Posts Tagged ‘Montreal’
image via letterlounge Flickr photostream
I like to think that the rise in the popularity of yoga over the past few years has something to do with the growth of the Slow Movement (slow food, gardening, crafts, etc) and is motivated by a desire for simple living, locally-sourced products and a sustainable pace of life. I practice yoga to get back to basics (breath, body, connection) and reflect on my life. I also bike and walk almost everywhere, I buy my veggies at the farmers market and support local businesses. It’s all the same.
However, when it comes to communication, I am rapid-fire and adrenalin-fueled. I would rather text than phone somebody. Even an email feels too long and cumbersome, when I could just make a quick post on a friend’s Facebook wall. Why read a whole magazine article, when I could just read the synopsis in 140 characters on Twitter? And I used to be a prolific letter writer (I still have boxes full of old letters from friends), but I haven’t had the space or the patience to sit down and write a letter in ages. Too long.
Perhaps I’m not the only person feeling this way, because some Montreal folks have gotten together to organize Heart to Hand: A Letter-Writing Night. Yep, it’s an evening to write letters in a public and community setting! They even provide stationary and stamps! The FB event page promises:
Come write the letter you’ve always wanted to send! Who is the person to whom you have always wanted to write but haven’t? Is it a teacher, family member, ex, public figure, or the girl at the bakery? Tell that person what is on your mind: gratitude, affection, anger, love, nostalgia, or forgiveness… Write one or write 20 letters!
We will have swanky stationery, writing implements, envelopes and postage on hand to ensure the delivery of your message. If you do not feel comfortable mailing your letter, or it comes with no fixed address, we will carry out other rituals including shredding, trading, or simply bringing your letter home.
I’m hoping this will be part of the letter writing revival which is apparently underway. And perhaps it could even lead to something like the Letter Lounge in London, England – adorable regular gatherings with letter-writing, tea, cake and socializing.
Letter-Writing Night
September 14, 2011 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Le Cagibi (5490 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal)
PS: if there’s a way I could have mailed this blog post to you all, I would have.
Oooh, it’s a special guest post from the delightful Suzanne Morrison, author of Yoga Bitch: One Woman’s Quest to Conquer Skepticism, Cynicism, and Cigarettes on the Path to Enlightenment! She shares a story about one of her favourite yoga classes ever, which took place right here in Montreal. Suzanne is a writer and performer based in Seattle, Washington. Yoga Bitch is based on her long-running one-woman show, which played around the world to rave reviews.
Suzanne Morrison looking not bitchy at all (image via seattleite.com)
Do you remember how much it sucks to be 25? Holy good god, it’s wretched. I mean, maybe you’re in your twenties now, and you’re all: Hey, old lady, it’s great out here with my drunken twittering and sexting and watching Dance Moms with this boyfriend I swear to God I’m going to love forever. But I am here to tell you: You are in hell. You just don’t know it yet.
It’s great fun, sure—all that drinking and smoking and staying up late. All the big plans for the future. I’m sure it was wonderful to have no wrinkles around my eyes. But honestly? I’ll be 35 this fall and it’s just a better place to be. At 25, I was sick with worry. I didn’t know what the future held for me, for my relationship, for my family; if I would become the person I wanted to become. I wasn’t even entirely sure who that person was. I had recently graduated from college and as a writer and performer I knew I had to leave my hometown of Seattle for New York in order to make a career for myself. But I didn’t want to leave. I loved Seattle, loved being near my family, loved the rain and the coffeeshops and the bookstores.
I felt like my grandparents would age ten years the day I left Seattle. I worried I would lose people. Friends, family members. That we would grow apart and eventually not even miss each other. I dreaded the day when I would start referring to New York as my home.
And then September 11th happened, and I started doing yoga. I quickly developed a sort of teacher crush on Indra, a tall, wise, beautiful yoga teacher who had found herself, her spirituality, and the love of her life through yoga. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was in the market for all of those things. I thought that if yoga had made Indra the amazing woman she was, then maybe it had something to offer me.
A couple of blocks from my house in Montreal is a field, one of the few remaining undeveloped pieces of land in my neighbourhood. It’s a wild space, an abandoned space, a reclaimed space, a politicized space and a contaminated space which is also an oasis of biodiversity. Formerly owned by Canadian Pacific Railway, the field was purchased by the city of Montreal with the intention of being developed, despite resistance from the community.
