Nature is Abundant, If You Let Her Be

There are a few places on earth that are teeming with such abundant life that it overwhelms and astonishes. It's been a long time since I experienced that level of ample life energy. My visit to the Galápagos Islands years ago comes to mind.
 
And then, while I was on break leading teacher training on the Sunshine Coast of Australia, we travelled to Lady Elliot Island in the Great Barrier Reef, and my faith in copious wildlife was restored.
 
In 2016, as a result of rising water temperatures due to climate change, the Great Barrier Reef suffered mass bleaching of coral, and tragically, it is said that two thirds of this extraordinary wonder of the world is now dead. Lady Elliot Island is in the southern part of the reef where water temperatures have not risen quite as high, so we felt extremely lucky to have had the chance to spend time observing the living coral and natural diversity still thriving there.
 
It was nesting season on the island, and every bit of greenery was covered in thousands of busy nesting marine birds like Noddy Terns, Bridled Terns, and Red-Tailed Tropic Birds sitting on their eggs. The island was aflutter with bird calls, swooping wings of nest material being transported through the air, and bird poop...a lot of bird poop!
 
All we had to do was look out our bathroom to see a Noddy Tern on her nest, just 6 inches from our window! They were quite literally everywhere.
 
There was no signal on the island so our iPhones were used solely as cameras to document the wildlife and natural wonder. I couldn’t be happier ditching emails and Instagram for the chance to spend all day watching the birds building their nests and tending to their eggs, spying on the chicks who’d hatched, and walking the island’s shoreline looking at shells and nesting sea turtle tracks. In between we'd jump in the water 3-4 times a day to snorkel in the stunning coral gardens, teeming with every kind of fish, black tipped reef sharks, giant groupers, and mulitple sea turtles every session. On our boat ride, we saw two different stacks of mating sea turtles in less than 15 minutes on the water.

Taro Smith, ever ready with his underwater camera rig, snapped these shots of me in the reef.

The living coral that remains in the Great Barrier Reef is definitely worth fighting for. I feel more called than ever to make the case that we all can do better when it comes to cooling off our planet.
 
The Earth’s atmosphere is really such a thin layer, and human generated greenhouse gases are easily trapped, which warms the planet to dangerous levels. We can do so much to stop producing Co2. Below are some immediate actions you can take!

Please leave more ideas on how we can contribute to global cooling in the comments below so our community can learn from each other!

Use Your Bike, Public Transport, or Carpool
Instead of your using your car to get around town or commute to work/school, invest in a bicycle, helmet, and a lock and avoid gas emissions. Use the public transportation system in your city and arrange to carpool to work and events rather than bringing your own car.

Unplug Your Gadgets
Are you someone who always leaves your phone charger dangling from the wall? Do you leave your cable box powered on? Or forget to put your computer on sleep mode? Adopting these practices can save you $100 each year on your energy bill and significantly reduce emissions!

Change Your Light Bulbs
Switch all of the lights in your house to compact fluorescent bulbs. One bulb can reduce up to 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution during its lifetime. If every house in the U.S. made this switch we could reduce the electricity spent on lighting by 50%.

Filter Your Own Water
Packaged plastic bottled water is decimating the planet, particularly the oceans and marine life. Beyond the environmental tragedy of the plastic waste, consider just how far your water was transported before you bought it which burns countless fossil fuels.

Adjust Your Curtains and Thermostat
If you keep your house two degrees warmer in the summer and two degrees cooler in the winter you can save a ton on your energy bills. Always use a programmable thermostat so you’re system is never left on too high or too cold but cycles back to a conservative temperature. Be mindful to keep your curtains open during the day in the winter to let in sunlight, and close them at night to hold in warmth. During the summer, close the curtains during the day to keep out extra sunlight and open them at night to moderate the temperature, or even open them to let in a cool breeze.

Buy Local, Organic Food
Food is transported 1,500 miles on average between the farm and the supermarket and organically grown produce helps make our soil healthy. Healthy soil has been shown to actually sequester carbon. Yes, organic food is more costly, but if enough of us purchase it the prices will come down. Consider eliminating other purchasing habits such as take-out coffee or paper towels, to make room in your budget to support organic farms.

Plant a Tree
One of the most efficient ways you can cut your carbon footprint is to plant a tree. Trees provide shade and oxygen while consuming carbon dioxide. A single young tree absorbs 13 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. That amount will increase to 48 pounds annually as trees grow. Just one 10-year-old tree releases enough oxygen into the air to support two human beings. Better yet, plant a fruit tree to help provide organic food for you and your family.

Cut the Beef and Dairy
It takes a lot of resources to raise cows, particularly if you buy beef from somewhere like Brazil, where it was grazed on land that used to be tropical forest. Deforestation and the methane produced by farm animals is a top contributor to carbon emissions and climate change.

