How do we get a sustainable mindset?
Read moreFor many, sustainability is associated with a guilty conscience: I ‘should’, and ‘I ought to’. We are bombarded with images and news about the impending climate catastrophe and how we should have ‘acted yesterday’ and ‘can’t affect the big picture’: resulting in climate anxiety and powerlessness. Our rational brain is basically working overtime. It does what it can to take in the information and transmit signals to the heart and hands, but for many of us, the sheer volume of info means, that the message doesn’t really sink in. Many of us become so overwhelmed that we shut down and hope for others to solve the problems for us. So, what if we don’t want to feel this way, but still want to do good? We’ll need to work out a way where doing small green steps feels natural, easy, and part of our everyday lives. We basically need to build a sustainable mindset.
Can Yoga Help To Calm Your Child?
Read moreFor any parent struggling with temper tantrums or anxious kids, let yoga come to the rescue. It’s not just about physical balance, yoga helps kids centre their focus and makes them more connected and self-aware. The result: A happier, healthier child. A hyperactive or anxious child can drive even the most patient parent batty and feel less than equipped to handle tantrums or sullen behaviour. So, cut yourself some slack. It’s human to get exasperated but there’s an effective way to help your child settle down and here’s where yoga comes in. Just like how it can give inner calm to adults and help them achieve better balance and self-awareness, it’s great for little ones too. Kids need a way to manage stress and anxiety. Yoga helps them cope with the challenges they face, especially in today’s test-driven world – we see this with our programmes at Canvass. There’s the actual physical activity that keeps young bodies strong, limber and graceful; and there’s the calming effect on children because the practice makes them more connected and aware overall. The physical poses and sequences teach balance, and balance is about focus and concentration. Thus the grounding lesson stretches beyond the body and extends to the mind and emotions. The goal is to develop wellness through self-awareness. Practising yoga helps to increase a child’s attention span. It helps them focus their thoughts. It enables them to connect deeper with their emotions and with that better understanding, they become more articulate in their expressions. More importantly, they learn a stress-management tool they can use for life. Kids, of course, have a better learning curve when lessons are taught through play, and that’s key in the teaching process. We want kids to have loads of fun even when they are learning life-long skills. We encourage play, but it is a purposeful play that embraces reflection and practises.
How to be a Sustainable Parent in a Conscious way
Read moreEcophobia or biophilia? Kids (and parents) today are being overwhelmed with pictures of burning fires, melting ice and plastic-filled oceans and many are feeling lost at what to do and how their little steps can truly make an impact. So how do we approach topics like climate change and waste, so our children will feel empowered instead of scared, conscious instead of detached and feel ownership to their actions as our regenerative ambassadors? Through my educator course at The Green School we looked at approaches to how we can teach sustainability to kids holistically, and I specifically spoke to Dr. Nicolene du Preez, Lower School Green Studies Program Developer and Integration Specialist on the topic of how we best parent with these challenges we are faced with. In this article I will look at: The challenges of being a sustainable parent today How we can be role models? How we can talk to our kids about plastic pollution & climate change in a language the understand & without scaring them? How can we work together as a conscious and mindful family? What – on a more concrete level we can do together day-to-day to reduce energy, water & waste & preserve & regenerate our nature. Let’s get started.
How to know that my clothes are sustainable?
Read moreIt has been known for decades that the textile and clothing industry is a highly polluting and environmentally destructive industry. From the large scale exploitation of natural resources for the sourcing and transforming of raw materials, the dangerous toxic chemicals to the many transport needs from raw material acquisition to product distribution… And this is without taking into consideration the immeasurable amounts of material waste throughout the production chain and post-consumer generated waste from over-consumption. While food waste is now part of the collective consciousness, textile waste is still relatively unknown to the majority of those same people and unspoken of elsewhere in the world. Clothing is just another product to « consume », bought to satisfy a presumed need to wear the latest trend, for little cost, and for which we hold no responsibility for. Where it’s from and where it goes doesn’t usually affect our purchasing choices. After all, if it’s on the store rack, whether we buy it or someone else does, what difference does it make? Actually, a lot is everyone starts to take ownership and responsibility for the kind of future they want to provide not just future generations with, but our own. Deforestation, climate change, air and water pollution are not problems of the future, they are problems of today. Collectively, we influence the decisions made by key actors in the garment industry and have a chance to turn around what is currently the world’s second most polluting industry. Since long anchored in the model of a disposable fashion, “fast fashion” brands led by major brands such as H&M sell and buy from their subcontractors at very low prices, and catch up on volume, with new collections typically every fortnight. The result? Tens of thousands of new designs every year. The concoction of novelty, marketing and low prices encourages consumers to buy their products tirelessly and without moderation. The prices are so low, but the profits remain high: so much so that brands have been accusing of burning all of the unsold or excess, all without burning into their profit margins! So where do you start as a little consumer? You have more power and more responsibility than you like to believe (because it’s easier to use the excuse that one person can’t make a difference).
1-1 Consultations, Workshops & Talks with founder Mathilde Moyell
Read moreHi there, and thanks for reading about this great news! As you might already know, I’m a passionate health and sustainability junkie and created orgayana with the purpose of guiding people to understand how we can help our planet by putting ourselves first. I’m certified in Nutrition and Ayurveda as well as a Certified Green School Green Educator, ICI Neuro Coach, and Aligned Yoga Teacher. I have done many talks and workshops in the past, but now also ready to invite you to sessions individually!
