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Learn about the range of health benefits eating organically has on the body!
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In the Short and Sweet section of the magazine, we often feature companies who inspire us … and our recently-released Winter 2022 issue was no exception. Our publisher Paul Congdon reflects on the unparalleled excellence of The Organic Trust, Ireland’s premier organic certification organisation. Keep reading to enjoy the full piece!
EventsFood & RecipesGood LifeHappinessHolistic HealthMeditation & MindfulnessPositive Businesspositive newspositive nightsPositive NightsPositive StoriesSpecial Event
November Vibes: Events and Products to Warm the Heart as Winter Begins
November‘s News: It’s official. Winter is here, and it’s time for the gloves and scarves to come out. Our summer heatwave is a distant memory … but there are many things to look forward to about this time of year. What could be better, for instance, than sitting beside a roaring fire, dressed in cosy pyjamas and enjoying some delicious hot chocolate, while the cold rages on outside? We have picked out a number of treats for you to check out this month, ranging from our very own Positive Nights events (look out for our extra-special speed dating event or Heartsongs with John Bowker) to an in-depth look at the gorgeous Calm Rooms of Monkstown, Co. Dublin.
Positive Nights: Some of Our Best Picks to Enjoy!
Following our successful speed dating events last November and April, we are ready to bring it to another level and help singles to connect once again. From your hosts with the most, Orla Bass and Paul Congdon, we present to you an evening of Speed Dating From the Heart on Thursday the 22nd of November, from 7.15 to 10.00 p.m. in Bewley’s Café, 78/79 Grafton Street, Dublin 2. Doors open at 6.45 p.m. Click here to learn more and get your tickets.
Also make sure you keep an eye out for our Heartsongs with John Bowker on December 6th, and our event with Andrea Hayes on December 13th. Details will be announced soon – watch this space!
The Organic Trust: Excellence Assured
The Organic Trust is the organic certification body of choice for professional organic producers in Ireland. The Trust describes their mission as, quite simply, “upholding the integrity of organic food.” The organic food sector in Ireland is in a continuous state of development, and the Organic Trust are proud to certify a huge range of organic products on retail shelves in Ireland (with the bulk of Irish-produced organic food being marketed under the Organic Trust logo). If you are an organic producer who wants to learn more, make sure you check out their website!
The Calm Rooms of Monkstown: An Oasis of Wellness
The Calm Rooms is a brand-new wellness hub in Monkstown Village, specialising in therapeutic treatments, meditation, yoga and pilates. This new business is hoping to establish themselves as a premium centre for wellness and relaxation in the city. We can’t wait until they announce their full range of treatments! Check out their website or Facebook page to learn more. You can also watch our recent Facebook live video that we did with them to get a sense of what they’re all about.
Our Exciting New Visualisation Track With Judith McAdam
We are pleased to introduce a meditation track we have always wanted to do for you: a 20-minute visualisation in which you get to actively enhance your resonance with health, love, abundance and your personal purpose. This track was co-created by the Positive Life team and Judith McAdam. Judith is a renowned theologian, kinesiologist, holistic life coach and author of the beautiful book The Source, and we are thrilled to have launched this new collaboration with her. To learn more and download the track, just click here.
By Calodagh McCumiskey
The Happy Pear’s Dave and Steve Flynn are two amazing people to spend time with. Astrologically, they are particularly interesting because they are twins. Only fifteen minutes separate their births. In their Vedic birth chart, they are Libra Ascendants and Venus, the owner of their first house is in their 3rd house, the house of doing. Naturally, they just love doing and are always into something, active and on the move. Venus is the planet of enjoyment and the symbol of Libra is the scales of justice so they are highly ethical, always seeking balance and they love doing fun things that bring joy and balance physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. What’s more, they inspire others to do the same.