The Yoga of Living Green: A Story of Hope

Scientists have been predicting the perils of humanity’s mark on planet earth for decades. I remember being in the Costa Rican rainforest in 1992 just after the Rio Earth Summit, the first major United Nations conference on the environment of it’s kind.

The town I was in had gotten electricity only 3 years prior, and the roads surrounding it were still unpaved. We were staying with the late River Phoenix and his family and they had just returned from the summit, full of inspiration, but also conviction - that we must do everything in our power to reverse this thing called "global warming". I remember telling River’s mother that I wanted to move to the Amazon to help protect it and she said sternly, “No, Amy, you’re needed at home in the USA.”

As a yogi, living in harmony with nature feels like it’s been part of my DNA, in some ways since before I even stepped on the yoga mat for the first time as a teenager. But with every breath and every pose, practicing yoga reaffirms my interconnection with the natural world and the importance of being a responsible, conscious steward of the earth.

If you’ve practiced yoga, you yourself have likely had a similar experience of interconnection. To put it bluntly - you just give more of a damn after immersing in the study of yoga!

Last week, it was my great pleasure to teach a benefit yoga class for my newest favorite organization, the Rodale Institute. Rodale definitely embodies this caring approach to interconnection, and in fact, sees yet another way for us to solve the climate change crisis through regenerative organic farming.

While I was there, I interviewed Jeff Tkach, Rodale Institute’s chief growth officer and avid yogi. He told me the most heartwarming story about the dairy cows on the Rodale’s farm in Pennsylvania and their neighbors, James and Ida Burkholder, who by going full-on Organic changed their family’s life (and a whole herd of adorable cows) by doing so!

While I am not a dairy eater myself, pasturing animals the old fashioned way can benefit the soil, which is much needed in the journey toward a cooler planet.

I hope this story inspires and gives you as much hope as it gave me:

AMY: Hey Jeff! Tell us about Rodale’s neighbors, the Burkholders and why they started building a new barn on their land.
 
JEFF: The Burkholders are Mennonite dairy farmers who own and live on the land bordering the organic fields and pastures of the Rodale Institute. James was struggling to farm conventionally, and the banks (which technically owned his cows, farmland, and buildings) were pressuring him to increase the size of his herd in order to increase revenues so that he could pay on his loans.

Since James did not have enough land to effectively graze his cows on pasture, he needed to build a second barn so that he could double the size of his herd (the cows would live 24/7 in the barn, eat, sleep, and get milked). This is simply not the way that cows are meant to live!

James’ family has been farming since they emigrated from Switzerland in the 1700s, but when the conventional milk market bottomed out in 2009, James and Ida almost lost everything. “We were in danger of extinction,” James explained. As a small conventional dairy, he said, “It was tough to compete against larger operations.”

AMY: Rodale eventually proposed a better (organic) solution to the Burkholders that involved a partnership with Rodale. How did that go?

JEFF: We’ve had a long-standing relationship with our neighbors, but given the culture of the Mennonite community, it was not customary for them to build business relationships with people outside of their community. There was of course, much hesitation and reluctance for the family to partner with the Rodale Institute as a result of the pressures from their community, but the Rodale Institute took all of the financial risk out of their transition to organic.
 
James and Ida’s partnership with the Rodale Institute began in 2010, and it’s a simple relationship: the Burkholders get land on which to graze their cows, while the Rodale Institute gets an organic herd to jumpstart its livestock research program and help build healthier soil from the cows being on their land.
 
For James and Ida, the partnership with Rodale ensured that the Burkholders’ farming legacy would endure.
 
 
AMY: Tell us the story of what happened when the cows were finally released! And what was the outcome for the Burkholder’s farm once they went organic?
 
JEFF: Well, we did not know how the cows would react to being put out on pasture after living 24/7 in a barn. But to our surprise, they literally ran (and danced!) their way out of the barn and into the gorgeous green meadow!
 
Now, each day, the cows find their way from the barn out onto the Rodale Institute’s pasture. They do not need to be herded. They simply follow their biological patterns, and return to the barn twice per day to be milked.

In terms of the outcome, financially, the Burkholders are now earning 30%+ more for organic milk which they sell to Organic Valley, a popular independent cooperative of organic farmers that got it's start because they were fed up with the state of American agriculture and the fact that family farms were going extinct.

In addition, the Burkholder's have less expenses (not paying for as much grain and vet bills) and earn more for their end product. There is both an economic and environmental pay off for farmers to put animals on pasture.

