Health

The north coast of France has a storied past from the days of William the Conqueror and Joan d’Arc, to the historic D-Day landings of World War II. As a family of four travelling together, Randal, Lisa, Mira and Kieran were looking for many things to make their holiday perfect and the magical, pastoral coastline of this western corner of Europe didn’t disappoint with its many enchanting, entertaining and educational charms.

So many of us start the year with the best of intentions to make positive, lasting changes in our lives with the goal in mind of improving our health, our relationships, our financial status, and our overall well-being. Unfortunately, the vast majority of changes we begin on New Year’s Day peter out before January is over and it seems that for many people, it takes another year end to get motivated to make another attempt at changing their habits.

As I sat in the back of the studio readying for the teacher to guide a yoga class, a woman and her young daughter softly rolled their mats out in front of me. My task was to take notes of the instructor’s words, poses and movements and use them as a training tool for when I taught my own classes. For the next hour my page remained blank and to this day I can’t recall anything she taught. It wasn’t that the level of instruction was weak or uninteresting but rather something more meaningful gathered my attention.

Last July, I drove off the MV Highlanders and into another world. It was 6:45am and the sun had just begun to warm the cliffs around Channel-Port aux Basques, the exotic sounding south-western terminus of Newfoundland. While this island, part of Canada’s most easterly province of Newfoundland and Labrador is not actually another world, it does have its own time zone and an ethereal beauty that will steal a little piece of your heart.

In the fall of 2004 I packed my van and drove across Alberta and BC to take a yoga teachers training course in Victoria on Vancouver Island. I was not flexible! I had a reputation for being loud, I loved meat and had just come off a summer of being one of six women fighting fires with over 100 men. Nervous was an understatement. My three biggest fears were that the course would be all women, they would be vegans, and maybe a few would hit on me... all my fears came true.

Vitamin K is an essential nutrient for all of us as it has many roles in the human body, primarily in enabling us to clot blood properly.

Current research shows that stretching post activity is more beneficial than pre activity (dynamic warm up is recommended before exercise). Here are some easy-to-do stretches to help you unwind from your day of skiing and be ready to go for your next day. All you need is something approximately waist height (table, counter, back of truck, back of couch etc). Hold each stretch for ten slow breaths and gently ease into your stretch. Remember that stretching should never hurt!

1. Quads. Place your toe up on ledge behind you and gently lean back.