Move with me!

This blog is about to get kinda lonely so stick with me and traipse on over to www.acornholistic.com my new website. Or if you're more of an Instagram pal follow me at acorn_holistic. Or maybe you dig Facebook? Got that covered too :)

Thanks for coming for a visit, hope to catch up with you in one of my other virtual homes.

New Yoga Class for the New Year

I am offering our regular Queer & Trans Yoga class on Tuesday nights in the new year.  Because the class was fully booked within 24 hours (woo woo!) I decided to add another class.  Please read more about the new class below, and let me know if you have any questions.  Happy holidays to all!

A new chill class, for the chilly days of win

Gentle Yoga Class - Alternating Wednesday evenings 

A yoga practice that focuses on building awareness, strength, and release. We will work with slow flows, restorative postures, breath, and meditations.  Tools of self-care will be shared and we will all be encouraged to find our individual practice within the group. All are welcomed and honoured in this comfortable community setting. A private change room is available. LGTBQI inclusive space.


Dates: Alternating Wednesdays: Jan.20, Feb.3, Feb.17, Mar.2, Mar.16, Mar.30 2016
Time: 6 p.m – 7:15 p.m
Location: The Centering Space, 59 Cambridge Avenue (Broadview & Danforth)
Cost: $84, sliding scale is available
Registration: email me at yoga_hd@hotmail.com to request a spot. Registration is complete and your spot reserved once payment has been received. E-transfer and cheques are accepted.

Farm Journals

Recently I did a school co-op placement at an organic farm in Prince Edward County.  It was 5 day experience which gave me some idea of how an organic family farm works, and also some hands-on insight into what areas I particularly enjoy or have a natural tendency towards when envisioning applying my holistic nutrition degree.  It also illustrated to me just how hard farmers work!  These folks were going from dawn to bedtime every day of the week.  Farming is not for the faint of heart.

Farm Diary Day 1
Prep day for the farmer's market.  There were 3 pickers harvesting, and a couple of others assisting here and there.  A wash/weigh/prep for the market person, and 2 other farm staff working with the machinery and animals. I did a mixed bag of jobs: harvested cabbage and green beans, weeded, harvested and dehydrated oat straw, washed a motherload of beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, weighed and packaged them for market, stocked the farmstand, and seeded a field with buckwheat. In the evening I was tasked to research the nutritive benefits of Lady's Slippers (a type of wild cucumber) and Portulaca/Purslane to share with the farmer's market customers.  Did you know that Portulaca has the highest content of Omega 3 out of any land plant?  It's delicious in a salad too.

Farm Diary Day 2

Up at 5:30am to prep for the farmer's market. Spirits were high as we set up at a lakeside location serenaded by Motown playing from someone's truck. Beautiful to see all the things harvested yesterday looking so vibrant. Lots of friendly folks trying out the lady slipper cucumbers, rat tail radishes, and winged asparagus peas. So much respect for the land, seeds, soil, labour, and care that goes into food production - easy to forget this as a city slicker. You are required to display your organic certification at your stand and the certification process in onerous and costly.  It seems backwards, shouldn't non-organic farmers have to display all the chemical fertilizers, GMO seeds, and sprays used so that we as consumers know what it is we are consuming?

Farm Diary Day 3

8 am deployment to gather edible plants for jazzing up the B&B breakfast offerings. Fun to choose herbs and flowers that are delicious and colourful to "food style" with. Then off to weed for several hours. Seriously hard work, and for someone who normally feels super efficient at work, felt like a real slowpoke. Took me 2 hours to do one row of cabbage and kale! Rescued from the weeds by the biodynamic calendar which guided us to work with medicinal plants. Spent the afternoon thorn deep in seeding milk thistle, gathering calendula, and cleaning/bundling herbs gathered by one of the farmers. Amazing moments with the twin pigs when they let me stroke their heads, best eyelashes ever.