Mercury and Sun are in their second house – the house of speech, wealth and eating which makes them excellent communicators and business people, with a focus on food and in particular hot food. Sun is the most important heavenly body as the Sun gives life to all planets and to us. When they speak, they have a powerful ability to connect with whom they are talking and the Sun-Mercury combination enables them to inspire others to act towards balance, health and wellbeing. Sun representing the soul, means they can connect with people at a deep and fundamental level. It is Venus, in the house of writing, which gives them the powerful ability to write beautiful books.
Jupiter, Mars and Rahu in their 11th house, means they know a lot of people and a lot of people know them. This is also their house of income. This is the best position for Rahu (known as the Dragon’s head), particularly for wealth. Jupiter, a planet of communications and expansion, helps them connect with their customers and followers in a powerful way. Mars helps them inspire many dynamic people to change their lives positively. Moon and Saturn in the 12th house, the house of overseas, means they will not live where they were born for long (they were born in Canada) and it also gives them the possibility to be famous around the world as Saturn represents the masses. Stress by definition is an upset in our physical or mental balance. Stress is a major epidemic in modern life.
This happy pair have the ability to help and inspire people to find balance in a fun, healthy and enjoyable way which is so essential in today’s world. They are now going through the major period of Jupiter. It started for Dave on October 8 and for Steve on October 29. This is a very powerful period for them professionally. Jupiter, the planet of expansion, owns their 3rd and 6th houses which gives them strong focus and ability to succeed and expand greatly in all areas. They will inspire many more people towards a healthier and happier lifestyle. While they are very similar, they have a different rising sign in their Navamsh divisional charts, which gives insights into their personal differences. But that is a story for another day! We can expect to hear a lot more from them in Ireland and all around the world. I look forward to more shops, products, books, media, innovative strategies and significantly more influence on the younger generations. They are great role models, charismatic, fun, successful and full of heart and soul. The world is at their feet.
Calodagh mcCumiskey is a Vedic Astrologer. find out what the stars have in store for you. hellenisticvedicastrology.com
By Hans Wieland
Helping children develop a healthy attitude to food can sometimes be hard. Screaming children in the supermarket aisle and fussy eaters at the dinner table are a headache for parents. I believe that connecting children to growing food at an early age can be part of solving these problems. Our family gathering last Christmas threw up interesting observations.
All of our children cooked in turns with fresh ingredients from the local farmers’ market and our garden. Our twelve year old grandson wanted a recipe journal as a present to start collecting recipes of dishes he likes to eat and wants to cook and our seven year old granddaughter helps with harvesting lettuce from the polytunnel. I think this is rooted in having a garden where they have all sown seeds at various stages of their lives or were sent to fetch vegetables for cooking dinner. Like one of my food heroes, Diana Kennedy, I believe “cooking is about understanding ingredients and respecting traditions”. If you have a garden with a vegetable and herb patch for your children you can grow and harvest many basic ingredients for dinner.
If you then go shopping with your children for the ingredients you don’t have at home and involve your children in helping to prepare dinner, the chances they will eat what you have created together are quite high. It is a case of leading by example. If you can do it, your children can do it too. Culinary connections between parents and children happen while eating together, they are enhanced by cooking together, broadened by shopping together but ultimately grounded in gardening together. The innocent and simple actions of sowing seeds in soil, looking after seedlings as they grow and harvesting vegetables to cook and eat will become skills for life and help the kids develop a natural relationship with food and where it comes from.
The Garden in a Box
This is a wonderful project for getting young children into gardening. It doesn’t require space, or even a garden. It is ideal for primary school aged children. For older children, you can use several boxes to increase varieties.
What you need: A wooden or plastic vegetable box (30cm x 40cm approx) from your market or shop, a sheet of plastic to line the box, compost or good weedfree soil, a few packets of seeds for fast growing vegetables or edible flowers, a children’s watering can, labels.
