All Posts Tagged With: "Health"

Charm City Yoga is owned and operated by Kim Manfredi. She teaches with an emphasizes on the eight limbs of Patanjali Yoga . Offering two locations in Fells Point and Mt Vernon with a branch opening soon in Towson has allowed the Center to invite more then 20 instructors, "from a variety of traditions to begin to share their teachings. Some of those traditions have included astanga, sivananda, Iyengar, and more. Kim feels strongly that there really is a yoga for everyone, and she feels an important part of her own growth as a yogini is her increasing awareness of the infinite number of paths to enlightenment."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELa5CHsUepo[/youtube]

Greg Cantori, Executive Director of the Knott Foundation, and an avid bicyclist, discovered “Ciclovia” while visiting Bogota, Colombia. Every Sunday, they close 70 miles of streets from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Up to 2 million residents bike, rollerblade, walk, do group exercise classes, and generally enjoy themselves.

Greg immediately set about importing this community-wide exercise program to Baltimore. Here is what he envisions that Sunday Streets will mean for Baltimore:

• Increased activity -physical activity, economic activity and tourism.

• Youth engagement and employment opportunities

• Clean air and some quiet for a day

• Free exercise classes – Frankly few people can access health clubs, and what’s so fun about being stuck indoors when our whole city is available and waiting for us? Let’s get out and spin, dance, stretch, twirl, run and jump!

• Social re-engagement – This is our physical INTERNET. We provide the network (routing) and our entrepreneurs and communities go from there. Imagine the possibilities…..

• Putting Baltimore on the map nationally for something extremely positive that fosters real Happiness.

Already thousands of people know about it – let’s make it 10,000, 100,000 and then a million. Isn’t this a perfect, visible program to help promote Mayor Dixon’s “cleaner, greener” Baltimore? Tell everyone you know about this, and if you have any questions, contact Greg Cantori (gcantori(at)knottfoundation.org) or Carol Silldorff (carolsilldorff(at)comcast.net).

When I first got interested in sustainability, one of the simplest and most empowering definitions I ran across was from the Brundtland Commission Report, “Our Common Future,” published in 1987. The full report is available on-line. The definition reads:”Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (Found in Chapter 2 of the report.)

I am thrilled to see that my alma mater, University of Virginia School of Architecture, is bestowing the University’s highest honor on the commission’s chairwoman, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland. As part of the award ceremonies for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture, she will speak on the campus on Friday, April 11, at 3:00p.m.

Her bio is impressive. She has long been a world leader in sustainable development and health, and was the youngest and first woman prime minister of Norway. The University of Virginia’s press release has a good overview.

It is striking that the ideas and recommendations contained in “Our Common Future” are just as relevant today as they were – twenty! – years ago. They were truly ahead of their time, although leading scientists and experts knew then what the rest of us are only now waking up to. Rather than fret about “it’s too late,” we should all re-read this powerful document and renew our commitment to doing what we can.

It’s full of thoughts like these (remember – written twenty years ago!): Continued

Renew Organic Day Spa is your center for a guilty-free manicure, massage or skin-care treatment. The spa is conveniently located with products that include organic massage oils and vegan nail polish. Renew has a customer service-driven environment, using a combination of Eastern and Western methods, and co-owner Shelley Birnbaum believes "in helping clients by equipping them with information to help themselves, and to achieve these results not only with my treatments, but with their own care at home too."

OK Natural Foods is a vegan organic "corner" grocer located in historic Mt. Vernon. It’s a tiny place but it’s stocked full of supplements of all varieties, baked goods, delicious soy drinks, natural sodas and ginger beers, a generous selection of bulk foods, chips and snacks, and a refrigerator conveniently stocked with a selection of prepared sandwiches, salads, and desserts. And man do they have an amazing tea selection for their size. You’ll definitely find things here you won’t find at Whole Foods.

Now I’m sure you’ve heard of low-VOC paints. Unlike most paint found at Home Depot, low-VOC paint has a fraction of the toxic chemicals that are released into the air and into your lungs, not only while the product is in use but long after the paint has dried. Real Milk Paint has zero Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and is your alternative to even a low-VOC option. The paint is actually made from milk cultures that are then combined with pigments “harvested in a traditional manner and are completely safe, eco-friendly, non-toxic, lead free and not radioactive.” Headquartered in Quakertown, PA, it’s easy to order over the phone and will arrive within 2 days. Woodcraft off Cromwell Blvd. in Towson also carries a selection of milk paint.

MARAMA: “The Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association, Inc. is a voluntary, non-profit association of ten state and local air pollution control agencies. MARAMA’s mission is to strengthen the skills and capabilities of member agencies and to help them work together to prevent and reduce air pollution in the Mid-Atlantic Region.” The group currently has their headquarters in Towson, MD.