Stop messing with my food!

Ignorance is bliss. Those words might be "true" for countless life situations...but never when it comes to food and anything else you may put in or on your body, or what we do to the environment, for that matter.

I may not want to know what goes on behind the closed doors of upper management at my job. I might be happier not knowing some of my family history and scandals. And I might be happy handing my car over for service and saying "whatever it takes." BUT, I must say that I am completely fed up with companies, corporations, lobbyists and government officials making decisions (or should I say taking decisions away) that affect food sources of millions of humans and animals, not to mention those decisions that fail to take the environment and our collective health into consideration. The fact that these "powers that be" make these decisions--decisions that have long-term and irrevocable impact on our health and that of local ecosystems--and are able to do so without consulting the voting public is completely beyond me and is one of the few situations in life that really make my blood boil.

In most urban environments, and even in a lot of suburban neighborhoods, people are often limited or prohibited from growing their own food, weather it be gardens for vegetables or chickens for eggs. (God forbid the neighbors be woken up by a crowing rooster.) But, get a bunch of industry leaders, lobbyists, and policy-makers together in one room, and they're likely to cause more damage to the environment (environments that they themselves have rarely, if ever, had the pleasure of experiencing) than an entire city full of backyard chickens and gardens.

The recent decision by President Obama to allow for the UN-regulated use of genetically modified alfalfa is cause for alarm and action. Speak about change all you want, I think it's about time we change the fact that it's lobbyists and corporations who are directly influencing our health in a negative way. It would be one thing if they were "up there" deciding to do away with harmful pesticides, keeping our water and air free from pollution, and keeping only pure healthy food on our grocers' shelves. But the fact is, they're not. Are they truly ignorant of the long-reaching effects of GM alfalfa on our entire ecosystem? The fact that it renders the term "organic" meaningless for anything that's come in contact with the stuff?

The day I find out Monsanto is contributing to Obama's re-election campaign fund, I seriously might flip out.

The more globalized our world becomes, the more obvious it is that everything is connected. It might come as a surprise to some folks that GM alfalfa would have any impact on their lives whatsoever. But, tell that to the scientists studying the connection between Monsanto's genetically engineered "roundup ready" corn and soybeans:

A plant pathologist experienced in protecting against biological warfare recently warned the USDA of a new, self-replicating, micro-fungal virus-sized organism which may be causing spontaneous abortions in livestock, sudden death syndrome in Monsanto’s Roundup Ready soy, and wilt in Monsanto’s RR corn.

I'm sorry, but that paragraph alone gave me chills to think about even continuing reading the article--you mean there's more?

Basically, what it all boils down to on this Earth Day is that consumers need to start educating themselves (and allowing themselves to be educated); we need to start acting on the information as we learn from it, making decisions to not buy and not tolerate harmful, toxic foods and organisms in our grocery stores and restaurants--and we need to let Uncle Sam know that we know and we won't tolerate decisions made that are not in the interest of the greater good of all living things.

Yoga. Ego? A circular rant.

I have found myself a bit overwhelmed lately about the path of yoga in so many classes I attend and media I watch and read. I don't strive nor claim to be a "purist" by any means, yet I still cannot shake the notion that so much of the yoga "for sale" today is somewhat removed from the meditative, contemplative, ego-controlling practice I have come to know and love. So many times, rather than teaching students how to relieve themselves of the control of the ego, many teachers are allowing themselves being controlled and driven by their egos--whether it be through their clothes, how many students they have in class, how many "master teachers" they've studied with, how many students "like" them on Facebook, or how many views they get on YouTube. They are driven by these phenomena, rather than being motivated purely by the reliability and effectiveness of the teachings they are striving to share. By the time a student arrives to a teacher, all these external influences, the desire to "succeed" and become a much-loved yoga teacher, have somewhat tainted the original message.

What are we missing here?

The overwhelming popularity of yoga in the West is partially responsible for the shift in focus. With so many people becoming interested in getting their weekly yoga fix, usually in less than an hour's time, teachers are trying to deliver the message to a larger, more diverse population, and trying to keep everyone happy in the process. With so many new students, many of whom are somewhat concerned that the teachings of yoga may conflict with their own spiritual beliefs, teachers are avoiding the spiritual, psychological aspects of the practice altogether. Left with only asana to teach, instructors are left with more space to worry about wardrobe, soundtrack and inspirational quotes, rather than delivering the scientific facts that yoga practice is designed to teach us to withdraw our senses in order to see the truth.

So, if yoga is truly a deeper, more powerful, more meditative practice than simply asana. If it truly is about recognition of the ego as the driver behind our thoughts, words and actions, what does it say that so many of today's "up and coming" yoga teachers allow themselves to fall victim to the very ego yoga is designed to help us vanquish? I've been so saddened to see some truly beautiful and inspirational yogis follow the path of celebrity, popularity, and the almighty dollar, seeming to forget the true meaning and practice of yoga. And yet, perhaps it's a case of "when in Rome..." I know many teachers who also claim that they are using their celebrity-yoga-teacher, best-that-money-can-buy status to further propagate the teachings; because they're famous, they'll be able to get the message to more people. This may be true, but I also think that only a true master of yoga can walk the fine line between Guru and Celebrity Yoga Model without losing some connection to the true Self, without letting the Ego regain a bit (if not a lot) of control. Can a yoga teacher become a yoga celebrity and still walk the yogic talk? The teachings of yoga have been around for centuries—they speak for themselves. But is the teacher capable of living the teachings they're committed to delivering?

It shouldn’t matter if the conveyor of the message is wearing pink and blue designer yoga capris or sweats and a t-shirt; it shouldn’t matter if they’ve studied with 8 big name yoga “masters” or one true nameless guru; if they’ve traveled to exotic, far-off shalas or if they’ve taught upstairs at a natural grocer: if the teachings are true to the source, seek to shed the ego, aim to reveal the true nature of the Self—if the teacher walks the talk, then that ‘s all I need to know.