Suitable seeds: Radishes (small bell varieties like Cherry Bell are best); perpetual spinach; lettuce (best varieties are Baby Leaf or Mixed Leaves and cress); edible flowers like nasturtiums, violas and marigold; sweet peas or mangetout (these might need to be supported with short bamboo sticks). Suitable plants: Alpine strawberries. You can start the project from March onwards.
How it works
Gardening often requires the kind of patience that small children rarely possess. The great thing about the garden in a box is that growth is visible so quickly. By following these instructions, you can begin to see the results in just a couple of days. Select your seeds from a seed catalogue and order online or buy together in a garden centre.
Get your children to line the box with the plastic sheet and fill with soil or compost up to 5cm below the edge. Sow seeds in rows about 10-20cm apart. The depth of sowing depends on the size of the seeds. Sprinkle the tiny lettuce seeds on top and firm down with your fingers but sow radish seeds a little deeper and so on.
Keep the box out of the cold. Somewhere like a shed or on a windowsill inside is ideal. Once the first seeds have germinated (i.e. begun to sprout), put the box in a sheltered and sunny spot outdoors. You might cover it with a plastic cloche or garden fleece if it gets cold at night. Watch your garden grow and water a little at a time. Cress can be harvested early as microgreens are ready after just a few days. Watch as your children proudly tend their little garden and look forward to eating those greens they have waited on so patiently to grow.
“Kindness is like snow, it beautifies everything it covers”
Kahlil Gibran
Events, Workshops, Training, Inspiration, Treats & More for Winter 2016
Attending an event or trying a product or workshop listed here? Tweet your experience to @PositiveLifeMag
Positive Gifts
How much do you want it?
The Chocobox is full of delicious raw chocolate. The box itself is beautifully handcrafted and is nailed shut. Nailed shut you say? So how do you get at the lovely chocolate? Well, this is all part of the experience. Your giftee is going to have to figure that one out for themselves. No true chocoholic would let that stop
them!
magicmayan.com
A Right Shower
This knacky invention is a showerhead that is designed to purify your water, increase flow and looks really stylish to
boot. The sciency bit is something to do with a three level filtering system that makes the water better for your hair and skin. It certainly looks really great and would make a perfect gift for anyone who fancies healthier skin and alkaline water to shower in.
supersoftshower.ie
Entertaining Possibilities
Eoin Scolard’s new book, The Possibility Exists, is about one man’s search for freedom. This quest is something to which we can all relate. After several life changing experiences, Eoin began asking himself some serious questions about the way he was living his life. The book is his answer to those questions. His answers are illuminating for us all.
eoinscolard.com
The Skin We Live In
What we like about Urban Veda skin care products isn’t just that they’re not tested on animals and they respect the planet with sustainable manufacturing. No, what’s really cool is that they are based on Ayurvedic principles that are tailored to your specific skin type.
urbanveda.co.uk
In the best possible taste
Pure Temptation
Sarah’s Raw Bites are squares of deliciousness that can be found in shops and online. Born in Ireland but raised in Zimbabwe, Sarah returned to Cork to begin her apprenticeship as a chef as she had always loved cooking. While working for Avoca in Malahide Castle, she discovered that people really loved her treats. We think you’ll love them too.
sarahsrawbites.ie
Mindful eating
You can read what our vegan restaurant reviewers, Veghuns, have to say about Happy Food in our Short & Sweet section inside. But we like this place so much, we thought we’d give it another mention. Is the Camden Street area becoming a vegan quarter?
happyfood.ie
Cornering the Market
Ex-Cornucopia and Happy Pear chef Phil Smith set up Shoots and Roots after browsing the many Dublin food markets and knew he could offer something more interesting. His vibrant and nutritious salads, pies, burgers, pastries, tarts and desserts are good for you and the environment.
