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Some navel gazing @ Yogue

Nov. 18, 2009

Yogue: winter inspirations…

I have been thinking a lot recently about why I first started this blog.  My mission was to talk about things that inspire me that are related to sustainable design and the yoga lifestyle.  Much has been written about the fact that Yoga is trend that is now beyond a trend.  Apparently more than 30 million people practice yoga in the US alone and there are over 70,000 yoga teachers in North America and counting.

I suppose that would also explain why yoga is now used to sell everything from hair products to cars, and that yoga instructors throughout the world are being treated as lifestyle gurus… or maybe that’s the Madonna factor. 

In any case… with all this Yogue navel gazing, I realized that really the issue that is at the heart of this blog is one that I consider vital to the effect of Yoga on my life, that delicate dance between the practice of Yoga, which ultimately is a practice of becoming aware of the materialism of life (and eventually renouncing it) and my love of beautiful and lovingly crafted things. 

What that has yielded for me via Yogue is a search for products, services and more that are long-lasting, sustainably made and can potentially positively impact the world somehow through our connection to them.  They give us pleasure yes, but with the awareness that ultimately it is all just stuff, allowing us the awareness of moderating the desire realm.

How do you grapple with these questions?  I’d love to hear your thoughts. 

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Category: Life, Blog Tags: consumption, desire, material world, sustainable style, yoga, yogue

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Comments

  1. chriscourtney says

    November 18, 2009 at 4:19 am

    Thanks for asking this important question Insiya. The deeper I go into my practice, the more I find myself being fulfilled by things other than things. That said, whenever I need to buy something, I find myself making more conscious decisions; not to take more than I need, to be mindful of the impacts of the items I choose, and to see if there is a way to help a good cause (or someone who needs a hand up) in the process.

    Reply
  2. girlwarrior says

    November 18, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    I’ve been reading Michael Stone’s new book, Yoga for a World Out of Balance, and he has a lot of things to say about yoga and consumerism. However, what it comes down to is that it’s consumerism on a bigger scale ~ of oil, cars, property, clothes made in sweatshop ~ which is counter to the principles of yoga.

    Personally, I love stuff! And the more ethical, hand-made and local it is, the more I love it. I’m also interested in the story of stuff, how it’s made and by whom and why. Because even though I’m a yogi and I’m doing my best to live a conscious, anti-consumer life, I still need some things. I love pretty things to put on my walls, hand-knitted things to keep me warm, ethical things (with cute packaging) to put on my skin.

    I think there’s a way to straddle your yogic aspirations and your love of “beautifully and lovingly crafted things.” You’ll be able to figure out, and your blog is the perfect way to do it! Looking forward to seeing how your practice and blogging evolves…

    Reply
    • Insiya Rasiwala-Finn says

      November 18, 2009 at 4:43 pm

      I’ve got to check out that book, totally, I do think about the ethics of consumerism a lot, in fact not just through the yoga lens but also through i suppose “conventional religion” and it is hard to make sense of it all, but awareness and honesty i think are the first steps in that direction. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Chris says

    December 13, 2009 at 9:56 pm

    But in response to girlwarrior — and in a larger response to the question you posed in your post — how do you TRULY know that what you are buying is ethical? You might be buying into that “cute packaging” because you want to. “Oh look, the package says it’s 100% fairly traded — this will make me feel better about wanting stuff.”

    A company can tell you they are ethical, or a local artisan can tell you the ingredients they use are fairly traded, etc. — but how do you REALLY know? You don’t. You can’t. Businesses don’t reveal ALL aspects of their business plans to each and every consumer. And consumers don’t have time to truly research each and every company they buy from.

    The reality is that most people don’t care — but they do like to feel smug about being ‘consumer conscious’, even though they are just going on website information, press releases (issued by the company), interviews (with company reps) and cute packaging.

    Handmade and local can still be run by someone seeing a good idea and sucking the life out of it. Local + handmade does not automatically mean it’s a “better” consumer choice. And large corporations making promises of good working conditions for their workers, etc…. well, spin is spin is spin.

    Like you said, it’s all still stuff. Interesting how we like to make ourselves feel better by believing company spin.

    Reply

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ABOUT YOGUE  Hi, I'm Insiya. Journey with me as we live slow, scatter beauty and tread lightly on the planet.

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insiyafinn

Yesterday was so life affirming and heart filling! Yesterday was so life affirming and heart filling!!! 

We got out on a hike in sooke and I’m so proud of my mama for traversing some steep climbs and even more steep and rocky downhill paths. I felt energized and so happy to be outside in a forest that smelled cool and fresh and pine-resin-y… @theblissologist and lion even got into the icy cold glacial streams and then we picked up grandma @carolefinnartist and enjoyed some delicious pizza on the deck @stokedpizzeria near sombrio…

My family kept cautioning me to not push myself - but honestly and truly I think I was just high on feeling alive and being amidst the waterfalls and green of what has turned into a very hot spring (climate change is real friends…)…

Yesterday was such an affirmation of how much we all need to be outside to reconnect within to what really matters…

Thanks ananda lion for making me a mama 12 years ago and thanks to my mom @sararasiwala for your love always… also it made me so happy that eoin got to see his mama too! Life is short. Keep those you love close and fill it with beauty and kindness.

Ps. I did wear a dress hiking (just because) and I am very tired today but was it worth it? YES ❤️

#yogue #mothersday #family #familymatters #healing #healinsiya #healcancer #cancerthriver
Photo sprinkles… Stepping out into spring. L- Photo sprinkles… 

Stepping out into spring.