Farm Diary Day 4

Started off in the farm stand, replacing old with fresh (old gets eaten by us or fed to the animals), and hanging yesterday's herb bundles. Spent the rest of the day in the medicine garden gathering dandelion root and leaves, basil, yarrow, tulsi, parsley, goldenrod, coriander seeds, dill seeds, rosemary, catnip, marsh mallow, and mullein. Clarence (the dog) and Alice (the cat) assisted. Finished up with late night ATV ride out to feed the sheepdog Clyde and to check on the lambs - farm version of motorbike fun!

Farm Diary Day 5

My farm dreams came true my last morning when I went down to meet Wilbur (the donkey) in the cow pasture. Spent the rest of the day cleaning "soft neck" garlic, this is the kind you tend to see braided. It is only one of 5 varieties that they have there. Once again I realized how labour intensive farming is - gathering and drying bulbs during the previous season to use as seeds for the next crop, prepping the earth, planting, caring for until ready for harvest, harvesting, hanging to dry, cleaning, and then selling - each one goes for $1. Farmers deserve the biggest raise ever, and government health benefits! 

Thank you to the incredible Thyme Again Gardens for the delicious food, accommodation, and mentorship during my visit!

Yoga This Fall

Fall Queer & Trans Yoga Classes

Yoga in a comfortable community space. This is a mindful yoga practice that focuses on building awareness and breath as we move through meditative, dynamic, and restorative postures. We will explore tools of self-care and be encouraged to find our individual practice within the group. All bodies are welcomed and honoured. A private change room is available. This session all fees raised through the pay-what-you-can drop in classes will be directed to Black Lives Matter Toronto.


Dates: Tuesdays Sept.15 – Dec.15, 2015
Time: 6 p.m – 7:15 p.m
Location: The Centering Space, 59 Cambridge Avenue (Broadview & Danforth)
Cost: $196 ($14/class) – sliding scale is available
Registration: email me at yoga_hd@hotmail.com to request a spot. Registration is complete and your spot reserved once payment has been received. E-transfer and cheques are accepted. 

Self-Care Yoga Sessions 

A beautiful combination of restorative yoga postures, abhyanga/self-massage, and yoga nidra (guided meditation). These take place on Friday evenings Oct.23, Nov.27, and Dec.18th.

Self-Care Summer!

Hi ya yoga pals,

This summer I am planning some holiday time, as well as some coop time at an organic farm in Prince Edward County, which means a reduction in yoga offerings.  I've decided to jazz things up a bit and offer a few special yoga nights while I am in town, and I really hope you can join me!  As always, these classes are LGBTQ positive spaces.  The Queer & Trans weekly yoga classes will return September 15th (more on that soon).  Happy pride, and happy summer to you all!

Summer Self-Care (yoga) Sessions

Treat yourself to one or both of these self-care-tastic yoga nights in August.

Sessions will include restorative yoga, self-foot massage, and yoga nidra. Each of the practices are explained below. Space is limited to 8 students per night.

Dates: Thursdays August 6^th and 13^th

Time: 6:30-8p.m

Location: The Centering Space, 59 Cambridge Avenue (Broadview & Danforth)

Cost: $22.50 each or $40 for both, sliding scale spots available

Registration: email me yoga_hd@hotmail.com to reserve a spot. Payment is due upon registration via e-transfer or cheque.

Restorative Yoga Practice – Yoga poses (laying or seated) that are held for 5-15 minutes and are supported by blocks, blankets, bolsters and other props. Designed to maximize comfort and allow practitioners to fully let go. Poses help to stimulate reflexes that quiet the brain and heart and encourage mindfulness.