@itsshootsandroots
Things to do, places to be
Carpe Noctum
Our Buddha Bag has gone into its chrysalis and emerged as the butterfly that is Positive Nights. Hosted in The Powerscourt Townhouse Centre we’ve already had The Happy Pear, Teal Swan and many others. We have also had a blast with other offshoot events including the intuitive supper club, a night of insights, fun and vegan food with your host, the inimitable Paul Buggle. Be part of it.
positivelife.ie/positivenights
paulbuggle.com
Go Wild This Winter
Wilderness Lodge in Glenmalure is the perfect place to run your next workshop or just simply take a retreat for the new year. In the heart of the Wicklow Mountains, it’s the ideal getaway for walkers, campers, writers, or anyone
who appreciates the beauty of nature. Check out their gorgeous self-catering accommodation.
wildernesslodge.ie
The Concert of the Year
Next year’s Conscious Concert is shaping up to be the best one so far. No doubt the tickets for the event on March 25th in the RDS will fly out the door. There’ll be music, talks and happenings. I’m really looking forward to seeing comedian JP Sears whose satire pokes gentle fun at all of our wellness enthusiasms. Another magnificent event not to be missed.
consciousconcert.org
Get Creative
All We Need Is Love is a community space in Dublin 1. It is a free space, a dream maker that everyone can be a part of. They tell us, “we’re hoping to start a movement where everyone is free to follow a path based in their passions for creativity, a movement where everything make sense, where the truth is transparent and free of the illusion of fear.” Sounds good to us.
allweneedisloveproductions.com
The Great Escape
The Elbowroom in Stoneybatter has long been a favourite haven for holistic events in the city. They have now opened The Elbowroom Escape, a holistic centre only an hour’s drive from Dublin where practitioners can host retreats in beautiful environs and have the resources such as great food and all the therapeutic knowhow of the Elbowroom team.
the-elbowroomescape.com
Healthy new year
A Komplex Solution
We don’t always get the nutrient-rich food our bodies need to stay healthy. But nutrition isn’t just about vitamins. Research shows that people are often deficient in necessary phytochemicals too. Dr. Wolz’s Vitalkomplex addresses that deficiency. Our bodies can need a little boost in winter and we think this is a great place to start.
rossmorehealth.com
Recovery From Eating Disorders
Caoimhe Harrison, battled with issues related to food before becoming a Master Practitioner for Eating Disorders & All Food, Body and Weight Issues with the British Psychological Society. Taking advantage of her personal recovery and her years of training she offers one-to-one sessions, workshops, in-house and online programmes to those who struggle with their eating habits. Help is at hand.
Armoin.ie
A New Career in Healing
Train to become a craniosacral therapist with an internationally accredited course given by Body Intelligence. Biodynamic craniosacral therapy takes a whole-person approach to healing and the interconnectedness of mind, body and spirit are deeply acknowledged. The 50-day practitioner course starts in March.
bodyintelligence.com
“No Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such Grace as I have seen in one Autumnal Face” John Donne
Dream Yoga
Events, Workshops, Training, Inspiration, Treats & More for Autumn 2016
Attending an event or trying a product or workshop listed here? Tweet your experience to @PositiveLifeMag
Simply Delicious
Coconut Jam – The New Taste
The texture is a bit like firm Nutella, but the flavour is something else entirely. It tastes caramelly/fudgy to start off with and then the coconut flavour comes through, slightly toasted and just incredible. It really is not like anything else I have ever tasted.
coconut-merchant.com
Raising the Bar
A really tasty bar stuffed with organic ingredients, the Active Green bar is a pretty fantastic snack when you’re on the go. They’re raw, gluten-free and have 16g of protein in each 75g bar. For those with a sweet tooth, they have chocolate covered one too. A chocolate bar that is good for you.
organicfoodbar.com
Stay Healthy – Order In
Piply is an on-demand dinner service bringing delicious and nutritious, chef crafted meals to your door. Freshly prepared every day, a qualified dietician is involved in the menu planning so every meal is both tasty and health conscious.Take out has never been so appealing.
