30 days of yoga classes in TorontoI finished my 30-day Yoga Challenge at Lila Yoga Studio, Toronto, on Monday, March 19 — finished as I started, with a class by owner and yoga teacher Shelly Rowen. I am proud to say that I never missed a day. There were days I didn’t want to go — the sun was shining or I was tired or I just didn’t want to face myself — but I went, and I did the yoga class with those thoughts and feelings. Yoga is not about being a specific way; it is not about being perfect, or looking like the cover of a magazine, or feeling calm and compassionate at all times. At the ashram I go to in India, there’s a sign that says, “All life is yoga.” And that’s what I experienced during my 30-day Yoga Challenge.
For part 1, read: My 30-day Yoga Challenge
For part 2, read: Travelling within
For part 3, read: Journey of acceptance
To read about my last 10 days, and what I learned and gained from the experience… (more…)
Last picture of the RMS Titanic as she sailed out of harbour on April 10, 1912
Everyone knows the story. The RMS Titanic was the biggest and most opulent ocean liner ever built. It was deemed to be an unsinkable, floating pleasure palace that attracted the attention of the media, the public and the wealthy, who paid more than $4,000 (equal now to $95,000) to enjoy the luxuries of the first class cabin. On her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City, she sank several hours after hitting an iceberg about 600 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland.
Though the Titanic boasted every convenience and amenity — including gymnasiums, a Turkish bath, swimming pools and an astounding amount of silverware — there were only enough lifeboats aboard to save about one-third of the passengers.
Approximately 1,500 souls perished in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912 — stranded in the dark, frigidly cold waters of the north Atlantic; dying a lonely, agonizing death. The 706 people in the nearby lifeboats — who were unsure of their own fate — were haunted for the rest of their lives by the sounds of the great ship’s boilers exploding and the pitiful cries of the doomed passengers and crew members as they died.
Many people who are not personally connected to the tragedy, nevertheless also feel haunted by the sinking of the Titanic. Though I am not a “Titaniac,” I have had a life-long fascination with the disaster. As a consequence, I am planning to be in Halifax, Nova Scotia — North America’s only officially designated Titanic city — for the anniversary events on April 13, 14 and 15, 2012. I will be reporting for Vacay.ca and blogging and tweeting about the event, so be sure to follow me at @breathedreamgo on Twitter and the hashtag #VacayTitanic. Read more to find out about the events I will be attending and reporting from. And to find out why I am fascinated by this story, see my blog The Titanic and what it means. (more…)
In December 2011, I started writing a bi-monthly “column” for the Travel+Escape website — which complements the new Canadian TV channel — about immersive travel. To find out more, read my first round up, What is immersive travel? Here’s a synopsis of my most recent columns.
I’m lying on a heavy, teak table with my eyes shut, smelling herbal-tinged oil as it heats on a nearby burner and listening to the unfamiliar murmurs of two young women speaking Malayalam. Together, they slap the warmed oil onto my skin and, in perfect rhythm, massage both sides of my body at once. And as their voices begin to sound like Indian Ocean waves lapping the beach, I slip away into a South Indian version of paradise; an oily, wood-scented, tropical state of bliss. (more…)
Dublin is calling me!Why do I want to go to Dublin, Ireland? Many reasons of course, but mostly because my ancestry is largely Irish and I have never been there; and as a writer, I would love to walk in the footsteps of James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeates and the many other literary giants who lived and wrote in Dublin. Plus … I would love to meet people who share my distinctive round Irish eye sockets and love of talking. My mother always said the Irish were the world’s greatest talkers. Oh, the talking I would do! Yes, I think I could enjoy being a digital nomad.
Go with Oh holiday rentals is currently running a contest for travel bloggers and this is my entry. I picked the city on their list that I most want to go to, and I am listing the top five things I want to do/see … and the more Tweets and shares I get, I guess the better my chances of being picked to actually Go with Oh to Dublin. Hope I have the luck ‘o the Irish on my side. Oh, and there’s something in it for you, too: readers can win fantastic prizes in the Facebook competition. Click the Go with Oh link to find out more, and to enter. Good luck to you, too, cheers.
Story telling and writing (and music) is intrinsic to the soul of Ireland and the Irish, and perhaps nowhere more so than Dublin — which is called the City of Literature. It should come as no surprise that the first place I want to visit is the Dublin Writer’s Museum to find out about Dublin sites associated with some of the city’s famous writers. In fact, Dublin was named a UNESCO City of Literature, the fourth city to be honoured with this distinction. Read on for the other four… (more…)
Anand Prakash Yoga Ashram, Rishikesh, India
The first light of dawn has not begun to rise from behind the Himalayan foothills when the sound of a gong begins to echo through the corridors of Anand Prakash Yoga Ashram in Rishikesh, India. At Aurovalley Ashram, on the outskirts of Haridwar, the buildings are spread out across the ashram’s acres of gardens and you have to wake yourself to be ready in time for 6 am meditation in the silent, white marble meditation hall.