Self Massage (Abhyanga) – We will focus on the feet. Oils provided, use optional. Benefits include:

• increases circulation
• calming for the nerves
• lubrication of the joints
• softer, smoother skin
• deeper sleep at night (when done at bedtime)

Yoga Nidra (sleep of integration) – A guided meditation, all you need to do is get comfortable and listen. Benefits include:

• reduces effects of stress on the body-mind
• induces the body's relaxation response
• teaches us to focus and quiet the mind through attention, concentration and intention
• restoration and integration of the body-mind and spirit
• improves the quality or our sleep

Spring is in the air though my mattress springs ain't feeling so airy

Thawing out of the winter-cold-snow-monochrome. Recovering from cabin fever, and the bed that feels like it's taken a beating from hibernation 2015.  I didn't realize how frozen up I'd become, just like the land, until the great thaw started…..Don't get me wrong, I love all seasons including winter; will miss skating, icicle formations, bufflehead ducks, and the glee with which my dogs whip through a fresh snowfall until next winter rolls around.

But soon the small ray of sun that breaks into the house each afternoon will be enough to cover all of us.  It's time for colour, and smells, and plants growing outdoors!  Time to unfurl and soften. Last Tuesday I saw a small V formation  of geese returning with style.  My yoga students had to endure many "ruddy goose" poses that night!  There's a new excitement and hope in the air, isn't there?

My spring cleaning has taken on the air of someone who studied netflix and online articles during those long dark days.  Specifically the "Tiny" documentary about wee homes, and Marie Kondo's approach to de-cluttering your house by only keeping items that are in use and bring you joy presently.

Other spring-like things I've noticed: creativity level in the household is on the rise, longer walks are pleasurable, red-wing blackbird are back in town, seed sales are on, food cravings are shifting.  Spring sprung from my hands in this last week as a stack of bright new dish towels, and a bevy of homemade body products to slough off winter with.  Spring I welcome you with open arms!

Spring Yoga

Come and plant the seeds of your yoga practice with us this spring

Queer & Trans Yoga  

Come and explore yoga in this comfortable community space. This is a mindful practice that explores awareness and breath as we flow through meditative, dynamic, and restorative postures. Beginners and allies are welcome!

Dates: April 7th - June 30th 2015 (no class May 19th)

Time: Tuesdays 6 p.m - 7:15 p.m

Cost: $168 ($14/class x 12 weeks) *sliding scale available

Spots available: 1!

Location: The Centering Space, 59 Cambridge Avenue (Broadview & Danforth)

How to Register: Email yoga_hd@hotmail.com to confirm your spot.  Fee due by April 1st.  Cash, cheque, or online transfer accepted. 

Donations from Drop-Ins

Happily our Queer & Trans yoga class is fully booked for the Jan-March 2015 session! A benefit of this is that whenever a registered student is absent we can open up their spot to drop-in students and donate their class fee.  All funds donated by drop-in students (pwyc donation of $5-$20) will be shared at the end of the term between these 2 awesome organizations:
Wishing Well Sanctuary  (pictured here) and Supporting Our Youth / SOY 

Thank you for your support!

Back By Popular Demand!

New time and place, same delicious class!

Restorative Yoga with Massage A therapeutic and relaxing yoga practice accompanied by mini-massages of the head, neck, back, and limbs (based on Indian Head Massage techniques).  Unwind, releasing stress and tension from body, mind and spirit while being supported by props, breath, and meditation practices.  Essential oils used (nut-free carrier oils).  

Dates: Thursdays Nov 6 & Dec 4th (1st Thursday of the month)

Time: 7:15 p.m-8:30 p.m

Cost: $25

Spots Available: 6 

Location: Ankh Yoga, 2017 Danforth (Woodbine & Danforth)

How to Register: Pre-registration required: click on the date you want to register for and sign up

For more info about Ankh Yoga visit their website

Meditative Moves

I've just done a mindfulness practice a la ironing(!!) and replacing the freshly washed bolster and eye pillow covers.  Straps, balls, and blankets are clean and packed up to go.  This coming Tuesday Sept.16th we embark on a new term of Queer & Trans yoga.  It's pretty especially awesome to spend 14 weeks with the same folks getting into our groove individually and collectively and I'm really looking forward to it. 