piply.ie
Be Good To Yourself
Test Your Sunshine Levels
Among other things, vitamin D helps to absorb calcium and promote bone growth. For at least half the year, Irish people don’t get much vitamin D from the sun. Nutricentric offer a vitamin D test, which you can use to assess your levels and ensure your body has everything it needs for optimum function all year round.
nutricentric.com
The Book of Hope
Founder of Yoga for Hope, Mella Murphy, has launched her book Love at Last to raise funds for the Hope Foundation’s incredible work with street children in Calcutta. The book features a series of uplifting and inspirational quotes. Yoga is about more than just stretching. Mella’s work with the Hope Foundation shows the true meaning of yoga – compassion and love.
hopeshop.ie
Mother Care
Minding Mum is a simple yet revolutionary concept – mums need to focus on themselves as well as their children. A new book on taking care of yourself allowing you to give more. A great gift for any new mother.
alisoncanavan.com
Author Alison Canavan
The yoga Sonatas
The dazzling Kitty Maguire teaches Yin Yoga which helps quieten the mind while releasing stress and tension in your
body. At the same time the sublime Anna Marcossi treats you to some amazing cello playing helping you to really let go and find stillness. It’s yoga and cello – yocella.
facebook.com/yocella
Unlocking Energy Medicine
With Crystal Light Therapy, the vibration from the crystal resonates with its corresponding chakra in the body and ‘tunes’ the imbalanced chakra to its normal frequency, balancing the body’s energy.
florsylvester.com
Flor Sylvester
Lifelong Learning
Sing Your Soul
7-9 Oct, Bantry, Co. Cork.
Anne Marie Hynes guides you to voicing the sounds from deep within. She calls it your soul voice. Her workshops are transformative and healing beyond words. Anne Marie will be leading a workshop at the Bantry Yoga Festival.
bantryyogafestival.com
Re-Nature
13-16 Oct, Galway.
Crann Og Eco Farm has worked together with nature to create an organic paradise in which people of all ages can unplug, slow down and reconnect naturally. Their re-nature retreats are technology free and combine yoga with nature therapy. A perfect antidote to urban living.
ecostayireland.com
The Birth of the Nation
13 Oct, Crowne Plaza, Santry.
This year’s All Ireland Annual Midwifery Conference will feature speakers such as Jean Calvert, Susan Bewley and Prof. Agnes Higgins. There is sure to be some interesting discussions.
inmoprofessional.ie
Waking Up To your Dreams
28-30 Oct, Cloughjordan Ecovillage.
Becoming consciously aware in your dreams sparks insight, adventure and personal transformation. U.S.-based Lucid Dreaming teacher and author Robert Waggoner is coming to Cloughjordan Ecovillage to give a weekend workshop. There’s magic in dreaming still.
facebook.com/Dreamyogaireland
Cob the Builder
5 & 6 Nov, Sligo
Feile Butler is an architect. Colin Ritchie is a carpenter. Together they designed and built their own beautiful cob house in Sligo. In their Weekend Design Course, held in the house they built, learn from them how you can do this too. Their warmth and expertise and infectious enthusiasm will make this a course that might just change your life.
mudandwood.com
Teal Swan
13 Nov 2016, Dublin.
Integration and wholeness is the path of spiritual progression. Our divinity and humanity must merge to become one. By bravely exposing both their humanity and divinity to the world, and teaching the world how to integrate the two by virtue of example, people must begin to unite the humanity and divinity within themselves.
tealswan.com
Breath of Stillness Retreat
Breath of Stillness retreat
Leave the fast paced world behind and unwind at the beautiful Inch Hideaway. Snuggle up in a cosy Yurt at their Eco-Sustainable Camping in East Cork (10 minute walk to Inch beach) & enjoy a full weekend of Qi Gong, Shiatsu and Cranio-Sacral treatments that will reconnect, nourish and integrate your body, mind & soul. For dates, see their website.
yurtecocamping.ie