L-R: A Saturday picnic w @yogalink + Carole + dingo the bali dog and my mom. Thanks for the chai @sararasiwala 😁 and the pic @theblissologist ✨
Blossoms on the hill.
Blossoms inside :)
Homemade spinach and mushroom quiche.. so good 💫
Pakoras by mom… aka delish chickpea fritters 
Daisies :)
And
Apricot nectar and strawberries yesterday… 
/ shadows and sunshine :) 
Heart shaped flowers…

Feeling all this golden light and springtime goodness. :) 

🌺💕☀️

#healingjourney #wholefoods #growth #changes #shift #insiyafinn #healinsiya #healcancer
So I decided to share this picture here because fi So I decided to share this picture here because firstly today was so special. I got to see a dear dear friend who I haven’t seen since before the pandemic and we got to finally connect a few steps away from home. Yes this is currently Victoria (or it was this morning when the sun was bright and warm)…

And yet this morning was hard won. Yesterday after weeks of things going relatively well I had what is called a partical blockage with my ileostomy. I think it was caused by my not chewing my lunch as slowly as I normally do…(I will blame this on both being v hungry and that my dear mom’s cooking is dangerously delicious) 😁 when my girlfriend came to see me yesterday, I had low energy and a strange cramping sensation in the stomach and lower rib area. This progressively got worse and worse until my body with all its wisdom tried to push my lunch out of me. In other words I threw up. Consistently and continuously.

Meanwhile life at home continued on. My son arrived home after a canoeing weekend. I needed back rubs w tiger balm or whatever would help in the moment; and tried to help organize dinner. And my friend later that evening shared how she felt the privilege of being here to help and to witness the rough stuff. Which just felt so dear and real and loving.

And this is why I want to share this story today. It feels scary to put all of this out into the world but I have been thinking that when we hide the hard things behind walls of fear or worry about what others will think, I think we curtail our capacity to be loving, compassionate humans. After all at our core we want the same things. To live and love well. I feel like I share a lot here but I have found it hard to write about the really gnarly moments. There have been so many. What I will say I am so thankful for however is that because I have experienced so much with the ileostomy, I knew I had to ride the waves of pain out until they stopped. And they did and I finally slept last night and stayed out of emerg at the hospital.

And awoke to a new day. And a new opportunity to make the most of this precious moment.

Thanks for being here!

#healcancer #healinsiya #viclife #oakbay #friendship
It’s three weeks post my big surgery. The last f It’s three weeks post my big surgery. The last fortnight has been a wave of highs and lows. It felt like every time I felt a little better something new would happen again that I needed to understand and navigate. 

Meanwhile my inner mind has been a whirling w so so much. I have so many thoughts and so many ideas every day. And having to still be quite still has forced me to pay attention to them. 

The word that keeps coming up is reclamation - reclaiming who I am and how I want to live my life moving forward… life seems a little less like I’m on the edge of a precipice - except in the middle of the night - but things still feel urgent - like I will run out of time before I get to do all the things I would like to. And I have been trying to stay true and listen to the emotions that come up as I continue to navigate the journey beyond - which as yet is a big unknown! 

Today was an easy day to reclaim how much living in harmony with our seasons means to me. How much I love being outside. This afternoon mom and I went for a glorious walk in the sunshine and then lion, our pup and I had some weeding fun in the garden. 

A friend asked me how I am feeling earlier today. I guess the answer today is so happy and grateful to be here and to live in such a beautiful place to call home close to the ocean and sea lions and the meadows and flowers and forests. I am cherishing these little moments. They feel big these days.

Thanks for being here. Xo 

#healing #gratitude #gardening #healinsiya #healcancer #coloncancercanada

📷 @sararasiwala 💖
Today is a reminder for myself and possibly you as Today is a reminder for myself and possibly you as well to not get discouraged… 

Recovery takes time.

there are moments of feeling on top of the world and there are others where I feel flat and tired. 

There is my mind trying to propel me forward beyond the constraints of my body; and my body then signaling with a sharp outcry - you cannot do X, please rest. 

There is life with all its chaos and wants and needs coming at you, because you don’t live in a bubble, the ones you are in relationship with also have needs… 

And so you remind yourself that all you can do is keep showing up now, in this moment, in the best way possible… don’t do more, it’s not necessary- especially right now…

Be gentle today. Happy Sunday.

🙏🏼❤️✨

#journal #healing #recovery #cancer #healcancer #healinsiya #slowlife #yogalife #mentalhealth
Home again. Short - very short and slow - walks do Home again.
Short - very short and slow - walks down our street.
Strawberries at breakfast.
So many Hugs from my son.
Back rubs from my husband
My mom’s continuous kindnesses that keep the day humming.
Friends saying hello and bringing food and tinctures.
And flowers that I cut from our wild garden tonight which is coming alive with all sorts of surprises.

I had tulips in my hospital room the entire 11 days and I can tell you how much they inspired me. As their petals opened up slowly I grew stronger and more able every day after surgery. I saw the colors shining against the dull hues of the room when I awoke each morning and in the sunshine they glistened.

Flowers have healing powers say researchers, apparently patients who can see trees and flowers from their hospital windows vs those who cannot, take less pain medication and have shorter hospital stays… and yes they both relax and uplift us. 

I’ve always loved flowers. Only now I understand why.

Happy weekend!
#grateful #flowers #healingpowerofflowers #healcancer #healinsiya #natureheals #holisticwellness
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