Although the class is pre-registered, when ever space allows I offer an open invitation to come and do a drop-in class.  The proceeds of these drop-ins from now until the end of the term (Dec.16) will contribute to the "Next Up" project at Helping Our Northern Neighbours.  Here is a link to their Facebook page if you would like to know more.

Snails In The Mails

Who loves good old fashioned snail mail? I love to write, draw, and send mail while I'm holidaying. If you'd like to receive a postcard with either a mini yoga practice, plant medicine info, or some wildlife facts (avec my childlike illustrations) please share my Facebook page  or follow my blog (option to do so on the right hand column of this page)

 If you would like to receive a letter with pressed flower + mini yoga practice + wildlife tidbit please send me a testimonial that I can add to my blog (provided of course you've done yoga with me!) Please private message yoga_hd@hotmail.com with your address by Aug.20th and mail will be heading your way by the time September rolls around. 

Holidays and Back to School LGBTQ Yoga

It's almost holiday time, and oh man am I ready! I am super duper lucky to be spending August in one of my all time favourite places. But I haven't forgotten about you, my dear yoga pals;

I know it's a bit soon to be in the autumn mindset, however I wanted to let you know what's up for the fall.  I'm offering a 14 week Queer & Trans yoga session from mid September to mid December.  I  apologize that I have had to slightly raise my registration fee to keep up with increasing costs.  As always please let me know if the price is a barrier and we can work something out.  My internet access will be very limited during my time away, so if you have any questions please be patient with my response time (no wifi on the bay). 

Queer & Trans Yoga  Come and explore yoga in this comfortable community space. This is a mindful practice that focuses on our awareness and breath as we move through meditative, dynamic, and restorative postures. We will discover tools for self-care to carry with us always. Beginners and allies are welcome!

Time: Tuesdays 6 p.m - 7:15 p.m

Dates: Sept 16 - Dec 16, 2014

Cost: $196 ($14/class x 14 weeks)

Spots available: Almost full!

Location: The Centering Space, 59 Cambridge Avenue (Broadview & Danforth)

4 To Miss, 4 To Bliss

Things I'll miss when I'm on holidays

my yoga pals

flight lessons
(look for the baby)

my garden

love letters

Things to look forward to 

mink watching

time with my girl

berries

plant medicine

   

   

Chakra Workshop

All packed up and ready to do the Yoga and Chakras workshop!

Yoga Classes & Workshops for June and July

Restorative Yoga with Massage A therapeutic and relaxing yoga practice accompanied by mini-massages of the head, neck, back, and limbs (based on Indian Head Massage techniques).  Unwind, releasing stress and tension from body, mind and spirit while being supported by props, breath, and meditation practices.  Essential oils used (nut-free carrier oils). LGBTQI positive space.

Time: Friday 6 p.m-7:15 p.m 

Dates: July 11 

Cost: $25 

Location: The Centering Space, 59 Cambridge Ave. (Broadview & Danforth)

Queer & Trans Yoga  Come and explore yoga in this comfortable community space. This is a mindful practice that focuses on our awareness and breath as we move through meditative, dynamic, and restorative postures. We will discover tools for self-care to carry with us always. Beginners and allies are welcome!

Time: Tuesdays 6 p.m - 7:15 p.m

Dates: July 8-29, 2014

Cost: $50

Location: The Centering Space, 59 Cambridge Avenue (Broadview & Danforth)

Hatha Flow Thursdays As we approach the end of the week let's explore a gentle flowing practice of movement, meditation, and restorative postures guided by our breath and mindfulness.

Time: Thursdays 6 p.m-7:15p.m

Dates: ongoing

Cost: see Ankh's website for class pass options http://www.ankhyoga.com

Location: Ankh Yoga, 2017 Danforth Ave (@ Woodbine & Danforth

Yoga and Diversity Documentary

I was honoured to be invited to participate in a documentary created by EK Park and Greg Mount of Global Mind Body last year.  This film is continuing a much needed conversation about diversity in the yoga community, particularly around race, class and gender.  You can watch part one here.