In fact, James & Ida have not had a single veterinary bill for their cows since they transitioned to organic (the cows are healthier because they are eating a better diet!). Their cow’s health made them realize that their own family should eat organic to stay healthy as well - so now the family has transitioned as well!

Most livestock animals such as cows are ruminants. Meaning, cows are not meant to eat corn (which most conventional cows are fed). Their stomachs are designed for them to eat grass. And it produces a much higher quality and nutritious milk!
 
Best of all, the Burkholder’s conversion to organic was so successful that other farms in their community also transitioned!

There are also many reasons organic farming and pasture raising animals helps stop harmful climate change. When you put animals on pasture, they help to regenerate the soil (thus, storing and sequestering carbon out of the atmosphere and into the soil where it belongs!).
 
AMY: That is the best! Tell us - what can yoga students, in your opinion, do to help support organic farming besides the obvious (buy organic!)?
 
JEFF: Absolutely! Here’s a list of things yogis can do to help:

• We need for consumers to demand organic! The more we demand organic items at the grocery store and restaurants we frequent, the more farmers will be incentivized to transition due to demand.
• Get Informed. People need to become more attuned to where their food comes from, and how it was produced. We need to become more intimately connected with “the source” of our food. Get to know your farmers. Shop at your local farmer’s market, and support the artisans in your community who are producing such beautiful food. The best organic food does not come from the grocery store. It comes from the small farms that surround your community!
• Donate! Make a donation to the Rodale Institute! They first coined the word "organic" and through their research and educational programs give farmers the tools and knowledge to increase soil health, crop quality and yields.
• Share! We need the yoga community to influence the world at large. We are already beacons for health. People look to us as yogi’s to be role models for health. We need to educate others about the benefits of going organic. Some ideas:
  • Write blogs.
  • If you teach yoga, teach a class with the theme of “organic”, regeneration, and the importance of making conscious choices.
  • Post your colorful farm hauls on social media.

Superfruit Fizz

What do you do when the women of Gaia Herbs come over to your house to play?
 
Concoct crazy things in the kitchen, obvi!
 
It was an honor to have Stepfanie Romine, a writer and editor who specializes in food, natural health, and wellness in our home. She guided me through her latest recipes using some of my favorite supplements from Gaia Herbs. Stepfanie recently co-authored The No Meat Athlete Cookbook and is one of the most creative vegan chefs I've met!
 
Just in time for summer, Stepfanie tested out my mixology skills with this mocktail that she calls “Superfruit Fizz.”
 
This superfruit drink is sparkling and delightfully refreshing, bit too sweet, and it offers immune support and antioxidants — plus plenty of vitamin C! It’s key ingredients are Gaia Herb’s Black Elderberry Syrup which sweetly balances the mouth-puckering tang of their Hibiscus Tea mixed with pomegranate juice.

Here's how you do it!
 
Ingredients
1 cup Gaia Herbs Organic Hibiscus Herbal Tea, cool
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon Gaia Herbs Black Elderberry Syrup
1 dropperful Gaia Herbs Organic Ginger Root Liquid Herbal Extract
Sparkling water - I suggest Pellegrino which is naturally carbonated in part
Ice

Kitchen Tools Needed
Glass measuring cup
Whisk/fork
Pitcher or serving jar
Measuring spoons

Directions (see video below for a walk through!)

1. Brew one bag of Gaia Herbs Hibiscus Tea in a cup of cold water for 20-30 minutes or longer (no need to boil!)
2. Pour the tea into a measuring cup with a pouring spout.
3. Add the pomegranate and lime juices.
4. Whisk in the Black Elderberry Syrup and the Ginger Extract.
5. Fill a large glass (or two smaller glasses) halfway with ice, if desired.
6. Pour in the tea mixture, then top off the glass with the sparkling water for a unique "ombre" effect.
7. Serve immediately. Serves 1 or 2. 

Let us know what you think in the comments below!

Why Nature is Your Best Friend: My Trip to the Gaia Herbs Farm

Have you been in nature on a piece of land that tugs at that genuine spot inside you, beckoning you again to live according to your deepest truth? Every barefoot step on the earth, every sunrise, and every drop of dew reminds you to “live your dharma” (sacred purpose).

I’ve been lucky in my life to travel to remote and beautiful places in the world and I’ve seen and been inspired by so many settings.

The Gaia Farm was the latest, and it is definitely up there as one of the most physically and spiritually galvanizing places in nature I’ve been.

Gaia Herbs offers nearly 200 organic herbal supplements and grows a large portion of these plants on the Gaia Farm in Brevard, North Carolina.

It was not too hard to refuse my old friend, Bill Tipper’s invitation to the farm for a photo shoot, since I love Gaia’s supplements, and I love plants.