This is my favourite time of day in India. The intense golden-yellow Indian rises like a benevolent god. In fact, the sun has been worshipped in India since the dawn of time. A feeling of sacred reverence seems to fill the air. In Rishikesh, it’s in the sounds of chants, bells and the song of the Ganges River; at Aurovalley, it’s in the sound of birds, the breeze in the trees and the sight of massive tropical blooms. Huge, crimson hibiscus flowers dangle from trees that line the ashram’s pathways, and whole walls are covered in fuchsia bougainvillea.
In the film Eat, Pray, Love – based on the best-selling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert – Julia Roberts’ character travels to Italy to enjoy food, to India to study yoga and to Bali to, eventually, fall in love. In India, Gilbert purportedly stayed in a yoga ashram in Ganeshpuri, a pilgrimage centre outside of Mumbai (Bombay). But there are countless yoga ashrams all over India. (more…)
Canada's arctic, especially Nunavut, is on my travel wish list.
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Meaningful travel is an attitude, not a destination. It’s volunteering, ecotourism, yoga & spiritual travel, long term & single travel, health & wellness, nature & wildlife and adventure travel.
In fact, I have always written about meaningful travel, the kind of travel that changes you. The only difference now is that I won’t be writing only about India. The message of this site is: Travel can change you, if you let it. Breathe deeply in, let yourself dream and then go travel, volunteer, explore.
Meaningful travel is a rising niche that appeals to people who want more from their travel experiences — people who are searching for more meaning in their lives; who care about health, the environment and spirituality; and who travel to off-beat destinations in search of authentic travel experiences and cultural immersion. Click here to download an updated Media Kit.
Why I deserve to win the National Tourism Award for Foreign Journalist from India TourismOkay, I didn’t win the National Tourism Award for Foreign Journalist from India Tourism for 2011. I am disappointed, but still hopeful. I am starting now to campaign for next year while I still have 364 days ahead of me.
Here are my top 5 reasons why I should win the National Tourism Award for Foreign Journalist — let me know in the comments if you agree. I am gathering support and yours will help!
Everyone who knows me in person or online — and that’s a LOT of people — knows I am passionate about India. I went to India for the first time in 2005 and the trip changed my life. You can read My Story here. And you can read how I feel about India in this piece, The dust of India, just published yesterday on the Travel Wire Asia site.
Read on for the other four reasons and to leave a comment! (more…)
Discovering the benefits of regular yoga classes
Though Breathedreamgo is primarily a travel blog, yoga is way of travelling within, to discover your own uncharted territories. The best journeys are both inner and outer, if you ask me.
On Saturday, February 18, 2012, I started a 30-day yoga challenge — I made a decision to go to a yoga class at Lila Yoga Studio, Toronto, every day for 30 days. I wrote about my reasons for starting, and my interview with studio owner Shelly Rowen in this post, My 30-Day Yoga Challenge.
I have just completed 10 days, haven’t missed a day, and discovered new reasons, and new benefits, for doing this that I hadn’t thought of before I started. Here are the highlights of my first 10 days of a yoga-class-a-day — and what I discovered about the power of yoga, the magic of process and my own inner journeys. (more…)
And a breakthrough year for travel bloggersI’ve been travel blogging about India and meaningful travel for about two-and-a-half years on Breathedreamgo, and for several years before that on a previous blog, too. Slowly, I’ve been building my career as a travel blogger and advocate for travel blogging, and this week feels like a breakthrough week for me — as I think this year, 2012, will be a breakthrough year for travel blogging. Here’s what happened. (more…)
I am very excited to announce that Breathedreamgo won a Canadian Weblog Award in the Travel category!
Thanks so much to Ninjamatics and the jury for nominating and choosing Breathedreamgo. It couldn’t come at a better time as I am seeking sponsorship for the blog and for an ambitious travel blogging trip I am planning to India and South Asia! Read this Breathedreamgo Sponsorship Opportunities PDF to find out more. (more…)
On the morning of April 14 approximately 10 million people streamed into the sacred town of Haridwar in north India to bathe in the Ganga on the most auspicious day during the 2010 Kumbh Mela. I was one of them. Find out how I found myself alone, and at home, at the world’s largest spiritual gathering.
In Varanasi, where the veil between life and death seems very thin, a boat ride on the river can become a journey to the other side. Come along with me on a boat ride on the Ganges River in India’s oldest, holiest city and pierce the veil.
The Ganges / Ganga River is the Mother of India. The River speaks in many voices as she travels from the high Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. At the source, her song is joyous, full of the the jubilance of youth, the rush of fresh mountain streams, the sincere chanting of pilgrims and the excitement of the onward journey.
