.

Use for pizzas, pasta or my favourite, stuffed peppers. The carrot really brings out the brightness of the tomatoes.

Learning and the Art of Brownie Baking

April 30, 2012 • Learning, Recipes • by
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My husband will be the first to tell you – when I started baking I was terrible.  A tablespoon was a soup spoon right? And a cup about a fist size? Needless to say, even the most dessert loving friend would be reaching for their napkin.

Eventually I invested in my Carême adventure. Whisks, parchment paper, measuring cups. I bought some baking books and watched Michael Smith bang out desserts with just the shake of a mason jar. My Kitchen Aid savvy friends showed me how to fold eggs whites without losing fluff. I practiced with cookies, slowly working up to squares, until finally graduating to the ever-illusive pastry. Some attempts fell flat (frisbee profiteroles anyone?) but slowly, with a lot of mess and patience, I honed my skills.

Learning can be frustrating. This week Time Magazine called it the learning paradox where the tougher it is to learn something, the more we get it. We want to do it right the first time despite not having the right tools or know-how, our hopes as high as our blood pressure. When we stop and invest in learning – get the proper tools, watch the experts, and practice, we realize we are capable of learning just about anything.

After years of investing in my oven lovin’ journey, I finally created my first recipe. It feels like I’ve summited the steepest chocolatey mountain. And the frustration? Worth every bite.

Friday Evening Brownies

Ingredients (organic recommended):

4 oz         good quality   unsweetened chocolate

2/3 C      unsalted butter

1 3/4 C   vanilla sugar

2   eggs

Pinch     salt

2 tsp     vanilla extract

1/2 C     flour

1/4 C     cocoa power

1/2 C     cocoa nibs, crushed

Directions:

Melt chocolate and butter on low heat until smooth. Leave to cool slightly. Whisk in sugar, then eggs and vanilla extract. Whisk in flour, cocoa powder and salt. Mix in cocoa nibs. Bake at 350o for 35 – 40 min. Leave to cool before cutting.

A Manifesto for Creativity: 10 things to get you there

April 12, 2012 • Learning • by
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I’m really digging Austin Kleon’s book Steal Like an Artist these days. Sometimes you gotta fake it til you make it right? Here’s Kleon’s 10 things he wished he knew before starting out. What’s on your list?

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/37086074]

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