As soon as I arrived, I was struck by the orderly and pristine nature of the farm as well as the interesting and diverse crops growing such as ginko trees, gotu kola, Asian pears, echinacea, holy basil, lemon balm, bitter melon, and more…

After three days basking in the farm’s great energy, I returned to Boulder, fired up about my life and living. Here are my biggest takeaways (and some of the photos), which I hope inspire you too!

Living with Consciousness

Gaia is conscious, caring, and precise about sustainability, down to every detail.Every tractor on the farm is operated by bio-diesel from restaurants in Brevard and Asheville.

Seedlings on their way from the greenhouse to the fields for planting.

• Every tractor on the farm is operated by bio-diesel from the restaurants in Brevard and Asheville.
• All of the canisters used for their smoothie boost powders look like plastic, but are actually made out of 100% plant materials. If the bottles ever find their way to the ocean, they will sink to the bottom and dissolve in the salt water.
• Gaia fertilizes the soil at the farm with compost made from some of the solution used to extract the herbs in the distillery.
• They are committed to growing organically and maintaining a true seed-to-shelf production which includes generating their own seed stock each season rather than buying seeds from outside the farm.

Such a practical place to practice yoga. Don't you do yoga on tractors? Easing into baby natarajasana and trying not to giggle!

Be in Nature – The Ultimate Healer

Because of the photo shoot there were a number of opportunities to get close and personal with nature on the farm. Talk about grounded! If you ever get the chance:

• Lay face down in warm, freshly tilled soil at sunset!
• Take savasana on some dewy grass at dawn.
• Walk barefoot in the grass, mud and soil. You can do a pedicure later, it's worth it!
• Dance and skip wildly through the trees at dusk, preferably with a friend.
• Sprint barefoot at top speed through newly tilled soil in the morning mist.
• Take notice of what CEO and founder, Ric Scalzo calls “meetings and awakenings” such as the adorable bumble bee pictured below who we found camped out under an Echinacea bloom.

This was my favorite bumble bee on the farm! He was sound asleep at dawn cuddled up under the echinacea petals and sparkling with dew. And this is a twin headed flower! I made Bill take a macro shot so I would always remember him. :)

Break Bread with Great Company, Farm to Table Style

There is something so old-fashioned and wonderful about taking the time to prepare, serve, and relish an exquisite meal with friends. Especially when those friends are uplifting, visionary people capable of meaningful conversation who care about the planet!

Sauteed stinging nettles! So good for skin and for allergies.

It’s rare these days to invest our time in sitting around the table just simply talking to one another. On one of the evenings we had the chance to do this with the Gaia team and it was such a treat.

Chimichurri made from parsley and gotu kola (good for skin, collagen production, and the brain!).

The meal was crafted and prepared by Ric Scalzo, along with Gaia’s staff writer, Stepfanie Romine.

Made up of produce and medicinal herbs grown on the farm, the menu was designed to emphasize the transition between summer and fall.

My new favorite word: Biomimicry

Gaia’s team shared that this very cool word which serves as a guide for everything they do at the farm and how they conduct their lives and business.

From the Biomimicry Institute’s website (there is an institute!), biomimicry is defined as,

“An approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by emulating nature's time-tested patterns and strategies. The goal is to create products, processes, and policies—new ways of living—that are well-adapted to life on earth over the long haul.”

Some examples biomimicry:

• The Shinkansen Bullet Train in Japan is modeled after a Kingfisher’s beak because of the velocity and speed at which they are able to dive-bomb to catch their prey!
• Pomelo fruit can hit the ground from heights over 30 feet without getting damaged, thanks to a hierarchically organized peel structure. This inspired the recent development of an aluminum composite material being considered for use in safety applications.
• Schooling fish save energy by swimming in vortices created by their neighbors. Researchers are using similar principles to find optimal positions for wind turbines.
• Bird Protection Glass - Ornilux’s window glass prevents bird collisions by mimicking the UV reflective qualities of spiders’ webs.

https://youtu.be/FBUpnG1G4yQ

In Summary: Get into Nature!

Everyone knows that we all get inspired, healed, and rejuvenated by being closer to nature. However we can get caught up in staying indoors so easily, so here is your official reminder!

• Make sure you’re scheduling plenty of time in the woods, at the beach, in the ocean, the mountains, the snow, and on the grass.
• Find ways to increase nature around your home. Do you have a back yard, balcony, or patio that needs some attention and plantings? Could you adopt a potted plant or terrarium? Could you plan for creating veggie garden to grow your own food? Can you commit to regular gardening and if not, hire a gardener to help maintain your garden?
• Get outside at least twice a day to breathe the fresh air, feel the sun on your skin, and see the birds and insects.

Do you have a place that inspires you? Tell me about it in the comments below!