Kickstart Your Cardio Program
Read moreIt’s been repeated many times, that the best way to do exercise in all of the three essential disciplines: cardio, strenght and flexibility. But for us to really understand the importance of these essentials, we’ve teamed up with our collaborator, Body Temple and their experts to explain the why and the how. This week we look at Cardio – in the challenge and here: Diana Lim explains.. The cardiovascular system, also known as the circulatory system, includes the heart, arteries, veins, capillaries and blood. Supplying oxygen to the body is the most essential function of the cardiovascular system. The benefits of regular cardio activity include improved heart health, a lowered risk of type 2 diabetes, increased energy, better sleep and weight management. Cardiovascular activity refers to any activity that increases heart rate and respiration while using large muscle groups repetitively and rhythmically. Choose the type of cardio you would like to start with; if you do not like the activity, you will not do it. That means you could take up walking, cycling, dancing, tennis, Zumba, step aerobics, swimming or any other myriad activities. According to The American College of Sports Medicine, you should perform a minimum of 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity cardiorespiratory exercise. This recommendation can be met by completing 30 to 60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on approximately 5 days per week, if not all, days of the week. The required daily amount can be broken up throughout the day. As a beginner, you will most benefit from moderate-intensity cardio, which means that you are breathing slightly heavier than normal, but you are not panting and gasping for air. If you’re completely new to cardiorespiratory training begin with something light like a brisk walk for 20 minutes, this will allow your body to adjust to aerobic training while minimizing the risk of soreness and overuse injuries. Start with 2-3 sessions a week and keep your intensity high enough to make you sweat and get your heart rate up, but light enough you can still carry on a light conversation. Each week you can increase speed or duration, but do not increase it by more than 10% each week. As your fitness level increases gradually increase the number of sessions per week and the intensity or length of the sessions until you are performing 3-5 sessions of 30 minutes a week at a moderate to high intensity. A high intensity cardiorespiratory workout would be one in which you are working hard enough that you can only answer short yes or no type questions. Give your body plenty of time to improve and adapt, and eventually you will have a high level of fitness. Below if a beginner’s 8-week program to run 30 minutes at a moderate pace. Before you begin the program, consider the following: 1. If you are over 40, overweight, not accustomed to exercise, or have a health risk or symptoms, please consult a doctor 2. Schedule your workouts by making time for them. Leave your shoes out by the door 3. Expect bad days. Everyone has them but stick with the program.
Meatless Monday: Tomato Soup
Read moreIt’s getting colder in the Northern hemishere and we’re back with our Meatless Monday recipes! This week a tomato soup to die for, by the wonderful Charlotte Dall.
Kids DIY: How to Make a Bee House
Read moreMany kids are fascinated with insects, where they live, what they do and how they behave, but one thing is exploring, another is creating an actual home for them! It can seem like a difficult task, but with the right tools, materials and a little patience, you can actually create your own bee house, even at 3 years old! Claire Seabrook takes us through the steps of making a home for the bees. — At Wildlings we love exploring All Things Bugs! When we go on our bugs discovery journeys, we always pose the following questions during this inquiry to help guide our exploration into this topic: What are insects? Where do they live? What do they do? How do they behave? Why are they important? What can we do to help them to thrive? We value working as a team and challenging ourselves to get outside of our comfort zones. We value the child-led approach to learning, but also learning together, parents with their children, recognising that all of us have a life-long learner inside. With this in mind we explored the idea of an activity to do at Forest School which would require teamwork, new skills, patience and an element of risk and result in the satisfaction of creating something using our own hands which is useful for insects, functional, and not bad to look at too! So the result is this tutorial on how to work together with your child to make a house for solitary bees. We did successfully manage this during one of our adult accompanied sessions for 3 to 6 year olds and we would love to share our experience with you. Read on!
How to Declutter Kids’ Toys
Read moreThe clutter is real! Birthday presents, goody bags, holiday memoirs…for many of us, our kids’ rooms are getting so full of stuff, that it’s hard to find anything, especially the toys they really care about. However, your kids grow out of their toys, which makes the decluttering process easier …that is, if they want to let go of their favourite items! So, although you cannot do your konmari without your little one asking questions and being in the way, decluttering WITH your kids can be an experience that will spark joy, not just for you, but for your child. Read on, and see why!
How do we get a sustainable mindset?
Can Yoga Help To Calm Your Child?
How to be a Sustainable Parent in a Conscious way
How to know that my clothes are sustainable?
1-1 Consultations, Workshops & Talks with founder Mathilde Moyell
Kickstart Your Cardio Program
Meatless Monday: Tomato Soup
Kids DIY: How to Make a Bee House
How to Declutter Kids’ Toys
events
Planet or Plastic?
Learn about the global plastic pollution crisis through more than 70 powerful photographs and videos in an exhibition by National Geographic.
From the Arctic to the Antarctic, plastic waste is everywhere. Planet or Plastic?, ArtScience Museum’s first exhibition to launch since re-opening after Singapore’s circuit-breaker, shines a spotlight on the fragility of the natural environment as a result of the global plastic waste crisis. Thexhibition endeavours to raise awareness of society’s dependence on plastic by visually depicting the crisis and highlighting the innovative individuals and communities who are working on solutions to this urgent problem.
Featuring the work of researchers, scientists and artists, the exhibition traces the history of plastic from its invention in the mid-1800s to present day where, seemingly everything is made of plastic. Planet or Plastic? explores the plastic pollution of our world’s oceans and uncovers how untold numbers of marine animals die each year from ingesting microplastics. The exhibition uses photographs as a means of making this urgent issue strikingly real.
Planet or Plastic? provides practical steps we can take to responsibly reduce, reuse, recycle, and refuse single-use plastic products.
https://www.marinabaysands.com/museum/exhibitions/planet-or-plastic.html
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