The second segment looks at Gender and Sexual Identity in western yoga.  Despite my extreme camera/interview shyness you'll find me and a few lovely students I've worked with, along with some other great folks.

The 3rd part looks at size and body image in yoga.  This incredible segment can be watched here.

And the conclusion to Global Mind Body's documentary on race and yoga can be viewed at the below link.  Enjoy!
http://www.globalmindbody.org/articles/yoga-and-diversity-people-colour

pwyc yoga, for students and the community

Our new term is upon us!  I'd like to take this opportunity to explain my ongoing drop-in policy.  Once our class is running if/when there are drop-in spots available (ie. student absence, or ongoing available spot) I offer pay-what-you-can spots on those dates.  Each term we choose a different organization or project to donate 100% of these proceeds to.  The January-March term raised funds for Idle No More.

I sent out a request recently asking for suggestions for the upcoming term, and this was the response:

http://maggiestoronto.ca

http://www.dogguides.com

The drop-in fees from the spring and summer terms will be split between the two.

To help raise moolah for these great organizations please let me know when you'll be absent, as you know, so I can advertise a drop-in spot for that date.  And also feel free to share drop-in dates with any folks in your life you think might be interested in some yoga in a pwyc capacity.  There are 2 spots available April 15 & 22.

FAQ about why I started teaching LGBTQ classes

I recently received a request from a fellow yogi who is studying to become a yoga teacher and is hoping to teach LGBTQ yoga classes upon graduation. They were working on a project as part of their teacher training, about yoga in the community, and sent me some interview questions.  I thought I would share them with you, as they are questions that I'm frequently asked.

What motivated you to start the program? 

Yoga was supporting me to manage life challenges that I was facing, such as cancer and anxiety.  When I would talk to friends about the benefits that practicing yoga was offering me, some of them expressed that they too would like to give yoga a try.  However, they felt unsafe accessing the pre-existing yoga spaces and classes, either due to a homophobic or transphobic experience, fear of such, or a lack of reflection of themselves in the spaces, languaging, etc.  So I made it my goal to graduate from teacher training and start to offer a class to LGBTQ folks.  I started teaching 7 years ago.

What are your goals for the program?

To provide a safer and more accessible place to practice yoga for LGBTQ folks; either as a seed to start their own practice, a springboard into the broader yoga community, or as a place to keep coming back to.

What obstacles did you have to over come if any?

Ignorance.  And not many studios are keen on offering a space to offer yoga to an "exclusive" group, unless seen as profitable.  Several negative experiences with studio owners, who either wanted to co-opt the group for their own profit, or made the students feel unwelcome.  I now hold my class in a rented community space, we can use the washrooms/change rooms as we wish, and I am welcoming folks into the space rather than receptionist, studio owner, etc.

Why do you think it's important to offer programs like these to members in the LGBTQ community?

It's important to offer practices like yoga to all folks who are interested, or could benefit from it.  In other words, yoga should be accessible to all, whether or not they can physically make it to a studio, have the $ to pay for classes, etc.  We can all work within the communities we are part of, as well as form collectives with others to learn from each other, peer review, share resources. Teacher trainings would do well to include trainings about diversity and accessibility, rather than focusing on serving the young, healthy and wealthy. We need to reflect on the lack of diversity and accessibility that exists in our current spaces, do our best to educate ourselves and each other, and offer the best that we can, even when it's challenging.

Are there any postures you avoid? If so, why?

No, but I do encourage folks to avoid postures or practices that don't work for them on a given day, without judgement, as part of learning to listen to one's body and honouring it.  And to know that they will not be judged but supported to do so.  Yoga is an individual practice, even though we are often practicing in groups.

Thank you!

In 2013 our Queer & Trans yoga drop-in classes raised money for the LGBTQ Youthline, Toronto Wildlife Centre, the Trans Calendar Project, and Oxford County Animal Rescue.

sound advice