Heart Full

With the terribly tragic oil spill, and it’s unstoppable damage my thoughts can’t help but turn to environmentalism — and what we’ve done to change this world. It’s enormously tragic that many people (some I dare call friends) don’t spare more than a second’s thought to the greatest ecological disaster in history. In the 11th Hour one expert estimated that Mother Nature as an industry “gives back” to us in the order of 38 Trillion dollars a year — that’s more than twice the combined economies of the world, and she does it for free. So in the spirit of giving just a little bit back — or really doing just a little less damage than I already was, here are some things that we could do to help that tree in the forest falling…

1. Buy paper products with recycled content – especially post consumer fibers.

2. Buy paper products made with clean, safe processes – paper products are bleached to make them whiter and brighter. But chlorine contributes to the formation of harmful chemicals that wind up in the air and water and are highly toxic. Look for products labeled chlorine free.

3. Make sure any virgin fiber content in the paper you buy is forest friendly – if the products you buy aren’t labelled 100% recylced, make sure the trees used to manufacture them came from sustainably harvested forests certified by Forest Stewardship Council.

Some interesting stats:

If every house hold in the US replaced just one box of virgin fiber facial tissues (175 sheets) with 100% recycled ones we could save 163,000 trees. Recycled brands include: Fluff out, Green Forest, Hankies, Marcal, and Seventh Generation.

If every household in the US replaced just one roll of virgin toilet paper (500 sheets) with 100% recycled ones we could save 423,000 trees. Recycled  brands include: 365 Whole foods, Ambiance, April Soft, Best Value, Earth First, Fiesta, Green Forest, Marcal, Planet, Pert, Seventh Generation, Sofpac.

If every household in the US replaced just one roll of virgin fiber towels (70 Sheets) with 100% recycled ones we could save 544,000 trees. Brands include: 365, Atlantic, Best Value, Earth First, Fiesta, Green Forest, Pert, Marcal, Planet, Seventh Generation.

If every household in the US replaced just one package of virgin fiber napkins (250 count) with 100% recylced ones we could save one million trees. Brands include 365, Bella, Earth First, Green Forest, Marcal, Seventh Generation.

That’s a lot of trees that don’t have to fall.

Aparigraha – non-covetousness, letting go of our worldly possessions and learning to live on what we need rather than what we want. No other yama (or niyama) has resonated so deeply with me. It seems appropriate for the season spring cleaning, or if you’re like me “early summer cleaning”. For many years of my life I learned the ways of the pack rat. How to pack everything so optimally you can stuff in 2x as much cruft as the container was designed for. My whole family did it, it fell on me like human nature. Until that is, the stuff became overwhelming. But instead of getting rid of stuff I made BFFs with the container store, organize it, and the mecca of my cheap OCD soul, Ikea. But it was work, it was so much work it may as well have been a second career, and one that I daresay I’d be darn good at.

But my stuff was over taking my life. I looked at apartments and wondered about the closet space — rather than the light, air,fixtures and how the place made me FEEL. Instead I wondered if it had enough space for all my stuff. Then about 7 years ago for the first time I got rid of all the stuff I hadn’t worn in a year. And it was liberating. It was propelled by my incoming move, but nonetheless it was liberating. Since then, I’ve tried to maintain a yearly ritual of getting rid of stuff I hadn’t used in a year . OK a year and a half maybe.  I’ve also been discovering that as I practice aparigraha more, the other yamas and niyamas fall into place. Santosha follows my sense of liberation, and saucha in my mentality (and rooms) by having less “stuff” to attract clutter and dust.

So after all the effort to free myself from my possession the irony is not lost on me — that I loved shopping at the Brooklyn Flea to buy other people’s old stuff. I tried to limit it to stuff I’d be giving away (aka “gifts”) but I saw a couple inspirational items that no doubt I’ll have to come up with ways to replicate, or .. buy it and bring their old stuff to my new stuff. But that’s OK — none of it is wasted, and perhaps I can breathe new life to their possessions just as someone perhaps is breathing new life to mine.

Sybel has been a compelling force in my life. I’ve learned a lot from her. Everything from how to keep it together in the face of calamity, and that it’s OK to bring your yoga mat to work, and drink wheat grass. You won’t just find her on Wall St. She’s soon to be featured on CBS, so stay tuned!

NYC Yogini: How long have you been doing yoga?

Sybel: I only count the last five years because that’s when I got serious about ashtanga.

NYC Yogini: What kind of yoga were you doing before?

Sybel: Gym yoga… you know the stretching you do BEFORE you work out. (insert embarrassed smile)

NYC Yogini: So what made you decide to get serious?

Sybel: The whole philosophy made sense to me, it resonated. Ashtanga is the same sequence of poses all the time, and at that point in my life it was the only consistency I could count on.

NYC Yogini: (impressed) Well said! Maybe I should try ashtanga again, it’s just you know… THE BINDS!

Sybel: (Dubious) Ah-hah, you know how I feel about that.

NYC Yogini: (Guiltily) YES! OK so, what pose are you practicing now?

Sybel: Kapotasana!

I’m not entirely sure why the Cube on Astor Place is famous. Why this sculpture of a cube turned on it’s side with the ability to spin draws so much attention, notably from skate boarders has remained a mystery to me. While we were there this past weekend, people even ate their lunches under the cube’s shade, as if the intersection of 4 noisy streets, and pigeon dropping highway is somehow scenic. I wondered. Either they didn’t realize or they just didn’t care, non-attachment to the worldliness around them. I could learn a little something about that. So I too tried to find my peace of mind and balance, and after starting stopping, falling (eek!), and watching the antics of tourists trying to turn it, it’s quirkiness won me over. But I still soaked my mat a good 4 hours in scathing hot water. Perhaps I can’t let it all go, just yet.