As a free and unregulated space, it goes by several different names including the Maguire Meadow or, my favourite, Le Champ des Possibles: The Field of Possibilities. I have spent a lot of time in this field. I have sat and thought about my life, talked about life, set intentions for my life. I have run, drank wine, made wishes, made out and danced in this field. I have planted seeds, pulled weeds and picked up garbage. And for the first time, I’ve taught yoga in this field. Continue Reading
Me, girl geeking it up! I talk with my hands, apparently. (image via Alexandra Dao)
Last week I had the massive pleasure of talking about “The Yoga of Blogging” for the September Montreal Girl Geek Dinner (since I’m a girl and a yoga geek). I was amazed at the number of people who turned out, most of whom weren’t even my friends. About 50 geeky and yogic girls (and a few boys) showed up in the cozy basement of Brutopia for my talk (and I will never cease to be amused by the fact that I talked to a bar full of people about yoga).
The only way that I can describe the talk is that it was like a blog post come to life. It was even structured like a blog post: I talked for about 30 minutes, and my talk was followed by a Q&A period (just like a comments section). I started off by introducing myself and it’s all yoga, baby, my reasons for starting the blog and how I made the transition from editing a yoga magazine to blogging about yoga (which wasn’t too difficult, actually).
As I was preparing for my talk, I realized that blogging is part of my spiritual practice. My asana practice is a process of self-investigation, fueled by a desire to connect with myself and other people. Blogging, for me, has become an extension of this investigation. It’s also become a place to investigate yoga itself, and its permutations in North American culture. I think that I do this because I have a tendency to view most things in life through a cultural lens (I enjoy doing this, btw, it gives me energy and a sense of purpose).
The greatest rewards of this blog are the conversations and the sense of community. Blogging has been a tool for finding and building community. I’ve discovered an online network of people who are writing and thinking about yoga; they’re questioning and debating, exploring and engaging, and the conversations have pushed my concepts of yoga. These people are also fun, witty and entertaining, and they enrich my life. Continue Reading
Now for a little self-promotion…
I’m super honoured to be talking about The Yoga of Blogging (forgive the cheezy title ~ I wanted something catchy and a little blatant) at this month’s Montreal Girl Geek Dinner!
This is what I promise:
Three years ago, Roseanne Harvey was an overworked yoga magazine editor who begrudgingly managed the company blog. Since then, the magazine has gone out of business and now not only does Roseanne spend all of her free time blogging, she finds it transformative and fun. Her blog, it’s all yoga, baby, has a dedicated readership and is known for its engaging content, lively discussions, and sense of community.
Come listen to Roseanne’s journey from the print world to the “blogasphere,” as she shares lessons learned in the trenches of the online yoga community. If you’re thinking about starting a blog, this talk will illustrate the infinite rewards of doing so. If you’re already blogging, you’ll receive inspiration to fearlessly define your niche, increase reader engagement, and spark wide-ranging conversations.
And this is how I describe myself:
Roseanne Harvey is a writer, editor and yoga trouble maker. She is fascinated by how yoga is represented in popular culture, and skeptical of the increasing commercialization of yoga in the West. As the former editor of ascent magazine, she’s not afraid to use her media literacy skills to shine a critical light on yoga culture, while celebrating service, creativity and grassroots yoga initiatives. She’s also a yoga teacher who believes in making yoga accessible and available to all people, and she teaches weekly classes at rad’a yoga centre montreal and the Mile End Mission.
Seriously, who wouldn’t want to spend a Wednesday evening geeking out to the sound of my voice? If you happen to be in Montreal on September 29, come on over to Brutopia, 1215 Crescent St (yes, it’s a pub on Montreal’s most notorious bar strip ~ which I think is hilarious and oddly appropriate) and learn about the story and the geeky girl (moi) behind it’s all yoga, baby.
In case you aren’t familiar with the Girl Geek Dinners, they are a self-organizing web of global get-togethers with a goal of making technology accessible and interesting to all age groups and all people, particularly women (although geeks of all genders are welcome). These monthly events are aimed at providing a welcoming atmosphere and a platform for learning in an informal environment. They started in London, England five years ago, with a vision actually very similar to my approach to yoga: “to encourage people to embrace their passion for something like technology and to explore what they can do with it.”
Oh, the stories I have to share! I can’t wait! Thanks to the Montreal GGD crew for thinking this blog is interesting. And huge shout out and much love to the rest of you in the trenches of this wild community. Thanks for being part of the adventure!
